'Guitar Praise' lets you 'blast that solid Christian rock'

(Credit: Digital Praise)

If you've been champing at the bit to play some Guitar Hero, but have found that the music contained therein just doesn't meld with your Christian values, you may be in luck.

Digital Praise, a maker of Christian computer games, has released Guitar Praise, which is basically a Christian rock version of Guitar Hero.

The game replaces such Guitar Hero staples as Primus, Rage Against the Machine, and Butthole Surfers with artists including Nate Sallie, Petra, and Jonah33. As far as I can tell from the promotional video there is no other difference.

The complete package retails for $100 and includes a wireless guitar and a Windows- and Mac-compatible game.

So if you like to picture your deity "with like giant eagle's wings, singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd with like an angel band" (you know, minus the Skynyrd), then this game might be worth checking out.

[kylebuttermore]

yet another reason im glad to be atheist.

[Renegade Knight]

Which reason is that. That the game exists?

[stankarse]

Not sure why people think this comment is so bad. Christians make similar statements showing pride in their beliefs every day, even though many of such statements can be insulting to various beliefs.

[joshbastion]

Kyle - you might like this. http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2009/08/96-playing-guitar-praise-in-lieu-of.html

[antonydupuy]

Let's rock out with Christ love :-) !

[ejeon1989]

I'd rather rock out to The Who, Iron Maiden, and Boston if you dont mind.

[pc2macandluvinit]

Awesome! I love the Guitar Hero games, but am not at all comfortable having my 4 year old hear the lyrics and watch the graphics. There are some great contemporary Christian groups out there, and hopefully this will represent their work well.

[ascheeseman]

If your religion is that fragile that some simple rock music can taint it maybe its not worth believing in. Go Atheism!!!!

[tcd311]

Fragile? Not so much fragile as some parents just don't want to hear their kids singing Suck my kiss or talk dirty to me. I really like the guitar hero games. Also some parents are buying this game for their kids not as an alternative, but because their children truly enjoy this type of music. Who wouldn't want to rock out to Jesus Freak by DC Talk??!!??!!!? I want to!!!

[pc2macandluvinit]

It is not a matter of fragile religion. It is a matter of the values I chose to expose my children to in our home.

[Renegade Knight]

As an athiest you should know that people like the music they like and don't like what they don't like. It's as simple as that. If there are enough Christians to buy the game. Excellent. I wonder why Rock Band and Guitar Hero don't offer downloadable song suites for different kinds of music fans. There are more than a few country fans in the world who would bite, not to mention christians. Of course as a true atheist you would like or dislike music regardless of if it happned to be christian or not. Your faith in atheism being strong and all.

[ithomas94]

If you can't get why they released this game, then you don't deserve to be an athiest.
Athiesm is about logic, and yet, you're a perfect example of why some people hate athiests.

[ImSpartacus]

Hey, don't be giving Atheists a bad rap. Atheists are not anti-religion (those are aptly called "Anti-theists"); they are without religion. Have some respect for theists, especially since they are a vast majority...

[Renegade Knight]

@ithomas94

If atheism were actually about logic they would all be agnostics until such time as there was definitive proof on way or the other. Until then atheists have taken a leap of faith, just like their theist brothers.

[sirjakeyjake]

The commercial is horrid.

However, I grew up listening to all kinds of music, from the Beatles to 60's folk, classic rock, 80's hair bands...and Christian rock. This fills a market void. Just ask any of the big music distribution companies why they all own Christian music labels.

I don't necessarily want my young daughters to be singing "You Shook Me All Night Long" throughout the day...this might work for us. I just wish it was an expansion pack to GH or RB/RB2 rather than a whole separate deal.

[FlairFan]

Yeah, I had a conundrum explaining the imagery of GHIII (goat-headed demon swinging a big@** hammer, etc.). And this is coming from a KISS, Ozzy, Sabbath, Maiden, Priest fan! GH1,2, 80's... I had no problem with having my 4yr. daughter sitting on my lap playing along w/me. But when III came out... damn shame two. My favorite song on there is "Cliffs of Dover" but I can't play that one w/the little ones watching. So good! Alternatives are a good thing. Shoot, I think they ougtta come out w/ Rock Band - Wiggles. Especially for the Wii. That'd be a decent seller!!

