Press Room

"Super Columbine Massacre RPG is not a great game. But it is an important game. It is a game created by a filmmaker, not a game developer. In fact, Ledonne told the Washington Post that he would not make another game. It was created specifically with the intent of generating discussion and presenting a unique perspective on the events of the Columbine shooting. This may not be the future of gaming, but it is a step towards the future of how games will be treated and viewed in our culture--as artful, meaningful objects which represent the thoughts, ideas, dreams and nightmares of a unique creator."

- Shawn Rider, Editor In Chief, Alternative Games

"I think everyone who disses the Columbine RPG is gutless. Most haven't played the game, or have played it with such preconceptions that they're blinded to the genius, the honesty, the beauty of its social commentary. Super Columbine Massacre RPG is riddled with design flaws and has mediocre graphics by 1995 standards, the maker of the game admits this, but it regardless is a work of art. It puts you in the mindset of the killers and provides a very clear suggestion of why they did what they did; they were enacting an ideological demonstration through a terrorist act, and the game shines light on this as an indictment of the American dream and way of life painfully close to the main nerve.

... If we can't have the guts as artists to stand up and make a controversial statement with our medium, we don't deserve to have it. Either everything is okay to make art about, or nothing is. Maintaining a safe zone of taboo subject matter will not appease opportunistic politicians, but rather will relegate our medium to a niche hobby-hole where it can be cornered, neutered, and sold in clean, heartless parcels."

- Patrick Dugan, KING LUD IC

"I could critique the graphics, the gameplay methods, the battle system, or the story like the most recent offering from Capcom or Square, but that would be unfair to the game, akin to opening a critique of 'The Grapes of Wrath' by mentioning you didn’t like the typeface or the cover illustration. The game is, in my estimation, the single most important video game made since Pong."

- Ryan Moore, The Pale Writer

"As the great communicator Marshall McLuhan said, 'the medium is the message.' In other words, how a message is presented can overshadow the message itself. And that's what has happened in the case of 'Super Columbine Massacre RPG.' "

- Jenice Armstrong, Philadelphia Daily News

"I am deeply worried by this culture of ineffability, a culture that would rather not talk about anything at all for fear that it might make someone uncomfortable... Of course topics like 9/11 should make us uncomfortable. Of course Columbine should make us uncomfortable. But that is no excuse to put these issues away in a drawer, waiting for some miraculous solution to spring forth and resolve them for us. If we do so, history is much more likely to forget them. I don't care if we make videogames, films, novels, poems, sidewalk art, cupcakes, or pelts as a way to interrogate our world. But we must not fear that world."

- Ian Bogost, PhD, Water Cooler Games

"It’s ironic, then, that 'Super Columbine' did a better job of portraying the consequences of violence than any videogame ever made and, at the same time, became one of the most reviled. ... The point is, games like 'Super Columbine' and less controversial work like Gonzalo Frasca’s 'Madrid,' 'The McDonald’s Game' by Italian designer Paolo (himself a former punk rock singer), and even Bogost’s Kinko’s simulator, 'Disaffected,' are doing what many claim is not even possible—using games to challenge people to explore unpleasant issues, to confront people, to make them ‘feel’. And they’re doing it outside the mainstream videogame industry and (in Ledonne’s case) with tools that are available to anyone."

- Aaron Ruby, Next Generation

"The game has no doubt sparked discussion, debate, and even hate among the gaming community, but one thing remains clear, 'Super Columbine Massacre RPG!' can never be ignored nor forgotten, it is helping to redefine what video games can be and inspiring a new generation of socially conscious gamers. Whether you find it in poor taste or a significant landmark, new territory is in the hands of those willing to take shit for taking risks. SCMRPG is motivating change in a medium where people are used to pseudo plumbers, aliens and big breasted martial artists, naturally people are afraid of something different."

- Albert Art, 1UP.com

"To even begin to understand how this game can be used for good, we must push aside our traditional beliefs about video gaming. The enjoyment, fantasy realization or thrill that supply the arsenal of appeal for most video games are feelings that are completely non-existent in SCMRPG. Imitation and desire to experience being someone else (or at least perform their actions) aren't exactly the reasons players are meant to play this game either. Instead, what Ledonne has introduced is a novel concept -- socially-conscious video games."

- Alex Dwyer, Los Angeles Loyolan

"This groundbreaking punk-rock video game critiques the escapism and violence of much of the gaming industry, makes use of the medium’s graphic tradition in an astute manner, and forces gamers to think about a contemporary controversy in a progressive manner."

- David Kociemba, Department of Visual and Media Arts, Emerson College

"As gamers, and those who love games, our response to this game, and to the criticism of it, should not be to hide, or run away, or hope that it goes away. Instead it should be to say: You do not understand, nor are you attempting to understand. This is not a glamorization of the murderers, nor yet a trivialization of the tragedy; it is a work of serious artistic intent and accomplishment, based on considerable research, that in fact illuminates and reflects the horror of that day. Just as there are novels of the Holocaust, there can be a game of Columbine, and neither need trivialize a tragedy."

- Greg Costikyan, Manifesto Games