A breakthrough or asking for trouble?

#1 It all depends really...

If you were to use gods that people actually believe in then it's almost certainly asking for trouble, if they're fictional characters based on the real deal then theres a slight chance that you could get away with it.

Just recently there was trouble in the UK about a play featuring abuse in a sacred temple, and it resulted in violence...so to me pulling jokes about religion in any way is just suicide.

It wouldn't effect me though, because I'm not religious, I know others would be definatly be offended, especially in multi-cultral countries.

#2 Trey Parker and Matt Stone seem to be making a pretty good run of it. There are plenty of examples of tacky poop getting loads of publicity. I don't think any God will sue you.

Though, I have to ask myself, "Why am I responding to this post?"

I can't wait for the x-mas limbo to be over...

-Josh

#3 I think this depends on the religions you using , because some of them dont like anybody making fun of them .
Publishing is one thing to get worried about but you must be moore worried about a bullet coming from somewhere !!
So this idea can be good for the world ,but a real pain for some religios people.
I have one advice , think twice !!

#4 I would like to call myself a Disciple of Christ (I'm far from it though), but why get worked up over a game that makes fun of him or God? First, a game is just that - art, second its fictional (yes I know some believe the Bible is fiction), third its just not worth getting worked up over. I personally think when one makes fun of what the general public sees as wrong or odd about a religion, its much more funny than when someone blatantly disrespects it. For example, the Southpark episode where the priests get caught molesting boys was one of the funniest episodes I ever saw. It pointed out wrongdoings in a particular church (even though it may not have been the policy of the church to allow such things) in a VERY funny way.

#5 The movie "Dogma" was almost an instant cult classic, and did pretty well in at least retail sales/rentals I think, and the entire premise of the movie is making fun about a particular religion in many many ways.

I don't think it's going to get you sued or anything, but you may have some restricted audiences.

For example, I know China has banned many games due simply to things like not complimenting their "official" version of history, etc.

#6 Ya know, the video game industry has been bigger than Hollywood for years... this year Halo2 broke Hollywood's record for opening day sales...

I can't think of a single game character that has affected me to any extent. On the other hand, I can rattle off movie characters for hours on end.

What would be a breakthrough is to see a game with some emotional depth.

The industry is still in it's infancy... especially in terms of Drama!

-Josh

#7 Final Fantasy 7, never before have I seen so many grown gamers cry...

#8 @Josh: that's a really good observation. I've been playing computer games for going on 22 years now myself, and I can't think of a single game that brought out any real emotion except maybe frustration!

#9 @Dan
I think that has more to do with the intoduction of cinematics within a long storyline than an actual good story. I loved FF7n when I played it, just like all the ones before it, but the cinematics caught me in ways that none of the other RPG's up to that time had. Going back and playing it again, I can't really say that the story or characters are that strong, and the cinematics lost their bang. Compare this to films with a large emotional impact (Life Is Beautiful for example). While I didn't cry during FF7, I was moved, but I think it had more to do with having a new experience in an interactive setting than story/character/etc on Square's part). I haven't felt that way in a videogame since, including replaying FF7. They reached a level for a moment where technology melded with storytelling in an extremely effective way. Unfortunately, it hasn't really held that much. While the cinematics in the later FF's and games like Xenosaga which are movies with fill-in-the-gap RPG play, they haven't had even a remotely similar effect. The cinematics are great, the stories are quite good (for the most part), but they fail to have emotional impact. FF8's opening is one of my favorite CG sequences (combined with Resident Evil 2's Leon ending), though the game is one of my least favorite FF's until the final disc.

At least that's my take on FFVII.

#10 I'm dealing with the subject of real-world (kinda) religion in a project that's still in design phase.

It's a tricky subject. I'm what people would consider a pretty devout Christian myself - go to 3 hours of church & meetings each week, plus other church-related activities, pay 10% of my income in tithes, TRY to read the scriptures at least weekly, etc.

When you start lampooning things people consider sacred, they are going to be offended. Just think of how far you'd get in high school if you were constantly making jokes about people's mothers (probably the closest thing you get to a sacred subject in the secular world).

Now, if you choose to do so anyway - well, you may get some cheap publicity out of it, and if you aren't ignored completely you are likely to get a lot of hate mail. If all you care about it sales, you may get enough sales from the cheap publicity to make it worth it.

I probably wouldn't be a customer, though.

But ultimately - you have to decide if that's really what you want to do with a game. And your "brand."

#11

Quote:The movie "Dogma" was almost an instant cult classic, and did pretty well in at least retail sales/rentals I think, and the entire premise of the movie is making fun about a particular religion in many many ways.

Dogma was careful to maintain a fairly reverent tone and to clearly communicate a positive message behind the religion.

