It's still sad that The Escapist doesn't get more linkage (from us, too!) for their readable, intelligent journalism, so nice to see that, via Dubious Quality, we spotted a new Allen Varney article called 'My Hindu Shooter', and telling a pretty spectacular story.

Briefly, it's about a "pacifist first-person shooter I designed in 2000-2001 to teach Hindu principles of non-violence using the Unreal Engine", and he explains: "This Hindu non-shooter was conceived and produced entirely by - nobody ever believes this part - recent graduates of the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. Yes, really."

Craziness: "In early 2000, a gaggle of upscale white American 20-somethings with fresh MUM animation and graphics degrees thought it would be fun to create a computer game based on Hindu teachings. Funded by the young heir to a chain of furniture stores, who scraped by on a parental allowance of half a million dollars a year, they licensed Epic Games' hotly anticipated Unreal Warfare engine - six months' allowance right there - and set to work." Lots more info if you click through, and a great story.