I just realized that my last class reflection apparently didn’t post before break. During our last class together we watched a documentary about the Super Columbine Massacre RPG! game that caused such a controversy a few years back. I was quite impressed with the documentary, especially with the variety of people that were interviewed. I was impressed that Ledonne would have the guts to feature people in his documentary that could potentially make him look very bad. At the same time, I think this gave the film more credibility. Showing such a variety of people gives the film’s audience a really interesting look into how different people view video games. Most of the game developers defended Columbine RPG! because they believed video games could be used as a platform for learning while most of the politicians condemned the game because they could only see video games as frivolous, and in this case, offensive entertainment.
I was really shocked to hear that the head of the Slamdance Festival first accepted the game and then pulled it without giving a reason. Whether it was a publicity stunt or cowardice I think it really set back the serious games industry. If a significant game festival can’t even recognize the importance of acknowledging groundbreaking serious games like Columbine RPG! then how are everyday people going to take games like this seriously? I was happy to see that the judges and many of the people organizing the event supported the game, but it was highly disappointing that the head of the festival could not understand how important this game was to the serious games industry. His lack of support insinuated that games can only be used for entertainment purposes and game developers have no right to tackle serious issues.
I really hope we are able to finish the film at some point in time because I thoroughly enjoyed it and am really curious how it will end.
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