Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has taken Star Wars: The Old Republic to task for allowing gay relationships in the game. Anyone who isn't in a special interest group like Family Research Council and has paid attention to the way BioWare does things, knows that this is nothing new, of course. In one of his recent daily radio broadcast Perkins attacked the option for same-sex relationships, saying "in a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists!"

Update: This story is apparently ancient history from March 2010. While it's fun to refresh your memory, it's not news. We apologize for presenting it as such.

The Australian Christian Lobby is doing its best to slow down the momentum of an R18+ ratings classification in Australia by using a new tactic: comparing mature video games to cigarettes. The group used the public consultation period for the R18+ classification to assail the games industry.

The Binding of Isaac, Edmund McMillen's dark and (in some circles) controversial game about child abuse and religion is getting an expansion soon. McMillen's new expansion is called Wrath of the Lamb and will reportedly add more of "everything." The expansion, which will cost right around $3, will be "done when it's done," according to McMillen. PC Gamers puts the development time for the expansion - based on what McMillen has said in the past - to a month or so.

The Westboro Baptist Church pretends that it supports morality, but it's hard to take anything away from what the group does other than to draw the conclusion that they are in it for publicity and controversy. If you need an example of this, then I refer you a recent tweet by top church member Margie J Phelps. This morning she tweeted via her iPhone that the church planned to protest Apple founder Steve Jobs' funeral:

SGR Games has been quietly testing a game called Vatican Wars (formerly codenamed Priestville) that challenges players to serve as Catholic Priests and performing duties that Priests perform. The social game for Facebook tests the intersection of religion, politics, and social issues by challenging players to take strong positions on issues important to the church such as capital punishment and abortion. The game launched last week as Vatican Wars but prior to its official launch developer SGR gave it a nine-month test under the moniker of Priestville.

While we have no idea where most Australian politicians stand on yesterday's draft proposal for an R18+ video game classification, the new adult rating is getting some unexpected support from the Catholic Church. According to a GameSpot report, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said that they welcomed yesterday's proposed guidelines for adult rating for video games. Unfortunately not all religious groups agree: the Australian Christian Lobby describe the changes as "frightening."

In a press statement, the Conference, which carries the influence of the Catholic Church in Australia, said that it would support the rating because it could not achieve its preference of having adult material banned. A tepid approval for sure, but the church admits that it is better to have such content under a proper ratings system that parents can use.

Earlier this week we mentioned an iOS device app that purported to cure its users of homosexuality. After the national media picked up on the story and gay rights activists railed against it, Apple decided to pull the app from its App Store. The app created by ministry group Exodus International was designed, according to its creators, to "teach gay people that they have a choice when it comes to their sexuality," and that they have a choice to choose "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus."

Despite a 43 percent decline in its share price in the last week, a survey of Left Behind Games' shareholders shows overwhelming support for the direction of the company. At least that is what the Christian game publisher said in a press release issued this morning. According to its latest shareholder survey 79 percent of shareholders "fully support the direction of management."

In the same survey, 94 percent of respondents sold no shares and 25 percent have bought additional shares during the recent share price decline. Another 33 percent of investors want to be "actively involved in promotions." The survey polled 650 shareholders, the company said.

Did Visceral Games take a quiet shot at Scientology, or is the Dead Space series religion Unitology just a fake religion that only-coincidently sounds like the religion created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard? There has been a lot of speculation about Unitology in the community, but Visceral Game's Creative Director, Wright Bagwell, says the parallels between the two are simply a coincidence.

Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Bagwell described Unitology as a religion that was intended to represent what happens when a religion and its followers become fanatical in their beliefs.

In a letter to congress claiming not to be political (and then laying out an agenda that is highly political) Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), threw his support behind "net neutrality." But really the Archbishop threw his support behind equal access to the Internet, and not necessarily the principles of net neutrality. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"As the Internet continues to grow in its influence and prominence in Americans’ lives, we support legislation and federal regulations that ensure equal access to the Internet for all, including religious and non-profit agencies, as well as those in more sparsely populated or economically distressed areas. True net neutrality is necessary for people to flourish in a democratic society."

