Inside the Sick Mind of a School Shooter Mod

[Nouw]

Rather poor taste but I'm sure there are much worse games than this that are flash animated and run.

 

[ShadowKirby]

And it's not to say that video games can't go where other mediums go, but a movie where all you'd see is kids getting shot down without any context or message, that'd be shunned by movie critics or any sensible human beings. Why would it be okay here? Cause it's just a game and games don't really matter, they are just 0s and 1s?

Have you not seen a single slasher movie? They are almost ALWAYS killing teenagers, just like in this game. The "motive" is just there because "there has to be a reason". People watch slasher movies to see teenagers get brutally murdered and nothing else. Also, see "Postal", where kids being murdered is portraid as being funny. And yes it was.

There's a huge difference between a slasher movie and what boils down to a "school shooting simulation". There is something cathartic about slashers movies and how they reflect social norms, etc etc, I took an horror movie class at uni and I know all that. But one thing all those movies have in common in a context, a plot, a "justification" to the violence. Everything works toward a goal, usually characters (and mostly the "final girl") evolving or learning something. At least that's what good slashers do. That game has none of that. It's pure murder simulation with no context attached to it. There is not intention higher than pure dumb fun behind this game and what gets me is that gamers are totally ok to take some tragic event and makes something that is "pure dumb fun" out of it. What to make a game about school shooting? Go ahead but put some thoughts into it. Try to say something.

Also, why do games have to justify everything they do with "they did it first!"? THAT'S childish behaviour if I ever saw it. Why can't games be first?

First to what? First medium to be totally ok with portraying school shooting for fun? Want to see school shooting portrayal done right and in a tasteful way, watch Elephant by Gus Van Sant. If a game can do something like that, I'll support.
And preemptively, don't give me the "games don't have to do like other mediums" crap. Every medium, when faced by a challenge like "how to represent something" or "how to tackle a certain subject", looked at mediums around them for inspiration. Games do not exist in a void separated from other mediums or, for that matter, the world itself.

Also, morals have changed up and down through the ages, I have no respect for them whatsoever. I do what I want, for whatever reason I choose. And I am happy.

There's no problem with that as long as you are not a dick to the people around you. I just hope you don't cut in front of old ladies at the grocery store because you try to be a "rebel" who doesn't care for the "moral norms" set up by "society".

EDIT: The amount of angry people wanting to inflict pain, physical or otherwise, upon this person don't even seem to realize that THEY are promoting violence much more than this mod, which even the creator said was made for the opposite effect. YOU are the ones hurting the gaming community, if anyone, with your childish banter.

That's true though.

For instance, you can right now go to a synagouge and say that you think the holocaust never happened, Jews steal people's money, and any other number of terrible things. That is your right, but we as a society have made rules saying it isn't right.

That is simply wrong. Not only will you be tresspassing (as someone else pointed out), but the "free speech" BS that people like to spew is limited when it comes to infringing on others' rights, and invading a synagouge and preventing worship is also infringing (nuissance and religious freedom laws come to mind). If free speech was absolute then there would be no defamation laws.

True, and free speech implies that there is, you know, a freaking speech. Hell, the creator refuses a speech to be attached to his work, I guess free speech is pretty useless here.

You know though, this guy has the right to make this game, but I sure have the right to call him out on it and say what an asshole he is.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Why would any sane person make a game that so clearly crossed the line from healthy entertainment into psychosis?

...Really? I'm sorry, this is the same website that just last week had as an highlight the positive review of Bulletstorm, a game that not only allows but extensively REWARDS the most psychotic and deranged behaviour you can possibly think of? A game that shows absolutely no traces of what's socially accepted as humanity or humane behaviour, and in fact downplays said traits in favour of encouraging channelling your creativity towards the most socially maladjusted attitudes you can conceive?

