Slamdance
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Arcade documentary Chasing Ghosts now showing on Showtime
We wrote about the fantabulous arcade documentary Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade when it premiered at Sundance in 2007, and we featured interviews with director Lincoln Ruchti and producer Mark Verrachia. It's been a long road for the film -- which was playing in Park City against The King of Kong at Slamdance -- but now you can finally see it.Chasing Ghosts is on Showtime this month -- in HD, no less -- and has three more showings through the end of December. Set your DVRs for "capture" and have yourself a little screening party. It's well worth seeing and features everyone's favorite/most hated gamer, Billy Mitchell. With any luck, we'll see this on Netflix or DVD soon, because playing this on your Xbox 360 or PS3 will surely make the space-time continuum fold in on itself.
Living Game Worlds III: Playing with Controversy: The Case of Super Columbine Massacre
At the Living Game Worlds III Conference last week at Georgia Tech, Director of the Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition Sam Roberts lent his feet to the fire to explain his company's decisions in the aftermath of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG pullout, to which he lamented that "I don't think we handled this very well ... this was poorly execution, from start to finish, how we dealt with this."Also on the panel, entitled Playing with Controversy, was GT Assistant Professor and founder of Persuasive Games Ian Bogost and USC Assistant Professor Tracy Fullerton, whose Interactive Media Division withdrew sponsorship following Slamdance's decision. GT Assistant Professor and game theorist Celia Pearce served as moderator. Portion of the SCMRPG trailer was shown to begin the discussion. In it, video of the game is shown over audio tracks showcasing the mainstream media's reaction to the game. The choice quote, from unknown source: "I see no way that you could, in any way, create the mindset that this was anything other than a really bad attempt to make money." The game was created by aspiring filmmaker Danny LeDonne using RPG Maker and was released his website for users to download free of charge.
Columbine game blocked from receiving Slamdance special jury prize
When Slamdance festival director Peter Baxter removed Super Columbine Massacre RPG as a finalist in the festival's Guerrila Gamemaker Competition, he probably thought it would be the last time he would have to block the game from consideration for an award. As it so happened, though, Baxter found himself in a similar position last Friday night, when he reportedly stopped the game from receiving a special jury prize from the judges for the film documentary category. As detailed on Slamdance attendee Patrick Dugan's blog and confirmed by SCMRPG creator Danny Ledonne in an interview with Joystiq, the whole thing began on Tuesday, when Slamdance documentary juror Brian Flemming paused to watch an unofficial demo of the game put on by Ledonne on a laptop just outside the official game competition tent. Flemming, director of "The God Who Wasn't There," had heard about the controversy surrounding the game, and was intrigued enough by the demo to mention the game to his two fellow documentary jurors.
Slamdance left "half empty" over Super Columbine controversy [update 1]
Smatbomb co-author Heather Chaplin attended the Slamdance Guerrilla Game Maker Competition for the New York Times and reported on the "half empty" rows of folding chairs and "uncomfortable quiet" that permeated the whole proceeding. The cause of this melancholy, of course, was the decision by competition president Peter Baxter to remove finalist Super Columbine Massacre RPG from the competition, leading six other finalists to remove their games in a show of support.. Baxter told Chaplin that he doesn't personally find the game immoral, somewhat contradicting an earlier statement to the Rocky Mountain News that "there are moral obligations to consider here with this particular game." The Times article also mentions "outraged phone calls and e-mail messages [Baxter had] been receiving from Utah residents and family members associated with the Columbine shooting," as a reason for the game's removal. In the end, the remaining attendees voted not to award any prizes at this year's competition, implicitly supporting director Sam Roberts' contention that the competition had been compromised. Whether or not the stain of this decision will last into next year's competition remains to be seen. [Update: Fixed a typo In Ms. Chaplin's name. Sorry Heathen ... I mean Heather.]
Indie Darling "N" bound for Xbox Live Arcade
Fresh off their Audience Choice Award victory at the Slamdance games festival, Metanet Software (in co-operation with Kiel Entertainment) quietly announced today that their freebie web game, N, will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade this fall under the slightly different moniker, N+.The original sensation (available now for download) is a physics driven, Lode Runner inspired action title that has a tiny stick-man busting his butt to collect some gems. With N+, Metanet Software intends to stick "as close to the original as possible, in terms of gameplay, graphics and fun." It doesn't hurt that they plan to include a level editor with the ability to trade creations online.The possibility of a multiplayer mode is also on the table, so let's all cross our fingers.[Update : Our brains have yet to make the switch over to 2007. Even our checkbook's a total mess.]
