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Hammadeh07's Columbine RPG (PC)
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| [October 26, 2010 09:35:44 PM]
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For my third and final time playing Columbine Massacre I still was not use to how sickening this game is too me. My computer was being weird for some reason and did not save my progress from the last time I played so I had to start over from the beginning of the game. This, however, proved to be beneficial to me because unlike the first time through I really did not pay attention to the surrounding features of the game my first time around. Looking through Eric’s house I found a copy of “Doom” and a Slayer CD. The creator of this game seemed to make a reference to violent videogames and metal music as being contributors to Eric and Dylan’s anger and rage. The creator of this game almost seemed to make the stereotype that kids who play violent games and listen to metal music are the kids who are likely to go and shoot up their school. Also while you were first starting the game a version of “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” by Marilyn Mason is playing in the background.
This time around I also took the time to read what the players actually said to one another about why they were shooting up their school. It seemed to me that years of neglect from their peers lead to the two boys to their violent plan. For Example, during a flashback Eric talks about how nobody would ever sit by him during lunch, he made it seem as though this made him feel very lonely. Eventually though Eric said that he would intentionally isolate himself and wanted to sit alone, and eventually started to hate the kids in his school. It seemed to me that Dylan and Eric were both ticking times bombs, waiting for the one day they would retaliate, which was caused by years of them being ostracized by their classmates. What really gave this game its emotional effect though are the real life images the creator used of the schools. When a player sees those images I feel as though this is the part of the game that really hits home. Seeing those pictures kind of take the player back in time and puts them in the middle of what happened on that tragic day.
This game makes a good example of why bulling should be made an issue of great importance to a school and why they should fight to stop it. Because you never know what a bullied student is going to do, or in what way he is going to snap. Dylan and Eric, who shot up Columbine High School, are a good example of what bulling and a student being isolated from the school community can lead to. What is important to point out about this game though, is that school shootings do not happen as often as the new portrays they do. Of the hundreds of thousands of schools in the United States, very few ever have a shooting occur and most of the time schools are a safe place to be. Columbine Massacre just adds the already mass hysteria that occurs when a school shooting happens. I feel as though this game give a negative image to both American culture and its public school system. It shows those American teenagers are angry, violent, and malicious. When in actuality most teenagers are not inclined to go into their school and randomly start shooting at and blowing up their classmates and teachers.
Overall, I still feel as though this game should not have been made. Even though it is meant to highlight an American tragedy and show just how dreadful it was, there are several different ways a person could of gone about doing that. As I said before this game just brings back the sorrow people felt back on that day and which causes people great sorrow and unhappiness, which according to Utilitarianism is a bad thing. Thus making this game was ethically and morally wrong. I really don’t have anything positive to say about this game and to be honest I am very happy that I do not have to play. Some games should just not be made and this is one of them.
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| [October 25, 2010 06:55:35 PM]
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The second time playing this game I really started to get into the actual game play of the game more then just the theme of it. The game play of Columbine Massacre RPG reminded me of the Pokémon games I used to play on my Game boy Color. The game interface of Columbine Massacre looks very similar to that of Pokémon’s. The character of the game moves and looks very similar to that of the character Ash in the Pokémon games. Even during the attack mode it looks like the makers of this game almost copied straight from the old Pokémon games. The fighting style is also very similar as you have a variety of options for attack, and usually it is a back and forth exchange of attacks.
The first step of the game involved me having to sneak into the cafeteria to plant bombs by the vending machines. After that, you and Eric proceed to go into the school and shoot and anyone that gets in your way. The characters of the game took great pleasure in what they were doing and found it comical when the planted bombs went off in the cafeteria. What is disturbing to think about is that these kids really did take great pleasure in killing innocent students. The fact that the creators of Columbine Massacre put this feature into their game does not even begin to capture how sickening that was. Also during the fight scenes you had wide variety of methods you could choose from when you were killing someone. You could either shoot, knife, or throw explosives at your victims. With little to no retaliation from students or teachers killing people in the game was very easy.
After my second play though of the game I started to think that since this game, was allowed to be made, it could be rationally argued that games about other American tragedies can be made, such as 9/11. In a game about 9/11 for example, a developer should be allowed to allow a character to crash planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon without any negative ramifications from anyone. Developers can argue that since, in Columbine Massacre the gamer is able to shoot students and teachers, they can allow their character to crash planes into buildings. With making this game the creators of Columbine Massacre might of caused collateral damage that we have not seen. This game might actually influence students who are similar to Eric and Dylan to do something like they did. Unlike games like Grand Theft Auto, were the story line is completely fictional, a game like Columbine might have more influence since it was a real event. Bullied students might see how easily it can be done, and thus are influenced to go an shoot up their school.
An aspect of the game I found it strange that the game labeled the people you were killing, because the character in the game clearly has a mission to kill anyone that gets in his way, so having label on the victims really did not make any sense to me. I felt as though this feature was highly offensive, especially with “openly gay African American” that blacks got. Overall, I still get a very bad taste in my mouth when I play this game. I still find myself asking why this game was ever allowed to be made. I still cannot come up with a rationally good reason or answer.
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| [October 24, 2010 01:51:46 PM]
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This was not only the first time I have ever played this game, but also it was the first time I had ever hear of it too. At first I actually thought it was a joke, and thought that no one would even consider making a game about Columbine due to it being such a sensitive subject. Columbine Massacre is about a real life American tragedy that took place in Columbine High School in the spring of 1999, were two students went into the school and started shooting both students and faculty.
To start off playing I started out by just trying to get the gist of the game I played around and did not really invest too much time in trying to actually play and beat the game. However, The game did not even explain what you had to do in order to keep progressing in the game, it just left it up to the gamer to figure it out which added to the frustration of playing this game. It showed the morning of the shooting, what the two shooters did and what their plan was. At one point of their conversation one of them even said that doing this is “fun and necessary” and they made it seem as though their plan to shoot up the school was an act of vengeance. The game made it seem as though they had been planning their attack for quite some time. In the game you actually get to control the people who did the shooting on that day. You are able to plant bombs and shoot and kill who ever you want to. The people you were shooting at had no way to defend themselves; they had no chance to escape or survive.
Unlike other violent games I have played in the past I actually felt disgusted playing this Columbine Massacre, due to the fact that it was about a real life event where innocent students and teachers lost their lives. It felt almost unnecessary to even make a game about this. Even if it was meant to make a statement on how bad Columbine was, it seemed like this was absolutely the worst way to do it. The makers of this game should of never been allowed to even make this game, none the less release it, as it crosses so many ethical boundaries. This game is unethical because it touches on highly sensitive issues and causes a lot of people unhappiness because they are remained of tragedy that took place on that day. This game especially causes unhappiness to the families, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and students who were personally affected by the Columbine shootings. Making a game that touches on the subject of a tragedy is simply unacceptable. I am not sure why we were asked to play this game; even for an ethics class it seemed unnecessary.
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Hammadeh07's Columbine RPG (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 24 October, 2010
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