"...the game was about real people who had been killed..."

You know, every WWII game (and there are a lot of them) is about real people getting killed. Normandy was no cakewalk for the Allies. No one complains (except maybe the Germans, but that is on pure violence on humans grounds) about the success of Medal of Honor, or Call of Duty, or Company of Heroes. They're just like those TV movies that are "based on real life events."

The movies United 93 and World Trade Center were about real people too. The wound was a little too fresh in my heart to go see either of those movies, but that was their artistic vision, and they were entitled.

I don't know that SCM RPG would be the kind of game I would like. I'm not even saying it's tasteful. I do think that if those guys thought it was worth including in Slamdance for its artistry and/or vision and/or its social commentary, they should have stuck to their guns.

I'm impressed that they decided not o award anyone with anything this year. After losing half of the finalists, that far and away was the best thing they could have done.

Except, of course, for using their heads and either rejecting SCMrpg when it was first nominated or by keeping it in the finals.

but that was their artistic vision, and they were entitled.

This has nothing to do with art. It's someone trying to get a cheap cash-in based purely on controversy. This "censorship" was likely exactly what they were hoping for.

You know, I'd never heard of the Slamdance Festival before this whole incident, and now it seems that it's committed suicide during the one time it managed any kind of widespread publicity.

I can't recall the last time I saw so much backpedaling!

This has nothing to do with art. It's someone trying to get a cheap cash-in based purely on controversy. This "censorship" was likely exactly what they were hoping for.

I'm not really certain what the hell you're talking about. Are you saying that Ledonne wrote this game and released it as freeware like three years ago so that he could "cash-in" on its controversy at a independent games festival in 2007? Are you on acid?

You are right, though, this (meaning the controversy) had nothing to do with artistic vision. If anything, it had much more to with artistic myopia on the part of Slamdance.

The title of the article, Slamgate, is profoundly clever, but I think beyond relating it to the Watergate scandal, it accurately describes the tactics of Peter Baxter and his ilk: Slamming the gate on creative freedom!

My artistic ability is paranoid-schizo with a tad bit of delusion thrown in for credibility.

Must be something in the Colorado watertable to induce such...wait, I got a call from Former Govenor Roy Romer...he is upset I insulted the aquafer of Colorado. I have to pull this blog post.

So, after it's all over, I still have no idea why the game was pulled. Maybe Baxter can issue an official offical statement that he thinks sounds credible enough so I can have something tangible to mock.

random question: how long does the Super Columbine (etc) game take to finish?

This is not a matter of creative freedom. No one stopped the game from being made. This is not censorship.

There could easily be a lawsuit surrounding SCMRPG. Not because of the story, not because of the controversial nature, but because the game plagiarized art from countless video games.

If I go out and put a new cover on Wells' 1984, and call it "Social Crisis" or some bullshiat, you can bet it would get rejected from any contests, and I'd have a lawsuit aimed at me before I could attend my first signing.

Slamdance made a terrible choice by even accepting this game to begin with, and they actually made the right choice by pulling it. You are not an indie game developer just because you can download sprites on the internet and dick around with RPG Maker.

I don't see how it made it as a finalist anyways. There weren't any chocobos in it.

You are not an indie game developer just because you can download sprites on the internet and dick around with RPG Maker.

Would you say the same about OoT: 2D?

This guy is unbelievable! He's reading like he's running for office.

Artistic freedom or not, I still don't get why the hell an RPGMaker game would qualify for a games festival, especially one that uses stock characters and sprites. And stock gameplay from what I could research.

Haven't played the game yet so I can't really comment on the story, but like it or not the only reason this game was ever on the Slamdance festival was because of the controversy surrounding it.

There are many other RPGMaker games out there that have a custom everything and try to experiment with new ideas for the genre (granted some of them suck, really, really suck) but none of them were picked for the festival. Because, quite simly, they didn't get as much publicity as this game.

My biggest gripe with this game is that apart from the subject matter (from what i could gather the story is not so hot too),it doesnt really seem to have any reedemable qualities, so why the hell should it be in a festival with the likes of flow?

The idea that a game should also be about more serious issues is good and well, but if the idea is not executed well, then we should praise the idea not the game.

Either way, I bet that this game was made with an illegal copy of Rpgmaker so it should not have been considered for competiton in the first place. And it seems I just gave a valid excuse to the guys that made the slamdance festival for the pulling of the game.

And they are a bunch of pussies by the way, if the game was nominated by them then they should have stuck to their guns come heaven or hell, reputable competition my ass.

Are you saying that Ledonne wrote this game and released it as freeware like three years ago so that he could "cash-in" on its controversy at a independent games festival in 2007? Are you on acid?

There are other ways to cash in on controversy, not just getting kicked out of some festival no one's ever heard of. Yes, I stand by my assertion that this game was written purely as a publicity stunt. And that it paid off.

qwip:

I knocked the game out in three hours. If you really wanted to hurry things along, an hour is enough.

If you really think about it the game wouldn't be were it was if it were not about the columbine tragedy. The game does not stay true to the purpose of video games and only got to its position because of the incident while most gamers play CoD because its fun.

Err... lilsamuraijoe?
Part of what this whole thing is about is defining what "the purpose of video games" actually is, and one of the main point of people who object to the pulling of the game is that video games can be more then just fun.
If you mean that the game didn't have enough actual gameplay, I can understand (though not support here since I haven't played the game yet), a while back I was irritated at so many samey games that tried to make the scenario or characters their selling point while the gameplay seemed to be thrown in to support it's concept of a video game. At all this I just felt that the only true definition of a video game was one such as early console and arcade games where all that mattered was the gameplay and how you interacted with whatever is on the screen.
I later realised I was simply being to rigid in my definition, limiting what could be thought of as a video game and the truth is that there's no single purpose or defined description of what a video game is.
In the end you have the interface, you have the feedback, and however one affects the other is completely dependent on those who make them in the first place.

Would I say that you are not an indie game developer just because you're making OoT:2D?

Absolutely. At the best, you are a modder, at the worst, you are ripping off a real game developer hoping to ride the wave, or in the case of SCMPG, trying to capitalize on a tragedy.

You want to be an independant developer? You make a real game. You write your own engine, your draw your own art, you publish your own game. The only difference between an independant developer and a regular game developer is the lack of corporate funding.

Here's hoping that kotaku is as big a deal as we'd like to think it is, and that these comments do reach mr. baxter's attention, so that i can tell him for the 3rd time: Please just stfu and take your losses like a man. You have zero credibility anymore and all these revised statements just makes you come off all the more pathetic.

@Yamen
The issue with Slamdance isn't so much that it was oppressive or stifling (it wasn't), but that Baxter (and therefore Slamdance) has no credibility.

But since you brought it up, is a poster less interesting if it's just a collage, instead of original work? Are variations on a theme not worth listening to? In any case, whether it was a cash-in or not, I honestly don't understand what SCMRPG would have gained by having an original engine and original artwork.