"Bulletstorm... REWARDS the most psychotic and deranged behavior" Against fully armed Mutant Beings that want to kill you. There is a marked difference between them.....and school children. Every Game from Pac-man to Black Ops that has gratuitous Violence has some way of justifying itself. Whether it's "self-defense", "saving the World" or "Revenge", there's always a justification. This game offers none. It doesn't even TRY. It is NOT comparable to any other game/mod.

Games aren't always about being deep. Sometimes it's just about fun, and whether we like to admit it or not, death and destruction are cathartic. It's an evolutionary trait. We like killing, we like destroying.

That's all this game is about. The devs never claimed it was anything else.

But it IS something else. It is SO MUCH MORE than what the devs make it out to be. Who cares what THEY call it. It is what it is, purely by merit of it's existence.
I can bring in front of you a Duck....and call it the Death Star. When you say "If it quakes like a dick..." I could Plug my ears and keep shouting that it is the Death Star "because I claim it to be so"......but it's still just a duck.

 

[jackpipsam]

This game still sounds better than bulletstorm

 

[RottingAwesome]

What bothers me most I think is his view on what video games "should be"
He seems to think that games like his and Bulletstorm are exclusively what video games should try to be. He seems to fail to understand that every game has its own place

more OT: the dev seems like a "too cool for school" type of guy trying to be edgy
It's not pushing the envelope if you set the envelope on fire

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

I find it odd that people whine over things like this. Just as books and films portray things of this nature, so to can interactive mediums like games. The one thing that strikes me as so damned puzzling is that no one cares to mention and debate the fact that these things are made AFTER the events they depict happened. It seems the emphasis is placed more on mediums not reproducing or depicting the events that happened rather than try to place and implement preventive measures to ensure tragedies like school shootings, wars, genocides, etc. do not occur in the first place.

It just seems to me that it's human nature to examine events like these through different means and methods. As probably many have posted before me, the gaming industry has produced hundreds of games depicting the events of WW2. Just because America helped win that war doesn't mean I want to experience it solely from that point of view. Let's take this shooter mod, for example. How about we put the player in the view of a student that isn't the shooter? Have them try and escape the ordeal, or have them try and save fellow classmates that were injured. Or what if the player is put in the position of a teacher? Would you try and keep your students calm and safe? Would you try to negotiate with the shooter and, perhaps, get that person to stop their actions? Or a custodian, or the principal, or a number of different options that one could place in a game such as this.

I believe that good things can come out of experiences like this, if they can be implemented in a way the creatively challenges the person choosing to use the gaming medium in this manner. I don't necessarily condone this mod, but I can see where improvements could be made to make this a more mature and enlightening experience rather than a "YAYIHAVEGUNZLETSSHOOSTTHINGS" game. Just add common sense, you know? (Before anyone throws Deadpool out there - yes, I realize common sense is rare enough nowadays to be considered a goddamn superpower.)

 

[SinisterGehe]

I wouldn't ban or delete this game, He has the damn right to create a game like this to tackle on the problems of the society. Or is it banned to point flaws in western civilization? Is it the 2nd Cold war again, but this time we are missing 2nd party in it.

There is the flaw of your argument. He didn't make the game to tackle the problem he just created because he wanted an entertaining, functional, non-buggy school shooting game. He and his friends could have built a message into the mechanics, they could have put something in the game to give it some depth, but instead they went for the shallow crass end of the
pool. That is why both him and his buddies get an epic fail.

I wouldn't call them fail, they had balls to do something that this far no one has done. Would you had the balls to do something like this?

 

[Kroxile]

I don't find anything wrong with this. Its the parent's responsibility to make sure this stays out of their childrens' hands anyway.

 

[espada1311]

Interestingly enough, you are all VERY fast to shit on this person for his mod, but you all don't realize that he is simply making a game about something every single gamer does anyway. Every person who plays a sandbox game has pretty much rubbed their faces with their innocent victim's intestines. However, the moment someone actually comes out and decides "Fuck it, I'll drop the false pretenses and make a game purely based on what people will do anyways" and everyone decides that then end of the video game world has come.

