Seeing as I've a few of the faithful in my family who also like to noodle on the guitar, I've often wondered why these children have been abandoned in the video game wilderness. But eventually all those who hunger and thirst will be satisfied. Yes, Christian rock will have its day, but I've a feeling that it could be a short one. Witness here the second coming of Guitar Hero, hence forth to be known as Guitar Praise.

Guitar Praise is being made (it releases in September) by a company called DigitalPraise. It's a straight up GH knockoff, not unlike DigitalPraises knockoff of DDR, known as Dance Praise. True to their beliefs their stated mission is to:

"To glorify God through the development of software for children, teenagers and families that spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ while entertaining, enlightening and encouraging faith."

There's plenty of room for all in the rhythm genre and the Christian music industry is HUGE and for the most part a totally untapped revenue source in the video games market, so I'd have to say "get to rocking all you Creation-Festers." Looks like DigitalPraise beat Activision and Harmonix to the punch on this one, yet I would advise them though to look out for themselves if they do too well. See the legal action brought by RedOctane over Guitar Hero peripherals a good while ago. But like I said earlier, they have a DDR knockoff, so maybe they have all the bases covered. The game's features are below:

• Hit songs from popular Christian rock bands.
• Includes wireless USB guitar controller.
• Two guitars can be connected at the same time, so two guitarists can play together - either on the same track or one on lead, the other on bass.
• Players press the fret buttons and strum on the strum bar in time to the color-coded notes as they scroll onscreen.
• Offers over 50 songs with 4 levels of play per song - from easy to expert.  Beginners start slowly, but soon their fingers will be flying; - just like a real guitarist.
• Onscreen lyrics reflect Christian values.  Vocalists can sing their hearts out as their friends play the guitar.
• Record keeping lets players store high scores per song and unlock new songs in sets of six as they progress through the game and post their scores online.
• Players can also earn new guitars with richer sounds and different effects.
• Works on Windows and Mac computers.

As with all guitar games the song list is probably pretty important, but not being a fan of this particular music genre I can't tell how it stacks up, except that there's no Believer, Stryper, or even a little P.O.D. in the mix. They gotta get on that. Then again, the full title of the game is Guitar Praise Solid Rock. No doubt they are saving the Metal for the expansion.

So, in the end, What Would Jesus Do? Apparently he'd Rock! Good luck to you on this DigitalPraise, but when the nieces and nephews come over we are still going secular.

--Hobson's Choice

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