Where would Jesus invest?

[Yaeger]

In my various gaming circles, I have stumbled on the entity known as The Timothy Plan. (http://timothyplan.com/) They help Christians decide what companies they should or should not invest in.

"The Timothy Plan® family of funds employs specific moral screening criteria designed to avoid investing shareholders' money in any company that has a pattern of contributing to the cultural degradation of our society."

They released an analysis of games from this past year which lead to degradation. (I own 4 of them. Uh-oh I'm the anti-christ!)

For your reading pleasure, here's the list in .pdf format with explanations as to why they're immoral.

http://www.fme.cc/VideoGame-Graphic.pdf

[Quasar]

"Not the children!"

I'm not big on mature games: my gaming budget recently has mostly been 3 different Tomb Raider games (I'm a TR addict from the PSOne), The Orange Box and Spore.

From the list, I own Mass effect, Bioshock and STALKER, but I didn't really enjoy any of those games (for various reasons: Stalker was buggy, Mass Effect was boring and Bioshock's gameplay was too claustrophobic).

[IntellectualNinja]

Rock Band 2 got a 3 on the immorality scale. And here I thought it was a family game.

[alphgeek]

I guess seeing people running around screaming after a taste of the flamethrower (COD World at War) or blowing their heads off with well-placed sniper rounds (COD 4 Modern Warfare) is OK with the Timothy Plan. God help me though if I saw a naked breast in the game. Great games BTW.

Quasar I have those three games too and I dislike them for the same reasons...great minds and all that...

[Unethical Chum Tin]

I've owned/played 4 of the games that got an in depth review (GTA 4, Fallout 3, Bioshock, and Bully). All in all, I think these are fairly accurate descriptions of the content in these games. My wife and I are still playing Fallout 3. The V.A.T.S. combat system is SOOOO satisfying!

[BeamStalk]

This just in Video Games are violent, please be informed. Make sure you only read the Bible to your children or nursery rhymes, as these things are non-violent.

Also make sure your kids don't watch these new violent cartoons but let them watch the old Looney Toons that you grew up on.

The point of this list is fail if parents just look at the packaging of the game and the game ratings.....

[ExPatMatt]

This just in Video Games are violent, please be informed. Make sure you only read the Bible to your children or nursery rhymes, as these things are non-violent.

Also make sure your kids don't watch these new violent cartoons but let them watch the old Looney Toons that you grew up on.

The point of this list is fail if parents just look at the packaging of the game and the game ratings.....

I was thinking similar to this over Christmas. I found some old Tom & Jerry cartoons (the original and the best) and we put them on with the unanimous agreement that they would be more family-appropriate for the kids in the family (mainly me and my dad!).

So we put the VHS in (yes, we still have a VHS player - it's older than me and works perfectly....unlike me) and within the first five minute Jerry had dropped a bowling ball on Tom's head. The rose-tinted glasses were shattered; cartoons have always been violent! We immediately hid all our bowling balls (on the top shelf, in the cupboard, behind the ironing board and giant box of mouse traps).

Ratings are bullshit.

[BeamStalk]

Ratings are bullshit.

I honestly believe ratings have their place. Not all parents can know about every game coming out and what all is going on it. Ratings give a semi-accurate understanding of the content. Game ratings also are given in a very different manner than movie ratings. Movie ratings are bullshit and the process is veiled in secrecy and lies. I suggest watching This Film is Not Yet Rated to understand the bullshit behind it all.

[ExPatMatt]

Ratings are bullshit.

I honestly believe ratings have their place. Not all parents can know about every game coming out and what all is going on it. Ratings give a semi-accurate understanding of the content. Game ratings also are given in a very different manner than movie ratings. Movie ratings are bullshit and the process is veiled in secrecy and lies. I suggest watching This Film is Not Yet Rated to understand the bullshit behind it all.

I saw that film last year, a real eye-opener. It's amazing that any decent films come out of Hollywood these days.

[Whateverman]

Ditto - that was a great film...