Gaming Meets God
co-written by Miriam Ippel, Calvin College Class of 2001
Perspectives
August/September 2007

One of the most significant popular culture texts today is gaming (console and computer). Video games pervade adolescent culture and significantly influence the U.S. economy as well as the global economy. Consider these statistics:

In 2002, 60 percent of U.S. residents age six and older played computer games, and over 221 million computer and video games were sold that year in the U.S. 90 percent of U.S. households with children rented or owned a video or computer game. U.S. children spent an average of twenty minutes each day playing video games.

81 percent of teen internet users play games online. That represents about 17 million people and signifies growth of 52 percent in the number of online gamers since 2000.1

The total U.S. computer and video game sales in 2005 were approximately $7 billion.2

In 2006, the value of the global gaming industry was $27.5 billion. This is expected to rise to $46.5 billion by 2010.3

With these statistics in mind, we have reviewed the impact of gaming culture on adolescents, noting the potential benefits and risks of gaming in light of adolescent identity formation. In hopes of increasing adult-adolescent communication in the church, we have set forth points of connections between theology and gaming.

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