Would it be a Friday without somebody posting a picture of a T-shirt? Of course it would. Not even Pac-Man himself has the power to warp time and space, but he might just have the power...to move you. Kotakuite Annissa spotted this Pac-Man-inspired t-shirt in a rather peculiar place.

After being dragged into one of the local Christian books stores by a relative I spotted this gem of a shirt. Torn between horror and facination I ended up snapping a few photos of it. These two are the only ones that turned out well enough for you to actually read the text under Blinky, Inky, and Clyde.

I snagged the best of the two pictures, but in case you still can't read it, the quote is "But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, do good to those that hate you. - Luke 6:27". I've been checking chat logs all morning but still can't see where Luke said that. Seems a bit out of character really. I'll follow up with him later.

When we're not munching on game cakes here at Kotaku Tower, we're always keeping up on the latest Christian-Nintendian cross-promotions. This billboard teases and upcoming sermon chock full of information on the Wii: "What Is Important." Not since WWJD has there been an acronym more powerful for getting those kids to stop having sex and start having some fish on Fridays.

Wii, cultural phenomenon, invades church [N-sider via GoNintendo]

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Easter might be drawing to close, but our memories of Donkey Kong Jesus live on! Here are some more gaming related Last Suppers. The above one is called The Last Supper and features Hollywood thespian and GTA: San Andreas and Kingdom Hearts II voice actor James Woods. According to artist Brandon Bird:

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Never let anyone tell you that San Francisco isn't the heart of the gaming world. Where else would you find a church using Mii to promote an upcoming Easter service. Mission Bay Community Church in San Fran sent this clever picture out to parishioners earlier this week. So great.

Mission Bay Community Church

This isn't just some regular old Donkey-Kong-as-Jesus painting. Oh, no. It's much more. Dubbed "The Last Supper" and painted by artist Misha, the piece was originally shown at the 2006 I Am 8-Bit show. Hang on, like I said, there's more! The painting is apparently now hanging in Christina Aguilera's baby nursery. If that wasn't enough (it's not), Kotaku's Associate Editor Flynn De Marco has a Misha original tattooed on his bodice. There, all done!
Amazingly Coincidental Donkey Kong [Gay Gamer]

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A lot of people write off the Wii. Not SEGA boss Simon Jeffery. He is all about the Wii. No wonder, Sonic & Mario at the Olympic Games has done big business! Says Jeffery:

I do think going forward there is very much a place for the hardcore gamers on the Wii and there's a big opportunity for publishers to take advantage of that because we've seen the success of Resident Evil on Nintendo platforms... But I do also believe that a lot of Western publishers are only looking at the Wii for casual and family gaming, and I think that's a mistake — I think there's a lot more opportunity there on the Wii. The Wii isn't just about Wii Tennis and Mario & Sonic; it's about so much more. The Wii as a platform has way much more to offer than [Wii Tennis and Mario & Sonic], and hardcore gamers traditionally love Nintendo as well. There's no reason why they should be excluded or excommunicated from the Nintendo world.

Bwah? Nintendo world?! Excommunicated?! Wow, talk about being a Wii convert. This guy's fanatical.
Dismissing Wii Is Mistake [CVG] [Pic]

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Faith Fighters, a flash-based 2D fighter by Molleindustria, is exactly what its name suggests. You pick a deity (choices include God, Muhammad, Ganesh & Jesus), you get an opponent, you fight to the death, Street Fighter-style. It's goal, according to Molleindustria, is to "push gamers to reflect on how [their] religions and sacred representations are often instrumentally used to fuel or justify conflicts between nations and people". OK! Muslim readers upset at the inclusion of a physical representation of the prophet Muhammad (ie a big no-no), there's a censored version of the game should you (or anyone else not already put off the game) still want to give it a try. I'd recommend it. The art style's got a very The Behometh (Castle Crashers) feel to it, and for a flash-based fighter it's pretty great.

Faith Fighter [Molleindustria, via Water Cooler Games]

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Religious fronting aside, this game is amazingly bad. It's so bad that we're not sure if it's actually real or a very funny joke. The game is called The Zoo Race. Based on Noah's Ark (we think), the above clips opens with characters in a library. These characters are then turned or "re-shaped" into animals. Those animals then race around a track, run up ladders and are shot out of canons. Then they race around the depths of hell. Then a horse jumps on a rocket. There is more, but watching this clip made my brain hurt. The game's website has The Zoo Race available for purchase, noting:

Buy the FUN game that the big game companies would not ever make.

Oh, the irony is delicious.

The Zoo Race [Official Site via Dtoid]

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This cracks us up. What do you think, Crecente? It looks like the perfect location for our next Kotaku get together. If there's a game conference in Oshawa, ON, Canada, consider it booked.

Church Uses Halo 3 to Advertise [flickr] Thanks TedHead!

Kotakuite Joshua D. sent us a heads up about a New York Times article, this one on modern methods of getting kids into church: Halo 3. This raises some interesting questions: how do you differentiate between kids who are showing up to fellowship since it's Halo night and those who a really wanting to save their immortal souls? And how do people reconcile 'thou shalt not kill' with, uh, a first-person shooter? Is church really the most appropriate place for an M-rated video game? Do kids even care about potential allegorical features of the Halo plot, or is this just a cheap way to lure in impressionable teens? And aren't a lot of these people in the group who are frequently bitching about violent media in today's world?

Witness the basement on a recent Sunday at the Colorado Community Church in the Englewood area of Denver, where Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, sat in front of three TVs, locked in violent virtual combat as they navigated on-screen characters through lethal gun bursts. Tim explained the game's allure: "It's just fun blowing people up." Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message. "We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell," Mr. Barbour wrote in a letter to parents at the church.

There are plenty of quarters that would say spending time "blowing people up", virtual or not, is setting kids on the path to hell. I'll give these churches credit for interesting recruiting tactics, though - it must work better than the fire and brimstone and simply scaring people.

Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Game at Church [NYT]