Wednesday 28 October, 2009

During my second session I found out how frustrating this game can be. As I try to bring the homemade bombs into the school I constantly try to avoid the narcs but fail. It would've been nice if the developers gave the gamer some sort of clue as to why they are constantly getting busted but alas I'm left with nothing but to try and try again. At least I get to listen to this awesome MIDI version of "Sweet Dreams" for 100th time. I start to wonder if they made it thus difficult on purpose. Possibly to show that it isn't as easy as the average person thinks to get weapons into schools. Perhaps to show that our schools are relatively safe and that Columbine was an isolated incident. Eventually I find myself yelling at the screen, "Just let me plant the goddamn bombs!!" I'm wondering if I can even get through this part. When I finally make it to the cafeteria, a moment of joy comes over me. Only to find that when I take two steps to the right, I get "Busted" by the narcs again. After about 20 more minutes of this I find a route that allows me not get caught and complete the objective. And possibly out of sheer irony, my computer crashes.

At the end of my session I came across the part where the boys where gearing up in the park. The amount of weapons they have on them is terrifying. To me this signifies that major change is needed as far as gun laws. I know the game conveys gun laws have nothing to do with the incident of Columbine but I have to disagree. To me the second amendment is arbitrary. When that amendment was written it was because the country was trying to fight off the British. The founding fathers could've never imagined people having assault rifles. If we were to take a Utilitarian perspective on gun laws, they would be outlawed because it would be better for society as a whole to not have them.

On the other hand, especially given how crafty and resourceful the boys were, it isn't that clear what effect stricter gun laws may have. In all, changes to gun laws were made in the aftermath of the shootings.