Columbine High School video game draws
criticism from victims' relatives
DENVER (AP) — An online game based on the Columbine High School massacre is drawing criticism from relatives of those who died in the 1999 attack, including a father who says it trivializes the actions of the two teen killers.
The game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was posted on a Web site last year, but is becoming more popular now. It draws on investigative material, including images of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide. The game also includes crime scene photos of the killers and images of students running and crying, though it does not have photos of any victims.
"We live in a culture of death, so it doesn't surprise me that this stuff has become so commonplace," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was among those slain that day. "It disgusts me. You trivialize the actions of two murderers and the lives of the innocent."
The site's creator told the Rocky Mountain News he wanted to make something that would "promote a real dialogue on the subject of school shootings." The creator, who identified himself in an e-mail interview only by the name "Columbin," said he was inspired to make the game because he was in Colorado at the time of the attack. "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." He added that he considered the killers, at times, "very thoughtful, sensitive and intelligent young men."
Richard Castaldo, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the attack, played the game after reading about it on a gaming Web site. He said it reminded him of the 2003 film "Elephant," which follows students and others on the day of a school massacre without assigning reasons or blame for the bloodshed. "It didn't make me mad, just kind of confused me," he said. "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."
The game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was posted on a Web site last year, but is becoming more popular now. It draws on investigative material, including images of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide. The game also includes crime scene photos of the killers and images of students running and crying, though it does not have photos of any victims.
"We live in a culture of death, so it doesn't surprise me that this stuff has become so commonplace," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was among those slain that day. "It disgusts me. You trivialize the actions of two murderers and the lives of the innocent."
The site's creator told the Rocky Mountain News he wanted to make something that would "promote a real dialogue on the subject of school shootings." The creator, who identified himself in an e-mail interview only by the name "Columbin," said he was inspired to make the game because he was in Colorado at the time of the attack. "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." He added that he considered the killers, at times, "very thoughtful, sensitive and intelligent young men."
Richard Castaldo, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the attack, played the game after reading about it on a gaming Web site. He said it reminded him of the 2003 film "Elephant," which follows students and others on the day of a school massacre without assigning reasons or blame for the bloodshed. "It didn't make me mad, just kind of confused me," he said. "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."
Retro Super Columbine Massacre
A Mostly Thoughtful Take on the Tragedy
A Mostly Thoughtful Take on the Tragedy
By Matt Tschirgi
So the other day I was browsing around Kotaku and stumbled upon an entry describing a fan-game someone made based on the infamous Columbine Massacre using a hacked version of the popular PC Japanese program RPG Maker.
At first I rolled my eyes at the concept, but after reading the excellent follow-up interview on the site with a survivor of the massacre who actually played the game, it made me want to try it out. Using a mix of SNES-style super deformed anime graphics and photos, as well as a MIDI score using several alternative rock songs from the mid 90’s, the game feels like an actual SNES RPG.
The frequent grammatical mistakes make it clear that English isn’t the first language of the designer, but one can still understand what is being said. Gameplay starts off with a few somewhat buggy puzzles, with the biggest game design flaw being a lack of clear goals leaving the player wondering where the hell do they need to go next to advance in the game.
***** SPOILER WARNING *****
At the climax of the game, the two Trenchcoat Mafia members commit suicide and the game shows a powerful montage of real photos from the event. If the game would have ended here, it would have made a powerful statement.
To be honest, I haven’t quite beaten the game yet, but things continue to the final level where the player controls the deadly duo in hell fighting demons from the PC game Doom. I understand the irony, but it takes away from the emotional impact of the montage before it.
The final area of the game is very hard and, frankly, I don’t have the time right now to finish it. Still, this Columbine Massacre RPG is very interesting.
As a whole, the game is very cut-scene heavy and makes one think about the events– ultimately, the killers were people too with their own problems, but the game doesn’t glorify them.
This belongs in the recent genre of “political commentary games” that comment on an event in popular culture via the form of a video game. If you want to try it out, check the link. You need a PC in order to run it.
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