Just something to keep in mind!

#12 In a word "goforit". Everything is offensive to someone in some way or another. No matter how hard you try, you cannot please everybody. As long as you are not targeting a single religeon with derogatory overtones then people can whine all they want and you shouldn't worry about it. For example, if your entire intent is to bash on the jewish faith, then your looking for trouble and will find it. You are not likely to be sued by anyone because you have freedom of expression. But if you plan on attacking every religion or half of them or something, then IMO it doesn't look like you are doing anything more than poking fun at the entire concept of religion and people are still going to whine about it, but none of them can say you are targeting just them alone.

#13 Not to completely hijack this thread, but...

I agree with your second part--but fairly reverent tone? Heh..I guess different people see things in different ways.

To bring it back to topic at hand, I guess that you can package up humor/satire well enough so that it can be viewed well, even knowing that it is making fun of what some people hold sacred. It just has to be done well! (and I guess Ben, Selma, Chris and all the others help a bit too!)

#14 I originally just answered his post, but just went back and read some of the other comments, there are a lot of good opinions here.

Quote:I would like to call myself a Disciple of Christ (I'm far from it though), but why get worked up over a game that makes fun of him or God? First, a game is just that - art, second its fictional (yes I know some believe the Bible is fiction), third its just not worth getting worked up over.

Well said, and IMO will be the same thing most people of his faith are going to feel as well. As long as you are not just outright bashing or being gross and tasteless most people are secure enough in their faith to recognize humor for what it is even when it's poked at them. There will ALWAYS be some that will complain, but the thing to remember here most of all is...you will NOT be the first to ever poke fun at religion, and you certainly will not be the last to do it, so why shouldn't you express your views about it like everyone else is free to do?


OT @ Stephen

Quote:I've been playing computer games for going on 22 years now myself, and I can't think of a single game that brought out any real emotion except maybe frustration!

LOL, I've been playing them for about 27 myself, and I can tell by your statement that you have gotten so used to beating the crap out of every game you play that you forgot that you actually do get some enjoyment out of completing it, doh!

;-)

#15

Quote: I agree with your second part--but fairly reverent tone? Heh..I guess different people see things in different ways.

I did say fairly - and I was actually paraphrasing what the director said about the movie. :)

#16

Quote:Most of the god/desse/s are taken out of context to make the game humorous. Is this bad move?

I have to second an earlier opinion; like many things, it all depends on execution. Your humor could end up looking amateurish and gimmicky, or it might end up really hitting the mark and finding its own legs. Gamasutra recently had a good article on humor in video games; I'd strongly suggest reading that.

Quote:And should I worry about getting sued out of business?

By who? There's no TM after Buddha. There ARE decentcy laws, but you'd have to go reeeally far to start worrying about those.

Quote:Will this game even be published?

That depends... is the rest of it good?

Quote:Any advice is appreciated.

I think the thing to watch for the most is the gimmick factor of the game. If the whole religous lampoon thing is the centerpiece of your game, you have more of a gimmick than a game. If someone is interested in religous humor, they DON'T need to buy your game to get it, unless it is utterly and compellingly unique (to the tune of twenty dollars).

#17 Who cares. Do what you wanna do. Don't ever let any outside source sensor you. Look at San Andreas. They couldn't care less. They have the characters saying everything and doing everything under the sun and they are still making money and have a product they are proud of...oh and it's number five in the series by the way (and earned perfect scores in major magazine reviews). You mentioned something about getting sued...by whom? As far as I know, nobody owns the copyright on god, or any other religious figure. A game was recently released that allows yoiu to reinact the assassination of JFK (a damn shame and a discrace to the industry IMO). You mean to tell me your worried about cracking a few jokes at someones god (maybe even your own)? Join the list of people who have been doing it for centuries. Do your thing man!
-Ajari-

#18 Go ahead and make the game. I made a cruddy puzzle game once that had some odd-looking geometric shapes in it. I gave a copy to a couple of relatives who that it was some sort of satanic sexfest.

Offend every religion you can. That will draw in non-religious people, as well as people who don't start whining every time someone says something mean. The whiny people will give you free publicity by shouting from the rooftops that you're the next coming of [insert evil religious figure here].

#19 I think its ok to poke around with religion as long as you don't deface it. There are plenty of things out there that take stabs at the church but keep religion to its form.

Take Dan Brown for instance. Before he wrote Angels and Demons, a book about the battle of differences between science and the church, he had actually spoken to the pope himself. Or at least that's what he had said.

As long as it's not to blasphemous it shouldn't be all that big of a deal

#20 I wouldn't make too much fun of those muslim guys, look at Salman Rushdie. He's still in fear for his life.