Geraldine Doogue

Hello and thank you for joining me for something quite different and surprising ... We're about to journey into the world of video games in Australia where moral and spiritual themes have become an integral part of this burgeoning global entertainment phenomenon. Games are increasingly using religious themes and symbolism... The stories too have evolved, from simple tales of good versus evil, to complex moral and ethical scenarios that are engaging players at a whole new level.

Harry Lee, Game designer

There may be a temptation to frame game designers as God.

Games reflect the moral codes of their creators and they reflect the values of the society in which they are created.

b>Stephanie Bendixsen, Presenter Good Game

As games have evolved they're starting to explore that moral choice and it's not just about choosing the good path or the evil path but making the decision that you think is right in that particular moment. And quite often it won't have the outcome that you think it will.

Narration

Computer games have been around for longer than people might think. In the 1940's and 50's scientists experimented with rudimentary games in their search for Artificial Intelligence. Then pinball machines ruled the arcades before the first video games like Pacman were born - at around the same time that Ilona Wheeler began to play.

Ilona Wheeler, Gamer

When people find out I'm a gamer they go "What! at your age?" Yeah. So why not - why can't I? Why should I be sitting in a corner sitting on a rocking chair knitting booties?

Narration

Ilona moved to Australia from Germany when she was 24. She now lives with her daughter and grand-children in Maryborough - a sleepy Queensland country town.

Jesse Schiemann

Including like phones and consoles and stuff, there would probably be at least 10 devices that we can use to play games.

Anita Schiemann

My daughter Angel she has got a laptop and a tablet.

Angel Schiemann

A 3DS, a DS I used to have just a DS Jesse has a laptop....

Jesse Schiemann

Phone, a PS4 and a PS3.

And my grandma has her laptop and a computer....

Anita Schiemann

And her tablet and her phone. I find it amusing. Like when we go for walks she takes her games with her.

Ilona Wheeler

It keeps your brain going and a lot of what I actually play has a lot of puzzles in...You've got to think, you've got to be creative, you've got to work ways around it, you've got to think outside the square...

Narration

Over 70 percent of Australians play some sort of computer game. Worldwide close to 3 billion hours a week are spent gaming. With so much time devoted to this form of entertainment, is it influencing the way we live?

Ilona Wheeler

I really believe games, that games can teach values it is not all just given to you, you gotta put your hard work in to get the things you need.

Stephanie Bendixsen, Presenter Good Game

Hello and welcome to Good Game Spawn Point. The show for gamers by gamers. I am Hex ,and I am Bajo.

Narration

Ilona is just one of the legion of fans who watch Good Game & Spawn Point.

Ilona Wheeler

I love The Good Game, Bajo and Hex and Darren. I think they have a great understanding of the games. They give really nice hints and tips and yeah, they're wonderful.

Narration

Since its humble beginnings on ABC in 2006 the show has become a runaway success and presenter and game reviewer Stephanie (also known as Hex) has developed a cult following in the gaming community.

Stephanie Bendixse

"Make-up is awesome in the morning... cos I usually just get to sleep a little bit. When you stay up as late as I do.playing games... just gently brush your face with brushes..."When I started gaming, magic was really exciting to me and the idea of a hex, being a curse or an evil spell, I thought that sounded really cool so that I chose as my gamer tag.

There is no real difference between Stephanie and Hex. Its just a different name I use when I am gaming. So I will answer to both.

Hex

Say hello Darren.

Darren

Hello!

Stephanie Bendixsen, Presenter Good Game

I think the role of games critic has definitely evolved because games have evolved. You're not simply just talking about the mechanics of something or whether or not it was fun. But you're comparing it to every other game in that genre the games that have come before it, how it's dealt with those particular themes and issues and also just how it made you feel.

Narration

Over the past forty years games have evolved from simple two dimensional black & white games to colourful immersive multi-player games..with complex moral landscapes that engage gamers at a whole new level.

Stephanie Bendixsen

The first games, like Pong, just really replicated sort of sport. It was like tennis. Whereas when games evolved a little bit into things like Super Mario Brothers, developers found success in creating identifiable characters that we could use as a hero. It was very much just good versus evil to begin with. But I think as games have progressed and the technology has gotten better and the capabilities have increased, people have started to - to want and crave more out of games. The fact that I can be involved in a story, become attached to some characters, make decisions for those characters based on my own moral code or maybe against my real life moral code because I want to explore something different that has no real life consequence, you know, it's about giving players that fantasy and that freedom and that opportunity and I think that's really exciting.

Narration

Game designer Harry Lee's interest in games began when he was a small boy.

