@Monkeychow: If it was done in either an action-movie over-the-top manner, or a respectful investigation, I don't think many people would have much of a problem with it. But it's not entertaining, informative, or interesting - just controversial just for the sake of controversy. In other words, tactless stupidity.

@Va. Tech Mom: "Someone better reach out to this guy before it is too late."

Apologies, but the first thing that flashed through my mind when I read your post was someone using a dogcatcher's pole on him... =^_^=

What I personally laugh at is how up in arms everyone in the USA is about this. A guy from Australia sees something that happens in America...makes a game...and all American's get pissed, while he's not really affected because it's not in his country.

Guarantee if we did the reverse, and say made a game where you're killing Israelites, in Jerusalem, it would be a HIT in America. Now go over seas and ask someone in Israel what they think, and since they are all "involved" in it, they will be disgusted.

All goes back to everyone being WAY to sensitive honestly.

Just in case it's bandwidth, they seem to be hosted on a liquidweb server, IP address 69.16.226.12

Let's not split hairs, Thefremen :P

"V-Tec Rampage" has earned a spot on my list of the 5 worst games of all time.

It's a bit unfortunate that the press is getting wind of this game. Fuel for the fire? More like napalm.

Wow, this thing still strikes my nerves, oy. If the industry is just going to turn the other cheek like this, then the supporters need to get in there. THEY don't play games, oy. Therefore they are prejudiced about all of it. And they're all irrational, oy.

@ JBourrie

you win the internet

Well, of course. But since Jack Thompson hasn't done anything newsworthy lately, we've gotta have someone to yell at. :p

Monsters? Sure, games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor portray the Germans as enemy soldiers, but it's a stretch to call that portrayal monstrous.

If you're interested to know, WWII FPSs do get ported to Germany on a fairly regular basis. They just change the art to remove the swastikas, since those are illegal to display on German soil. (Modern-day Germans hate the Nazis just as much as anyone does.)

Now, sure, the media jumps on the wrong things all the time. Walk into any grocery store, and you'll see ten magazines about Angelina Jolie and maybe one with actual news in it. But that's a separate issue from what we're talking about: The issue of tact.

United 93 and World Trade Center portrayed the people involved, accurately, as heroic in the face of extreme danger. There's nothing wrong with that; it's truthful, and it can even be inspirational. (If you haven't seen United 93 yourself yet, you should; it's very well-made, and its about as close as you can get to being there in that plane.) In short, they have a point.

And that's what it's really about. If you're going to talk about a touchy subject, especially a recent and tragic one, have a point. Have something worthwhile to say about it. Think South Park; underneath all the sex, scat, and violence (and its constant prodding of touchy real-life issues), it's a very smart, clever, insightful show, and that's why it's still on. Think Super Columbine Massacre RPG; very similar subject matter to what we're talking about, but built on the premise of, "I wonder what they were really thinking?"

And then you have V-Tech Massacre, which the author crapped out without anything to say beyond, "Hey, look at me! I'm an asshole! Please notice me!" Really, is it any wonder people have responded to him the way they have?

@JBourrie

The one thing I'd add is that I'm not as pissed off about the effect it will have on the games industry as it will have on the people who suffered through the horror in the first place.

It sucks for my industry, but that pales in comparison to what actual people have gone through.

y'know, i really think poeple should stop bringing up the donations thing as the example of him wanting to profit from this... He wasn't serious about the donations thing it was a joke done in very bad taste to bite at his critics with, piss them more off just because he's a jerk. So pointing out the donations thing is kind of weak (i kind of thought it was obviously a joke done in poor taste from the begining)... if you want to point out his desire for profit, then you can point out how he refused to give free interviews, intending to make money there...

So, Monkeychow, you wouldn't see any difference between, say, Call of Duty and a game called Let's Shoot Pat Tillman or Let's Behead Nick Berg.

Context matters. Treatment of the subject and attitude matter. Class, for lack of a better word. You get the idea.

Think about it though? Most people are ultimately mad because he made a tactless game about a recent tragedy and tries *at a bad attempt* to make fun of it. That seems to be EVERYONES main reason for being ticked off. And then to top it off, he said he wanted money to take it down....so now everyone is mad that he wants to PROFIT from it.

How is this ANY different from the current media we have? 9-11 was a horrible act. Do you have ANY idea how many movies came out from that "tasteful or not" and made money from it? Someone decided to take a tradgety and exploit it and make money from it. I can expand this to a WIDE number of examples.

Then you hear the argument, "well it's hard for the people that have just gone through it, or a similar shooting because they can relate". So does a woman that got raped have any legal suit againt the Lifetime Channel????? They make PLENTY of movies that are tasteless. Heck I know movies that make FUN of rape.

Shoot you can aim this at any FPS War game and say they are making money off of "glorifying war".....

