MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
The creator seems to feel it has redeeming educational and social value. Teenagers, probably kids too, will be downloading this game- will they really learn anything from it or will they become numb to the real violence that took place-will they be thinking about the background of the situation at that school while they make Klebold and Harris kill? Is a video game truly comparable to a movie?
http://insidedenver.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4702205,00.html
"The game's creator, who refused to identify himself to the Rocky Mountain News, did agree to an online interview. He said he wanted to create something profoundly unique and confrontational that would "promote a real dialogue on the subject of school shootings."
The creator, who goes by the name Columbin on his Web site, said he was inspired to make the game because he was in another Colorado high school when the shooting occurred.
"Columbine marked me deeply," he wrote in the e-mail interview with the News. "I was in a Colorado high school then. I was a bullied kid. I didn't fit in, and I was surrounded by a culture of elitism as espoused by our school's athletes."
Columbin said the game took 200 to 300 hours to create. Since its creation, more than 10,000 people have downloaded the free computer game, he added.
The game has flashbacks that highlight times when Klebold and Harris may have felt marginalized. One takes place behind a Blackjack Pizza store, where the two worked. Another takes place at the school.
The reaction to his game, Columbin said, has been almost entirely negative.
"I'm routinely accused of being soulless, of being destined for an eternity in hell, and similarly colorful assertions," he wrote. "However, I cannot emphasize enough that there is a small fraction of the population who really gets it, who really understands why I made the game and how possible it is to escape from the polarized, dualistic thinking the Columbine shooting seems to (elicit) in most people."
One of those people may be Ian Bogost, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Bogost researches video-game criticism and video-game rhetoric and runs a Web site dedicated to video games with an agenda.
Bogost recently stumbled upon the game and wrote about it on his site, WaterCoolerGames.com.
"While it is a challenging subject, I think the effort is brave, sophisticated and worthy of praise from those of us interested in video games with an agenda," he wrote.
"Super Columbine Massacre RPG is disturbing because it is meant to be.
"I've talked and written for some time about how games need not be fun to be worthwhile. This game is not fun, it is challenging and difficult to play - not technically difficult, but conceptually difficult. We need more of that."
Add Columbine families to those angry about the game.
"My initial thoughts, I guess, are that when people glorify murderers, they make murder acceptable," Rohr-bough said.
Columbin said he doesn't believe any video game should be taboo.
"Honestly, I'm not sure why video games are held to a larger degree of scrutiny than films, books, or other (media)," he wrote.
"The Palm d'Orre at Cannes in 2002 was Bowling for Columbine and in 2003 was Elephant. Why, then, ought not a video game be made of the same award-winning subject matter? The silence is deafening."
Richard Castaldo, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the Columbine shooting, downloaded and played the game after reading about it on a gaming Web site.
He said he wasn't sure what to think about it.
"It didn't make me mad, just kind of confused me," he said. "It kind of reminded me of that Elephant movie, but in video-game form. I think I get what he was trying to do, at least in part.
"Parts of it were difficult to play through, but overall, I get the feeling it might even be helpful in some ways.
"I don't think it's bad to discuss."
http://insidedenver.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4702205,00.html
"The game's creator, who refused to identify himself to the Rocky Mountain News, did agree to an online interview. He said he wanted to create something profoundly unique and confrontational that would "promote a real dialogue on the subject of school shootings."
The creator, who goes by the name Columbin on his Web site, said he was inspired to make the game because he was in another Colorado high school when the shooting occurred.
"Columbine marked me deeply," he wrote in the e-mail interview with the News. "I was in a Colorado high school then. I was a bullied kid. I didn't fit in, and I was surrounded by a culture of elitism as espoused by our school's athletes."
Columbin said the game took 200 to 300 hours to create. Since its creation, more than 10,000 people have downloaded the free computer game, he added.
The game has flashbacks that highlight times when Klebold and Harris may have felt marginalized. One takes place behind a Blackjack Pizza store, where the two worked. Another takes place at the school.
The reaction to his game, Columbin said, has been almost entirely negative.
"I'm routinely accused of being soulless, of being destined for an eternity in hell, and similarly colorful assertions," he wrote. "However, I cannot emphasize enough that there is a small fraction of the population who really gets it, who really understands why I made the game and how possible it is to escape from the polarized, dualistic thinking the Columbine shooting seems to (elicit) in most people."
One of those people may be Ian Bogost, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Bogost researches video-game criticism and video-game rhetoric and runs a Web site dedicated to video games with an agenda.
Bogost recently stumbled upon the game and wrote about it on his site, WaterCoolerGames.com.
"While it is a challenging subject, I think the effort is brave, sophisticated and worthy of praise from those of us interested in video games with an agenda," he wrote.
"Super Columbine Massacre RPG is disturbing because it is meant to be.
"I've talked and written for some time about how games need not be fun to be worthwhile. This game is not fun, it is challenging and difficult to play - not technically difficult, but conceptually difficult. We need more of that."
Add Columbine families to those angry about the game.
"My initial thoughts, I guess, are that when people glorify murderers, they make murder acceptable," Rohr-bough said.
Columbin said he doesn't believe any video game should be taboo.
"Honestly, I'm not sure why video games are held to a larger degree of scrutiny than films, books, or other (media)," he wrote.
"The Palm d'Orre at Cannes in 2002 was Bowling for Columbine and in 2003 was Elephant. Why, then, ought not a video game be made of the same award-winning subject matter? The silence is deafening."
Richard Castaldo, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the Columbine shooting, downloaded and played the game after reading about it on a gaming Web site.
He said he wasn't sure what to think about it.
"It didn't make me mad, just kind of confused me," he said. "It kind of reminded me of that Elephant movie, but in video-game form. I think I get what he was trying to do, at least in part.
"Parts of it were difficult to play through, but overall, I get the feeling it might even be helpful in some ways.
"I don't think it's bad to discuss."