A 21-year old Sydney man, Ryan Lambourn, has sparked outrage by creating a game based on the Virginia Tech Massacre. The game, called V-Tech Rampage, is far from technically impressive, but has nevertheless understandably upset quite a few people. One of the real difficulties is that while there have been a number of important political games and simulations which have tried to ‘speak’ about political issues (from September 12 to Donkey John to World Without Oil) this game – if it does have a point – really doesn’t make that clear. Over at Joystiq, the creator of the game based on the Columbine Massacre is quoted, citing his disappointment with the V-Tech game:

Danny Ledonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, writes on Lambourn’s site, “It would appear to me that Ryan has no intention of doing much other than making money and gaining immediate recognition after the Virginia Tech shooting. Inevitably, comparisons between SCMRPG and VTech Rampage are being made right now. Some bloggers despise both games equally whereas others recognize a level of commentary that SCMRPG attempted which was not evident in VTR. For myself I wish to point out that SCMRPG was never a for-profit endeavor and thus I never posted statements like that which is on the VTR game’s homepage”

Adding fuel to the Lambourn posted a notice say he would only remove the game if he received $2000 in donations. This sparked even more vitriolic comments on the game, but in those comments Lambourn defends the donations statement, say it was a further aspect of satire:

PiGPEN – May 15th 2007

Danny, the donation thing is there as a joke against all the people commanding me to take my game down. I didnt think anyone would donate money to it and so far my paypal account has proven me right (BUT I COULD USE SOME FUCKING MONEY THANKS!).
And i’d appreciate if you didnt use the name “Ryan”. That name is reserved for my close friends and family… i cant help the people that gleaned personal information from my website but i would hope you would have the courtesy to not disrespect me in such a manner on my own website…Danny.

Of course, the irony of courting controversy and then being surprised when it results in negative public sentiment (and the post of Lambourn’s full name, address and phone number in numerous locations online) is pretty thick. On the web, even thought two wrongs don’t make a right, they’re never far from each other!

See The Age for more details.

Update (17 May, 2:25pm): The ‘official’ version of the game hosted by Lambourn (and this whole website) have been taken down. (That said, given the nature of digital culture, if anyone looked I’m sure they’d find another copy somewhere…) Lambourn’s website now sports a “This Account Has Been Suspended” notice.

Update 2 (4 June 2007): After reviewing the case, Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification gave the game an MA15+ rating, not banning the game as had been suggested.