Sick, sick, sick: Columbine Massacre Game

Parent Cafe
1

<p>A new on-line low:</p>

<p>"DENVER, Colorado (AP) – An online game based on the Columbine High School massacre is drawing criticism from a father whose son died in the 1999 attack, saying it trivializes the actions of the two teen killers.</p>

<p>The game, “Super Columbine Massacre RPG,” was posted on a Web site last year, but is becoming more popular now. It draws on investigative material, including images of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide.</p>

<p>Players are told it is “ultimately up to you” how many people Harris and Klebold kill that day. Each time Harris and Klebold kill someone in the game, a dialogue box pops up that says: “Another victory for the Trench Coat Mafia.”</p>

<p>The game also includes crime scene photos of the killers and images of students running and crying, though it does not have photos of any victims."</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/05/17/columbine.video.game.ap/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/05/17/columbine.video.game.ap/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>This is sickening…</p>

<p>What’s the purpose of this game? Isn’t made up worlds or pretending to be SWAT members or whatever else shooting computer games there are out there enough?</p>

<p>I like arcade shooting games. No plot, no history to it, just killing the bad guys and testing my accuracy. That’s it.</p>

3

<p>horrifying.</p>

4

<p>Unbelievably bad taste.</p>

5

<p>Disgusting.</p>

6

<p>My husband is a Columbine grad, along with his younger cousin. On the day of the shootings, the activity at the school was visible from the home of his aunt and uncle in Littleton. My husband and I lived in Texas at that time so our only vantage point was via the tv which was sufficiently horrifying. I find it interesting that one of the victims interviewed for this article found some value in the game. For the life of me, I cannot fathom this.</p>

7

<p>My sympathy goes out to anyone who lost a loved one in the shootings, obviously.</p>

<p>As a gamer and possibly an aspiring gaming journalist though, I cant help but cringe at the gaming industry getting more bad press. What everyone needs to realize is that this game was developed using open source materials by an amateur-meaning it could have been anyone. This isnt any different than someone using a pen and paper to write an inappropriate story about Columbine or a songwriter using a guitar to perform an offensive song. But somehow, the gaming industry is going to get blamed-again.</p>