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QUAERITUR: Holy Mass videogame for the Wii
From a reader:
Father, did you see this: http://masswepray.com/ ? A game for Nintendo Wii simulating Holy Mass. At first I thought it’s a hoax, but "gameplay movies" look quite real. Someone put a lot of effort into it. Maybe some of WDTPRS readers can shed some light on this matter. I also wonder what you, as a priest, think about such games. Personally I’m feeling a bit uneasy.
I don’t know what to say.
An initial reaction would be….
well….
I don’t know.
Okay, if forced to say something I would have to make two observations and a question.
First, perhaps this could be a tool for instruction.
Second, whatever we do concerning Holy Mass should bring us to an encounter with mystery. I am not sure this will do that.
That said, is Master Chief one of the ministers? Is he, perhaps, an usher somewhere? Can we take prayer books from our "allies", or throw sticky grenades if the priest says something stupid?
Will there be controller adaptors shaped like a Chalice and Ciborium? Seriously though, if they actually do this… I BET that the music accompanying will be chant….
Comment by chironomo — 19 November 2009 @ 12:14 pmThe master chief is one of the servers :)
Comment by Jack Hughes — 19 November 2009 @ 12:16 pmFr. Z, this was linked in one of your recent posts. I was thinking that it’s just a joke. Isn’t it?
Comment by Konichiwa — 19 November 2009 @ 12:24 pmIt’s gotta be a joke, Father. The ad is clearly homemade, based on the lighting, sound, video quality etc.
In addition, the graphics on the game itself are absurdly poor. Any company that actually made a game like this for the wii, and put the energy into making special controllers, would have to make sure that it didn’t look like “futuristic” 3d rendering from 1996.
Unless someone has made a really, really bad game.
Taking it as a joke, and not as some poor company’s terrible idea, it’s pretty funny.
On the huge, huge off-chance the game is real, or if anyone ever does make a “Mass game”, would it be any different than the Mass playsets kids can get now?
Oh, and who cares about Master Chief—- the important question is can we play as one of the old-school italian plumbers?
Comment by Alfred — 19 November 2009 @ 12:26 pmYeah, I think it’s a parody/joke. Otherwise, I’d have something to say about having the game allow lay kids to wield aspergilla during the Sacred Liurgy… :)
Comment by paladin — 19 November 2009 @ 12:34 pmI think it’s a pretty cool idea, especially if it used the Wii Fit board, which could monitor your posture, giving you extra marks if you genuflect with the correct knee, bow at the proper times, etc… Follow five rubrics in a row and you get a score multiplier. It could be awesome. But I think it’s a joke.
To paraphrase Luther, better to think of church when playing video games than to think of video games when in church!
Comment by cnaphan — 19 November 2009 @ 12:45 pmOh, I don’t know. The NO is perfectly suitable for a shoot-em-up video game. Think of the possibilities. First, destroy the veiled women who randomly appear in the pews. Once you’ve cleared the church of those disgusting traditionalists, the presider comes out as a clown who releases balloons in the church. Pop enough balloons and the EMHCs and altar girls break into wiccan-style liturgical dance. Finally, Bp Trautman comes to the pulpit to speak. Whenever his speech bubble displays words like “ineffable” you blast away all those stoopid words to win the game!
Comment by Tradster — 19 November 2009 @ 1:10 pmSales Clerk: “Can I help you, sir?”
Customer: “Yes. Does the Holy Mass Wii game come in the Extraordinary Form?”
Sales Clerk (smiles): “Yes, sir, it does. And now, thanks to Summorum Pontificum, no special background check or parental permission is needed to purchase it!”
Comment by medievalist — 19 November 2009 @ 1:15 pmI think it’s supposed to be a parody
Comment by Joe of St. Thérèse — 19 November 2009 @ 1:19 pmmedievalist: ...And now, thanks to Summorum Pontificum, no special background check or parental permission is needed to purchase it!
HA! No background check. No parental permission.
You know, in some states its easier to buy a gun than it is to find a TLM!
Seriously, though, this has to be a parody or hoax. The promotional video screams Saturday Night Live commercial!
And how many Catholics say grace while holding hands and sitting down?
Comment by Choirmaster — 19 November 2009 @ 1:38 pmI want to know why it’s only blond and brunette white folks in the pews.
Oh wait…throw in some blue hairs and you have my parish…
Comment by smeej — 19 November 2009 @ 1:43 pmIf this game is real, my concerns would be that it encourages women who think they can become priests, and female servers.
Comment by jlong — 19 November 2009 @ 1:44 pmAlso, has anyone noticed if the date on the “pre-order” box changes? Right now, it says 11/20. If it says 11/21 tomorrow, we’ll know something’s up.
Comment by smeej — 19 November 2009 @ 1:45 pmI went to purchase it for my seven year-old son, but it is rated “M” for mature due to its strong religious content. Instead I bought him “Call of Duty”, much more family friend don’t you know.
Comment by ejcmartin — 19 November 2009 @ 2:05 pmI could use one of those blaster things to put an end once and for all to the many liturgical abuses I see every Sunday.
...keep up the funny comments. I am cracking up reading some of these!
Comment by Tom A. — 19 November 2009 @ 2:12 pmit has to be a joke because of the ip address and email address connected with it (this was exposed on a game website that does reviews but they said “Potential hoax” because it is supposed to be released tomorrow)
Comment by Mrs. O — 19 November 2009 @ 2:37 pmThat said…what gives with excluding the EF form?
I mean..come on…maybe Fr Z can help with that…
And if they really want to be correct…we would start in the first pew and work our way BACK because we all know that is the real catholic section..
Not released tomorrow, but pre ordering…my mistake..
