The Wii U

I have been a Nintendo fan for a long time. If it Nintendo, and it wasn't called the Virtual Boy, I owned it. However, when the Wii U was announced I was...disappointed. Yes, the graphics were up to higher standards, but the PS4 and Xbox One were going to blow it out of the water. I'm also big into branding, and rather than using the brand to show they were taking the next step, Nintendo chose to piggy back off the branding of the Wii. One could hardly blame them, considering the Wii was one of the most successful consoles of all time, but it had run its course and it had a reputation for being too "kiddish".

Well, I finally got around to really playing with the Wii U...and now I want one.

Nintendo reminded me why we fell in love with the Wii. It wasn't about the graphics, it was about the experience. I believe the Wii U is failing, not because of the product, but because of branding and promotion. The product itself, it is incredible. The Wii U is really a step up for the Wii, building on the already established concepts, but making them smoother and more enjoyable across the board.

I played three games pretty extensively. Two of which have been out since the early days of the console and one which is brand new:

• Nintendoland: a Nintendo virtual theme park where the attractions place your Mii characters into the world of Nintendo's video game franchises. These are mostly party games, and I found myself challenged at times, fully engaged, and always smiling. This game is a ton of fun and it really levels the playing field for gamers and non-gamers to play together.
• Mario kart 8: This popular series is always a huge seller, but the past two console iterations have failed to bring as much excitement to the series. Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Gamecube was too slow, co-op controls were often awkward and unnecessary. Mario Kart Wii, was fun but didn't seem to really improve by adding bikes. It really just maintained the status quo. However, MK8's smooth graphics, high speed action, and added kart customization makes this game a much more thorough and exciting experience.
• Super Smash Brothers Wii U: The Smash Bros. series is one of my favorites. I fell in love with it at church group tournament where we played the N64 version. I had never played it before, and it was so much fun that it (along with 007: Goldeneye, of course) led my brother and I to save up our money so we could by the console. Melee for the Gamecube was a step up, increased speed and precision made for hours of fun with my friends. But Brawl on the Wii was a disappointment. It was cluttered, random, and certain characters were overpowered, and beloved characters were weakened. It was so bad, a group made a mod called Project M, just to fix what Brawl had messed up.
  
  Then I played SSB for Wii U and it is everything that Brawl should have been. There is character customization, and level editing, but what really matters is the gameplay. Beautiful, smooth, fast paced, and engaging. Smash Brothers battles are fun again

So I quickly described these games and didn't once mention the Gamepad. The massive (yet not uncomfortable) controller with a touchscreen that makes so much of these games possible. It works wonderfully, and while Nintendoland cannot exist without it, it alone is not what makes this system special.

Nintendo has created games that bring people together, they want you to sit around and enjoy company. They want people of all ages to be entertained. Multiplayer on other next gen consoles creates seperation. You play at your house with a headset on and I play at mine with a headset on. No one playing the game is truly interacting, and in your own home you separate yourself from what is going on around you.

There is a local community centered feeling around the Wii U, which is maybe a reason why Nintendo has been so reluctant to online gaming for so long. Perhaps they didn't want people to be apart from one another. Perhaps they wanted to remind people what it is like to go over to someone's house, sit down, talk, laugh, and play a game together. That is the type of atmosphere that will produce more gospel centered conversations, not headsets and faster internet speeds, but people being together and sharing life with one another. I think the Wii U helps people do just that.

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Retro Gaming

I couldn't tell you what the exact year my parents bought my brothers and I an NES was, but I can tell you that we wore that thing out! It is entirely possible that I have logged more hours on the Nintendo Entertainment System than any other video game console I've ever owned. That's not because of the incredible amount I played as a kid, but rather the fact that I have continued playing it.

