Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1334https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4459For my last day of playing Super Columbine RPG, I began where I had left off: the library. One of the first people I ran into was “Church Girl”, the girl who according to some people was asked if she believed in God before being killed. When Eric asks her the question, I instantly remembered hearing about it. After walking around the library for some time, the two start shooting at police outside before they commit suicide. The slideshow of pictures, including some graphic ones, were very powerful. Seeing the pictures of family members crying made me feel somewhat guilty for having played the game. After the slideshow came the weirdest part of the game yet, Eric and Dylan are in hell and the game makes more references to the media. This time, Eric has to fight against characters from the game Doom. It is as if they are living the game that they had played when they lived. As I walked more, I came across more references to games. Darth Vader, Mario, Pikachu, Mega Man, Santa Claus, just to name a few, were all in hell for various reasons. The game continues along with you fighting Satan and a closing scene in front of Columbine High School. Though the game does not have great graphics by any means, it is a powerful game that I believe should not have been made. I see no purpose for this type of game to exist. One may argue that war games that focus on actual events in history may be the same in the way they let you kill people and recreate tragic events. This game, however, does not feel like those types of games.Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:19:48 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4459&iddiary=8350https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4459On my second day of playing, I began with Dylan and Eric looking over downtown Denver and talking about what they are about to do. At one point Eric says that he lives in Denver and would “love to kill almost all its residents.” The two continue to rant about life and talk about how people want so many things. The language continues to be filled with vulgar words and no compassion whatsoever is expressed for anyone. I was shocked when both started to collect their weapons. I was not aware of the amount of guns and homemade bombs that the two had at the time of the shooting. The ability for two teenagers in high school to obtain that much firepower makes me worry about how safe schools really are and how safe it is anywhere in general. After the two find out that none of their bombs worked, I found it interesting that Eric spares the life of someone named Brooks. He admits that he likes him and he lets him go without hurting him. This is one of the few times that either of the two seem to have compassion for anyone. After the encounter with Brooks, I could walk around freely through the parking lot and into the school. As much as I tried to not kill anyone, I thought it was rather impossible to maneuver around people without confronting them. As soon as you step near a person, the game goes into a “battle mode” that surprised me due to the similarities in format to the Pokemon games I used to play. Even though the game reminded me of the game I used to love to play, I felt weird that a defenseless/innocent person was the one I was about to “battle”. I soon found out that there was no backing out of an encounter. The game does not give a choice to let someone go (if there is, I couldn’t figure it out) and you are forced to kill the person. I found it interesting that the developer chose to do this. Why would he not give people the choice? He lets you decide how to kill them but he does not allow you to choose whether they die or not. I found the real images of the school that make up the background in a “battle” kind of creepy. Even though I’m not sure if the pictures were actually taken at Columbine, I thought they added a level of realness to the game.Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:08:37 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4459&iddiary=8343https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4459When I first started to play Super Columbine Massacre RPG and saw the graphics it had, I didn’t think I would be bothered much by the gameplay. As I continued to play, however, I grew guiltier and guiltier with every passing minute. Here I was playing as real killers that actually existed and recreating a tragic event. I started off by searching through Eric Harris’ room and quickly found a box of Luvox pills and a copy of the game “Doom”, which according to the game desensitizes people to violence. After turning on the radio to hear Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, I began talking to Dylan Klebold over the phone. The language and the way that both Dylan and Eric spoke made it seem as if it were no big deal to them. They seemed excited while they spoke of killing innocent people as if there was nothing wrong with it. During the conversation, Eric tells Dylan that “they all deserve to die” for everything that they had put them through. After meeting with Dylan and gathering the duffle bags, I walked over to the television where the two make a last recording. I found it interesting how one of them says that “it will be like Doom”, just after reading that the game desensitizes people to violence in the previous room. The two finish their goodbyes, even mentioning the fact that they had great parents and requesting for no one to be arrested. Going through the few rooms in the house, I got the feeling from the creator of the game that he thinks that the media had a lot to do with the events at Columbine. The references to Doom, Nirvana, and Marilyn Manson seem to point the finger at the media. I started to feel a little weird when they arrived at the school parking lot and began talking about the bomb placements. After struggling to get into the cafeteria without getting detected (very frustrating), I placed the two bombs and returned to the parking lot to retrieve the two duffle bags that I had taken from Eric’s house. The game does not really give you the choice in deciding whether to place the two bombs or not. Though one can play the game without interacting with the environment (such as finding the Doom game or turning on the radio), there are certain things that are not optional. If you wish to advance in the game, you must place the two bombs in the cafeteria. Though the actual killings have not begun, I have already started to feel guilty in preparing for them.Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:38:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4459&iddiary=8303https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4381For my third time playing GTA: SA, I decided to roam freely through the streets instead of doing the missions as I had been doing. Though I have played this game before countless times, I had not noticed various things in the game. For example, the police in the game are almost nonexistent at times. You can start shooting random people, run red lights, drive through sidewalks, etc. and it is possible for the police to not get notified at all. This creates a world without laws or morality because one can pretty much do whatever they wish and not worry about getting into trouble. On a different note, I also noticed the game emphasizes the importance of family and respect. At the beginning, Sweet is angry with CJ for having left for so long. But as I played the missions, the two started to get along more after each mission. While Sweet and CJ are indeed family, the gang they belong to almost seems to be considered family as well since they are called the “Grove Street Families”. It is noticeable that Sweet and the gang in general begin to gain more respect toward CJ. One is essentially forced to beat up/kill people and perform other unethical actions in order to gain this respect, however. If you don’t carry out the actions, you never really make any progress if you want to beat the game.Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:34:36 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4381&iddiary=8189https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4381On my second time playing, I decided to do a few more missions and continue the story. CJ’s brother, Sweet, is upset about how the gang no longer “bangs” and is instead more focused on making money by selling crack. Sweet, CJ, and Ryder all seem to have issues with crack/crack dealers/crack addicts. They have seen the effects first hand and almost seem to be ethical for a split second – until the mission starts. CJ and Ryder go around town beating up/killing crack dealers and addicts as if it were no big deal. They try to “clean up” the neighborhood but do so in an unethical manner. Violence is used once again to get the job done and no repercussions result from your actions. In addition, though their goal (to clean up the streets) seems like a good goal, they only want to do it so that the gang can go back to “banging” – which may result in more violence.Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:51:03 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4381&iddiary=8166https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4381(Sunday, October 3) When Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas came out in 2004, I was about 14 years old and waiting in line for my reserved copy. I was not surprised with the content of the game because I was already familiar with the style and format of the franchise having played its predecessors (GTA 3 and GTA: Vice City). At the time however, I did not really look at the ethical and racial issues in the game. Playing through the first few missions, I was quickly reminded about the vulgar and, at times, racist language that is used throughout the game. For example, in the opening cut scene, one of the policemen yells a racist term at the driver of the taxi carrying CJ. After arresting CJ, the police man yells, “get outta here you greaseball bastard” and goes on to call him a “stupid Mexican.” In addition, one can see in the same scene the usual stereotypical corrupt cops present in “the hood”. One of the characteristics that made the Grand Theft Auto franchise so popular is the level of freedom that the player has. On the second mission, the player is told to “drive Ryder home” after getting shot at by the pizza restaurant employee. The player, however, can choose to kill the employee and take his gun before leaving the area. The players is allowed to kill the employee, steal his weapon, and use the weapon on other people all while having no repercussions. Though the player is given specific directions, the game allows the player the freedom to do as they please – ethical or not.Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:32:12 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4381&iddiary=8163