Harry Lee, Game designer

I remember when I was young I used to be terrified of video games because I would identify with the character so much that if anything bad happened I would get scared and I would have to stop playing. I was always very playful and one of the first games that I played was with cardboard boxes and string and sticks and I put these things together and create rule sets with my sister.

But that eventually led me to puzzles and making puzzles and games and so in high school I started messing around with programming and learning how to create virtual games and video games. Then in my early days at university I was releasing them online and commercially.

I would say that people's morality and moral values are always informing their design decisions and that - not just in games but how they interact with other people and how they live their lives.

I grew up in a Christian household and we went to church every Sunday, we would pray before eating dinner, we would discuss theology in between mouthfuls and I think this was a really great environment for me.

Lily, Harry's Mum

His games are more difficult than fun, that's what I feel, I mean most people want to have fun games...but his games are a bit of a torture.

Harry Lee

As someone who really liked to learn, I took to the intellectual side of this quite quickly and I really appreciated trying to understand the Bible. Trying to understand the relevance of faith to my life. So that was a really great puzzle.

Narration

Harry is part of a rapidly growing global industry worth over 70 billion dollars a year. Major studios produce a lot of the high-end games, but independent designers like Harry are becoming increasingly influential. Harry's personal beliefs are central to his approach to game design.

Harry Lee

Generally, I don't say, oh, I'm going to make the game about religion now. But in one of my games, Emma, it concerns itself a little bit about this person's faith because it's a character.

Harry Lee to colleague

Emma is a 17 year old Chinese Australian high school kid

Harry Lee

So when I'm thinking about Emma, I'm thinking, oh, when I was younger, I remember doing this and I remember not really understanding what I was saying when I was praying and I wanted to capture that feeling and put it into the game.

Harry Lee to colleague

So one scene has her praying before dinner, so words pop up on the screen and you must select a word and this demonstrates to the player that you know Emma doesn't really take her faith seriously. It's more of a custom or ritual.

Narration

The character Emma is inspired by Harry's own search for meaning. He recently made the decision to get baptised.

Harry Lee

When I was younger I was hesitant to get baptised because I was worried that I was just faking it or that it wasn't really my faith it was my parents' faith I'm glad that I'm getting baptised now, because I know that I have the faculties to choose for myself what I believe in and to publicly declare that.

Narration

Steph's upbringing was very different to Harry's.

Stephanie Bendixsen

My grandmother was Presbyterian, I think, but religion wasn't really a part of my life growing up. Certainly, there was no influence from my parents in that sense.

Stephanie Bendixsen

My parents were very anti-video games actually. They were just very much of the philosophy that you should be outside and in amongst it and living life and not glued to the TV. Which was devastating for me because I was immediately drawn to it and I found myself sort of escaping to the neighbours' house to play their Sega Mega Drive. In this world I was this warrior princess. I could be this amazing character.

..the only real foray into anything I suppose you could call religion was that I had a brief period as a teenager where I got into like neo-paganism and that all stems, I think, just from my love of fantasy and I just - I think at that age when I was sort of 14, 15, I just really wanted to believe that magic was real. The idea of magic being something that you could use to kind of manipulate things around you was just so exciting to me.

I think in time I eventually grew out of it and I sort of embraced atheism, I suppose, and science but I still, I still have remnants of it in my life, even if it's not a belief system that I follow.

Narration

Games have increasingly incorporated religious themes and symbolism to create a deeper connection with the gamer.

Stephanie Bendixsen

Religion is explored, quite diversely in video games, be it some kind of, you know, post apocalyptic game where there have been kind of new religions formed or cults and things or maybe a game that's based around particular religions or old mythologies and it will take ideas from that and incorporate that into this particular realm that they have created... it sort of started with - with Tolkien, really, creating that idea of - of that archetypal fantasy world and then it developed into games like Dungeons and Dragons, which is a tabletop storytelling game So they've kind of filtered through and I think it links back to a lot of mythology and religious based ideas.

Narration

In the popular game World of Warcraft there are many religious elements threaded throughout the game.

Ilona Wheeler, Gamer

My point of view of World of Warcraft? Yes!

Narration

Although Ilona is not a practicing Christian, she enjoys this part of the game that includes churches and temples inhabited by monks and priests.

Ilona Wheeler

The Priest is the healer, the person to calm it all down...

I find that in the game I am what I am. I feel that some of the older gamers, they're actually bringing their morals into the game, they're more mature, and they're not being silly.

Narration

World of Warcraft is a multi-player game which connects Ilona to the outside world. Today she is playing with her son Mark..a trainee chaplain based nearly 700kms away in Emerald.

Narration

"....ahhh you have to kill them now or boss won't appear..."

