Super Columbine Massacre RPG! (SCMRPG!) is a computer game that recreated the Columbine high school shootings and has caused much controversy. Created by aspiring filmmaker Danny Ledonne with the game-making program RPG Maker, SCMRPG! It has been both criticized as “trivializing the actions of two murderers” and lauded as “sophisticated and worthy of praise”.
In 2006, PC World named the game Number 2 on its list of “The Top 10 Worst Games of All Time.” SCMRPG! was also the first entry to be removed from the Slamdance festival in its thirteen years of running, after already being selected as a finalist in the festival’s “Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition”. On January 26, 2007, one of the Slamdance film jurors saw a demo of SCMRPG!, and convinced two fellow jurors to award SCMRPG! a “Special Jury Prize” for Best Documentary, an unofficial award that is not endorsed by Slamdance itself. However just before the presentation, Slamdance officials informed the jury they couldn’t present the award due to “music clearance issues,” and refused to allow it despite protests. Creator Ledonne is currently working on a documentary about the controversy surrounding his game.
The game was originally made available for download on April 20, 2005 on the anniversary of the Columbine massacre. Ledonne sought to remain anonymous at the game’s debut, but his identity was ultimately revealed by Roger Kovacs, a friend of one of the Columbine victims, Rachel Scott. Kovacs stated, “One of the girls who died was a friend of mine, Rachel. We were in the same church group. Anyone playing this game can kill Rachel over and over again.”
Ledonne stated that he created the game because he himself had once been “a loner, a misfit, and a bullied kid” in high school. SCMRPG! is the only video game he has ever created and stated that he has no plans to create another. “I’m not advocating shooting up your school, and I don’t know how many times I can say that and no one will listen. This game does not glorify school shootings. If you make it far enough into the game, you see very graphic photos of Eric and Dylan lying dead. I can’t think of a more effective way to confront their actions and the consequences those actions had.” Ledonne has also stated that the victims do not “own the opinion” on Columbine. He went on to say that when he heard of the shootings that his initial thought was “… it’s about time.”
As far as the actual gameplay, you play as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and how many people they kill is ultimately up to you. Once a battle starts, it is impossible for you to avoid or escape: the player must kill the “enemy” or die. Much of the plotline is constructed around the events precisely as they are believed to have occurred, down to the very minute at which the bombs were set to explode. The boys’ dialogue is lifted verbatim from their writings or from their own home videos of each other. I had watched the trailer for the computer game online. The graphics are similar to an old Final Fantasy game with the character interaction almost looking silly. But there is real footage and pictures of the killers themselves and that may turn people off. Well, I am sure the concept itself is enough to anger people.
- Molly Celaschi
