For Those Who Still Think that Video Games have no Spiritual Value...

"One born of human flesh man,
man is now a race of some power
you, son of man,
must face the power you hold
and you must face your destiny as well...

Though your days be peaceful, the fated time draws near
I am your judgment
I sundered the tongues of your fathers
and shattered their arrogant power
so long as the Lord does not live in you, all living beings hold darkness in their hearts
if you truly wish to be yourself, then rise and fight the darkness within - the demon inside!
If you have the will to challenge your destiny, son of man, state your name!"

Ok, so it's not like this is like an ultra-deep theological exegesis or anything, but in all honesty, I've heard homilies at mass with less "spiritual value" than these two paragraphs. Reminds me of some of the psalms, actually. Perhaps my Catholic and Christian readers can chime in with their thoughts?

Anyway, here's the game from which the above monologue can be found:



Basically, the game's about a demon invasion in Tokyo. You play as a character who is given a handheld computer that is able to summon other demons to stave off the demon invasion in the city.

The occult thematic is obviously strong with this one; I find the theme and imagery somewhat disconcerting, but not being much of an expert on occult-related matters, I've had to rely on information from more learned sources than myself about just what exactly I should "watch out for" when I'm playing a game like this. I'm hoping to see more of the kind of stuff from the aforementioned excerpt as I play through it; apparently the game has multiple endings depending on what you do throughout the course of the game, so I may or may not find what I'm looking for. The game system itself, irrespective of the graphics, story, characters, music, and the like, is actually really, really fantastic; it's basically a "grid-based strategy" game (think chess) with the standard role-playing conventions one would associate with a Final Fantasy game. Either of these solitary game elements would probably make for an acceptable, though not exemplary, gaming experience, but they meshed peculiarly well in this game. Kudos to Atlus for creating a solid, if not spectacular, gameplay system.

I hope to have more to share about this game in a future post - which will most likely have to wait until the end of the week, as I'm Milwaukee bound tonight to visit some brother seminarians. St. Nicodemus, ora pro nobis!

Hate goes LIVE!

Though the reception of "hate mail" is certainly not something exclusive to Christian circles, it seems to me that Christians (especially in the age of the neo-atheist/secularist/Dawkins-lover types) are more often on the receiving end of the hate than anything else. As a Catholic, I'm actually not bothered by it; in fact, it has this paradoxical effect of boosting my ego rather than having the intended effect of dragging me down. Why?

"Blessed are you when others insult and hate you and ostracize you,for my sake" (Luke 6:22)

Heck, the main problem with most of the "hate mail" I've received is that it tends to instill a wrongful sense of pride; it's all too easy to make the hate mail to excuse myself from the other daily devotions that bring me closer to God; while the reaction of the Christian is never strictly "Sweet! Hate Mail! Kingdom of God here I come!" (it's more like, "OOO! Hate mail! I must be doing something right!"), it's easy to get carried away. Being the target of hate mail may be a very minor form of martyrdom, but it's not like I've actually been murdered for the faith or anything, and letting it "go to my head," as it were, really doesn't make it a martyrdom at all.

Case in point? Well, this morning, some guy I played in 1 vs. 100 LIVE last night (I recognized his gamertag) sent me two hate messages (one written, one voiced). The reason for the message isn't clear, as he didn't actually specify has such in his message. Was it because I outscored him in the game? Possibly, though I can't recall if I actually DID outscore him. I'm of the opinion that he did it because of the description on my gamertag: "Contributor for Catholic Video Gamers blog." So what do I do in response? I write this blog post bragging about it!

Pride scrupulosity notwithstanding, it would be nice to have an experience online where there's a genuine sense of community being fostered. Clearly, hate mail ain't gonna make that happen, folks. Still, not all is lost. I tried out Blazblue online for the first time last night before my 1 Vs.100 fiasco, and my opponent, a person with the gamertag "TRU CHRISTIAN," kindly accepted my friend request posthaste. Thank you, sir! Pity others can't have your common sense and decency, regardless of whether or not they share your worldview!

