Super Columbine Massacre RPG!

Apparently, this is a rather old game (it came out in 2005) but I haven't heard about it until just today seeing an article on GamePolitics. Yes, this is an RPG (role playing game), with the look of old Zelda games, that is based on the Columbine shootings. You can download it for free on the developer's website. I'm not even going to try and get it while I'm at work, but I'll give it a spin when I get home. Anyhow.

I haven't played this game yet, obviously. And it would seem that a lot of people haven't played it, but have found reason enough in the game's subject to scream their heads off. People are complaining that the game addresses a tragic event and the developer is making money off the deaths of the Columbine victims. Obviously video game critics are pointing toward this game as yet another thing that is eroding the moral fabric of our culture, or whatever their metaphor is this week.

Moving past the biggest mistake the opponents have done, and that is not seeing for themselves quite what the game is, they seem to be hypocritical in their choice of targets. Making a game about the killings of 13 individuals is immoral and should be outlawed, but the countless films on the topic of World War II and the Holocaust are perfectly acceptable? Should there be a longer time between the act and the semi-fictionalized retelling of the story? Columbine happened in 1999. The attacks of 9/11 occurred in 2001 and there have already been made at least 3 major films, profiting the studios from the deaths of 2,973 people. Oh, wait, maybe it's about numbers: WWII claimed over 60 million lives, 9/11 saw 2,973 deaths (and 24 missing and presumed dead) while Columbine is "only" 13. How many award-winning WWII games are there? How many of these put the gamer in German uniform and have them run around shooting Allied soldiers? There's a WWII game that pits Americans against the Japanese in direct combat. It's very popular in Japan.

What is it about this game that makes the critics foam at the mouth at its very mention? Does the game reward violence? Does it humanize the inhuman monsters of Harris and Klebold? Does it attempt to justify their actions? I'll know soon enough.

Here's a trailer/response video from YouTube.