Meanwhile, you all seem to also forget that video games are used to play "games" with. Suppose I take this same mechanics, concepts, everything intact, except I'll make a few skin changes. Say I put this in an alien school, really nice aliens who want to help humans with all their might, I'm sure there wouldn't be many objections. Now, how about I put this in an office? If your frustrated with your job, then in all likelihood, you'll love this game for it's irony. How about the zoo? Shooting all the cute and innocent animals? PETA would be pissed, but you won't be.

The fact is that people only want to find issues where there are none. People like those in Fox News and whatnot will make up BS and spout crap about video games weather this game comes out or not. So, why should we care? As Appu said "Live and let live" If they need to continuously ***** and moan about rights they fight to put in place, then it only proves their own idiocy. Not to mention, if this game truly offends you, DON'T BUY IT! there is no more I can say for that.

Lastly, for the concerns regarding psychological effects on children, A) WHAT ARE KIDS DOING, PLAYING THIS GAME? B) It's impossible for a person to develop sadistic tenancies solely on a video game. As a person who looks into psychology, many school shootings are by kids who are bullied, mistreated, abused, misunderstood and a whole slew of problems that culminate into a rage strong enough to commit such an act. C) Its up to parents, not distributors or developers to regulate a person's child, its the child's parents. the parents are responsible for their child's well-being. D) WHAT ARE KIDS DOING PLAYING THIS FREAKING GAME? WHERE THE HELL ARE THEIR PARENTS?

 

[kouriichi]

I lol'd.
I think i need to get mental help.

I think its all the stupidity im exposed to these days that has drained away every ounce of pity in my body.

 

[Wolfenbarg]

These people represent the antithesis of what we need right now in the gaming community. However, considering their position on the California gaming bill and even on anti-gaming advocates, I'm hardly surprised. It's pretty degrading when people seek to make a bad name for all of us on purpose when they themselves are gamers. Sad, despicable, and plain disgusting. Hopefully this thing isn't a complete controversy magnet and doesn't draw too much attention, or this will give people exactly the ammunition they need to fight back against us.

 

[awarner19]

While I am all for shooting up the town in GTA4 hell I have done it for hours with some buddies, passing the controller around as we died but, this is a bit different in the sense that in all GTA games you are an adult and a criminal.
In this game you are a kid that shoots up his school.

The context is very different.

If he had set this in a prison with the player being a prisoner that got some guns off a guard and started shooting up the place killing guards. Shooting prisoners locked up in their cells and mowing down big "scary" prisoners trying to stop you with just their fists or others running for their lives till the swat teams came for you I could see it being very popular.

Its all about the context i think thats why this offends and angers so many people.

I understand that he can make whatever he wants I mean thats the whole point of mods IMO but this is just in bad taste. Also If the media takes this and loses its shit with it i can see it setting back the industry for the obvious reasons. I wish this guy would never had made this game, all i can see it doing is screwing up the image of video games for years to come we can only hope that the mainstream news doesn't get a hold of this...

 

[tzimize]

Reading the interview, the dev appears to have some rather strong opinions about video games and the people who play them. Which is okay and his personal buisness.

He, however, also appears to be COMPLETLY incapable of reflection, considering other peoples viewpoints and emotions or even that he may actually be WRONG about something.

I.e. EXACTLY the type of person who could make such a game and really honestly believe that there is NOTHING wrong with it.

Edit:

Note: I am not defending the game, I am defending the right to create one.

Oh yes, definitly, that goes without saying.

Incapable of reflection? HAH! Hardly!

Quoted question and answer from the article.

"If a family member of one of the victims of the school shootings contacted you and asked you to take down the mod, how would you respond?

We will not take down the mod just because one person can relate to the premise personally. That would be like pulling Call of Duty off shelves because the families of soldiers might complain that their loved ones died in battle, "just like in the game."People are too easily offended by works of fiction when there are plenty of things in the real world to be offended by, like racism and politics. If people need something to complain about, they should go complain about those."