Xbox Live: (Too) Great Expections?

It's been less than a week since I signed up for my free one-month Xbox LIVE "gold" membership, and I'm wondering if I'm already at the point where I have, more or less, "seen all there is to see." Sure, Soul Calibur IV online is awesome, if only because I have an actual human being playing against me instead of some CPU controlled artificial intelligence (not to mention nabbing some of those completely useless but strangely desirable "Achievements"!). Still, it's hard to make friends with people you're in contact with for all of 5 minutes at most, and when half of them don't bother to talk to you (those headsets came with the XBOX for free, people! Why not USE them?), it oftentimes feels as though I may as well be playing the CPU in the single player campaign, anyway.

I DID make sure to check for available "freebies" for the few games I own that actually have free downloadable content; I nabbed the free gel set for Tales of Vesperia as well as the "Portal Song" for Rock Band 2. Heck, whiny as this post is, LIVE will probably be worth it for that song alone. My brother seminarians are quite the Portal/Half-Life enthusiasts, and considering all the fun we've had just jammin' to Livin' On a Prayer, I'm sure the lyrics to that dainty little ditty will soon become something of a seminary MEME, if they aren't already!

The other unexpected (underutilized?) benefit of XBOX Live is the fact that I can talk to any of my "friends" (would it really be fair to call it Xbox LIVE if it didn't have a certain "networking" aspect to it?) free of charge. No need to rack up a huge phone bill when you can pay $60 bucks a year to chat with your friends via headset with no strings attached!

Still, all of those little "perks" are really secondary to what I was expecting on XBOX Live: an actual community of gamers. I suppose I shouldn't have been so naive, and I certainly don't regret the $100 I paid for that wireless router, but I like to think the "gaming community" has more to offer than bragging rights and a perpetual deluge of foul language and tasteless humor. Really now, is HALO 3 some important that you need to mouth off at everyone just because you/your team lost (I'm one to talk; my brothers back at home will gladly show me to be quite the hypocrite, as I have had my share of outraged outbursts when I've lost rounds of Mario Kart and Smash Bros., among many other games)?

There's no real "common thread" binding everyone together on LIVE other than, well...that fact that they're on LIVE? Not much of "guiding light," is it (unless we're talking RROD...I know, I know, stupid, stupid joke)? There's not really ANYTHING here beyond facing the guy from L.A. who's willing to make small talk as he COMPLETELY OBLITERATES ME in Soul Calibur IV.

Am I being too hasty? Yes, but pardon me for having to perform a bit of a reality check. People without LIVE: it's not the end of the world. You can do without the achievements, and you can always go over to your friends' house to play video games, anyway. Plus, ya know, you may actually end up chit-chatting about something semi-interesting that way - you know, something that may actually bring you both closer to the One who made You?

Anyway, enough ranting for now. A surprisingly fun DS RPG has been occupying my spare time for the past two days, and with any luck I'll be able to write a blurb about it sooner rather than later. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for me!

I've Done it, but It's Doing Me In!

After 3 years of owning an Xbox 360, I am finally, yes, FINALLY on Xbox LIVE! Gamertag is Ando Commando 4; don't hesitate to add me if you're a frequent reader of the blog! I'd love to meet up with the readership, especially those of you who share an interest in "Catholic" gaming. Anyone up for some Rock Band 2? I'm not bad on guitar...

Now if only I could avert my eyes from Blazblue: Calamity Trigger enough to actually play some games I'm actually good at. I'm not letting the free month of Gold membership go to waste, and truth be told, Blazblue has such a steep learning curve (note to ARC System Works: please put in a tutorial next time! Never has a fighting game needed one more than Blazblue!) that I'm nearly convinced to put it away until I finish off some of the older games (say, Culdcept Saga and Tales of Vesperia) that have been left untouched for quite awhile now. There IS a bonus DVD that includes fighting strategies for the uninitiated...perhaps I'll give that a whirl tonight. Still, with only a month of online gaming until I need to fork over the big bucks, wasting any time on single-player games seems a bit silly. It's like anything else in this world: What's the point in having it if you're not going to use it? The classic biblical parable of the men and the talents holds true for video games too. Go figure!

