Earlier this month, we broke the news that Slamdance pulled accepted Super Columbine Massacre RPG based on moral grounds and concern for the festival's future. The exact quote at the time from Slamdance president Peter Baxter was:

On the one hand a jury selected this game, and as a result of that decision it leads to our organization supporting their creative decision. On the other hand there are moral obligations to consider here with this particular game in addition to the impact it could have on the Slamdance organization and its community.

In protest against Slamdance's position, other entries dropped from the competition. A sponsor soon followed. And the word "Slamdance" left a bad taste in most everyone's mouth. Pulling this game certainly has created more fuss than leaving it in would've.

On the festival's website, Slamdance has expanded its stance on Super Columbine Massacre RPG, which we've included after the jump. New bits are in bold. Brian Ashcraft

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

The Super Columbine Massacre RPG game has been withdrawn from Slamdance'07. While understanding the different positions people have already taken with the game, we want to express the struggle we had with ours. On one hand, a jury selected a game they believed merited programming, a decision that always leads to our organization supporting the creator's independent vision and freedom of expression. On the other, there are moral obligations to consider with this particular game and the preservation of the Slamdance organization and its whole community. There are always legal checks and balances with any Slamdance program. Specifically with the subject matter of Super Columbine Massacre Role Playing Game Slamdance does not have the resources to defend any drawn out civil action that our legal council has stated can easily arise from publicly showing it. Though the organization annually takes on legal matters in support of the independent artists in this case such an undertaking could mean the end of Slamdance. Altogether, our decision has been extremely hard to make and hope a choice like it will never have to be made again. This is not a case of Slamdance lacking courage, sponsor disapproval of showing Danny's game or wanting to control freedom of expression. Simply and practically, Slamdance can't afford to take on the scope of this potential loss by showing the game to the public. And now this decision must be faced head on. We are planning a panel event at Slamdance on Sunday, January 21 at 5 pm where the different positions and the public exhibition of this Game can be heard and openly discussed. It is our goal that all interested parties can learn something from this event and most importantly offer some contribution toward the advancement of independent Games. Please join us and open up this whole matter.

Slamdance's Statement [Official Site, Thanks David!]