What We Owe the Columbine RPG
Gamaustra's Soapbox this week touches on the lessons learned from Slamgate and the Super Columbine Massacre RPG!. Author Patrick Dugan explores the ways in which SCMRPG challenged the media and gamers alike to think about what the medium of games is all about. Covered by everyone from Newsweek to Game Informer, it opened the eyes of non-gamers to the possibilities of the format and forced gamers to rethink their assumptions. "Game Informer's benchmark of game-specialized print journalism may very well inspire other major publications to follow suit with their own coverage, and in the capacity of Game Informer's readership, paints a symbol of solidarity. The twelve year old kid who thinks Gears of War is the best thing going can take a look at these graphics, popular before his birth, and get a sense that his beloved past-time is part of something greater, something he can defend to non-gamers as being inherently valuable." This issue is also explored in the final part of N'Gai Croal's interview with Jamil Moledina, which we talked about last week.
Am I the only person here who "didn't" disagree with this game being pulled from the competition earlier this year.
I can't see any reason to turn a horrific incident such as the Columbine Massacre into a computer game, allthough some could argue the same about any Second World War Shooter.
It's like making a game about two tall buildings, and having to escape from them before it falls down
Woo Elephant Yeah wrote:Am I the only person here who "didn't" disagree with this game being pulled from the competition earlier this year.
I can't see any reason to turn a horrific incident such as the Columbine Massacre into a computer game, allthough some could argue the same about any Second World War Shooter.
It's like making a game about two tall buildings, and having to escape from them before it falls down
How about a game about possibly the worst nuclear accident ever, one where 6.6 million people were highly exposed to radiation and most of europe was covered with fallout?
Yep, but I think there is a clear line between say "Fred West Patio Laying Simulator" and a game like S.T.A.L.K.E.R
I think if something is done on a huge scale and a long time ago, it's generally accepted that it's free territory to eventually take the mick of.
Something like the Colombine Massacre is very distasteful, whereas Chernobyl was an accident on massive proportions not caused by one individual on a select few.
Basically you wouldn't appreciate it if you were a relative of someone killed at the school when seeing the game, but if you had family who died in Chernobyl you probably wouldn't be screaming from the rooftops that STALKER is disgusting and offensive.
It's obviously one of those points of view things, but Colombine was made to shock people, Stalker is not
I guess they set out to offend and be in poor taste from the outset, but calling it Super Columbine Massacre, makes it obvious it was all rather tongue in cheek.
I bet when they make a film of the events with Brian Dennehy in it, no-one will complain.
What We Owe the Columbine RPG
