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Oct 28th, 2010 at 12:59:27 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
I played “Super Columbine” for the final time last night and am very glad I do not have to play it anymore. I picked up from where I left of and thus I began the game in hell. I was not playing as Dylan and Eric was no longer around. I began to follow the path and eventually ran into random demons and other descendants of hell. I had to fight them but they actually could fight back unlike the kids in the school. After defeating a few of the people in hell, I died. This happened numerous times and even tried to avoid the characters completely but it never worked out for a long enough period of time. Since the game was extremely boring I completely lost interest and gave up. I do not know how the game ends and nor do I really care.
It was somewhat interesting that the game would progress into hell as a consequence for the boys’ actions, but since I do not know where the game went from there my thoughts cannot continue. Violence was really the main theme for the game and consumed the entire plot of the game as well. Everything the characters did was directly related to violence. The items Eric and Dylan gathered were used to kill. The bombs that were planted in the cafeteria were supposed to kill anyone inside and deter people outside to be killed. The same goes for the car bomb that was supposed to kill anyone near it and again attract attention and produce fear. This generated fear mad it easier to kill the students and teachers running around the school. Every element of the game reverts back to violence as the sole purpose of the game. There did not seem to be any real rewards in the game that could have made it challenging or even interesting.
The boys in the game do not follow Kant in the sense that we could assume that what they do to others, they would not want done to them. No rational human being wants to die, unless they are already in physical pain from a disease of some sort; however, this does not apply in the scenario presented in the game. The intention behind the actions of the two boys is to kill everyone because of “what they did to them.” The only specific on this was when Eric and Dylan were saying how nobody ever called them. Just because somebody does not call Eric or Dylan, does not give them the right to kill the person that did not call. There is rarely, if ever, an intelligible reason for killing someone outside the circumstances of war, and clearly there was no real justified reason for killing all the people in the game outside of pure anger.
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Oct 27th, 2010 at 18:47:37 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
I played “Super Columbine” last night for the third time and became extremely frustrated with the game. I forgot to grab the bombs from the trunk of the car so after I repeatedly entered the school, snuck past all the cameras and hall monitors and entered the cafeteria I could not figure out how I was supposed to plant the bombs since I figured I already had them. Eventually I figured it out and went on playing the game, but it was still very boring. The gameplay itself was monotonous, since every time you ran into a person you have to choose to manual fight them or have the game simulate the fight. Manual fighting was not exactly fighting it was selecting weapons or items to use so after one or two people I just started to simulate every fight. I assumed the point of the game was to kill everyone as that it was the characters repeatedly said throughout the game, but I doubt you actually needed to kill everyone so about halfway through I just began exploring and eventually found the library. Of course in the library there is a back window where you find the cops and are then suddenly sent to hell, at least when I played the game that is how it worked. When I resume my game later I will begin in hell and go from there.
I thought it was incredible how many stereotypes the game came up with from church boy and girl to the jock and even black boy. I was somewhat appalled that the game could group together religious students, athletic students, preppy students, and then put black students in one group. To my understanding and based on plain facts, any African American could very well be athletic, religious, or preppy. Placing all black students in one category goes well beyond defining stereotypes and is borderline racist. Prejudice of any kind is extremely unethical, racism included. Regardless of whether or not the students that planned the Columbine shootings were racist, it is unnecessary to have a specific character in the game be called black boy and simply does not make sense as the other characters were all based on something that is a choice. The skin color you are born with is not a choice; on the other hand, it is your choice to be a “jock,” be religious, dress preppy, and so on. Naming characters based on the group they are a part of is one thing, but making one of those groups a specific race completely crosses the line.
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Oct 25th, 2010 at 23:59:19 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
Through playing “Super Columbine Massacre” the idea that media played a major role in the shooting was expressed in multiple ways. The song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana was played in the background toward the beginning of the game and the song starts off with the lyrics, “Load up your guns, bring your friends. It’s fun to lose and to pretend.” These lyrics are ironic in the sense that Dylan and Eric were both friends who used guns to kill people, but they were also extremely excited to do so. Not only the lyrics themselves, but the name of the song exemplifies Dylan and Eric’s actions in being teenagers and taking action in what they believe needs to be done.
The Marilyn Manson CD that was found was said to cause aggression and rage based on the style of music and lyric which surely would not help the situation especially when combined with the movie the two boys watch. In the movie, horror played a major role and seemed to be good thing and at one point said that horror should be your friend. Because horror became Eric and Dylan’s friend, many people died and even more had to suffer losses of loved ones. Although in the game I have only experienced the planning of the attacks, it is well documented and common knowledge that Eric and Dylan killed numerous innocent people.
Based on the Utilitarian theory, Eric and Dylan are not thinking about other people and thus do not have a just reason for carrying out the actions they have planned. Many, many more people will be hurt in comparison to only two people, Eric and Dylan being happy with their actions. However, they already know they are going to commit suicide as they state in their last recording, so their happiness is somewhat cancelled out as they would no longer be alive and presumably not going to a better place. Utilitarianism focuses on consequences and the consequence of Eric and Dylan horrific actions is that many people will die, which can easily be said to be an immoral action.
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Oct 5th, 2010 at 00:19:57 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) |
I continued playing mission in GTA: San Andreas today and became somewhat bored. The same themes seem to be appearing over and over and I have only played the game a handful of times so far. I walk the down the street and only see skimpily dress women and men is gangster clothes in the neighborhoods I have explored. I do not believe it represents a fair assessment of how people dress and is a case of extreme stereotyping. I am sure that even in gang neighborhoods there are people that dress more conservative and are not strictly one dimensional in appearance. Again, I went on a mission and had to go pick up fast food for myself so that I would gain wait since Carl is currently too skinny to be a real gang member. Self-image is such a prominent part of GTA: San Andreas that no mention of education, careers, or community service is even mentioned. If anything the gang is doing a disservice to society by exploiting women, vandalizing building, and killing other gang members.
Racism is also apparent in the game as the policemen I see are always white while the other gang members in both Carl’s gang and other gangs are African-American. By watching documentaries on the History Channel about gangs all around the United States has taught me that gangs can be any race and any ethnicity and the same goes for the police forces that were targeting the gangs. This game has extreme racial profiling and does not represent a fair assessment of gangs in America or the police forces in the United States.
Sex, drugs, and violence are three themes that constantly are coming up in various missions in GTA: San Andreas. In one particular mission Carl and another gang member go to a “Balla’s” house to kill the guys inside. When you walk in smoke from drugs fills the room and you can see a male and female engaging in a sexual act in the background. Shortly after, more “Ballas” enter the room with baseball bats and you have to kill them to finish the mission. All three themes are present in this one scene, thus supporting my claim that gangs are portrayed as being violent and after sex and drugs. None of these images are good for people who play the game, especially young children who are still grasping what goes on in society. This particular mission like all other mission is mandatory to move on in the game, so the images are impossible to ignore and the violent acts must be carried out. While many people enjoy the game, as represented by the millions of copies that have been sold; I believe it is fair to say that GTA: San Andreas does not incorporate proper themes that game players should be exposed to nor is it racially just.
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jzygmun1 has been with GameLog for 14 years, 1 month, and 22 days |
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