THAT is my point sir. I'm not straw-maning anything.

You know what I think is funny? Everyone is so pissed that he’s trying to profit off of a tragedy in a “tasteless” way…………So are you saying that if he profited off of it in a “tasteful” way, it would be ok? I think it would still have gotten flack.

For that matter, I honestly believe most of you bashing this are complete utter hyprocrits. If you bash this….then bash moves like United 97….bash “World Trade Center”….bash the movie “Pearl Harbor” *more than it is already bashed for bad acting*…..Heck I could go on an on about profiting off of a tragedy. But OHHH NO….those were tasteful…those were wonderful movies…showing how the tradegy was in a “heroic” way………Just more words to say “I am a hypocrite”.

I found this hilarious honestly. Was the V-Tech shootings horrible? Absolutely. Can I separate reality from a videogame? Yes I can. Were you to make a game about me, or my family, and make us look stupid or die….I would laugh..and be honored…know why? It’s media..it’s entertainment..it’s fiction. We have WAY too many sensitive people in this day and age. He is poking fun at a memory….a historical event….he’s not actually HURTING the people who were involved.

I heard a funny quote on XM Comedy today on my commute to work that I believe relates to this. When Janet Jackson showed her tit on TV….the entire world freaked out………..but change the channel to any of the other 20 main channels *abc, nbc, fox..etc*….and you will see someone shot right in the head, and more violence than you can count your finger at that doesn’t get near the amount of attention. Personally? I’d rather my kid look at a titty. Just goes to show how damn sensitive and hypocritial people are today.

Tolerance needs moderation, like just about everything does. Too little tolerance, and you end up with social totalitarianism; see schools' "Zero Tolerance" policies for how well that works out.

Too much tolerance, indiscriminate tolerance, and you get the opposite: Social anarchy. People get the idea that whatever they do is okay, and that there aren't any real consequences (or if there are, there shouldn't be). Under those circumstances, many people become inconsiderate and lazy.

In essence, too little tolerance makes the people in charge assholes. Too much tolerance makes whoever they're in charge of assholes.

@Kinsman
"GamePolitics.com is just one more group that I have to keep a watch out for."

Nice massive generalisation there - kind of takes the edge off your moral high ground.

I don't wish him death. I wish him obscurity. I'm sure he's basking in all the hatred right now. If the media had the restraint to ignore such people, I'm sure there would be far fewer of them.

Pressuring advertisers isn't a loophole in free speech. It's exercising our own free speech. Advertisers have the right to decide what sort of content they will support and they make these decisions based on consumer reaction. His right to free speech doesn't give us some obligation to patronize him.

Similarly, if his host wants to drop him, unless he has a contract that doesn't allow them to do so, they have every right. If some other host wants to carry him, that's their right. People have the right to say and make what they want. The rest of us don't have to pay attention or give them a forum.

@Kinsman:

tldr

Haha just kidding. Anyway, why do -you- think he made this game if not solely to get attention or just to piss people off? And do we not have the right to condemn him as a dick or an assmunch if we believe that the work he's created is morally reprehensible?

I just caught it on the local 5:00 news. They even have a "Fast Feedback" on it. The comments received should be interesting to say the least.

@Xlorep DarkHelm

Maybe not the literal document, but as a citizen of a democracy, Lambourn is entitled to at least some rights to create things some people may find offensive. I know Australia isn't as good with those rights as most democracies, but if he hasn't be arrested and sent to a reeducation camp yet, I think it's erroneus (sp?) to say he has no free speech rights whatsoever.

In any case, the fact that he is in another country means we don't have the authority to completely silence him, so we shouldn't be acting like that's the case. I know we're all angry about this, but free speech-in any truly free society-cuts both ways.

Maybe the rest of the news will (hopefully) skip over this.

Saw this coming a mile and a half away. The media will jump on this game and try to crucify its creator just like they tried with Danny Ledonne and SCMRPG.

Unfortunately for Lambourn, he isn't nearly as articulate as Ledonne, if his comments on this board are any indication. Maybe that's the real reason he won't speak directly to the press. Perhaps it dawned on him when he was developing this game that he couldn't come up with a better reason to justify it than "1st Amendment," which, by itself, won't sit over too well with the general public. He will get roasted like a pig when CNN, Fox News, and the like get a whiff of this. The worst part is, we'll probably suffer just as much as him.

What's funny and sad about this whole episode is that the killer who is "portrayed" (for lack of a better term) in this game also sought to get attention for his actions. I suspect the irony is lost on Lambourn.

P.S. For the record, I do support his right to create what "art" he wants. Contrawise, I also support the right of everyone here to say he's a attention-seeking fruit loop who has the emotional maturity of a 10-year-old.

