Columbine Game Designer Speaks About Montreal Rampage

September 15, 2006
Did an amateur video game project push a 25-year-old man over the edge, leading to Wednesday's shooting rampage in Montreal?

Danny LeDonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was interviewed by Canoe Live about Wednesday's tragic events at Dawson College. Toronto Sun reporter Mike Strobel provided counterpoint.

LeDonne said that he felt no guilt over the incident.

"What I felt most," he said, "was regret for a young man that had lost touch with reality and just seemed to really have no grasp on any kind of moral compass... Frankly I made my video game because video games have become one of (society's) scapegoats... I was a student in a Colorado high school at the time of (Columbine)... video games were being blamed for the shooting when investigators said there were so many warning signs that needed to be addressed..."

Strobel was critical of LeDonne's project as well as video game violence in general. Speaking of the Devin Moore case in which the 18-year-old killed two police officers and a dispatcher, Strobel said, "There's not a whole lot of thinking to be done about that it seems to me, or analysis. Grand Theft Auto led to those killings, bottom line."

Seeking to put the role of video games in context, LeDonne added, "I can't stress enough the involvement of parents in the lives of young people. Find out what your kids are playing. Talk to them. Get in touch with them. Most of these cases have kids who have fallen through the cracks. They hate life, they say it. And these I feel are the root causes, not whetever video game or book or movie they happened to pick up that week..."
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Andrew Eisen: That article is over five years old, Uncharted. A fun blast from the past though.02/12/2012 - 10:47pm
Uncharted NES: Critics: 'Left Behind' game glorifies violence- http://tinyurl.com/wu64s02/12/2012 - 4:34pm
Zen: I felt Brutal Legends was a funny & beautiful look at the world of rock from Double Fines point of view. The only parts I wasn't hot for were the RTS bits as it felt forced. Otherwise fantastic.02/12/2012 - 1:34pm
DorthLous: Passed 1.5M$. And I'd also say that Brutal Legend is far from being a bad game. I just think it was a few levels under what people expected from the people working on the project.02/11/2012 - 8:25am
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RedMage: It looks the CIA's website has been DDOS'ed. Anon?02/10/2012 - 7:52pm
RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm
ddrfr33k: Has anything Tim Schafer ever made been of crap caliber? I'm struggling to think of one...02/10/2012 - 7:37pm
Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm
Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm
james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am
Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am
Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm
Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm
james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm
Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm
Andrew Eisen: Toki Tori has been added to the Humble Bundle for Android.02/09/2012 - 5:11pm
james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm
DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm
Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm
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