The issue of censorship has reared its ugly head again, this time at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah which occured in January.
Slamdance, which is an independent film and gamemaker competition, has found itself in the midst of controversy with the decision to pull a finalist in its Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition.
The game in question is “Super Columbine Massacre RPG” a cartoonish, top-down view perspective adventure that puts players in the shoes of the two Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as they prepare, plan and methodically go about shooting classmates and teachers of their high school. The games creator is 24-year-old Colorado filmmaker Danny Ledonne, who defends his game by stating that the whole point of the game is to give players a better understanding of the events leading up to and the actual shooting itself.
This is the first time in the festival’s 13-year history that they have removed a game from competition. The festival had received concerns from sponsors regarding the game’s content, but according to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune, Slamdance President Peter Baxter stated that “Ultimately, it was my decision to pull this game, and I hope that a choice like it will never have to be made again.”
As a result of “Super Columbine Massacre RPG” being pulled, six of the remaining 13 finalists in the game making competition withdrew their games in protest.
Jonathan Mak, 24, said in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, “It’s weird Slamdance will show controversial films every year, but it’s like games have this double standard.”
Video games are as valid a medium as movies, music or TV. Good video games are able to convey a broad range of emotions, from love to hate and happiness to sorrow.
Censorship in any form is wrong. It’s Big Brother’s way of saying that you’re too stupid to form your own opinion, so we’ll have to do it for you.
Video games are still widely perceived as toys for children and not as the mature form of entertainment for adults. Is Ledonne being disingenuous when in a TV interview he called his game “something that mattered, something that was personally important.”?
So should the Slamdance committees be allowed to judge the game on its own merit or should something as controversial as a game dealing with the Columbine shooting be allowed to enter and qualify for an award?