The flip side of the coin, of course, is ensuring that my love of video games doesn't become an addiction. Too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing, and ANYTHING, video games included, can become a barrier to our relationship with Christ if we become too attached to them. Oftentimes during this summer, I've deliberately avoided video games if I hadn't done some spiritual reading or praying yet that day...and if work was around, well, that Xbox was staying unplugged until that work was finished (too bad I can't say the same for my computer! Alas, Microsoft Word and my favorite gaming websites and blogs are separated by merely a few clicks, and the temptation is too muc to bear most of the time).

But I still believe in the mission of this blog. If for everything there is a season, and a time and a place under heaven, as scripture says, why can't there be time for video games? And why can't it be more than mere recreation (as worthy as that moral end may be)? Some have ridiculed this blog's "motto" ("Gaming for the Greater Glory of God"), but I sincerely believe in that little slogan, hokey and tepid as it may sound.

Then again, I COULD just be trying to redeem the unredeemable. I can march around all day claiming that my discernment led me to starting this blog, but as many a serious Christian will tell you (Catholic or not), it's all too easy to claim that something is "God's will" when it is really just what Andy Kirchoff's wishes God's will was. Others (both commenters on this blog and some friends of mine that I know outside of cyberspace) think that I'm trying to artificially "Catholicize" something, ham-fisting my religion into something that really has no place for it. Antonin Scalia once said that there's no particularly "Catholic" way of making judicial decisions anymore than there is a "Catholic" way of making a hamburger; as much as I disagree, I'm sure many readers probably share similar sentiments.

Still, at the end of the day, it is as the Benedictines say (hattip to the homily I heard this past weekend!): "Ut in omnibus glorificetur deus." Translation? "In all things, may God be glorified." If Popes and Bishops have no problem with using media for this end (and the Decree Inter Mirifica should be enough to demonstrate this to anyone beyond a shadow of a doubt), then I see no reason that games should be unincluded. St. Benedict, ora pro nobis!

Gone for a Few days...

I'm on retreat with my brother seminarians until Friday, and with my work schedule as it stands, playing any video game, let alone blogging about them, is probably going to have to wait until Saturday morning or Sunday.

HOWEVER...

I am pleased to report that, after doing a bit of research, and listening to the input of those who kindly commented on last week's post, I mosied on over to a nearby Gamestop to pick up a Wireless Internet Adapter. Xbox LIVE is so close I can almost taste it!

If any readers would like to meet up with me online, feel free to drop a comment or e-mail me your LIVE account name, and I'll add you to my "friends list" whenever I get the chance. I'm also more than open to suggestions as to what games I should try out first; I've heard Culdcept Saga is practically an online wasteland now (was it ever really a gamer's stomping grounds, anyway?), but I find it hard to believe the online gaming scenes of "big-name" titles like Soul Calibur and Rock Band 2 ever really die out. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, though I can't promise that the advice you give will necessarily be heeded. Thank you again to all who offered sound advice to my inquiries last week! I am in no small way now Xbox LIVE bound because of you!

Culdcept Saga Player Diary

For those wondering about my recent dearth of postings (though it's really nothing new for this blog; I've gone spans of months without any new updates), it's only because playing this game to any meaningful extent takes eons:



Most gaming websites describe this game as "Monopoly meets Magic: The Gathering" or something to that effect. I think this is a fairly good summation that gets the "gist" of the game, for better or for worse. For those of you who don't know what "Magic: The Gathering" is, think Yu-Gi-Oh! with a more mature, "edgy" feel to it (though many hardcore gamers would certainly take great offense to this comparison). It's basically the most well-known card game variation of "monster A VS. monster B."

So how do you play Monopoly while micromanaging a complicated ruleset for monster battling? Well, basically, instead of "buying" properties (think Monopoly), you place one of your monsters on the space to guard it. When your opponent lands on one of your "properties," instead of paying "rent," your opponent can try to kill the monster guarding the property. If they succeed, it's theirs, and needless to say, you're not getting anything from them!

