Back into the game.
When asked about the purpose of his game, columbin has said in interviews:
Columbin
I wanted to put the game online to give people a unique way of looking at the worst school shooting in US history. I wanted to give people something to talk about--more over to take a subject we thought we knew and challenge how well we know it. I wanted to engage people in the idea that a video game can be more than a way to pass the time--that in fact it could challenge the player's sense of morality and leave them with a chilling,
accurate depiction of a real-life event (one that was of great significance
to me).
accurate depiction of a real-life event (one that was of great significance
to me).
Columbin
People are facing some of the motives and causes of the shootings in a new prespective. When the sources of information are mainstream media, you get several informed opinions through that, When you have the opportunity to play something that gives us a new prespective, I believe new dialogs will come. SCMRPG! may teach us some things about the way we see videogames and how important events may be assimilated in new ways. Taking that off, the game is filled with facts and details about the shootings that I believe to be capable of surprising a lot of people."
The game also has satire about some aspects of the videogame industry, at least the one we had at the time:
Columbin
I believe several elements of the game make a caricature of how videogames work and what we expect people to think about them. Yes, the title itself is a parody to Super Mario RPG and it's excessive lenght it's a reference to the SNES age when the sequel craze was geting started (with game editors putting "Super" in almost every title). Despite that, several parts of SCMRPG! are very sober and demand a deep sense of empathy and compassion from the croud. Like a movie or a book, the game tries to ge to the audience in several lecels and address several cerebral and emotion points.
More information:
SCMRPG!'s oficial site
Interview given by Columbin
Columbine Surviver talks about the game
Some of the quotes where taken from the interview the author gave to a videogame magazine from Portugal called Mega Score. I will not scan the pages due to copyright issues and because most, if not all, members would not be able to read it. If someone wants me to translate the interview pm me and I'll do it as soon as I get the time. Yes, I realise one of the sites mentioned isn't the best. I apologise for that. I'll add better links as soon as I find them.
