At the Living Game Worlds III Conference last week at Georgia Tech, Director of the Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition Sam Roberts lent his feet to the fire to explain his company's decisions in the aftermath of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG pullout, to which he lamented that "I don't think we handled this very well ... this was poorly execution, from start to finish, how we dealt with this."

Also on the panel, entitled Playing with Controversy, was GT Assistant Professor and founder of Persuasive Games Ian Bogost and USC Assistant Professor Tracy Fullerton, whose Interactive Media Division withdrew sponsorship following Slamdance's decision. GT Assistant Professor and game theorist Celia Pearce served as moderator.

Portion of the SCMRPG trailer was shown to begin the discussion. In it, video of the game is shown over audio tracks showcasing the mainstream media's reaction to the game. The choice quote, from unknown source: "I see no way that you could, in any way, create the mindset that this was anything other than a really bad attempt to make money." The game was created by aspiring filmmaker Danny LeDonne using RPG Maker and was released his website for users to download free of charge.

When organizers of the Slamdance Festival's gaming competition pulled the ever-controversial Super Columbine Massacre RPG from competition due to pressure from back-pedaling sponsors, creator Danny Ledonne diplomatically deemed the move "necessary to the festival's survival."

In a follow-up interview with Next Generation today, LeDonne offers some choice words concerning the decision, particularly for those who are glad to see it gone. "This is a confirmation that either this game is way ahead of its time or we live in a culture that simply has no time at all for games that deal with social issues in a direct, confrontational way," Ledonne said.

Whether or not you agree that SCMRPG is a meaningful piece of social commentary, this type of exclusion does make us wonder when games will stop being treated less like mere child's play and more like a serious medium for thought-provoking experiences. Regardless, it appears that the powers that be aren't yet ready for a game that combines a high school shooting with mythical, flying dragons from Hell.

Canadian television network Canoe interviewed Danny Ledonne, the creator of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG. The game has become the scapegoat for the Montreal "Video Game Killer" school shooting rampage.

The interview is worth watching for the way Ledonne behaves himself. Like watching Marilyn Manson in Bowling for Columbine, Ledonne handles himself professionally with word choice precision; meanwhile, the Toronto Sun columnist being used as the counter, who "tried to play" Ledonne's game, comes off like the stereotypical out-of-touch old man -- because he is. We'll avoid the First Amendment soapbox and just throw a quote in here from Ledonne, the new poster boy for the ESRB:

"Find out what your kids are playing, talk to them, get in touch with them. I mean, most of these cases have kids that have fallen through the cracks, they hate life, they say it, and these I feel are the root causes, not whatever video game or book or movie they happen to pick up that weekend."

See also:
Columbine game scapegoated for Montreal shootings
The Political Game: The blame game


Watch - Canoe Interview