For point of reference, here is the part where he says that the church isn't political:

Jack Thompson is changing careers. No longer allowed to practice law in Florida, Thompson has enrolled in the Reformed Theological Seminary, and is working on a book with University of Miami School of Education professor Eugene Provenzo called "Activism 101."

According to the web site for the seminary school, "Reformed Theological Seminary serves the church by preparing its leaders through a program of graduate theological education based upon the authority of the inerrant Word of God and committed to the historic Reformed Faith. We invite you to browse through our seminary web site to learn more about the programs available at our various Seminary campuses in Jackson MS, Orlando FL, Charlotte NC, Washington DC, Atlanta GA and our Virtual Campus."

Christian game publisher Left Behind Games announced that it has snatched up 16.711 million radio listening impressions in order to kick off a radio ad campaign for the holidays that begins today and runs through December 26.

The ads promote Left Behind’s Charlie Church Mouse and Left Behind 3: Rise of the Antichrist games and will appear in 30-second (MP3), 60-second (MP3) and 90-second incarnations (MP3). The ads feature two woman discussing “cool Christian games,” that are “less violent than the Star Wars games.” The women are so excited they “can’t wait” to post about the games on Facebook.

Christian game developer Left Behind Games announced that it has acquired the the assets of fellow Christian game maker Cloud 9 Games.

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Left Behind stated that Cloud 9 President Curtis Ratica had signed a contrct and would remain involved for at least the next three years. The two companies worked together previously on the development of the Praise Champion and King Solomon's Trivia Challenge games.

Texas-based Cloud 9 has developed games like the Rock Band-inspired Christian music game JAMband and the karaoke-themed Heavenly Harmony Gold. Its products are distributed by EMI.

Cloud 9 was labeled as the “second most successful Christian video games publisher,” behind only (presumably) Left Behind Games.

Left Behind Games is on a roll apparently. The Christian entertainment company has acquired the assets of Cloud 9 Games and signed its President, Curtis Ratica, to a three year deal. LBG describes Cloud 9 Games as the "second most successful Christian video games publisher." We assume it believes that it is numero uno. The company said that it hopes to tap into Mr. Curtis's console games development experience:

"We are hopeful to leverage Curtis’ Xbox and other console development experiences soon," a company spokesman said. "Meanwhile, we are pleased to own and publish his newest PC titles, Praise Champion and King Solomon’s Trivia Challenge, which we will present to Walmart later this week during our national line review."

An interesting opinion piece on The Atlantic Wire looks at race politics in video games, focusing on first-person shooters. Author Max Fisher talks about Resident Evil 5, Medal of Honor and Modern Warfare 2, inspired by an essay from Jim Gourley for ForeignPolicy.com.

The thrust of the opinion piece is about the painful transition from conflicts against zombies and fictionalized Nazis to real world conflicts involving real groups of people and how developers portray them. Here's a taste:

Okay, we readily admit to being virtually hypnotized by Christian game publisher Left Behind Games, even more so in light of the odd press releases the company has issued in the past couple of weeks, but their latest may take the cake.

Today, Left Behind detailed an upcoming email campaign that it says will eventually hit 7.77 million inboxes. The company added a “top-tier” email delivery service that will push output to 45,000 emails per hour. The campaign will leverage an “under-utilized” list of over 500,000 “Christian consumers accumulated since the release of the Left Behind Trivia Game, 7 years ago.”

Christian PC game publisher Left Behind Games has stated that its Left Behind 3: Rise of the Antichrist PC game, in advance of Christmas, will benefit from the “largest marketing push through churches since the Passion of the Christ.”

