In an effort to stay in touch with the youth of today, the Catholic Church has developed a videogame to teach catechism to children and teens.

Entitled Paolo's Journey, and developed by Fr. Maximo Villanueva Jr. of the Diocese of Balanga, Bataan, the 3D game follows a 10-year-old boy name Paolo as he tries to track down a lost kitten. He falls into a well and begins an adventure to collect three keys to go home. Along the way, players must answer 45 questions about catechism.

From an article at Philstar.com: Read More

Some games these days have storylines and game play mechanics that force you to make morality decisions based on how you want your character to evolve. A few of these games force you through a certain morality play to continue the story.

An analysis of the game Assassin's Creed II delves into the historical aspects of the game and studies the Christian references, and choices, that the assassin Ezio faces throughout the game. The author played through the game and honestly records his feelings. Some of the revelations:

There were specific things about the game I really loved and can really get behind. For the most part, Assassin’s Creed 2 drives home the moral gravity of killing a human being. Each major assassination is followed up by a small cinematic in which the target dies in my arms. Ezio, our lead character, always finds it within himself to wish them peace, however hypocritical that wish may be.

In fact, it is that conflict that serves as the primary growth experience for Ezio. Rather than becoming more comfortable and hardened as the years go by, each kill brings its’ own surprises and regrets. That guy you were going to kill because you thought he was going to do something hurtful? The letter you find on his person explains that he wasn’t going to go through with it after all. Another man had a family that he loved dearly and anxiously anticipated seeing again. These people Ezio killed? They’re human beings.

The author admits to being conflicted about the game, liking some parts and disliking others in the portrayals of the characters and issues: Read More

In a move to get its Christian-based message out to more people, Left Behind Games hass announced plans to take one of its PC titles to the Wii and the Xbox 360.

Charlie Church Mouse, the main character in a Christian show on TBN, has a PC game called Charlie Church Mouse's Bible Adventures. According to Left Behind CEO Troy Lyndon, the company wanted to expand its reach:

“Our strategy is to follow Nintendo’s example by including up to 18 story animations and mini-games, providing significant value for our customers. We expect our financial projections to grow exponentially as we transition from a PC game developer to a Wii and Xbox developer.”

According to the story in The Christian Post, the game will be targeted at children between the ages of three and eight and will be developed in conjunction with LifeLine Studios.

After a few days of speculation, it appears the skeptical among us were correct: The Mass We Pray game was just a bunch of Holy Smoke.

Upon visiting the site today, we found that the pre-order link had bcome active. Clicking the link took us to an ominous popup where we were accused of heresy and the headline "Heretic, May thou burn in the 6th Circle:

"He who betrays the beliefs of the Church blackens his soul with the sin of Heresy. A Mass not celebrated by an ordained priest or on consecrated soil  is naught but false ritual condemned by clergy. Thou hast befouled thine eyes with the filth of profabe works and betrayed all things sacred. For thy punishment, thou shalt be damned to burn in flaming tombs and hang from inflamed crosses. And an eternity of infernal fire will not cleanse thee."

The popup then seeks your birthdate so you can watch a Dante's Inferno trailer, which focuses on the 6th Circle of Hell. Clicking on the popup takes you to Facebook where you get the option of putting a Dante's Inferno app on your profile page.

This is not the first time that Electronic Arts has pulled out the stops for a reverse marketing campaign for the game. At E3 this year, there was a "Christian rally" protesting the game, which EA later admitted was staged. In September, gaming editors were sent a check for $200 in a fancy box, with a note that:

By cashing this check you succumb to avarice by hoarding filthy lucre but by not cashing it, you waste it, and thereby surrender to prodigality.

Whether you agree with the ploy or not, Electronic Arts continues to get attention for the game.

A new website and video have been launched for a game called Mass: We Pray, which allows families to "go to church every day without leaving your home."

The game site shows off a cross and kneeling bench controller, utilizing what looks like a Wii Remote as its sensor. Pre-orders for the game, which supposedly is coming out Easter of 2010, are set to begin this Friday.

Gametrailers has already posted the video, but a few sites, including this one, are a bit skeptical as to the legit nature of the site or the game. So we did some checking.

The developer, Prayer Works Interactive, says it was created in 2007 in Boston. A quick search of the Internet finds no company web site, and a search of Boston's business listings shows no company by that name. A call to Boston directory assistance again provided no listing or number.

The domain search for the site shows that the owner is hidden (through Domain Discreet), and that the web site is hosted by MediaTemple. It seems unlikely that a religious company that has been in business for two years would want to keep itself secret.

So while indicators seem to point to hoax, it is a pretty elaborate. Graphics look more like LEGO: We Pray, but there are several screenshots available and the video shows what appears to be some interactivity, although that easily be a video playing the background.

We'll see if the site changes at all come Nov. 20 and preorders supposedly begin.