Comment by Mrs. O — 19 November 2009 @ 2:39 pmI’ve seen several comments that this might be a viral video that is being used to promote the game Dante’s Inferno. It’s definitely possible, as the game is scheduled to be released in the next couple of months. Either that, or someone is having a good laugh at us Catholics spreading this video throughout Catholic blogs and social networking.
Comment by Fr. Cory Sticha — 19 November 2009 @ 2:47 pmIt does seem to have a shallow understanding about the Mass. It seems like it might be a Protestant parody of Catholic teachings (crosses, not crucifixes; a focus on the externals (bells and smells); no priest at altar). But then again, it could be produced by sincere Catholics who haven’t received a proper catechesis.
On the other hand, it does seem that these guys have gone all out to publicize this. If it’s a hoax, they’ve really put a lot of investment in publicizing the thing.
Comment by Robert — 19 November 2009 @ 3:26 pmHa! Could you imagine Fr. Master Chief? I’m sure he gives riveting sermons on the Covenant and the Flood…
Maybe his Gregorian Chant is good too…
Comment by Trevor — 19 November 2009 @ 3:37 pmLOL, Father you are going to get me in trouble if I keep cracking up at work!
Comment by lacrossecath — 19 November 2009 @ 4:10 pmDefinitely a joke, probably by a Protestant.
1 – Wrong hands used for crossing oneself and done the wrong way. I don’t see how any Catholic could get this wrong.
2 – Single candle, on altar, no real altarcloth? I mean, it looks like some unity candle centerpiece at a wedding.
3 – Seems to be unaware of the existence of daily Mass.
4 – Misses every and all really obvious joke that Catholics make about Mass or devotional practices.
5 – Two lecterns? Not since the Eighties, sad to say.
6 – “Lighting Prayer Candles”? “Taking Collection”? “Holy Procession”? Yeah, that’s a Catholic way to phrase it. Yeah. Sure.
7 – If a Catholic was making jokes about the Rosary, there’d be more than two decades worth of beads on that sucker, and the ‘Cross Controller’ would be a crucifix. When Catholics blaspheme, they do it good and hard.
8 – Three crosses in the sanctuary, 2 crosses in the processional, servers swinging thuribles, and no crucifix at all? Sheesh. Definitely Protestants.
Comment by Suburbanbanshee — 19 November 2009 @ 4:27 pmThis is a blasphemous joke. The website says that it is supposed to be released at Easter 2010.
Comment by Dr. Eric — 19 November 2009 @ 4:29 pmThe gamer site shacknews.com took a look and found out that the site was only registered on November 3rd of this year. A real game company would have registered potential game names a long time back.
Comment by Suburbanbanshee — 19 November 2009 @ 4:33 pmWhat languages does it come in? It should have at least four: Japanese, English, Latin and… oh, never mind.
Comment by The Cobbler — 19 November 2009 @ 8:03 pmWell, you could throw out the game and put a kneeler next to everyone’s bed.
Comment by tzard — 19 November 2009 @ 11:57 pm9. I forgot the “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” soundtrack. Yup, must be about Lutherans.
Comment by Suburbanbanshee — 20 November 2009 @ 8:04 amIt’s a stunt to promote Dante’s Inferno, click the preorder now link and it will accuse you of heresy and offers a view to an exclusive trailer.
Comment by cgdouglas — 20 November 2009 @ 10:39 amWhy are Mary and Paul holding road flares? And what have they done with the priest?!
Comment by caterham — 20 November 2009 @ 1:07 pmThey appear to be dressed like your average Catholic.
Comment by Tom A. — 20 November 2009 @ 3:05 pmNot a spoof or joke, apparently, but a marketing ploy:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-philbin/2009/11/20/company-mocks-catholicism-sell-video-game
Company Mocks Catholicism to Sell Video Game
By Matthew Philbin
November 20, 2009
As if we needed more proof that Christians are the only group left in America that it’s safe to make fun of. A popular YouTube video purports to be an ad for a Wii-like game system called “Mass: We Pray,” which will be available at Easter 2010. In reality, the anti-religious video is a commercial for a new video game.
In it, viewers see a family at home as a saccharine-voiced narrator reminiscent of the one from the old “Mr. Bill” skit on “Saturday Night Live,” says, “A family shouldn’t have to wait until Sunday to worship the Lord. Now you can go to church every day without leaving your home.”
The family’s two children are then shown pantomiming the movements of priests and congregants during mass, using “the wireless cross controller,” a large white plastic cross with a rosary bead strap. “Every twist of the hand and nuance of a blessing is recreated onscreen,” says the narrator. The point, he explains, is to collect “grace points,” and move a number of pews toward the altar. “Then trade in your Grace points to unlock the Holy Mysteries. Add the kneeler accessory, and get off the couch and into the action.” Players can download the “seven sacraments and holy rituals expansion pack.”
Visitors to the “Mass: We Pray” Web site are encouraged to click the “Pre-order” button as of Nov. 20. That’s when they realize the video and site have been a marketing ploy for an actual game from EA called “Dante’s Inferno.” They can either watch the trailer for the run-of-the-mill violent game based on the 14th Century poem, or they can “Damn thy Fellow Sinners to Hell on Facebook with the Go To Hell Application.”
EA is Electronic Arts Inc., “a leading global interactive entertainment software company.” According to the company’s Web site, in fiscal 2009 it had “31 titles that sold more than one million copies, and three titles that each sold more than five million copies including “FIFA 09,” “Madden NFL 09,” and “Need for Speed Undercover.”
So EA mocks the Catholic rites and sacraments in order to sell a hell-themed video game. Perhaps next year the company will use a spoof ad for an interactive prayer rug or “Jihadi Jump” to sell a “Satanic Verses” game. Don’t hold your breath.
Comment by MichaelJ — 20 November 2009 @ 4:48 pm