'Left Behind': The Game
Investigators leave a residence in Maple Shade, N.J., Thursday, May 24, 2012. A woman who answered the door said that it is the home of Pedro Hernandez, who is in custody in the disappearance of Etan Patz in 1979. Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of Patz, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) / Mel Evans
The streets of New York have never looked so barren.
An occasional taxi or bus motors down a boulevard as people wander aimlessly among eerily vacant buildings. Soon, black helicopters loom overhead and armed soldiers close ranks on the streets below.
This isn't your run-of-the-mill video game: "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is based on the best-selling "Left Behind" book series about the apocalypse. But it's the apocalypse without dismemberment or graphic bloodshed, though the game has an element of violence that some Christians argue is counter to teachings of the Bible.
The game's creators say they hope to wriggle into the multibillion-dollar mainstream video game market by offering a real-time strategy option for serious gamers. Yet, they believe the faith-based theme is important, too.
"What we've decided to do is embed our message in a game so that it's not overt but it is in the game," Left Behind Games president Jeffrey Frichner said. "We're not ashamed of it. There are Scriptures in the game, and we're faithful to those Scriptures."
The overall video game software market, including consoles and portables, was $6.1 billion in 2005, based on U.S. sales, according to The NPD Group research company in Port Washington, N.Y. It does not track sales for Christian video games, which is a tiny niche.
Analyst Michael Pachter, who follows the industry for Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc., has played "Eternal Forces" and said it probably will be well-received.
He estimated it would sell between 250,000 and 1 million units, likely far more than any other Christian video game, because of its high quality.
"They did a nice job," Pachter said. "In order for the game to hit the higher end of that range, I think they have to attract mainstream consumers who just want to play the game because it is a good game.
"The question is, will the game be perceived as too preachy for the mainstream and I just don't know. We'll see."
Set in New York, the game begins with smoldering landscapes, the eerie streets and wandering nonbelievers and evildoers. The object is to convert nonbelievers and ultimately prevent evil forces from taking over the world.
Left Behind marketing manager Greg Bauman won't be specific about how to achieve victory because the game won't be officially released until later this year; however, a demo of the game available free of charge on the company's Web site provides some clues.
Players, as commanders of the forces of good, need to make sure their people are housed and fed, nurtured with prayer and armed to defend themselves for eventual battle.
Players recruit people to battle evil forces while taking control of buildings for medical clinics and housing. They can send people into battle but lose points by killing evil soldiers or by failing to meet the spiritual needs of the troops. Want to ward off evil? Hit the prayer button.
Every person depicted has a name and a history, which emphasizes the human cost of battle, Frichner said.
Along the way, players find clues to Bible mysteries and other information. Christian rock groups provide background music.
In the single-player mode, the player battles evil forces. In the multiplayer mode, players may choose to represent evil or good. Gamers also can play each other online.
The PC-only game cost between $3 million and $5 million to produce. It will sell for $49.99.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. An occasional taxi or bus motors down a boulevard as people wander aimlessly among eerily vacant buildings. Soon, black helicopters loom overhead and armed soldiers close ranks on the streets below.
This isn't your run-of-the-mill video game: "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is based on the best-selling "Left Behind" book series about the apocalypse. But it's the apocalypse without dismemberment or graphic bloodshed, though the game has an element of violence that some Christians argue is counter to teachings of the Bible.
The game's creators say they hope to wriggle into the multibillion-dollar mainstream video game market by offering a real-time strategy option for serious gamers. Yet, they believe the faith-based theme is important, too.
"What we've decided to do is embed our message in a game so that it's not overt but it is in the game," Left Behind Games president Jeffrey Frichner said. "We're not ashamed of it. There are Scriptures in the game, and we're faithful to those Scriptures."
The overall video game software market, including consoles and portables, was $6.1 billion in 2005, based on U.S. sales, according to The NPD Group research company in Port Washington, N.Y. It does not track sales for Christian video games, which is a tiny niche.
Analyst Michael Pachter, who follows the industry for Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc., has played "Eternal Forces" and said it probably will be well-received.
He estimated it would sell between 250,000 and 1 million units, likely far more than any other Christian video game, because of its high quality.
"They did a nice job," Pachter said. "In order for the game to hit the higher end of that range, I think they have to attract mainstream consumers who just want to play the game because it is a good game.
"The question is, will the game be perceived as too preachy for the mainstream and I just don't know. We'll see."
Set in New York, the game begins with smoldering landscapes, the eerie streets and wandering nonbelievers and evildoers. The object is to convert nonbelievers and ultimately prevent evil forces from taking over the world.
Left Behind marketing manager Greg Bauman won't be specific about how to achieve victory because the game won't be officially released until later this year; however, a demo of the game available free of charge on the company's Web site provides some clues.
Players, as commanders of the forces of good, need to make sure their people are housed and fed, nurtured with prayer and armed to defend themselves for eventual battle.
Players recruit people to battle evil forces while taking control of buildings for medical clinics and housing. They can send people into battle but lose points by killing evil soldiers or by failing to meet the spiritual needs of the troops. Want to ward off evil? Hit the prayer button.
Every person depicted has a name and a history, which emphasizes the human cost of battle, Frichner said.
Along the way, players find clues to Bible mysteries and other information. Christian rock groups provide background music.
In the single-player mode, the player battles evil forces. In the multiplayer mode, players may choose to represent evil or good. Gamers also can play each other online.
The PC-only game cost between $3 million and $5 million to produce. It will sell for $49.99.
- no previous page
- next
1/2
Popular in SciTech
- Drone technology myths, facts and future feats
- Apple's next iPhone may be coming in June
- Thousands online proclaim: Jahar Tsarnaev is innocent
- Texting while walking banned in N.J. town
- Alternatives to Google Reader
- "God particle": Why the Higgs boson matters
- Oops! The five greatest scientific blunders
- 40 years later: Why the Endangered Species Act still matters
Previously in chapter 13, Jesus had been talking about how the temple will be destroyed (Mark 13:2), which in 70 c.e., it most certainly was, by the Romans. Isn%u2019t this whole end-of-history thing in Mark really about the destruction of the temple? Does anybody really think people in Jesus%u2019 time were concerned about what was going to happen 2000 years in the future?
I also want to know why I should ascribe the number 666 to anyone else but Caesar Nero, who not only set fire to the section of Rome he wanted to build over, but who also blamed it on the Christians, whom he punished by nailing them to crosses by the hundreds. (It is strange that 666 also happens to be the number of talents that came to King Solomon in a year, or so we are told in I Kings 10:14, right after the Queen of Sheba departs with Solomon%u2019s bounty.)