@ ZippyDSMlee

nice try. but that's no excuse for what he says and what he's done. but nice try making some of that stuff up. you almost fooled me... oh wait. no you didn't.

This truely is a waste of time. the guy has no job, doesn't go to school, and just makes fun of people who comment about him. He's a loser, and I laugh at the fact that this moment in his life will be his only meaningful act. to himself anyway. once this all blows over, quickly I hope, he will be back to his jobless, moneyless life and possibly living in his parents basement. And if he comes on the GP again and makes fun of this post, it will just prove my point.

About the site going down... It could be as simple as the site going down on copyright concerns. That riff of Shine is highly recognizable and not being used for anything much resembling fair use like parody or criticism of the song. And I think one of his other flashes uses another artist's entire song as a flash music video kind of thing. I realize a ton of people do this everyday, but someone could still make a stink about it if they felt like it.

@Nobody

I have yet to figure out where your mirror comes in. Somehow what someone else does is a mirror on me? So under your logic, what this guy did is a reflection on us. So is that a good reflection or not? Please make more sense.

@ Grombar

I usually make fun of them till they cry or try to attack me. Either way, I win. You see, jerks are usually that way to hide their own weakness.

Either that, or we make them all move to New Jersey.

@Grombar

"Remember, JT was banned from this very site for his constant asshattery, and not many people complained."

Please, don't pull a JT and pretend that a private comments forum is in any way related to this. JT has the right to his asshattery. He doesn't have the right to on someone else's property while he does so. If he wanted to bitch at us from his own website, he could do so. Hijacking someone else's website is not freedom of speech, it trespassing on private property.

"You can contend that [Fred Phelps] has the right to say what he wants, but does he have the right to bring a screaming mob to your son’s funeral and rant about how he deserved to die?"

As long as he uses public roads, and doesn't trespass on private property, then the courts have ruled that unless he makes threats, he's just being an asshat, and so there isn't much they can do about it if they want to protect freedom of speech.

So yes, he does have a right. Doesn't make him not a jerk, but there isn't a law against being a jerk.

Irregardless of his motivation, irregardless of the content, irregardless of the quality of the game, he has the Right to his opinion as well as free (or even paid) distribution of his material.

Various religions preach bigotry and hate against whole groups of Humans based on religious beliefs, race, gender, sexual orientation, and a multitude of other groupings. Some merely preach hate and ignorance. Others preach their bigotry and hate to incite violence. Others come straight out and demand violence.

Various hate groups and segregationist groups preach thier ideals on the internet as well.

Numerous songs, poems, essays, even video games have been made to spread their bigoted messages in the way those particular media formats allow.

As much as I am offended by such teachings and believe them to be inappropriate for my own son, I would never deny such individuals the right to spread their ignorance. Nor would I tell such individuals that they should go die or that they should be killed. I've seen numerous individuals who oppose such hate groups scream that the bigots should be killed. Just as I've seen comments on website of the creator of this game also make such claims.

As much as we feel offended or hate the game, the author has the right to create such a game and distribute it. The argument some make that they are offended by this game and therefore it should not be allowed to be distributed is oddly similar to the claims that other people are offended by certain other games that have been commercially produced and distributed, such as the GTA series.

Just because one game, produced privately and distributed or made available, either for free or for a fee, (just as some kid might write a poem on a school bus and make it available) is based on real events as opposed to the commercially produced and distributed game based on fictional events (as many fictional drama books sold on Amazon.com are), doesn't mean that one has less or more Right to be available than the other.

No, I haven't played it. No, I have played Ethnic Cleansing. No, I haven't played Border Patrol. No, I don't agree with Fred Phelps. No, I don't agree with the KKK or any number of racial segregationists or bigots.

But that doesn't mean that my dislike should rule over everyone else. I don't HAVE to play those games or agree or disagree with any messages put forth in those games or organization's websites.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

@required:

I am outraged at Iraq/Darfur/everything else. I am also offended by this game. It is possible to dislike more than one thing at once. Next.

Awful as I consider Boll's movies, I wouldn't want to give this guy even that much credit for forethought... I think he just decided he could shock and upset people and he'd get attention for it.

I'm in two minds about the site being taken down if it has though, while the game was crap and the author a kind of JT from the other side, making statements that are offensive to some people, and refusing to defend those statements, purely for the sake of attentnion, but I do worry that the site has been removed in a way.

That said, it's not as if it's the first site to be closed because of complaints about content.

If only the author had displayed some kind of redeeming feature or reason for writing this software other than to grab attention and make money, I would be more in the mood to defend this as a violation of his Free Speech, as it is, I can't help thinking 'Meh', and that's a dangerous thought.

@Rob

It's the treatment of the content. The fact that the game plays almost like a tribute to Cho. Instead of trying to figure out what motivated Cho, Ryan just puts him in lame-ass B-movie sequence, complete with bad dialog that doesn't seem to match Cho's behaviors and writings.

