Knowing that the game would become an underground cult obsession, knowing that someone would eventually ferret out my identity, knowing that I would get death threats and receive requests for autographs, and knowing that one mentally disturbed man would cite my game as one he liked to play before randomly shooting at college students… there’s no way to honestly answer that question. I would LIKE to say, “yes, there’s no question.” But of course that’s impossible to gauge.
I didn’t know I was making something that became part of a movement to give video games an agenda, a social conscience. I didn’t think more than a few dozen of my online friends would play it. I think the game needed to be made. Despite my lack of technical skill with video game design, it turns out the person that made it was me. Maybe that sounds deterministic but the concept of a deep, dedicated game about Columbine was waiting to happen; that shooting happened at a very formative age for an entire generation of gamers and I’m sure it marked us all in one way or another. —Danny LeDonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG. —Feature: Columbine RPG Creator Talks About Dawson Shooting (Kotaku)
In a later quote, he says “If anything, the Dawson College shooting is proof positive that games like SCMRPG SHOULD be made; until video games are no longer among the “usual suspects” for homicidal rampages, the public needs to more carefully consider why interactive electronic media is somehow the manufacturer of Manchurian Candidates.”
Does he go a little bit off the deep end there? Maybe, but I find LeDonne very articulate and insightful.
Who was it who said that the best response to a poem is another poem? Here’s LeDonne’s take on that issue:
If you have something to say about the world, don’t wait around for someone to create that thing for you, DO IT YOURSELF. No matter who you are, you have something to share and there’s absolutely no reason media conglomerates should have a monopoly on the creation of culture. In the digital age, we have been empowered to reshape the horizon of understanding ourselves. So set aside your MySpace blog, turn off the TV, and put down the controller for your X-Box. Make something… and don’t be afraid that your idea might not be accepted; the truth is there is probably already a world of people waiting for you to create it–whatever “it” might be.
I’m reminded somehow of the Marilyn Manson interview in BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, which — despite all the problems with it that your blog has pointed me to — is probably still the best media response to the issue of violence in schools ever made. I wonder if the Dawson shooter ever saw Moore’s film.
What’s your book about? If you’re really serious about it, you might want to consider Seton Hill’s Writing Popular Fiction program. You can complete most of it online, and the end result will be a manuscript that’s ready to be submitted to publishers.
I so agree with you here. I have been turning to mundane movies, contrived reality shows and rather lame MySpace interactions for a daily dose of brain numbing “entertainment.” Are we just slaves to this constant brainwashed need that we must constantly be entertained? Creating something is such a great feeling….to open your mind…even for a few minutes and let thoughts flow brings such a feeling of elation. A couple of months ago my city experienced a black-out power failure and I was forced to entertain myself by means of using something that did not require electricity….try pretending this situation and you will begin looking at all the things you can create.
I am writing a book and every time I work on it I feel like such a tiny soul in the huge universe…because I’m alone inside my head creating something that I’m not being told by the conglomerates is adequate entertainment. But then I also think perhaps someone somewhere a century from now could read what I created. I think that somehow I could make a connection with a person who feels disconnected…and touch their soul.