In a story last week, the company claimed that Christian store chains had pre-ordered 37,174 Left Behind Games titles in advance of the holiday season. The company has now disclosed the names of the chains that will carry its games, which includes Family Christian Stores, LifeWay Christian Stores, Mardel Christian & Education and Berean Christian Stores.

In a weirdly specific press release, religious game developer and publisher Left Behind Games stated that it’s received initial holiday orders for 37,174 copies of its PC games.

The orders were from the U.S.’s “top four leading Christian store chains,” covering 503 locations. Titles ordered included Praise Champion, Charlie Church Mouse: Superpack, Keys of the Kingdom and Left Behind 2: Tribulation Forces, but the real stalwart of the bunch was Left Behind 3: Rise of the Antichrist, which averaged 24.8 copies ordered per store.

CEO Troy Lyndon added, “The depth of these new orders increases our projected fiscal year revenue by $401,095.”

Following a short beta period, German online game publisher FiAA GbmH has released the official version of its browser-based online game entitled The Bible Online.

If you were waiting for a bible game that features both RTS and MMORPG elements, you’re in luck, as the title lets players “construct their villages, manage resources,” in addition to the challenge of protecting “their tribe from the pagans and also from other tribes.”

The first chapter of the game, called Heroes, centers on the Book of Genesis and features a temple, in which “players get the chance to actually read and type the passages of the Book of Genesis, which leads to increase of their ‘faith,’ which is one of the attributes of the players.”

FiAA GbmH plans to add chapters that eventually cover all the stories of the Bible. The game is available in both German and English.

Looks like an experimental pilot program that had around 100 Texas Wal-Mart stores carry the Christian-themed titles of Left Behind Games went well, as the publisher announced that two of its newer offerings will be sold at locations of the world’s largest retailer throughout the U.S.

Left Behind 3: Rise of the Antichrist and Charlie Church Mouse: Superpack will show up in Wal-Mart stores before the end of October.

LBG CEO Troy Lyndon stated, "We are delighted to offer healthy alternatives into the PC game marketplace and pleased to see these games get the exposure they deserve by becoming available in Walmart nationally.

Left Behind 3: Rise of the Antichrist is a real-time strategy game based on the book series of the same name.

Christian video game company Left Behind Games revealed it has "exceeded expectations" with $210,000 in revenue for the two most recent quarters of 2010. The company says that this revenue is "considerably more than income in any two consecutive quarters since the company’s inception." The company also added that it will provide updated guidance on some orders and commitments from some of the nation’s "largest retailers sometime next week."

Left Behind Games has seven Christian PC game titles on the market, and plans to release four new games during the holiday season, including LEFT BEHIND 3: Rise of the Antichrist, Charlie Church Mouse 3D Bible Adventures, Praise Champion, and King Solomon’s Trivia Challenge.

People may wonder why LB Games isn't making the kind of money that more mainstream game developers and publishers make. The answer comes from this quote from Left Behind Games CEO, Troy Lyndon:

An online videogame backed by the right wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), launched in advance of regional elections to be held on September 26, depicts the province of Styria as overrun with mosques and tasks players with stopping further ones from being built.

A Reuters story claims that the “Bye Bye Mosque” game has drawn over 60,000 visitors since Monday, in addition to criticisms from the local Islamic community, Social Democrats and the Green Party. A local Islamic leader named Anas Schakfeh called the game “tasteless and incomprehensible,” adding, “This is religious hatred and xenophobia beyond comparison.”

As the game ends, a message reads, “Styria is full of minarets and mosques. So vote for Dr. Gerhard Kurzmann (pictured) and the Freedom Party on September 26 so that this doesn’t happen.”

Here's an interesting bit of news from Dnaindia.com: it turns out that Hindus in America strongly support net neutrality. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada last week, said that it is important to maintain a level playing field when it comes to the internet.

Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said in his remarks last week that "every citizen of the world should have access to high speed internet, and corporate greed should not be allowed to govern it."

"Access to the internet should be a fundamental right as it played a significant role in everyday life," he added.

