Topic: The Binding of Isaac teased yet again

As I said lets try to use common sense when discussing this if developers aren't making Christian/Biblical themed games for Nintendo systems currently most likely because there isn't much of a market (never has been really) hence a lot of those games being put on the console illegally to avoid licence fees would you want that kind of game on the eshop honestly?

^This is the truth.

Not supporting a game is different to not supporting any product of the company that helped making it available anymore though.

BoI directly attacks the Christian and Jewish faiths, actually. Being insulted by BoI does not show weakness in one's faith, but a belief in the sacredness of the Bible. And art can absolutely be offensive, and insulting.

If a store started selling products that supported anti-black sentiment, I'd imagine a lot of people would boycott the store, and no one would question their motives. If Nintendo starts selling anti-Christian games, why would it be unreasonable for the same thing to happen?

Thing is, there's a difference between not supporting a developer and calling for a game to never get released because you are personally offended by it. No one says you have to play the game, just let people who want to play it have the opportunity.

I'd be surprised if there was really no market for Christian games, since almost 80% of Americans are Christian (combining Protestant and Catholic). My understanding is that the Wisdom Tree games were produced unofficially because Nintendo didn't allow religious games on their systems as a matter of policy, not because there was no money in it.

I don't really think the game is trying to directly insult any religion though.

It's about a mentally unstable woman who hears voices that tell her to kill her son, and about her son escaping from her in what is apparently a portal to hell located in their basement.

Now, you could take that literally in a religious way. They had a freaking portal to hell itself in their basement, wouldn't that mean that the voices are more likely to come from there? Wouldn't the fact that hell exists in the game support the ideas of those religions?

There's also another way to read these things, the kid is the mentally unstable one and everything is a fabrication by a tortured mind. He's apparently had a really terrible life, so it would make sense for a child to make up a fantasy world were he can destroy the source of his problems. Being son to a conservative religious woman, it would make sense that his fantasy world would take the form of a tale from the bible, since he's probably read it and is unable to understand it.

In the end, it is just a silly and grotesque game with an equally silly story that is just there to justify it's grotesqueness.

The insult comes from the fact that the game is a twisted version of a Biblical story. The developer took the story of Isaac and not only twisted it into something ugly, but made that twisted version of the story the premise for a disgusting game. What's more, the story of Isaac is one of profound faith. In BoI that faith is equated to insanity. The game is absolutely an insult to Christianity and Judaism. Even if I wasn't a Christian, I hope I'd have the decency to not support such a blatantly hateful game.

Neither of your ideas change anything. The first idea could work, but it's quite a stretch, and even then the game is made insulting by the use of Isaac's name, and the disgusting nature of the game. Your second idea is the equivalent of having a character wake up from a dream. The problem is that the developer still designed that dream to be insulting to Christians and Jews. Saying "it was just imagined by the character" doesn't excuse the content.

Would you say the same thing if the game was racist, homophobic, sexist, or pornographic? Should Nintendo let everything on the eshop, regardless of how offensive it may be, if there are people interested in playing it?

Oh, if it were any of those things, people would be irate. But since it makes fun of Christianity, people don't care.

And the implicated religions will only begin care if the game becomes super lucrative.

Anyway, I think that's enough of this topic for a day for me. I don't even like this game.

If by "religions" you mean "religious people", you're half right. More religious people would care if more religious people knew, and the bigger the game became the more people would know. Even so, religious people that know now, including several in this thread, clearly care already. To imply that religious people don't care unless the game's successful simply isn't right.

Yep, I would. As long as it is fun.

Obvious troll, but I will humor you by saying that from my perspective, that position is indefensible.

Embracing the notion that it's only a game does not in any way lessen the degree of moral obligation that a person has when observing or partaking in virtual actions that are counter to a social paradigm. For a tangible example, the act of purchasing a game which blatantly objectifies some reprehensible act (not speaking of parody here) could be misinterpreted as a motion of support for such activities. Or even more simply, asking a friend to observe or participate in a game that you know they find offensive could undermine your position as a morally neutral fun-seeker.

You do realise that video games are mostly fiction, fiction being basically the ultimate form of parody, just because it isn't funny doesn't make it any less of a parody. "For a tangible example, the act of purchasing a game which blatantly objectifies some reprehensible act (not speaking of parody here) could be misinterpreted as a motion of support for such activities." So if I purchase Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty or BF I am supporting murdering people? Because I purchase D&D handbooks I believe we should live a life adventuring and exploring, to be a PC and not an NPC? Couldn't be because I want to play a game and have fun? And in no way am I saying that a person should be forced to be play something they don't want to:

Operative:"No one says you have to play the game, just let people who want to play it have the opportunity."
TrueWiiMaster:"Would you say the same thing if the game was racist, homophobic, sexist, or pornographic?"
Me:"Yep, I would. As long as it is fun."

So basically I'm saying I would play a game that was racist, homophobic, sexist, or pornographic, but it doesn't have to be scrapped because other people don't like the themes (in fact I have played games with each of those things in them, sometimes they had more than one of those traits in them, clean criminal record). What are we going to ban tennis games because people don't like it and want soccer instead?

So by your logic you are all in for child labour, because you bought Wii U/PS4/whatever?

You are quoting someone else, but I seem to be the intended target.

Supporting a product and practicing a lifestyle are two different things, but of course you already knew that.

It would be great to get all Team Meat's games on either Wii U or 3DS. Maybe even both platforms.

I'm pretty sure you're in the minority there. Most people wouldn't want to support racism, sexism, etc. Even if the game was free, they probably wouldn't enjoy a game filled with those ideas, even if the game was well made. Adding such games to the eshop would definitely hurt Nintendo's reputation, and they wouldn't even consider it. Even Microsoft and Sony would block games like that from their platforms (I think they have a policy blocking all racist and pornographic content).

I quite despise the idea of demanding the sacrifice of living things. I mean it might make sense to show devotion in a very radical form but if i take the Bible literally i don't see any good in the original story.
Whereas i'd say that in the game Bol starts to question so called "inevitable consequences" and learns to deal with his own personality as well as with everything that makes him feel bad.

@TrueWiiMaster

the comparision with racism is so idiotic. no one can choose his skincolour. but religion and faith are things you choose (at least thats how it should be). although most people only become religious because they are forced to believe in that stuff from birth on. that's why religion is still a thing even today. and dont tell me that wouldnt be true. i was forced to believe in that stuff and had a hard time to free myself from that stuff!