He seems like one of the most reflected guys I've ever heard of. The world is full of nutjobs. He is making a game that has a lot of people feel disgusted. So what? Just dont play it then! There is plenty of real world stuff to be offended by first. Everything is bound to be offensive to someone at some point, do we just stop creating things then? No.

I will probably never play this mod, and if I ever did I suspect that I would be either
1: Completely disgusted by the whole game (as I was with the russian airport level in CoD) or
2: Hilariously entertained.

In both cases I win, seeing as the first option will have created a strong emotional response from me. And what is art if not that?

The second option will have granted me tons of entertainment, which is what the medium is about at its core.

 

[Don quixote's mule]

Can I just take you up on this point? Several people have made it. Don't take the following personally, I mean it to everybody.

Why is the wholesale slaughter of your fellows okay if they've done bad things? Nay, you've been told they've done bad things. Why does innocence even come into it at all?
You kill a man or woman, you take away somebody's son or daughter, somebody's brother or sister, somebody's best friend, someone's father or mother. You take a life.
Why is that fine and dandy if they're bad people?

Killing people is one of the only objective wrongs in this world, and nobody has any right whatsoever to do it, even in revenge. That makes you just as sad an excuse for a human being as anybody who has killed too.

So why then, is this in any way bad? By playing it, you aren't killing anybody, you're putting yourself in that mindset, for fun. If you wanted to go out and do it for fun, you would. Instead, one plays a game about it.
Some people don't join the army, they play Call of Duty, or Bulletstorm, or whatever the hell they like. Games in which you kill people are nothing new. They're archaic.

This game has every right to be made, played and enjoyed, just like films about this kind of thing, just like paintings of this kind of thing, just like books about this kind of thing. If you don't like it, fine. 'The medium' as it is called should be allowed to depict anything it wants any way it wants.

Oh, and to all you people quoting Extra Credits, I got the impression from their video on 'Six Days in Fallujah' that they regarded games that dealt with touchy subject matter as good things, not bad things. Just some food for thought.

There is a difference in context here. It's a little lazy of me to cite Movie Bob and not go do some real research, but he articulated the point I am trying to say incredibly well on "The Big Picture" episode about Political correctness.(The episode name is "correctitude") Breaking sensitive Taboos has to have a purpose or you are just being a jerk. In the interview Pawnstick as much as said this is violence for violence sake.

"Will students or teachers ever fight back in the game? Why or why not?

The fun in killing the "innocent" NPCs is the fact that they are incapable of fighting back. It's more intuitive to leave it to law enforcement to try and end the player's spree, rather than the terrified fleeing members of the student body."

and again

"Given the constant attacks from mainstream media against videogames for portraying violence, why would you give these fanatics more ammunition to dismiss games as childish at best and harmful at worst?

Because that's exactly what games are. The media is right to dismiss games as "bang-bang shoot 'em ups" and "murder simulators," because at their core, that is exactly what most games boil down to. Take Bulletstorm, for example: It is pretty much the full embodiment of what the media assumes games to be. It's humor is crude, it's writing is dumb, and it's gameplay is ultra-violent. And that is exactly what makes it so appealing, not only to adults, but also to kids."

He isn't making something that would be protected under the constitution regardless the medium. legally this game is the very definition of obscenity, and Pawnstick says as much.

 

[Firia]

Sick articulate bastard. >:[

He says he' Saw through the media" dramatisation. But he couldn't see it for the tragedy that it was. That's some psycho there. One with his own twisted view on the world, and enough brains to articulate them into a modification.

 

[jp201]

Rather poor taste but I'm sure there are much worse games than this that are flash animated and run.

I doubt there is another worse one though.

 

[hitheremynameisbob]

I wouldn't call them fail, they had balls to do something that this far no one has done. Would you had the balls to do something like this?