Narration

Of the seven million World of Warcraft players Ilona now has online friends in Japan, Canada, Germany, USA and the Philippines. Joining forces in groups called Guilds they navigate this fantasy world with its character role play and hard fought quests always striving to rise to higher levels in the game.

Narration

We call ourselves a family and I love it that these people are all over the world.

Everyone is actually playing together whatever religion they are.

Narration

Ilona also uses games to help bridge the generation gap with Jesse & Angel.

>Narration

It does help me bond with my grandchildren. We can talk while we are gaming. Not just with Angel but also with Jesse who is in this age he is getting a little difficult.

Jesse Schiemann

To me my grandma's like pretty awesome that she plays games and stuff like that and she does it with me as well but like for me it's normal whereas other people do think it's like strange and unusual.

Narration

When I actually play the game with him I can say to Jesse 'Hey why do you think you had done something? Why did you have a temper?' We talk about it while in the game and it is really easy and relaxing.

Anita Schiemann

I guess Jessie and his grandmother sort of can see who can yell the loudest. So they have a bond because they understand each other.

Narration

They don't think about that I am the Grandmother. Grandma understands that and she knows what we are doing. And she can relate to us. They accept it and they respect it. I think it is great.

Narration

All out of a simple game.

Harry Lee

Games reflect the moral codes of their creators and they reflect the values of the society in which they are created. No game exists in a vacuum. If we can accept that games can do good, we accept that games can do evil as well. And so when you create a game you have to become aware of what values you are propagating.

Narration

Over the past decade, violence has become a common ingredient in games. The player's moral judgement is increasingly challenged to make decisions that influence the direction of the game. In an attempt to protect young gamers, Australia uses a classification system.

Grand Theft Auto has an R18+ rating.

Harry Lee

I tried to introduce games to my mum and this was a difficult task because every time I play a game she's like, "Why are you wasting your time?" and I'd say, "It's research. I promise." But eventually I said you know what - I will try to introduce my Mum to some games.

So I got her in front of Grand Theft Auto and I said, "Why don't you just try playing this game,"

ily, Harry's Mum

No this is too responsive. It's like an Audi.

Harry Lee

(laughs )And after muddling through the controls a little bit she got into a car and started running people over and running into lamp-post.....she laughed maniacally. It was amazing and really concerning. I was really worried.

>Lily, Harry's Mum

What is the aim of this game?

Harry Lee

Hmm There is no aim

Lily, Harry's Mum

Just the fun of killing people and driving recklessly (laughs)?

Lily, Harry's Mum

So there's no objective?

Harry Lee

There are objectives but it's mainly kill this person deliver these drugs do this thing.

Lily, Harry's Mum

Oh no that's not good.

Harry Lee

In Grand Theft Auto, when you walk around the street, you automatically bump into people and when you do so you are automatically aggressive and the people are aggressive back to you. This is a reflection of the state of the games morality, right? It doesn't give you an option to be nice. I don't think that gamers are complicit in acts of sin when they are doing so in a calm setting where it has been declared safe to do so.

So because it becomes so normalised, there's this weird disconnect between reality and the game and that's what she was laughing at. At least I hope.

Narration

Leading up to his baptism, Harry attends regular bible study classes.

Harry Lee

'Lepers are cleansed... and the deaf hear...'

Narration

It creates interesting conflicts for him as he discusses how the church views games with his Pastor.

Harry Lee

The Church that my parents go had a little pamphlet that said 'Evil - video games are the devil's work. Yeah it was like very seriously worded. It was like be careful because video games are addictive substances like drugs and can do this and this and this. Just so badly informed. And I went up and asked them about the pamphlet specifically and said do you know what you are putting out there?

Chris Siriweera, Presbyterian minister

Obviously we would want to see games that would enhance kid's lives and bring the positives out it, instead of all the violent stuff.

Stephanie Bendixsen, Presenter Good Game

I think developers really have to be very careful in the way that they create games for young people, because they are so impressionable and I think we definitely feel a responsibility as game critics and reviewers in the show to make sure that we let kids know when we think something is not quite right or this game has not done something particularly well....but at the end of the day games are looking to create something that is telling a story that story might be fictional, it may be inspired from real life but again, you just don't want to categorise or limit people in what they can create and the ideas that they can explore because those kind of limitations just stop us from really progressing the medium.

Narration

With advances in development software, some games offer players the opportunity to play God.

Game

'Our time on earth is ending'

Narration

These "God Games" enable players to be all powerful. Not only can they create or destroy entire civilisations. They can also create new moral codes within the game, unlocking the so called "God mode" to become invincible. In other games virtual religions are being created where players can become followers and participate in celebrations and rituals.