Retro gaming is incredibly fun for nostalgia purposes. I spent years seasons of playing Tecmo Super Bowl with my brothers, hours trying to beat each of the eight master robots in Mega Man 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, days after days trying to unlock the secrets of the Legend of Zelda. Every time I play one of these games now, those memories come rushing back. Yet, there is another reason I play games on my retro systems. They're great games! I still buy old school video games, I still try to beat them, I still smile when I play them, and I still rage quit when I just can't beat it. The average NES or Sega Genesis game will run be about $10, less if it isn't much of a game. Those $10 hold hours of adventures. Much like we find joy in the simplicity of classic films or classic television shows, we should look at retro games as classic gems worthy of revisiting.

Why is this important for the gospel centered gamer? Three things that stand out to me...

1: Financial Stewardship - This isn't as big of a reason, but important to remember. You can buy 5 to 10 games for an old system for the price of one new Xbox One game. Not to mention there is a plethora of cheap games in the previous two generations of systems. Check out some of what the Gamecube or the PS2 has to offer as well. I, however, will stick with the joys of the NES and SNES.

2: Connect with your kids - When I was a kid I loved finding my dad's old toys. There was something so fun about seeing the things that brought joy to your dad when he was your age. This can be a great family moment as you share stories of your childhood triumphs. I find the teens in my student ministry are fascinated by my retro game collection and want to know more about it. That could be an open door for you to share a moment with your kids.

3: Multiplayer Experience - Today's games require a greater amount of attention than games of 20 years ago. Adding six buttons and two thumb-sticks will do that to you. There is something fun and laid back about playing retro games. Taking turns in Super Mario Brothers, dropping gloves for a fight in Blades of Steel, or seeing if anyone can land on the aircraft carrier in Top Gun (you can't...). It is a person-to-person, tactile experience. No online. No gamer score. No DLC. Just you your friends and some 30 feet of cord connected to a box and a cartridge. There is time to talk, to reminisce, to be more than just player-one and player-two.

How we connect to one another is so important to how we share the gospel with other, how we live the gospel daily, and how we are the love of Christ in the world. Something as simple as retro gaming can help facilitate those moments.

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Review: Call of Duty:Ghosts

The Call of Duty (CoD) series has become one of the most popular FPS (first person shooter) franchises of all time. It has come a long way from its WWII roots and now pushes the envelope of what modern warfare is like.

Some of the greatest criticisms of any first person shooter is that, by its nature, it is putting the player behind a gun. A gun that is pointed towards other virtual humans, aliens, animals, zombies, or mutants and then fired. This is coupled with changes of video game controllers in the past 15 years. The N64 was the first to feature a trigger that, when held from the center, had the feel of holding a gun.

The gun in video games is nothing new, I shot plenty of ducks with my NES Zapper, but it is the increasing realism of these games, the improvement in graphics and violence that concerns parents.

CoD: Ghosts is no different than it's previous iterations on this current generation of consoles. The story line may be different, there are different guns and maps, but ultimately it is all the same.

I say that, because if you've purchased a CoD game for your teenager before, there is no significant difference between this one and the others. The CoD franchise has become much like the Madden football franchise. Every year it is the same game, different content.

However, if you're new to the CoD franchise, here is a little bit about the game pulled from Wikipedia:

The game's main protagonists are the Ghosts, a force of U.S. Special Operations personnel trained to conduct clandestine missions behind enemy lines. The unit is led by retired U.S. Army Captain Elias Walker (Stephen Lang). He is joined by his sons Logan and David "Hesh" Walker (Brandon Routh), along with a trained German Shepherd named Riley, Captain Thomas A. Merrick (Jeffrey Pierce), and Sergeant Keegan P. Russ (Brian Bloom).^[7]Call of Duty: Ghosts is set in an alternate timeline that follows the nuclear destruction of the Middle East. The oil-producing nations of South America form "the Federation" in response to the ensuing global economic crisis and quickly grow into a global superpower, swiftly invading and conquering Central America and the Caribbean. The game's main antagonist is Gabriel Rorke (Kevin Gage), the former leader of the Ghosts, who was turned by the Federation after being captured and brainwashed with torture and hallucinogens, and now works for the Federation.

