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CCG: Tell us about yourselves and the company. When did you start the company and why?
C9G: I've been in the game industry since the mid 90's working on a variety of projects from children's titles for the PC to blockbuster titles (AAA) for the Playstation, Gamecube and Xbox. While working for a large game company, the president came down to Austin for a meeting. In that meeting he stated that he wanted "our games to be more like Hollywood. I want more violence, more cursing, nudity and sex". I can't explain how awful I felt. I loved working there and loved the project I was on but knew I could not contribute wholeheartedly to a company that was going down this path. I soon left and began working as an Art Director for another company. About that same time I was singing and playing a worship song I had written on my Roland keyboard. Out of the blue, I heard "3 things". I remember thinking "It's God speaking to me", and I questioned what 3 things? I heard "music, art and computers".... "these are the 3 things I've given you, use them for me". I realized that God gave me a love for music, a talent for art and skills for the computer and I needed to make games for Him. That's the 'why'. The 'when' was a little over 4 years officially as we incorporated "Cloud 9 Games" in the fall of 2005.
CCG: Can you tell our readers about your games and philosophy behind them?
C9G: We started out with a couple of Bible Trivia games in a gameshow atmosphere. They are quite fun. We wanted to create an edgy and fun series that challenged people to learn more about the Bible. One thing people get out of playing the games is a realization that the Bible is very, very detailed. You actually start reading the Bible differently once you realize the importance placed on seemingly insignificant details. So, the hope is that people have fun, first. However, while they are having fun, they are learning more about God and our purpose.
Our latest projects have been singing games, "karaoke" if you will. Several years ago, I created a game design and presented it to a large game publisher and developer. Their reaction was "this could be big". I agreed. The design I wrote was for consoles and PC's and had players singing and playing instruments to Christian music. They of course, wanted the game to be something other than Christian music. In the design there were several different instruments, character creation and several other key gameplay elements. This idea/design was well before "Rock Band" came out so I was a bit bummed to realize that someone beat me to it. We've still been able to create a Christian rock band game that has features that have never been seen so we're happy about that.
It is rewarding to watch children play the games and laugh and compete against each other, knowing that good things are going into their heart, not the kinds of things that the president of the former company I worked for wanted.
We received this email recently from Mary out of North Canton, OH, "...Thanks again for providing for us a safe, Christian alternative to all the nasty stuff out there."
This email illustrates what we are about. We want our games to be a fun, uplifting experience that brings families together and people closer to God.
To read the rest of the interview please visit CCGR.
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