Harry Lee

I think in today's society and particularly in our youth we have a spiritual vacuum and people are trying to fill it with all sorts of things, including games. But games aren't succeeding at giving them what they want.

Narration

An exception to this is the game Journey that takes the gaming experience to a new level where the heart of the story is a spiritual quest.

Stephanie Bendixsen

Journey was one of these indie games that came out a couple of years ago it was so unique and so unlike anything that had come before it that it just - it just blew everyone away.

Basically as the game starts, you - you're a little robed figure in the sand. You're not given any kind of instruction or told what to do or any kind of set up But then this wonderful thing happens as you're playing this game very much by yourself. You encounter another little figure. And then I realised that was another person controlling that character and it was just this wonderful moment of this meeting of these kind of two little souls in this, you know, landscape that we didn't know why we - we were there or what we were doing but we realised that by working together we could, you know, navigate the environment more efficiently.

Harry Lee

It's about the ephemeral nature of meeting someone that you can never properly talk with, somebody that you just trust implicitly, someone that you form a personal, close bond. To me, Journey becomes a metaphor for the relationship between you and God.

Stephanie Bendixsen

Always in the distance you saw this little mountain with a bright light above it and that was like your beacon of hope. That was your goal to try and get there. It definitely felt, to me like a pilgrimage for some people I think it - it represents a journey into the afterlife. It certainly felt that way to me. All I know is that everyone who played it felt profoundly affected by it.

Harry Lee

What Journey represents is actually the melting pot of all religions and faith. It is the opportunity for anyone to feel like they are spiritual, regardless of their personal religion and that has merit.

I can't really quite articulate what about its orientalist spiritual aesthetic annoys me. I think it's wishy-washy. It's taking a blend of culture so that it doesn't make a statement about any one of them. I think that any game which takes a specific faith and analyses it is actually a stronger statement than in Journey.

Narration

Having explored other denominations Harry has decided to get baptised at his local Presbyterian Church. On the day of his baptism, any doubts he may have had about making this commitment have disappeared.

Harry Lee

To me it is no longer just a convenient moralistic guide or moralistic fable. It is the Truth and it has real relevance to my life.

Pastor

In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. We pray God's blessings for you. Singing....

Harry Lee

It is very joyous. I think... My parents said on that night that I called them up and - and told them that I was - was ready to take this journey, they told me later that that was the happiest day of their lives.

Harry Lee

This is a scary thing to tell the world. Because it is a hard truth that invites judgement and disbelief. Indeed it is a scary thing to believe because it is relinquishing control and agency. Not just of our bodies but of our entire existence. And placing it in the hands of an invisible God. Intangible but almighty.

Narration

As Harry enters this new stage in his spiritual development, perhaps a similar shift is emerging in the games industry as sophisticated themes are embraced to find new ways of exploring our common humanity.

Faith is a powerful thing and many designers are tapping in to the need people have to find meaning in their lives that will see games and gamers scaling new heights of physical, emotional, and spiritual engagement.

b>Stephanie Bendixsen

I definitely think some kind of spiritual experience is possible. I mean the emotional experiences I have had in games have been far more profound than I ever expected. It really depends on where people take the medium and the kinds of themes they look to explore and how affecting those experiences will be as a result.

Narration

Games have certainly come a long way since the early days. And these are exciting times to be a gamer as Ilona and her son Mark meet to plan their annual pilgrimage to join other gamers, to explore their shared passion and get a taste of the future.

Harry Lee

I was looking at what games can do to help humans become better and now I'm kind of asking what can games do to heal the spiritual void in all of us.

END

Games featured in this episode -

1.Assassin's Creed

2.Saint Row IV

3.Journey

4.World of Warcraft

5.World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

6.Beyond: Two Souls

7.Pac-Man

8.Pong

9.Astroids

10.GTA V

11.Alien Isolation

12.Far Cry 4

13.Perfect World

14.Elder Scrolls Online

15.Space Invaders II

16.Halo 4

17.The Forest

18.Dying Light

19.Wolfenstein The New Order

20.Donkey Kong

21.Super Mario Bros.

22.Mario Bros.

23.New Super Mario Bros. U

24.The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings

25.Mortal Kombat X

26.Final Fantasy VII

27.Destiny

28.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

29.God of War Ascension

30.Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn

31.Call of Duty: Black Ops

32.The Wold Among Us

33.Bloodborne

34.Sunset Overdrive

35.Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

36.Super Smash Bros. Brawl

37.Karate Champ

38.Bioshock: Infinite

39.The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

40.Battlefield 4

41.Tomb Raider

42.Killzone: Shadow Fall

43.The Last of Us

44.Mass Effect 3

45.Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception

46.Tom Clancy's The Division

47.Dark Souls II

48.Mirrors Edge 2