More feedback on the Columbine RPG

The Register’s Young Adult Board of Contributors Weighs In:

Here’s what a young contributor to the Des Moines Register had to say about Super Columbine Massacre RPG…

It has recently been in the news that a computer game entitled “Super Columbine Massacre RPG” is gaining popularity. The game mimics such events as the 1999 Columbine School shooting. Containing actual footage of the shooters, players are put in the shoes of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in an attempt to kill as many students and teachers as possible. While victims’ parents and the public are outraged and appalled, not everyone is reacting negatively to this ignominy. Richard Castaldo, a paralyzed victim of the incident, claims to have played the game. While he says some parts were difficult to get through, in the end he didn’t think it was all that bad-“it might even be helpful,” he says. Though I’m no foe of video games, the level of disrespect and heartlessness in this game is astonishing. The game makes a sick mockery of a tragedy that affected not only the residents of Littleton, Colorado, but also the nation. It desensitizes people to such calamities and underestimates the devastating effects. We need to distinguish between fiction and reality-the horrors of school shootings are no game.

-Jo Gruenewald, Ames

I agree with her 100% except that, in Richard’s own words, he did not give the game a “thumbs up”.