Well this is appropriate…
Columbine game pulled from festival
By DEBBIE HUMMEL, Associated Press WriterFri Jan 12, 8:26 PM ET
A key sponsor has withdrawn from an alternative media festival and
six video game makers have pulled their entries over organizers’
rejection of a game depicting the Columbine High School massacre.
Slamdance Film Festival co-founder and president Peter Baxter said
organizers couldn’t justify keeping “Super Columbine Massacre RPG!” in
the competition.
“I spoke to people who are still suffering very much from
Columbine,” Baxter said Friday. “Some things are more important than
one game or a festival.”
The game, which can be downloaded off the Internet, has cartoon
graphics and photos of Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
and some of their writings. Players take the place of Harris and
Klebold, who killed 13 people and themselves in April 1999 at the
school near Denver.
The game’s creator, Danny Ledonne of Alamosa in southern Colorado,
said he was a sophomore in high school when the shootings took place.
“I had the same kinds of issues in high school that the two shooters
did and I just dealt with it differently, fortunately,” he said Friday.
Ledonne said he believed the game would spark serious discussion
about the shootings, which were blamed in part on the teens’ exposure
to violent games. Baxter said the festival would add a discussion
session this year about the game.
Ledonne said Slamdance contacted him about entering his game in the Guerrilla Gamemaker competition.
“They picked up something that they, in the end, didn’t have the courage of their convictions to stand behind,” he said.
The University of Southern California’s Interactive Media Division
planned to offer summer fellowships to the winners but withdrew the
sponsorship. Assistant Professor Tracy Fullerton said Friday she viewed
it as a fundamental issue of freedom of expression.
“They courted very avant-garde, independent gamemakers and if you’re
going to do that, in the same way you stand by a very avant-garde
filmmaker, you need to be prepared to stand by a gamemaker,” she said.
Baxter said organizers were reluctant to expose Slamdance to possible legal issues over music in the game.
“We have to preserve the ability to support gamemakers and filmmakers in the future,” he said.
The Slamdance festival, Jan. 18-27, is separate from but runs at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival, also in Park City.
Slamdance bills itself as an independent alternative to Sundance.
Competition films come from first-time directors working with budgets
under $1 million.
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Who the hell would make a video game about one of the greatest tragedies in the United States over the last century? That is really kind of messed up.
I guess there was some hubbub around some other games offered at the festival this year.
1) Hindenburg pilot- Try to light the zeppelin on fire in record time!
2) Crooked relief aide worker- Try to horde as much relief aide sent to African nations. Bonus points if you take out Sally Struthers…
3) Out live the Kennedy Family- A sims like based game that puts you up against the entire Kennedy Family over the last century. You get to run a crooked company, rig elections, and sleep with Hollywood movie stars. The goal is to acquire wealth and power without getting shot or driving your car/plane into a massive body of water.
4) Pedophile- Made by the makers of Grand Theft Auto, you can run around the city trying to get kids to get in your “candy van”. Be careful of the guys from dateline filming “To Catch a Predator”, they can blow up your spot and get your myspace account deleted.
So there you have it, honestly though I really can’t wait for “Creepy Old Man” to come out. But that is another blog for another day….
