Poll: Should games like "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!" be allowed?

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Techno Squidgy

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Nov 23, 2010
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A friend of mine gave me a copy of Super Columbine RPG to play. I played it for a while and thought it was pretty cool. I got intrigued so decided to look it up and see where it came from. I wasn't even aware of the incident at the time. Through this game I learned about it. As such I feel these games deserve to exist, as I never would of learnt about it otherwise.
Also, fun fact : 'One victim of the shooting played the game and voiced reserved support, remarking that "It probably sounds a bit odd for someone like me to say, but I appreciate the fact at least to some degree that something like this was made." While he took issue with what he saw as glamorization of the shooters, he also believed it would help open a dialogue about the shooting"' (From Wiki).
 

SideSmash

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May 24, 2011
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I understand that it's bait for the critics of the industry, but they still exercise free speech. If those were banned, Westboro (spelling?) should be as well.
 

conflictofinterests

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Apr 6, 2010
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SideSmash said:
I understand that it's bait for the critics of the industry, but they still exercise free speech. If those were banned, Westboro (spelling?) should be as well.
That isn't a statement that's going to rouse many proponents of freedom of speech. lol
 

Eldrig

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Apr 25, 2011
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People make games about WW2 and the like, and they were faaaar more tragic (no disrespect towards the people affected by the shooting) so i really think this is making a big deal about something the game industry has been doing for a long time, though, perhaps not in such a personal way.
 

Aglaid

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Mar 27, 2011
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Sure, you should have the right to make games like this but that doesn't mean it is not completely demented and f**ked in the head. It's like politics and abortion, you should have the right to talk about it but you shouldn't bring up those subjects with a group of friends.
 

joshthor

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Aug 18, 2009
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they shouldn't be made. they should be allowed. personally i think the makers are assholes. but once we start restricting what people are allowed to create the censorship will get worse and it is a very slippery slope.
 

wrightry

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Feb 22, 2009
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Yes it shouldn't be restricted, but here's what it can't do: It can't glorify the killing of random people. The game only really works if the actions are demonized or experienced from a victims perspective. If the purpose is to be one of the shooters and violently kill other people then that's fucked up... that's practically the opposite of what this medium needs in order for it to be taken seriously as an art form. No other artform like writing or movie making would go uncriticized if this event was depicted from an unnecessarily brutal, playful perspective. If it's done right, it will have to be done in a way that demonizes the evil that was committed that day.
 

firelightning1

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Jul 14, 2011
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I'm surprised anyone other than me had ever heard of the game. That aside, yes it should be allowed, if Michel Moore can make a documentary "Bowling For Columbine" and I can go the the library and rent the book "Columbine" (both things I have watched and read) than I sure as hell should be allowed to play a game about it.

A good argument for this is WWII games, that was a real and tragic event yet we have entire franchises built around that.
 

aashell13

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Jan 31, 2011
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Allowed? yes.
Encouraged? Under no circumstances.

I sympathise with the people who find this inappropriate and offensive, and I encourage them to boycott the companies responsible. Furthermore, I agree that games like this paint games generally in a very bad light precisely as the industry attempts to gain increased legitimacy in the public eye. Nevertheless, it is legal to make.
 

Thyunda

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May 4, 2009
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Ignoring the legal side of this, since the question did not ask about that, let's look at this properly.

What good could possibly come of allowing this particular game? None at all. Don't give me the argument that it's a slippery slope, and that if we ban the Columbine RPG, then we start banning games for more and more minor infractions.
That's bull. You know it, and I know it.

If, perhaps, the game had some sort of message or wanted to highlight how much of a tragedy it was, we could pass it off as art. God knows it'd be more sensitive than the worldwide news coverage.
Unfortunately, the relative ease of creating freeware games and getting them 'sold' is going to make this difficult. If you're going to create a film, you need somewhere to show it. If you want a film to make a real impact, the only way you'd get anywhere is if you got into one of the amateur film festivals. You CAN put the film on YouTube, but then, of course, if it's improper, it's removed. You can have your own domain where you offer viewings, but in all honesty, people aren't likely to make a fuss out of some arseholes being arseholes on camera. If you write a book, you can either spend stupid amounts of money to get it self-published, which is hardly going to draw any attention to yourself, or you can try to get a publisher to do it for you.

If your book makes a comedy out of the Columbine Massacre, you're very unlikely to get published.

The simple yet professional nature of freeware means these things get taken seriously, and you cannot shut down somebody's domain for expressing their freedom, which means you cannot restrict the influence of this RPG. The only thing that can be done is to stop giving it so much publicity. If you want to be vigilante, get some friends and DDoS the site every now and then...because that is really the extent of our powers over this sort of shit.