Things get more complicated once magic spells, special spaces on the game board, and "symbols" start entering the mix. The game does a good job of gradually introducing these finer nuances, but it also means that I can't really write too much about the game because I haven't played enough to really have an informed opinion about it! This game demands quite a bit of attention and time to be played "correctly," and this makes writing about it all the more difficult.

Not that I'm complaining (on the contrary, the more I play this game, the more rewarding it becomes), but it would be nice to find a way to play this game in intervals of less than 2-3 uninterrupted hours. The game has a "suspend" option, but it severely cuts down the payoff of victory if you elect to utilize it; you aren't able to save replays of your game, and you won't get the extra costume prizes for your character. I'm not sure if it has any effect on the card prizes, though. The most annoying part, really, is that it's hard to really "get back into the game" once you've resumed a suspended game. I'm willing to forgive the rather sparse graphical presentation of Culdcept, but the rather convoluted menu system makes accessing vital information about the game too much of a hassle. When my last game session was from hours or even days prior, and all the plans I had concocted at the time are buried deep in the recesses of my ever-failing memory, this information is crucial. It also doesn't help that the game's index doesn't include descriptors of some of the spell effects/monster abilities that CPU opponents frequently employ, meaning that "trial and error" experimentation becomes a necessary part of learning to play this game. At the very least, the game could allow me some time to actually slow down the opponent's play speed. Sadly, no such options exist.

Still, despite the lack of functionality in the game's menus, the silly and inane excuse for a "story" (and to think that I thought it couldn't get worse than Star Ocean!), and the subpar presentation, the "core" game is entertaining enough to warrant slogging through single games of 2.5 hours or more, even against CPU opponents (the game has some multiplayer features, including online play, but obviously, I haven't had the chance to try it yet). It's also reasonably inexpensive; I bought it for $40 when it was first released, and I've seen new copies at game stores for $19.99. The challenging gameplay mechanics and the dark themes (some of the card art is a bit too explicit for the youngsters, as well) prevent me from labeling it as "kid-friendly," though I find it hard to believe that the story, with its new-age pagan mythos and sometimes sultry character art, is going to be much of a problem for anyone's spiritual well-being. The long hours spent playing the game are far more likely to exact some real negative consequences...but that's what the virtue of temperance is for. St. Basilides, St. Ambrose, and St. Benedict, pray for us!

Fellow Gamers! A Request!

After purchasing Knights in the Nightmare and Dragon Quest Swords last week, I foolishly forgot to inquire about a "wireless internet adapter" or some doohickey with a similar-sounding name for the Xbox 360 that lets me use a wifi connection to access Xbox LIVE. It's hard to believe I've owned an Xbox 360 for upwards of 3 years now and I STILL haven't been able to get on LIVE! That will change once I get my grimy gaming hands on this adapter thingamajig (hopefully!) Only problem: I don't know where to start looking for a good deal on this particular item (no surprise if I don't even know what the heck this thing is called, hence why I'm also refraining from googling about it, at least for now. St. Jude and St. Anthony, pray for me!) I'll probably cross-post this request on some gaming forums I visit regularly, but as this is my blog is my primary communication with the gaming universe these days, I'd be doing myself no favors if I didn't ask the readers here for some help. So, in brief:

1) Where can I find one of these things?
2) What's it gonna cost me?

In the meantime, my brothers back home are inquiring about HD Component Cables for the Wii; I'm slightly more familiar with this item (in fact, I recall seeing some "third-party" produced cables for this peculiar purpose while shopping at Sam's Club with my dad), but the Nintendo-produced, "first-party" cables were no where to be seen. I've heard that Nintendo currently only sells them online; is this true? I'm not much for third-party gaming supplies, though I certainly won't speak for my brothers; at this point, they'd probably take a functional, third-party device of questionable longevity and quality over nothing at all.

Detailed responses to either or both requests are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

UPDATE: So I went to Gamestop today, bought $99.20 worth of games and completely forgot to ask about either the cables or the adapter. ARGH!!!