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May 29th, 2012 at 00:02:26 - Columbine RPG (PC) |
It wasn’t until I started playing Super Columbine Massacre RPG that I began to think about my responsibilities as both a gamer and a member of the community of the world at large. In previous games, the notion of my responsibility was never really questioned or considered because frankly, it wasn’t something that had even crossed my mind. However, after playing Super Columbine Massacre RPG I realized that playing this game made me, in certain ways, an irresponsible gamer in some sense. Because the game features two protagonists that resemble real life people outside of the virtual world of the game, my overall experience in the game was much different than any previous violent-featured game that I had played. Given that the main protagonists are meant to embody the actual Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the overall experience I had with the game seemed very dark and sinister to the point that I almost had to put down the game at times due to the historical information that had been made available to me through my research of the actual shooting at Columbine High. Filled with a sense of remorse after I had killed students and demons within the videogame while playing both protagonists, I realized that I was behaving irresponsibly as a gamer. Even feeling these emotions of remorse and guilt were a dead giveaway that I was perhaps committing something that I viewed as incorrect or immoral in some sense. I felt these emotions, coupled with the actions that I committed in the videogame, to be the actions of an irresponsible gamer because I was knowingly playing a videogame that resembled not only teenage protagonists but also one that displayed “real-life” murderers. As stated in yesterday’s response, I found it quite troubling to be playing characters that resembled teenage individuals because I was knowingly committing violent acts with protagonists that resembled minors/non-adults. I believe this further illustrates my lack of responsibility as a gamer because although I knew that these characters resembled teenage individuals, I still kept playing the game and committed heinous and illegal acts such as the murder of students/faculty within the school and I also utilized/owned weapons as a minor.
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May 28th, 2012 at 17:23:54 - Columbine RPG (PC) |
Given the historical context by which the game has been founded and created by, playing Super Columbine Massacre RPG has definitely been difficult to say the least. Although I have played many games through out my so called “gaming career” that may be deemed as violent or gruesome in nature, SCMRPG definitely takes an entire different spin on the genre of videogame because it is based on an actual tragedy that happened within the confines of a high school in 1999. One of the themes that becomes readily apparent to me, as I have been playing this game and also after doing some research on the topic is the theme of adolescents/teenagers. Although the this 8-bit fantasy world features a protagonist, as every game does, SCMRPG differs in the sense that the player is aware of the character’s exact age due to the fact that the game is based on a historical event. I found this to be very troubling as I was playing the game because I was knowingly committing murder while using a character that resembled not only an actual murderer but the character also resembled a teenager. Most of the first person shooter games I have played in the past along with other games that have featured violence I felt tried to put a sort of veil over the age of their protagonists in an attempt to conceal it from the player. Although certain inferences can be made about the characters in most first person shooters and games featuring violence, one can never be completely certain of the exact age of that protagonist. Generally speaking, most of the protagonists from the action games I have played tend to be portrayed as older and appear to have developed a sense of maturity. However, after playing my second session of SCMRPG, the theme of teenagers stood out to me because, as I stated earlier, I was knowingly playing a character that resembled that of a teenager. In some ways, I find myself to be more tolerant and more willing to play a videogame is the characters age is unknown to me and if the character resembles or is featured as someone who is older or mature. If the character is featured as older and more mature, it makes it more acceptable for me to commit crime/murder/cause havoc whereas if the character resembles someone who is younger I am more hesitant to continue to commit violent acts with that protagonist.
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May 27th, 2012 at 23:25:32 - Columbine RPG (PC) |
When I first downloaded the game and after reading the title, it didn’t completely register that the game was based on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. However, once I began to play the game and noticed the meaning behind the game, I decided to first research the school shooting before continuing my experience with the game. Among the many themes and concepts the game possesses, I was particularly intrigued by the game’s portrayal of violence.
Super Columbine Massacre RPG definitely took an interesting twist through it’s depictions of violence, mainly because when I was examining the dialogue the characters had along with the missions that I had to complete in the story, I felt that the tragedy brought on by violence was being downplayed in some sense when compared to the actual event that the game embodied. I felt the game was downplaying the events that took place on the day of the Columbine shootings because, in reality, the tragedy that descended on the victims and those affected by the shooting was much greater. The Columbine massacre was potentially one of the worst school shootings in United States history therefore by turning this tragic real life event into a virtual game; violence is being turned into some form of entertainment. I also found the violence in the game to be particularly disturbing due to the fact that the main two protagonists that the player utilizes represented both of the killers that performed the massacre in the events that took place in 1999. I found the part of the game where one is required to do a recording before you go forth with killing students and faculty to be particularly disturbing due to the dialogue that is portrayed in the game. In the recording, the character mentions, “If you could see all the anger I’ve stored over the past four fucking years. I’m going to kill you all – you’ve been giving us shit for years. You’re fucking going to pay for all the shit. We don’t give a shit because were going to die doing it – I hope we kill two hundred fifty of you. You guys will all die, and it will be fucking soon. I hope you get an idea of what were implying here: you all need to die.” I found this dialogue to be particularly disturbing due to the troubling nature of the content that is said. Furthermore, the content in the recording also correlated with the theme of violence due to the fact that as the character, you are stating that you are going to assassinate every member in the school hat was in the school at the time.
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Apr 19th, 2012 at 00:06:53 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) |
After playing my third session of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas I was able to further note some of the themes that exist within the game. Taking into consideration my entire experience through gameplay from the very opening scene up until my last mission accomplished which was the assassination of my fellow gang member’s, OG Loc, cellmate I was able to notice the recurring theme of brotherhood/family. From the very opening scenes of the game, the gamer is able to quickly note that a major part of the story line or background of the characters is centered on the theme of family. The whole storyline starts with the main protagonist, Carl, returning home after he was informed of the news that his mother was assassinated after a violent exchange caused by gang warfare. This notion of the importance of family continued when Carl arrived at the cemetery to meet with his brother in the burial of his mother. Several familial issues were denoted here being that since Carl had been distant and more or less disconnected from gang activity, to his former gang members, his return to his home ghetto was certainly not welcomed. Throughout the exchange of dialogue between characters at the burial site of Carl’s mother, the gamer begins to grasp the sense that the main goal of your character is to re-enter the gang lifestyle through the completion of tests or quests so as to gain respect and reputation from the gang once again. This interconnection between fellow gang members seems to be fueled by a narrative of drugs and violence being that a majority of the quests and dialogue consists of committing murders or doing drugs in order to gain respect from the gang and thus solidify the relationship between Carl and his former Grove Street gang members. To further demonstrate this one can look at the first section of quests that you are asked to complete as Carl. Most, if not all, are centered on regaining your reputation as a member of the Grove Street gang. This was detailed in the quests from tagging or placing your gang’s graffiti drawings over other rival gang’s or by sporting the “colors” of your crew along with committing murders in the name of your gang. These depictions of attempts to regain respect from Carl’s gang are demonstrations of the game’s theme of family because by performing these tasks, Carl is in essence becoming a “brother” once again not only to his biological brother but to the members of his gang as well.
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sriver20 has been with GameLog for 12 years, 7 months, and 10 days |
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