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Feb 22nd, 2010 at 23:55:34 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
I picked up where I left off last time. The reel of pictures from the actual shooting is very disturbing. This time, I brought a friend to play with me and we were both sitting in complete shock and silence. Including this segment in the game takes the player out of game mode and shows the effects of the actions they just did in the game in real life. It is interesting because you do get to see the consequences to your actions in real life, which does not happen often in games. After overcoming this moment, I continued playing the game. I entered “hell.” I thought this was just ridiculous. I was not very successful at this part. I did not get very far. I still do not understand the point of this part of the game. The player already saw the consequences to their actions; maybe had I continued further, I would have actually seen the point. I just really thought that this part did not fit in. Up until this point, the game was based on some sense of reality. Everything really did happen. The “hell level” did not happen in real life (well no one will know for sure). It brought the game off the reality field and into a true gaming mode. It is an interesting combination to go from mimicking reality to exploring the uncertain. In a way, it devalues the first part of the game, the massacre. The shooting part is now seen as just another level in the game. Hell is the next level. I don’t know what will come after.
Overall, I did not enjoy playing this game. I thought the images and content was disturbing. It also was not good quality. However, it did provoke some interesting ethical issues.
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Feb 21st, 2010 at 17:47:54 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
Today is my second time playing this game. I started from the beginning this time and I was able to grasp a lot more than the first time. The discussions that occurred between the two boys was disturbing. In one of the videos you see, a boy is jumping up and down from excitement because they are about to blow something up. How can someone be so excited to blow a building up? It didn’t make sense to me, but I continued to watch and play. After successfully making it to the cafeteria, I planted the bombs. I felt good that I was able to do it, yet at the same time, it felt so wrong. I just completed a task that will cause serious harm to so many people. But the game doesn’t really give you an option I guess. As I continued in the game, I left the school and met up with the other character. Going to the park to look at the city and exchange/load weapons was a puzzling experience. The player didn’t really have a lot of control so again it went into a movie feeling. I couldn’t believe what the characters were saying. I wanted to help them. They had such a negative view and it was just disturbing. After regaining control of the character, I knew what I had to do to successfully complete the game but I didn’t want to at all. I was happy to see that the bombs didn’t go off in the cafeteria. Afterwards, the time came where I had to shoot off everyone. I hated this part. I tried to avoid people just to get through the school and move on, but it seemed like the students would purposefully run into me and would “want” to be killed. As part of just exploring the game, I began to “experiment” with the different options given to kill the students. This felt awful. After about two shootings, I only chose the automatic option. It felt less painful if the computer automatically chose how to kill them. I, the player, was no longer a part of the shooting. As I continued to wander in the school, I became extremely uncomfortable. Why couldn’t the player choose to not kill people and “end columbine differently?” Obviously, I don’t have this choice so I continued on into the library. When it got to the cops, I didn’t feel as wrong as I thought it would I think because you don’t see the cops and it seems fake. However, after the two boys committed suicide, I had to stop playing. I can’t believe they used real pictures, from the real event. I thought that was too much for a video game, so I stopped there. I wonder what is left in this game and what tomorrow will have in store for me...
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Feb 20th, 2010 at 16:28:54 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
Yesterday I played this game for the first time. My immediate response was me thinking this was a little weird. At this point, I had not gotten to the “actual gaming.” I was only in the house and the basement. I couldn’t figure out what the purpose of the game was at this point. I thought you never left the house/basement. I started watching random videos and recording video messages. It seemed wrong to play the game as a suicidal character. However, it was a little interesting to see what the character was going to say or do next. It almost seemed like I was able to explore the mind of the students behind the Columbine shooting. Up until this point, there hasn’t been a lot of things that the player can choose to do. You are forced to do certain things in a certain order so I really felt like it was more of a movie than a game.
After a while, I overcame my game ignorance and figured out what I was supposed to do. I got in the car and went to the school parking lot. Once I got into the school, I felt like the player gained a lot more control and had more options. I could walk around and do whatever. So, I started to explore what was around me and trying to get the cafeteria. I began to get really excited every time I would sneak by a camera or hall monitor successfully. The game was forcing me to try to be sneaky. I am not very good at games so this took me a while. By the time I successfully got to the cafeteria and figured out how to plant the bombs, I had to end my gaming session. We will see what happens next time. So far, the game isn’t too bad. I haven’t had to do anything too bad/unethical through my player choices, but I am sure the worst is yet to come.
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Jan 19th, 2010 at 00:13:57 - Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (PS2) |
So I am definitely more used to the game now. I have not gotten far at all but I am realizing what I have to do more. Since I am not so caught up in figuring out how to play and what to do, I was able to focus more on the setting of the game. The main character (the character I played) was a male African American. Most people I stole cars from were Hispanic or African American. They all were dressed in typical “ghetto” clothes. The scenes in this game enforced almost every single common stereotype of Hispanic and African American minorities. As the player, you begin to control the character in ways that enforce the stereotype. The entire game focuses on forcing minority characters to act poorly. Also, in times when scenes are just being played, the minorities follow their stereotypical ways. This game is helping to enforce stereotypes. It is very difficult, and possible impossible, to succeed without enforcing unethical behavior. Now, I think that the negative connotation associated with this game doesn’t become as bad if the game is not played frequently and is played in an active state. If the player really knows right and wrong before playing the game, a few rounds will not have a bad effect and enforce stereotypes. However, if this game is played daily in a vegetative state, the players’ subconscious begins to absorb this information. Eventually the thought process that occurs in the game will start to appear in real life. As someone who does not play this on a regular basis, I do not feel this game has any effect on me. Though, it is a good thing this game has a higher rating because children definitely should not be playing this. The negative images can have a huge impact on them and teach them to be unethical from a young age.
Overall, I would say my GTA:SA experience has been interesting. I definitely do not love the game, but I didn’t dislike it as much as I thought I would either. The bad images and concepts are not too bad for a temporary player.
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gamer90 has been with GameLog for 14 years, 3 months, and 10 days |
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