[Cruton502]

Maybe we could finally get a Wii (for the kids) if they came out with a wiggles game :)

[FourOnTheFloor]

Cliffs of Dover? The Eric Johnson song? Unless you find amazing guitar technique and creativity offensive, I don't understand why you can't play that one with your little ones around...

[preed26]

So I guess your atheism is so flimsy that you feel threated by this game. [CNET editors' note: Banned content deleted.]

[raggy1222]

Good point, I like that :)

[millejos]

Religion issues aside, "Christian" is actually a pretty large demographic, it makes sense that companies like this pursue these consumers.

[HighwayHome]

Amen brother - just another marketing concept - and just in time for X-mas.

[TheStairMaster]

meh, there are a lot of bands that have christian members, but don't really have explicitly christian music (relient k, switchfoot, etc.) that dont get any guitar hero love cause of the religious connotation, even though their songs are perfect for it

I'd rather see these guys get the real Guitar Hero treatment instead of this kind of stuff, but i guess beggars can't be choosers...

[totallyprocrastinating]

I guess here would be a good place to link to this:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/709/

[streamline35]

You nailed it. That episode was my first thought after reading this article.

[streamline35]

AAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!! Oh man... this article is my big laugh for the day. I love reading about christian video games... cracks me up every time.

[mhr512]

All christian video games in the past, now, and in the future = FAIL

[jskrenes]

To paraphrase Hank Hill, "You're not making Christianity better, you're just making video games worse!" And I'm a diehard Christian.

[pc2macandluvinit]

Love it!

[everwanted2]

Hey! Hate the game if you want. But I'm sure this should help about 100 kids whose parents are so religious, any game without Jesus in it is a no-no. At least those kids get to kinda-know what it feels like to be normal...

[eagledrc]

It's not that the game doesn't have Jesus. If you own one of these systems, your parents are not like that. What kind of parents would be that strict but let their kids play video games? A lot of popular secular music has terrible morals, as already mentioned in these comments, and any caring, loving parent would shelter their young kids from this music.

[seanh1231]

Hmm... I guess my parents aren't caring or loving then. But then I know for a fact that this is not true so where are you going with this?

[askj113]

@eagledrc: I dunno, if I was a parent, as an atheist, I would probably rather have my kids play guitar hero than this. If were talking about little, little kids I don't think they really should be playing video games anyway. I mean, eight year olds should really be doing other things than video games. However older than that I would be fine with letting my kids play guitar hero. You can't shelter kids from the world, you have to teach them what's good and bad, and you can't ban them from listening to music that is really about life and many of the problems people face without being overcontrolling. Too many parents now are too controlling, and I think kids need to see the world a little more. Besides, I have know idea how indoctrinal this game is, but I would definitely not want my kids to play. There's too much blind faith and reactionism associated with Christianity as it is. Let them think for themselves

[AZNpeoples]

ok im christian and all but is this a joke!

i was laughing so hard when i watched the preview video!!!!!!!!!! XD

[PandaSage1221]

Graphics looks kinda lame, but I like it.

And I agree with tcd311: Jesus Freak would be awesome!

[Swooley]

This is the best idea EVER! They will make bank. Think of all the Momos in Utah who will y this. I so wish I had created it! so sad :(

[bcoranato]

There are some awesom Christian bands. Try Skillet Mr. Atheisist.

[Lemon5]

I can't stand the idea of Christian rock, but i love Skillet! Funny how that is (Flyleaf still sucks though)

[picvegita]

Wow a christian music game and no Supertones or old MXPX?

For shame......

[Rohou]

That's what i was thinking. A Christian guitar game, but the only songs are the cheesy power-chord contemporary artists with only a couple good artists like thousand foot krutch. No anberlin, switchfoot relient k or mxpx to be found.

[neverforgetJeff]

There is a relient k song, check the site.

[wolf_odonnell9000]

I second that! Anberlin, Switchfoot, MXPX, or even Third Day! Third Day might be a more somber band, but they still have some awesome guitar riffs in their music! However they do have Jesus Freak by Dc Talk, so it's pretty good :P