So what, we should praise them for having the "balls" to do something that hadn't been done yet? Should we also praise the first person to actually shoot up a school for having the balls to do that? Not everything should be done - it not having been done yet is not a reason to do it. Granted, games are different from actual actions in that they're an artistic medium, which means they should be free to do anything, really. That's not the question, though. It's not like every time someone makes something that hasn't been done before for lack of courage to do it we should instantly applaud them regardless of the merit or lack thereof of what they actually did. Being first shouldn't get you immunity from scrutiny. If someone makes a game where you just stare at a white screen for six hours then get shocked in the nuts by a taser ejecting from the console, should we praise them? Nobody has had the balls to make that game yet. Of course not - you praise or denounce a game because of its value, not because it broke some arbitrary boundary. The fact remains that there's little, if any social value to the game they've made beyond the ability to revel in the meaningless, contextless killing of innocents, a claim put forward by the author himself. Given that, yeah, I'd say it's pretty damned fail from just about every perspective. He shouldn't be prohibited from making this game, as it's still a form of self expression, regrettably, but that doesn't mean that we can't take one look at it and judge, quite fairly, that it's trash and should be shunned and derided, and hopefully shut off from distribution sites. They have a right to make whatever the hell they want - not for us to like it and/or play it.

 

[KenzS]

Dumb, retarded, pathetic.

I bet it's boring as shit too.

 

[BoredDragon]

I was just dismissing this guy as a media attention-seeker until I read this:

"Given the constant attacks from mainstream media against videogames for portraying violence, why would you give these fanatics more ammunition to dismiss games as childish at best and harmful at worst?

Because that's exactly what games are. The media is right to dismiss games as "bang-bang shoot 'em ups" and "murder simulators," because at their core, that is exactly what most games boil down to"

This guy is not a gamer, he has not played games and he does not stand for what we stand. He believes that all games are just about going into a room and killing everything in sight to get the most points as possible. He is dismissing all story-strong games like Bioshock and Alan Wake. Now that I think about it, he is dismissing all types of video games other than Serious Sam style FPS's. He is a man who is intentionally trying to demonize gaming and help out organizations like Fox News in their search for an easy scapegoat.

I also found that he is trying to be the Uwe Boll of the video games industry. By that, I mean he is trying to be troll and making this game to paint a stereotype of gamers as a "generally misguided, highly reactionary lot." He wants to react in a way that he thinks is funny and that will get him a lot of attention.

He says the game is intended for "gamers who accept that video games shouldn't be particularly deep or insightful", which I don't think is any of us. We have all come to accept that video games are the new modern media such as books or TV and we will not accept that all our games are mindless. He sites Bulletstorm as the latest example of what games are, but I think he is taking things out of context. This game is purposefully being made to be over the top in swearing and violence to show the ridiculousness of it. You don't look at a grindhouse film and immediately assume that all other films including Citizen Kane and The Dark Knight can be put into the same category as Machete. They are fun to watch for completely different reasons and saying they are the same is ignorant at best. In the world of game reviews, a game can have good gameplay but a severely lacking story will take many points off its score just as a movie that looks good will still get a low score if it too has a horrible story.

I will bring up again the story of Bioshock and compare it to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. After watching/playing through both I was able to re-watch/play each of them and have an enhanced experience because, since I knew their respected plot twists, I was able to pick up on the subtle hints leading up to them. A video game with a story that I can compare to the great works of Alfred Hitchcock without sarcasm can not be dismissed to the same compilation bucket of what this guy thinks all video games are. We as a gaming community must denounce this man as a fellow gamer, not with threats or even getting angry, but with legit arguments about why we think this man is wrong about our medium of choice.

The man can make this mod if he wants and I agree somewhat on his stances on better regulation of what video games children play (though he seems to be in the same boat as that Fox News psychologist in assuming negative affects of gaming that have yet to be proven by science). However, portraying my and our personal choice of escapism as something to be enjoyed by slack-jawed idiots who care nothing about the higher intellectual properties of story-telling is something that I cannot, nay, WILL NOT allow without my opinion being heard.

My only hope is that the rest of the comments that have come before me are just as analytical and intelligent as what I have posted here so that we don't fall into this guy's portrayed stereotype of all gamers being unintelligent over-reactive people.