 Sounds exciting! Ultimately all of this is pointless. There are very few people that purchase Call of Duty games for the single player campaign. Like all the other CoDs, Ghosts is about the online multiplayer. That is why teens play it, adults play it, and that is how Activision makes their money.

When it comes to multiplayer Ghosts really shines. It has several creative maps and fast paced gameplay. If you're a fan of multiplayer first person shooters on consoles, I believe this is the best option.

But the question for this site is "how does this game fit in a gospel centered lifestyle?" and also, for parents and teenagers, is this a good game for young people to play?

The answer is complicated. The single player gameplay is violent, bloody, and contains strong language. It should be treated like a rated-R movie. However the multiplayer is a completely different experience. It focuses on competition, does not feature bloody violence, and in many ways plays out like war simulation rather than trying to create a virtual war experience. I would consider multiplayer games of CoD like going out and playing paintball. If you have a problem allowing your teenager to hold a pretend gun and shoot at friends, then this is not the game for your teenager.

Personally, I have great online experiences with my friends. We laugh, we talk about our days, we play a game. I think it can be a fun activity for a group of friends. However, I would not recommend playing online and participate in the global community of the game. There is no control over the content that comes out of the mouths of every other gamer online. Other CoD players are often profane, vulgar, and abusive with their talk. The goal of many people is to hide behind their microphones and hurl insults. All this does is incite rage in the player, which of course will cause one to loose sight of the game and fall into sin.

My recommendation:

Single player - Not recommended, little eternal significance. Only for 17 and up, mature adults who are able to handle the violence and extreme language without being influenced to sin. Plus, the single player story line isn't worth your time.

Multiplayer - Slightly recommend, some eternal significance possible. Cautiously allow for mature teenagers not likely to allow video games to frustrate them easily. If played online, should be with a private group of friends to build relationships and to avoid destructive content from global players.


Call of Duty: Ghosts is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language

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The Time Limit

I'm not a parent. Not yet at least. I hope to be someday. While I myself have no children, I spend a lot of time with teenagers and their parents. Parenting a teenager in any generation has never been easy, and the inclusion of a new engaging distraction such as video games only adds to the frustrations of parents. The truth is, parents today have little to go off of when it comes to parenting a child who loves video games. The video game boom of the 70s and 80s was just hitting when today's parents of teens were teens themselves. While certainly fun in the early days, video games didn't demand the level of attention that they do today. They were shorter experiences, and there were even less consoles in the home. We are just now getting to a point where people who grew up in the age of Nintendo are having kids and will have some experience to go on when it comes to parenting and video games.

Today's parents of teens have the task of trying to change the wheels on the bus while the bus is still moving. So what do parent's do to control the sheer amount of video games their children play? In comes the time limit. I hope to cover several ways parents manage video games in their house, but the time limit is one of the most widely used forms of entertainment management that parents use. Time control has been used to train up children in the way they should go for, what seems like, the entire existence of the parent child relationship. Parents limit how much time a child spends watching TV, playing with toys, playing outside, etc. All of which have differing reasons for limiting their time, whether it be for the sake of their health (i.e. keeping them from being in the sun too long) or for the sake of their social growth (i.e. not wanting them to sit in front of the TV all day). Parents cite reasons of health, mental and social development for why time with video games should be limited.

I don't want to go into reasons why it should be limited, but rather state that any reason should be good enough. Time with video games should be limited for a child. As a kid I spent hours in front of my NES, Sega Genesis, Playstation, or N64. However, when I look back at my childhood I don't cherish the moments in virtual worlds as much as I cherish time I spent playing outside with the neighbors and by brothers, going swimming, riding my bike. I'm no expert, but I remember far more vivid moments of my childhood spent away from video games than with them, and I think there is something to that.

Video games provide a temporary moment of extreme engagement that concludes with an intangible reward. They are fun, but they provide us with nothing lasting. There is no social, physical or monetary pay off for the hard work put forth and thus it can be quickly forgotten.

What I am saying is, your child can do more with their time. Playing with Legos and engaging their imagination has more of a lasting significance than playing a video game, and we have to consider that lasting significance.

