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Sunday 16 August, 2009
MY FIRST PLAY SESSION
Before this class I was only vaguely aware of the PC game Super Columbine Massacre RPG! which we had to play for our second game log. I wasn’t sure about the creator’s intentions and the name alone is enough to shock most people; clearly, this isn’t a mainstream game. I found it sickening that someone would try to capitalize on a tragedy like the shooting at Columbine and although I support each person’s freedom of speech, I felt that this may have been pushing it too far. Before loading up the game, I read a short article which describes the creation of the game and I came to understand that the creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG! may have different intentions than I first thought. Danny ledonne, the creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is not trying to capitalize on the tragedy monetarily, as the game is free and he developed it in his own free time. Furthermore, I found that Mr. Ledonne intends for the game to dismiss the media sensationalization of school shootings and instead examine the very real effects of bullying and violence on people’s lives.
Despite Ledonne’s noble intentions, I still felt uneasy about playing Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, but I began to think Ledonne wants me to feel uneasy. This is a difficult topic to explore and I think the game reflects that from the moment it begins. The story of Columbine High School is so emotionally poignant, that with even a fleeting thought of the tragedy, you can almost feel the pain of the victims and their families. Super Columbine Massacre RPG! uses these feelings to explore a different perspective; the pain of the two boys responsible. The game begins with the two boys preparing to execute their terrible plan. Set to the tune of 90’s alternative music often blamed for influencing the boys, Eric and Dylan Collect supplies that they will later use to create mayhem at their high school. The game takes not-so-subtle jabs at the mass media as it has players collect copies of the PC game Doom, accompanied by the description “let the desensitization to violence BEGIN!” and a Marilyn Manson CD which is described as being “sure to inspire impulsive aggression and rage”.
After planting bombs in the cafeteria, the pair head off to a nearby park to wait for the right moment. When the bombs fail to explode, Eric and Dylan begin to murder their classmates in the parking lot. An interesting thing happens, when the player shoots someone; the game switches to first person perspective. You are no longer detached from the happenings on screen; you are now enacting the horrors through Eric’s eyes. In order to advance the game, the player must kill defenseless people with names like “pretty girl” and “jock type”. Each murder increases your skills and your only motivation is to create chaos. My first session wrapped up here, which is good, because by this time I feel a bit sick. There is no question that what the shooters did, regardless of what led them to do it, is reprehensible and it is also clear that Danny ledonne has the right to make express his thoughts and beliefs. What’s not so clear is whether he took it too far. Ledonne uses actual events, down to the exact weapons used, and real pictures of the shooters, perhaps tastelessly, to retell a tragedy that’s still fresh in the minds of Americans, and even worse put the player in control. Sure, Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is making a point, but at what cost?
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