Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=986https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3683I just finishing playing the game Super Columbine Massacre for the third time this morning. I am shamed to admit that this time I played for about two hours. I had to view the first few minutes of the walkthrough to realize I left the propane bombs in the trunk of the car, which is why I could not advance the story. I wanted to play to the end, and I probably will, but not before the assignment is due. My only complaint about this game is the lack of instructions and clues to get players back on track when they are lost. If it had not been for the walk-through I found online (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2179150900926491833 ) I’d still be running around the cafeteria. The game is quite fun, much better than Grand Theft Auto, but I am biased. I did get to do dome killing this time. I think, in hindsight, that is why I played so long. Graphics and the quality of graphics seem to be my greatest argument for this game. I think that the poor quality of the images negates any negative effect on players. The poor graphics, regardless of the content of the game make it less realistic. In fact so far from reality, that how can anyone connect this game to violence? The game is made in poor taste the Columbine incident was tragic. Ethically the creators have implemented some aspects of game play that tell me they were not in anyway desensitized to the incident in Columbine. First, the game is comedic. I find myself humored by Eric and Dylan’s logic and dialogue. They sound ridiculous and contradictory to there actions at times. Second, I find the Taunt and Yell options under weapons in the battle screen to be interesting attributes to the game. For instance, if the player chooses to Taunt a victim he’s engage in battle with the victim’s status changes for the positive. I believe this is to show players that even though you are going to murder the victim during battle, Taunting is unnecessarily cruel. The main characters Dylan and Eric were victims of Bullying and Taunting by their peers and to do so before you kill them would be wrong. Not to dismiss that the killing is wrong, but they act in a manner in which they feel justified for their actions. They acted in reaction to the constant ridicule and to do that to others would lower you to your victim’s status. For example if you Taunt the holy girl, she will pray and heal herself. I believe the game creators placed this feature within the game to tempt players who would make use of the weapon and receive a negative consequence. By doing this the game creators ensure that players associate the concept of Taunting as a bad action, an unethical action. When Eric and Dylan Taunt their victims they empower them. Ironically, Eric and Dylan where empowered to commit their heinous crimes by the Taunting of the same peers they murdered. Finally I was torn by one of the item choices a player can use in the game to heal Eric and Dylan. That was the Lovax, the anti-depressant. Why was that a healing item? I asked myself. Then it made sense, these young men had some emotional problems and the fact that they obviously did not fit in and were mistreated by their peers didn’t help. Then we all must ask, do anti-depressants make you happy? Do they help you cope with unpleasant situations and periods in your life? Maybe, but anti-depressants also make you Manic similar to the word Maniac. Maybe too much of these mood altering drugs can make you a MANIAC. Ethically I don’t find anything significantly wrong or immoral with the game. The violence is cartoonish at best. The dialogue is weak and mimics the rambling of an insane person, but the characters are insane. The appeal for me was the shooting and stabbing people death to get to the end of the game. Players can choose to avoid students and teachers and run around, but then the game is not fun. Your victims are grouped in stereotypical categories: Jock, Popular, Preppy, Nerdy, Black, Gay, and Bumpkin. I’m not sure why they used Black, Gay, and Bumpkin as character types because people probably found that offensive. I may have used something less centered on race and sexual orientation to label them. I still can't explain why I found the game so appealing once I was able to engage in more exciting game play (murder instead of running around). I believe it is because I know that if this game was not based on the Columbine massacre it would not be controversial or as possible.Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:55:04 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3683&iddiary=6960https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3683Now I’ve played the game for a second run. I am happy we finally made it to the cafeteria, but I don’t know what to do next. The game is still very cute but poorly designed. I finally realized that I can equip the Marilyn Manson CD and the Doom game to Eric Dylan to raise their stats. My sister helped me navigate the hallway (she’s into games and studied animation and gaming) which finally allowed me to get to the cafeteria. You have to avoid the hall monitor girls and security cameras. I stopped at the water fountain and got a lot of information about Denver’s water and the difference between hard and soft water. Once I found the menu screen the game became even more like a typical RPG. I have been unable to get into any of the classroom. I am going to probably watch the walk through I found online before I play the last time. I know this is spoiling the game, but I’d like get a weapon and advance past level one. It’s hard to comment on the violence of the game if you haven’t engaged in any. Although, because of the mediocre graphics and cartoon like nature of the game I doubt the violence would be offense.Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:37:17 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3683&iddiary=6955https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3683First and foremost let me start by saying all three of my entries will be posted tonight. I own a MAC and so I had to convince someone to let me download a potentially virus laden game to their computer and let me play the game for a few hours. So, with that said here is my commentary. First I’d like to say for a 2-D side is really OK. I like the look of the game it is cute, probably because I am in love with the Final Fantasy series and the layout reminds me of the older games in that series. I was not happy with the controls but I can’t hold it against the creators because I am not familiar with PC games. I was annoying having to use the arrow keys to move the characters. The dialogue is a little cheesy and maybe I am desensitized to the incident in Columbine or I just have not progressed far enough in the game, but I don’t find it offense. This may be from my own views on Bullying. If I remember correctly these young men were victims of ridicule by their peers. The game is a most cheesy and in poor taste, but on no level thus far as offense as Grand Theft Auto. I am trying to make my way to the cafeteria, so I must return to playing. I hope to see something more awe inspiring or disturbing, because at this point the game is cartoon violence. I liken the game to Tom and Jerry and if it had not been based on a real-life event I doubt it would have caused a outrage or pose any ethical issue for anyone.Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:09:06 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3683&iddiary=6941https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607After playing the game this last time, I realized that even the controls are configured in a manner that forces the payer to make the character act in a less than virtuous manner. I am happy to say I finally got a firearm, not because I located the gun store, but because I just so happen to be leaving the hospital after being shot again. The police had just killed a Hispanic gang member. My issues with this game lie in several places. First being the ignorance or negation of the universal rule of stealing is bad. It seems this game presses the users to ignore this universal rule in a world where stealing is ok, so that CJ can progress. I wasn’t so heated by the fact that the rule is ignored. Yet, it is the fact that if everyone stole what he or she needed, commerce would suffer. There would be no need to manufacture anything in a world were everyone stole. What would be the profit? Why create goods when you can take what you need. Business would fail and the economy ruined. From a Utilitarian and Kantian prospective the ideology of this game is ethically wrong. Kant would feel stealing is bad regardless of CJ dire circumstances to avoid serious bodily injury or death from rival gang members. The utilitarian would have to concede that CJ’s immediate happiness and well being does not rise above the greater displeasure of the victims of his car-jackings and robberies. My other issue is again with the stereotypes and the implications it has is shaping negative perceptions of minorities. I read through a few of the game logs and was surprised that some class seem to broach the world of Grand Theft Auto as a reflection on the lives, mannerisms, and dialogue of African-American and Hispanics. The excessive vulgarity is not common within the African-American or Hispanic community. The comments posted by others prove that media sends messages but must be held accountable for the messages they send. The message sent by GTA is that all urban black and Hispanic people communicate through profanity. It depicts these groups as deficient in language skills or even worse as ignorant. Also the activities these groups are engaged in within the game are not positive. The women are either prostitutes or dressed in bikinis (with the exception of the female gang members CJ comes across) and the men from these groups are all aggressive. The game seems to emphasize white peoples negative and incorrect perceptions of blacks and Hispanics while playing to the unfounded fears of whites about these groups. Some may argue that it is just a game, but then I ask why is CJ not white? Some will respond it would seem realistic. My point being is that, the game is not realistic yet people outside the misrepresented ethnic groups seem to believe there is a touch of fact in the depictions.Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:35:45 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607&iddiary=6770https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607So far my impression of Grand Theft Auto is that this game is forcing you to make ethical choices to advance the game. For example, if you really want to travel to other destinations the most efficient mode of transportation would be by vehicle, not by foot. Unfortunately in GTF in order to travel around San Andreas you will have to have CJ steal or carjack a vehicle to travel in this manner. The first two days I played the game, I refused to car-jack a vehicle. Needles to say, I was “wasted” very quickly and could not move past the first mission. I personally in real-life would not carjack or steal a vehicle to get to my destination quicker. So it was only natural that I would refrain from doing so during my initial game play. However the game became boring and redundant. I cold not achieve my goal within the game without going against my own moral code, which includes the fact that stealing is bad. GTF in my opinion is designed to force the player to make unethical and immoral decisions to advance the game. We all share a basic ethical code and stealing being forbidden seems to be a universal rule. However in GTF, CJ steals cars, runs down pedestrians, fights prostitutes, and engages in various other violent and questionable behaviors as in this is the norm. Another thing that disturbs me about the game play is that the San Andreas police department don’t seem to care about your illicit activities unless you jack a taxi cab in their presence or accidentally run into a police cruiser/ bike while joyriding in someone else’s car. I quickly figured out how to disengage the warrant stars by switching vehicles. Respect for people and their property is not a message one will get from this game. I must confess that after trying for sometime (actually about an hour) to explore San Andreas on foot without confrontation, I quickly became bored and aggravated by my lack of progress. I began to steal cars, but what disturbed me was that I started running down pedestrians for no reason at all. My daughter has suggested I get a cheat code, because she can see my frustration with the game. However my frustration is with the lack of accountability within the game for CJ’s behavior. I realize why so many people where protesting the game. Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:47:25 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607&iddiary=6756https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607The characters in his game are based on negative ethnic stereotypes. The fictitious inhabitants of San Andreas are rude and insulting even when I use the > button to make CJ positively interact. If we lived in a society where everyone communicated with each other in a vulgar and impolite manner, it would be a very nasty and violent place to live in. Again the ethnic stereotypes are despicable. Everyone speak with either an accent and/or in broken English laced with slang. The use of these very negative characters can have serious implications on promoting a culture misconception to members of other cultures about African-Americans and Hispanics. I also have an issue with the fact that CJ is forced to steal cars to get out of violent situations. Why can’t CJ hail a cab (he has money) instead of carjacking the cab. The lack of good (positive, right) moral choice for CJ is perpetuating the misconception that all black men are criminals or have criminal tendencies.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:37:46 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607&iddiary=6749https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607I cant get seem to get off the first mission. I steal cars to try to escape the hispanic gang members shooting at me, but that doesn't work. I cant peddle fast enough to keep up with Sweet. It's bad enough that the first time I played I was killed within 2 minutes. The controls are horrible. I can't fight the prostitute the keeps chasing me with a knife and this games doesn't allow you to talk to people when your lost. Or at least i haven't figured it out yet. The only fun i have had is stealing cars and running into everything until the car explodes.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:58:04 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3607&iddiary=6748