So the question I get asked most often is, "How long do I let them play?" Honestly, that depends on the child. You might have a son or daughter who you can trust to play video games for 3 hours straight and know that that won't be a regular occurrence. However, for the most part, I think 1 hour to an 1 1/2 hour is plenty. Here's why:

• Most parent's wouldn't blink an eye if their kid watched two episodes of cartoons in a row
• Most games require a good hour to turn on the system, launch the game, complete a segment or two of the game, and save.
• Most gamers can feel a sense of satisfaction after a good hour of gaming. If they say they require more, they probably have an addiction.
• Still leaves plenty of time in the day for other play, chores, or homework.

Some tips for managing the time limit:

• Don't call it a game limit, call it screen time. Encourage them to spend time outside of screen time doing something other than mess with their phone, surf the internet, or watch TV.
• When you say, "time's up!" your son or daughter will probably say "One more second! Let me finish this! I need to save first!" Let them! But don't just say "okay" and walk off. Sit with them for the next 10-minutes, watch and celebrate their achievements in the game, ask questions, and in the process you are ensuring that they just complete that "one final thing".
• Encourage multiplayer (not online multiplayer, but friends over at the house, sitting next to your kid multiplayer). If gaming is going to remain gospel centered in your home, it should be encouraged to be social! Even be more lenient on the time limit when they are playing games with their friends.
• Don't be afraid to take the time away if necessary or even add time as positive reinforcement. But make sure you make it clear why you are taking away or adding time. "You can't have screen time until you've done the dishes and your homework." or "I'm so proud of how you helped that man pick up his groceries. I know you got a new game, you can play it for a little longer today."
• Play with them! Crazy I know, but just like anything else your kids are involved in, they want to know you approve of their interests (whether they say they do or not).

These are just some of my suggestions. Feel free to comment and include what you and your family do to limit screen time in your house. I'd love to hear from you!

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What is Gospel Centered Gaming?

I've been a youth pastor for over a decade. In this time I have played hundreds of video games with students. I have also addressed hundreds of questions about the dangers of video games in the lives of students. Those questions need to be addressed, because, it is true - there are serious spiritual dangers in video games. However, I also believe video games can be used by God to glorify his name.

I've been on mission trips where the language barrier is thick, but I can pull out my phone and play a game with an orphan child to help break the ice and begin to build a relationship.

I've met students too shy or unsure of church to open up to me as their pastor. Yet after a night of playing video games with a group of guys a church we connect on a common ground and they are able to trust me enough to pour into their life.

I've been separated across the country from my dearest of friends and had an online game to bring us together to have an evening of fun like we used to have in my living room.

Video games can be an amazing tool to glorify God and make his name known. It can be done without having to make bible-centric games or worship song versions of Guitar Hero. It can be done by remembering that video games, like anything else in our life, should be used to glorify God or strengthen the relationships in the Body of Christ.

However, the second we allow video games to distract us from Christ, delay our mission for him, diminish our ability to share the gospel, perverse our minds, or incite sinful behavior, then certainly we need to assess the nature of our relationship with video games. Again, this goes for anything in our life - movies, books, TV, music, etc.

Gospel centered gaming is playing video games with our mind's on Christ, considering the eternal significance of our actions. There is nothing wrong with taking some time adventuring in a virtual world, just like there is nothing wrong with reading a fictional book, or watching a movie. But, if playing a video game becomes more important that our higher call as believers, if it consumes our thoughts, motivates our actions, or isolates us from the world we are called to then we are no longer looking at video games with Christ in mind, but we are trying to fulfill our own selfish desires - which is sinful.

My hope for this site is to provide commentary on gaming as a believer in Christ, offer video game reviews from the perspective of a believer, and give helpful tips for parents and children who are trying to carefully navigate the role video games play in their lives.

Always feel free to comment, I will try my best to address questions and keep the conversation open. This is not a place of hate, but of open conversation about Christ followers and their interaction with video games and video game culture. Thanks for taking a look! I hope you'll continue to follow along and be a part of the dialogue.

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