So. In answer to the question. Should it be allowed? Hell no. It contributes nothing to anybody, except insults, slander and disrespect. A 'hilarious' film about this would never make the silver screen, so why should this be allowed to impress its vile influence on the rest of us?
It shouldn't.
However. Can we stop it? No. Never in a million years. To restrict this would mean policing the Internet. Now that IS a slippery slope. It's already difficult enough to know where to draw the line. People say stupid shit online. A lot. Two guys on some roleplaying site talking about a very realistic plan to destroy the Houses of freakin' Parliament or something could easily be taken seriously, and with harsh consequences to follow. It's because of this lack of context that you cannot regulate the Internet. So...no. We can't stop it. We can persuade filesharers and freeware hubs to avoid particular products, but if the creator decides to take it onto their own shoulders, there is really nothing anybody can do.
 

Canadamus Prime

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Jun 17, 2009
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I really don't know. On the one hand I have to wonder why anyone would want to create a game like that, but at the same time I very firmly believe that we can't just go around banning every little thing that we find unpleasant, bothersome, or offensive (as much as I'd like to oftentimes).
 

zebulon220

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Aug 31, 2011
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The question is intent?
Was the guy who made it just trolling?
and even if he/she was just trolling, is trolling art?
 

pppppppppppppppppp

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Jun 23, 2011
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Was I the only one who played Super Columbine and thought the maker was actually trying to send a message and discuss the shooting instead of trying to piss on the victims' mothers?

Just me? Well then...
 

emeraldrafael

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Jul 17, 2010
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Wait wait wait, the Video game world's industry? No no, this was an indie project, made by a film producer on his own time. This is the film industry's problem, kindly leave the video game industry out of it.

having played the game... its a pretty poor game on its own right. not the supject material, just interms of if you would judge a game today. the whole thing is linear and scripted, there's no real deviation, and lacks any real replay value. though it reminds me a bit of custom robo arena in the style aspect.

But should it be allowed? Well of course, this is the US way. You're free to make a game about this if you want. The whole game itself acts as a documentary, so to say it shouldnt be allowed is in a similar way of saying no documentary about it should be allowed.

besides, we have games about war, we have games about gang land violence, we have games about wanton murder and death as sport. To ban this is to ban any game that details a sensitive subject in any light. No more CoD, no more BF, no more GTA, no more saints Row, no more any of those types of games.

Creative freedom goes both ways, nd to silence one just because ou personally are offended is wrong, as you wouldnt want your voice silenced.
 

Xanadu84

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Apr 9, 2008
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Of course it should be allowed. In the same way that people should be allowed to think without the thought police murdering them. As usualy, its the, "Should" thats an issue. I can't speak to this game specifically, but if they are attempting to say something worth saying, I say wonderful. Now that columbine game thats a shooter that was recently made? That is stupid and has no redeeming value. It should have been allowed, but it shouldn't have been made, and it deserves ridicule.
 

Lucem712

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Jul 14, 2011
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Glass Joe the Champ said:
Was I the only one who played Super Columbine and thought the maker was actually trying to send a message and discuss the shooting instead of trying to piss on the victims' mothers?

Just me? Well then...
From playing the game and having watched the doc. "Playing Columbine", I think Danny Ledonne was trying to express his feelings. He's said that when he heard of the shooting and looked into it, it frightened him because he saw himself in the shooters. People can form their own opinions but I've learned a great deal about the shooting, and Ledonne's accomplished that, at the very least.
 

Jacco

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May 1, 2011
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Lucem712 said:
I went to and graduated from Columbine. I grew up in Littleton. My cousin was there that day. I know what it's like to live in a community affected by that and to constantly have that stigma attached: "Oh! You went to Columbine?! Did you see blood?!"

Yes. It should be allowed. Free speech is one of the most valuable things we have and EVERYONE deserves to take part in it. As Voltaire said- "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

That being said, just because you have the RIGHT to do something, you may have the RESPONSIBILITY not to.

The guy who made the Columbine game is an immature little prick and would do well to never come to Littleton and advertise who he is but he still had the right to make it however in bad taste it was. Michael Moore had the right to use our tragedy to make himself millions of dollars and forward a political point that few people here share or support. But it makes him an asshole for doing so.

Neither of them should be censored for it.
 

SenseOfTumour

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Jul 11, 2008
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Yes, I also believe youtube should get to keep it's comment section along with all other sites.

I only have a problem when the nutjobs get wide access to an audience in a seemingly respectable place, Like columnists in the Daily Mail or Glenn Beck getting on TV and radio.

Lots of jobs demand a health check, I seriously suggest a mental health check too in future.

Besides it just amuses me when a youtube video of two kittens playing, in about 3 posts descends into a flame war between a UK and US guy about who's a 'dumb ****** retard fag whore'. (The answer of course being both of them, the moment the second one posted.)

(I'll also defend my use of ****** as it's an example, and I'm using it to express my hate for idiots like the above youtube commentors, as equivalent to a racist's hate for not just a black guy,a really successful black guy, who's also gay. and voted for Obama.)

In all honesty, I dont think we CAN police the internet, short of downvoting stupid and offensive comments, and I don't think we should. Hopefully the worst kinds of people will get some of the hate out of their system onto the pages of websites the rest of us won't even bother reading, filled as they are with animated gifs and flashing banner ads from the early 90s. (Yes, I'm also equating racism with bad web design, they both make my head hurt from the stupid.)