Slamdance trots out new Super Columbine excuse
When Slamdance first announced they were pulling Super Columbine Massacre RPG from consideration in their independent game competition, Slamdance president Peter Baxter cited both advertiser impact and moral considerations as the reasons. Now, a new official statement on the Slamdance site has come up with a new excuse for the removal -- potential legal fees. Take it away slamdance.com/games: "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." The statement doesn't cite any specific legal threats made against the game or the competition, but we can easily foresee some frivolous Jack-Thompson-esque lawsuit that would indeed cost Slamdance a pretty penny to defend.But wait. The site also mentions that "the organization annually takes on legal matters in support of the independent artists." Indeed, in 2001, Slamdance stood up to legal threats from Artisan Entertainment and hosted a surprise showing of controversial documentary "Brooklyn Babylon." We find it hard that Slamdance had the resources to stand up to a distinct, stated legal threat from a major independent movie studio like Artisan but doesn't have the resources to handle vague, potential legal threat over Super Columbine Massacre RPG.Besides subject matter concerns, a Business Week article cites Baxter as saying that "organizers were reluctant to expose Slamdance to possible legal issues over music in the game." As far as we can tell, the SNES-style, bleep-and-bloop MIDI versions of popular songs from Nirvana, Marilyn Manson and other early-'90s favorites in the game are all well within the bounds of fair use. If Slamdance has to worry about legal culpability for giving exposure to these songs, sites like MIDI Database should be quaking in their boots.It seems to us that Baxter is just trying to come up with a convenient excuse for a hypocritical decision to duck away from defending a controversial game in the same way he would defend a controversial movie. But, as we all know, games are just kid's stuff, so really, who can blame him?[Via Kotaku]
Super Columbine supporters shun Slamdance
When the Slamdance Guerrilla Game Maker Competition announced it was withdrawing Super Columbine Massacre RPG from finalist consideration, the decision drew some harsh words. But now those words have led to concrete action as the makers of Slamdance finalists fl0w, Braid, Toblo, Once Upon a Time and Everyday Shooter have pulled their games from the competition in a show of solidarity for the controversial RPG. The game's makers acknowledge that it wasn't an easy decision. Braid creator Jonathan Blow probably put it best, saying he appreciates what the festival has done for independent games but that "the expulsion of the Columbine game sets a precedent in the wrong direction" and pulling his game is "the strongest protest I have the power to make." Whether or not any of the remaining finalists will follow suit is unclear, but an open letter to the Slamdance organizers on Grand Text Auto is signed by the creators of four of the eight remaining finalists, as well as the creators of three of the games withdrawn so far. Losing over a third of the 14 original finalists to a protest is surely a stinging rebuke to the prestigious competition, but losing more than two-thirds would be a blow nearly impossible to ignore. Stay strong. [Via Too Much Media Too Little Time, thanks photendoist and Tom]
Slamdance treats games as kid-centric
Take a look at the finalists for the 2007 Slamdance Guerilla Gamemakers Competition and notice how only one game even remotely tackles a controversial subject, Super Columbine Massacre RPG. That game has subsequently been dropped from the running. And like that, we are reminded how video games are perceived.In a biting editorial, Newsweek's resident gamer N'Gai Croal condemns Slamdance President Peter Baxter's decision, noting the disparate treatment between games and cinema. Film festivals (of which Slamdance is a part) are notorious for showing pieces that tackle controversial topics that could make SCMRPG look like Mario Party. Our understanding is that the game's creator was simply trying to explore an issue, much like Gus Van Sant's film Elephant.Though we agree with Croal's editorial, we do sympathize with Baxter's position, who was losing financial backers because of the game's inclusion. We are reminded that the game industry is still in an infant stage, and any controversial subject will have detractors. All we can do is stand up for what we believe in, and know someday the general consensus on gaming will expand into a larger age bracket.
