When Christian-themed "Guitar Hero" spin-off "Guitar Praise: Solid Rock" came out earlier this year, the game had its fair share of skeptics.

But the developers at Fremont, California-based Digital Praise told MTV Multiplayer this week that "sales are exceeding inventory of guitars on hand," and that the company is focusing on providing stock to Christian retailers so that customers will be able to find the game in time for Christmas.

We unboxed and tested the game ourselves and spoke with Digital Praise CEO Tom Bean about why we needed a religious guitar game in the first place.

"We were getting e-mails and letters mailed to us asking to create a guitar controller-based game using Christian music," he said. "Some of them told us that they attempted to communicate [the idea for the game] to some of the other makers but they were not getting any indication that anything was going to be done... We think that there's an opportunity that no one else has either seen it or felt compelled to try to address in the marketplace, so we have."

He also explained that the "mainstream" guitar games had things in them that their customers found offensive. Read more...

After unboxing and playing the Christian-themed "Guitar Hero" spin-off "Guitar Praise," I got Tom Bean, CEO of Christian game makers Digital Praise, on the phone yesterday to chat about it.

During our conversation, he told me about how the company takes popular styles of games and infuses them with more positive and encouraging content; the company has also made a Christian-based, "DDR"-style game called "Dance Praise."

With that in mind, I asked Bean if he ever considered making a Christian version of "Grand Theft Auto" -- you know, without the "grand theft auto" parts.

Here's what he had to say: Read more...

by James Montgomery

If you mention Digital Praise's "Guitar Praise" game to anyone of a certain age (read: "old"), they'll inevitably--and probably half-jokingly--ask the question: "Oh, is Stryper in the game?"

This is for a variety of reasons:

a) For 25 years now, Stryper have been the go-to punchline for anyone making a joke about Christian rock (their name is an acronym for "Salvation Through Redemption, Yielding Peace, Encouragement, and Righteousness" and one of their albums is called To Hell With The Devil)

b) There aren't really any other "Christian metal" acts that immediately spring to mind. And (primarily)

c) We are incredibly lazy. Read more...

I recently got a copy of Fremont, California-based Digital Praise's "Guitar Praise" and unboxed it for all the world to see.

Made for the PC/Mac, the game is a Christian-oriented version of Activision's "Guitar Hero" that aims to combine the gameplay of the popular music franchise with Christian values.

I got a chance to play the game to see how it compares to its secular predecessors. A Christian message may be behind it, but does the gameplay and guitar peripheral hold up? Read more...

We here at MTV Multiplayer love our music games, so when we heard about Digital Praise's "Guitar Praise" for the PC/Mac, we knew we had to try it.

Today, I finally received my copy of the game in the mail. The box includes the CD-rom game and wireless guitar controller. The back of the box says you can "Jam with the Band!" and that there are "over 50 pulsating hits" by Flyleaf, tobyMac, dc Talk, Skillet, Stellar Kart, Newsboys and more.

Features include onscreen lyrics that "emphasize Christian themes," a co-op or "power duel mode" and online leaderboards.

Read on to see close-up images of the box, the guitar peripheral and screenshots. (And stay tuned for my impressions.) Read more...

MTV News rock writer James Montgomery felt the need to suggest some songs for the newly announced Christian music interpretation of "Guitar Hero."

Here is his post:

Hey, do you love to rock, but think those pesky devil horns are an affront to the Lord?

Do you uphold the Sabbath but abhor Black Sabbath?

Well, you're in luck … because Digital Praise--"the leader in Christian-themed, family-friendly entertainment software"--have developed a pious-yet-fret-shredding game just for you: "Guitar Praise," a new "inspirational PC guitar game that lets anyone live their rock dreams." Provided those dreams involve Flyleaf and/or Hawk Nelson, of course.

"Praise," which could generously be described as "Guitar Hero" for the Godly (even the box looks rather familiar), is currently available for pre-order through DP's web site--retail price: $99.95--and features more than 50 Christ-approved tunes from acts like Newsboys, Family Force Five and James Clay (but strangely, no Jars of Clay), plus perhaps the only Christian song I can readily identify, dcTalk's massive "Jesus Freak "(I mean, it even got played on real radio).

And while there's plenty strange about the entire thing--the idea of Christians "rocking" being chief among them (please Lord don't smite me)--what has me thoroughly perplexed is that tracklisting. Because while 52 songs is an awful lot of Christian rock, there's tons missing from the list … and though I'm not exactly sure if the game will allowed players to download new tracks, I've gone ahead and made a list of some potential songs that Digital Praise would be wise to include if they're looking to expand the digital Hymn book.

**Sufjan Stevens' "The Lord God Bird" (yeah, this is about a woodpecker in Arkansas, so what.)
**Um, hello … Stryper?!?!
**Selections from the Flaming Lips' Oh My Gawd!!! album
**Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (pfffffffffft!)
**The entirety of Porno For Pyros' Good God's Urge album
**The musical stylings of Senator Orrin Hatch
**Anything from Holy F--- (get it?!?!)
**Kanye West's "Jesus Walks"
**Spiritualized's "No God Only Religion"
**The Doobie Brothers' "Jesus Is Just Alright"

Anything I'm missing? I'd love to hear your suggestions below. Go now, in peace, to love and serve the Lord.

--James Montgomery, MTV News