Danny Ledonne

MSNBC's Citizen Gamer Dishes on Controversial Indie Games

July 31, 2008

In a terrific roundup, Winda Benedetti, MSNBC's Citizen Gamer, surveys some of the more controversial independent game offerings and asks whether such games are an appropriate medium for sensitive topics.

Among other titles, Benedetti looks at Danny Ledonne's Super Columbine Massacre RPG (left), The Torture Game 2, Wafaa Bilal's Virtual Jihadi, Operation Pedopriest, and Harpooned. There are, of course, critics:

"You don’t gain appreciation for the [Columbine] tragedy by repeating it and participating in a recreation yourself and taking the role of murderers,” says Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, in an interview for a documentary film Ledonne recently completed about his experiences making the game, and the aftermath.

“This is totally immoral and should be banned to everyone, especially younger teenagers,” wrote a reader calling herself Ms. Johnson in response to my recent column about “The Torture Game 2,”  a controversial Web game that allows players to torture a man-like person tied up with ropes.

David Kociemba, an art prof at Emerson College who appears in Ledonne's film, says:

The controversy should be that there aren’t more games like ‘Super Columbine Massacre RPG!’ that are as demanding and as artistically innovative... Why is it permitted for Michael Moore in 2002, to make ‘Bowling For Columbine’ — a film essay on this subject — and to use far more graphic footage than Danny Ledonne does three years later in a primitive low-res video game? Are we really going to say that video game designers are the one set of artists that do not have the right to engage in contemporary political issues?

 

Music Video: When Jack Thompson Talks to God

June 7, 2008

This video uses the music from Bright Eyes' When The President Talks to God to parody anti-game activist Jack Thompson.

The new lyrics were penned by Super Columbine Massacre RPG creator Danny Ledonne and singer/guitarist Cory Antiel, who performs the song.

GamePolitics ShoutBox

Posted 08/27/08 at 04:05pm
SimonBob: HB: I actually voted for the old Green party, back before the treehuggers took over from the small-c conservatives.
Posted 08/27/08 at 02:57pm
ZippyDSMlee: So bascily the 2 aprty setup is soemthign that has not evolved any....
Posted 08/27/08 at 02:04pm
Dark Sovereign: @Joel: Their entitled to their bull like the rest of us are.
Posted 08/27/08 at 02:02pm
HarmlessBunny: Awww Jack is calling the Florida Bar: "The Florida Gay Bar". How mature! :D
Posted 08/27/08 at 01:54pm
JoelWhy: Wow, I am so tired of these Hillary-worshippers who can't get over the fact that she lost. Dems keep finding new ways to lose.'
Posted 08/27/08 at 01:41pm
Dark Sovereign: @Harmlessbunny: We in America have something like forty of those parties. We have 5 parties that actually produce prez candies
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:53pm
sortableturnip: JT needs help from the ACLU here: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/08/27/the-name-game.aspx
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:51pm
GryphonOsiris: However this is limited to five years.
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:50pm
GryphonOsiris: @Chuma, actually, sarin kept in a binary form for things like self mixing shells can extend the life of the chemical.
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:45pm
DarkTetsuya: @questionmark1987 I'm guessing they're waiting till his licensectomy this September... should be fun to watch ^^;
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:35pm
questionmark1987: SO at what point can webmasters start filing suit against Thompson for harrassment?
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:23pm
HarmlessBunny: OH OH OH http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/08/26/whos-backing-who.aspx?pg=2&view=linear#Comment Jack gets priceless in here!
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:18pm
HarmlessBunny: For EZK: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/08/26/whos-backing-who.aspx#comment-1316308
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:10pm
E. Zachary Knight: link please
Posted 08/27/08 at 12:03pm
sortableturnip: JT is threatening the webmaster at JAABlog, saying he changed a word in his post so that it was mispelled HA HA HA!
Posted 08/27/08 at 11:35am
HarmlessBunny: Well we in Canada to have the joke parties, like Bloc Quebecois and NDP (New Democrat Party) OH and the new "Green Party" :)
Posted 08/27/08 at 11:07am
Talouin: @Azhrarn: It's the same in Canada. Only two parties to form a federal gov't are Liberals and Conservatives.
Posted 08/27/08 at 10:42am
Zevorick: Yeah, but you can find a lot of things in Texas that don't count. I should know, i've lived here all my life.
Posted 08/27/08 at 09:04am
sqlrob: wehrgeist - there have been more WMDs found in Tyler , Texas than Iraq
Posted 08/27/08 at 08:16am
Azhrarn: So they have been effectively 2-party for a century now. (not counting coalitions of all parties)
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