He called me a leech when I asked to interview him... The sad thing is there are other sick people making V-Tech movies he was the first to make the game.

Good, perhaps he's gone for good. Moron.

"He said he had refused an interview with Channel Seven because the TV station would not pay him."

More and more it's clear he really doesn't care about freedoms, it's all about attention and money.

This is great, but for anyone with an agenda, the ESA can distance themselves all they want ,but it will never, EVER be good enough. For cencosrcrats and massacre chasers, any attempt at the industry to distance themselves will be an attempt at a cover up and admission of guilt.

And the fact that this, this jackass[since the term is ACTUALLY applicable here and this isn't national TV] refused to do an unpaid interview, well, that speaks volumes of his character, especially demanding a paid apology.

I was wondering when some outside sources would pick up on this. The alphabets will likely be picking it up within the week I suppose. Just so long as the ESA condems this little piece of trash, and the news lets people know just how reviled this "game" is by the whole community, it'll be ok.

Anyone else notice that he doesn't go to school or have a job?

Anger not the righteous gamer,
For we are legion, and have access to the DDoS button.

I dont see the problem with it. Bad taste to some isnt to others, but regardless the freedom to do it should be there. I think the main problem at play here is that America doesn't like seeing itself in a mirror.

Well at least they know that the video game industry had no take in this game.

All of googumproduce.com redirects to an Account Suspended error page as of 7:30am CDT. I say even odds whether it's hosting flipping over bandwidth or content, but interesting nonetheless.

I see nothing but biase in this...Oh well... I hope people won't go against video games because of one person like how people do go after art because of one artist..

@Pawsie

C´mon... you know they will :/

Maybe Jackie might even return from his pit and corrupt the lands once more... ;)

The article reports the facts with very little commentary.

As this story get picked up by more media outlets I doubt the same level of restraint will be on display.

"Now would be a good time for the ESA, as the public face of the video game industry - to make a public statement condemning - and distancing itself - from V-Tech Rampage."

Agreed. The usual say-nothing tactic has harmed Take Two in the past when it was about pixellated boobs. When this is an issue that has shocked the world then it has the potential to be even more damaging to the industry if the do not pre-emptively condemn this trash and make it clear to the public that it is the work of one tasteless person.
The spin-politicians and the massacre chasers with their agendas will immediately try to use this to their advantage, taking silence as admission of guilt. All it would take is one short press release e-mail to prevent this from happening.

News outlets usually make money to bring their news (usually tragedies.) I don't think it's wrong to ask for money for an interview if you take time to provide news in an interview. Also, the V-Tech game is entertainment given away for free. I don't think it's wrong to ask for money to spend time taking down what took hours/days to create in the first place. He's not holding anyone hostage as you can just not look at the website. And if people from news outlets want to sell papers using his creation, I think he's entitled to his share.

I would think that V-Tech, manufacturers of educational electronic toys, would have an interest in closing the website down, too.

Hehe... I finished my sentence, but not my point. Actually, my last sentence killed my point through poor wording :)

My point is, it shouldn't be taken offline. In fact, it has every right to be up there. We just need to make it very clear that we are not associated in any way with this creep. It's unfortunate that there are people in the world like him, just like it's unfortunate that there are people like Cho. We certainly shouldn't have to defend them, or feign that somehow they are a 1st amendment hero. But we do have to deal with this stuff when it happens.

ok change the name and how bad is this compared to lots of other games out there.. ?? people should be offended at the real killing going on - dafur - afghanistan - iraq - palestine ... sigh, wheres the outrage ??? get your priorities right people - if ya dont like it - dont download it easy - if only the solution to why people go on shooting rampages in the first place was so easy to fix.

This is just so sad....I get the impression from what little I've read that this fellow is just out for media attention. The reason? So he can get paid. Of course this is the sort of game that people will love to hate and it will draw all sorts of attention. This seems especially true with how soon he put the game out. Its like he was just sitting there waiting on a tragedy to mock with a game...

Not to change subjects but this guy http://www.igda.org/Forums/showthread.php?threadid=27348 got in trouble for his game he made

This game is, without a doubt, the video game equivalent of the very worst slasher/shock movies out there. Unlike SCMRPG there was obviously little research done nor any desire to provide a documentary experience to answer the questions that surround the event, the only thing the maker of this game wanted was to shock and upset people.. and of course, he managed that.

Those who are crying about "Freedom of Speech" need to remember two things often forgotten in todays society.. first, that just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD. Secondly, Australia has no laws protecting freedom of speech.. and not even the laws present in America would protect this sort of thing.

The creators of this kind of flash trash need to grow up and consider the greater effects of their so called "work". The commercial video games industry has suffered long enough from bad press created by these things.

Hi blogger!