Zed also applauded Finland for making "broadband a legal right" for its citizens and for promising speeds of up to 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Finally, Zed urged other religious leaders including Pope Benedict XVI, to "wholeheartedly support the causes of net neutrality and internet access" as a "fundamental right."

Blogger Ebrahim Saifuddin used his medium to pen an interesting look into why he believes videogames are haram (forbidden) for Muslims.

In his article, posted late last year, the author uses passages from the Qur’an to guide his opinion on whether specific game components are haram or halal (permitted). Ebrahim begins with music in videogames, citing four spots in the Qur’an as indicating that music is haram. Among the passages cited was the following (though it seems a bit wide ranging):

There is a man among the people who buys discourses of distracting amusements, so that he may mislead (people) from the Way of Allah, and make a mockery of it. For such people there is a disgraceful punishment. [31:06]

Next up, the depiction of animate objects in games, such as humans and animals, which includes the author’s claim that, “Many a times the female characters in video games are highly inappropriately dressed.” The author concludes:

Kotaku reports that the notorious Westboro Baptist Church (who you may know better as the "God Hates Fags" sign wielding congregation out of Kansas) will be in San Diego next week to protest the "idolatrous worship" taking place at Comic-Con (thanks to Shoutbox user Rodrigo Ybáñez García for the tip!).

The activity will happen on July 22. To get an idea of where this group is coming from you need look no further than comments in its schedule of events section on its web site:

The Catholic diocese of Balanga, Bataan has turned to videogames in order to increase the Catholicism of its flock.

Paolo’s Journey targets kids—from third-grade through college age—and is said to be based on Pope Benedict XVI’s “Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,” according to PhilStar.com. The game involves the travails of Paolo, who falls into well while looking for his lost kitten. Once in the water receptacle, Paolo is confronted by an angel who tells him “to collect the three keys he needs to be able to return home.” Throughout the game Paolo will have to anser 45 catechism questions while battling creatures called “Bloobas” and collecting scrolls.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas said that the game was “not for faith propagation, but to remind the faithful of the social teachings of the Church.”

Tim Tebow’s eye greasepaint, which often featured religious messages during his playing days at the University of Florida, will be plain black for the cover of NCAA Football 11.

The Chalkboard noticed the toned down eye paint in a Facebook posting for the game from Electronic Arts. The blog’s author has been posting similar stories wondering, and asking readers, if a statue of the ex-Heisman Trophy winner to be installed on campus should contain the religious messages or not. The majority of commenters seem okay with the messages being included.

The Chalkboard also notes that in April, the NCAA banned the further inclusion of messages in eye black, a trend that Reggie Bush helped make popular during his USC days.

Christian game developer Left Behind Games has released details on its lineup of PC titles for the rest of the year, including a pair of games that will pit users against the forces of the Antichrist.

A pilot test that saw approximately 100 Wal-Mart stores in Texas sell Christian-themed videogames from Left Behind Games went well enough that the world’s largest retailer is expanding the program.

Left Behind Games CEO Troy Lyndon announced the expansion in a letter to shareholders, which website Stockmarketquarterly noticed as part of an SEC filing. The news was announced in letter form at Wal-Mart’s request. Left Behind Games will now be added to “a limited number of Walmart stores covering a broad area of states.”

Lyndon wrote that Wal-Mart expanded the trial in order to see sales results “without the promotional campaign that was undertaken by LFBG in Texas.”

Left Behind Games, which recently merged with fellow Christian game publisher Digital Praise, will see its titles now sold in Berean Christian Stores.

The agreement came about as a result of a recent trial marketing program that took place last year, which saw four “Family Video Game Night” events take place at Chick-fil-A restaurants in California.  The events allowed attendees to try out games for free and receive a 20.0 percent off coupon to be used at a neighboring Berean store. The promotions resulted in 30 games per week sold and $2,500 in monthly sales at a single store, prompting the expansion of the promotion to the remaining Berean locations.