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44-514: Location: Columbine High School ( Columbine, Colorado ) In the documentary, critics and supporters of the game are interviewed, including Ledonne, Jack Thompson , Hal Halpin , Doug Lowenstein , Jason Della Rocca , Jenova Chen , Ian Bogost , Tracy Fullerton , Brian Flemming , and the hosts of Free Talk Live . Arguments are made to support the game's inclusion in a growing movement of videogames with social agendas, referencing other independent games such as McDonald's Video Game , Darfur

88-418: A Dawson College student at the time of the event, is interviewed and dismisses the game's role in the shooting. However, Jack Thompson maintains that the game is a "murder simulator" that "trained" the shooter. The link between the game and the shooting is regarded as an "easy out for society" by then IGDA executive director Jason Della Rocca . The final section of the film documents the 2007 controversy at

132-586: A pump-action shotgun and ammunition from a dealer she had previously been in contact with. On April 16, the captain of the Miami Beach Police Department alerted agents with the FBI field office in Miami about a "potential school shooter who is infatuated with Columbine shooter Eric Harris ". Shortly after Pais was reported missing, investigators gained access to Pais' email, which revealed information for

176-565: A "green rifle case" with a "bird hunting gun". Pais apparently committed suicide by gunshot to the head later that night. Its attendance zone includes the Columbine CDP. Kotaku Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith , Cecilia D'Anastasio , Tim Rogers , and Jason Schreier . Kotaku

220-523: A "personal disagreement" in August 2023. In November 2023, G/O Media announced it was laying off 23 people across Kotaku and the company's other websites. Jen Glennon resigned her position as editor in March 2024, citing an opposition to G/O Media's desire for the site to deprioritize news and instead focus on producing game guides. In July 2024, it was reported that Kotaku Australia would shut down as part of

264-446: A capacity for 1,652 students. It was named after the surrounding community of Columbine , which in turn was named after the state flower of Colorado: the columbine . The school's first principal was Gerald Difford. There was no senior class during the school's first year; its first graduating class was in 1975. The school colors were selected through a vote by students at Ken Caryl Junior High School and Bear Creek High School , who were

308-464: A cast of videogame personalities this large or prestigious assembled in documentary form, and getting to hear all their varying viewpoints is an absolute pleasure. The film was reviewed by Andrew Barker of Variety in November 2008 and noted: The ongoing debate over representations of violence in videogames is the immediate focus of "Playing Columbine," Danny Ledonne's gripping, troublemaking docu about

352-643: A cost-cutting effort from third-party publisher Pedestrian Group . In October 2024, Kotaku Australia began to redirect to Kotaku and made its article archive "publicly inaccessible". Aftermath reported that "this not only means the work of dozens of Australian writers over the course of 16 years has been lost, but also thousands of Kotaku US stories as well that, thanks to various server and ownership changes, had only survived via their reposts on Kotaku AU". In 2007, attorney Jack Thompson sued Gawker Media and site editor Brian Crecente over concerns that Kotaku declined to remove threatening user comments, but

396-495: A day prior, running on Nintendo Switch emulators . The article praised the game's performance on emulators (said to be better than on the Nintendo Switch itself), thanked " pirates , emulators , modders , and hackers ", and suggested readers emulate older or expensive games themselves. The article was criticized for promoting piracy, especially of newly released games, but was also noted to have sparked wider discussions about

440-461: A household name, and causing a moral panic in U.S. high schools. It was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history until it was surpassed by the Parkland high school shooting on February 14, 2018, in which 17 people were killed. After the shooting, classes at Columbine were held at nearby Chatfield Senior High for the remaining three weeks of that school year. The school went through

484-409: A major renovation in 1995, just four years before the massacre, adding a new library and cafeteria. After the shootings, Columbine completely demolished its library, located above the cafeteria, since it was the site where the majority of the deaths occurred. The site was then turned into a memorial ceiling and atrium ; a new, larger library was built on the hill where the shooting began and dedicated to

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528-512: A story about rumored upcoming features on the PlayStation 3 , and Sony responded by temporarily blacklisting the website. In 2015, Kotaku claimed that they had been blacklisted by major video game companies Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft . Because of this blacklist, Kotaku opted not to be a jury member in The Game Awards when invited by Geoff Keighley in 2019. In 2023, Kotaku

572-488: A truly noteworthy cast of game designers, media professors, and school shooting survivors who are able to look at the issues he presents from totally different angles. In the first act alone, we get to hear the interviewees talk about games as experimentational play, games as social commentary, and the generation gap between gamers and critics of the medium. Hearing guys like Ian Bogost and Hal Halpin talk about games as art just plain never gets boring, and we've frankly never seen

616-439: Is Dying , JFK Reloaded , and those made by Persuasive Games . Supporters of video games such as Greg Costikyan note that the medium of the video game is undergoing the same reactionary criticism as previously experienced by comic books , rock and roll , and Dungeons & Dragons . Some argue that video games will gain more mainstream acceptance as more video game players are in positions of power. The film argues that

660-580: Is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado , United States, in the Denver metropolitan area . It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district. In 1999, it became the scene of an infamous mass shooting , where 12 students and one teacher were murdered by senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before the pair committed suicide. Columbine High School opened in 1973 with

704-451: Is still immature. Ledonne says, "While the commercial games industry has shown itself to be quite comfortable courting controversy over violent content, it has only the beginnings of a truly socially conscious ambition." A review by Anthony Burch at the videogame blog Destructoid wrote: Playing Columbine claims to primarily be about the controversy surrounding the director's game, but it wisely opts instead to spend more time talking about

748-422: Is very engaging and thought provoking though repetitive at times. Ledonne is a talented filmmaker, and I’m curious to see him tackle subjects not as personally close. "Playing Columbine" is an asset to the ongoing dialogue on protected speech and questions of art in the 21st century. Columbine High School Location: Columbine High School ( Columbine, Colorado ) Columbine High School ( CHS )

792-613: The Slamdance Film Festival in which the Columbine videogame was pulled from the Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition by festival director Peter Baxter. In response, University of Southern California pulled its sponsorship of the competition and half of the other game developers pulled their projects out of the festival. The Slamdance documentary jury attempted to award the game a special jury prize but Baxter prevented

836-466: The Gamergate community. Its creator attempted to shut it down in 2018, claiming that it had become "infested with racism and sexism", but it was reinstated by a Reddit administrator due to the site's guidelines. In March 2024, the narrative development studio Sweet Baby Inc. became the target of claims from online users who said that it promoted a " woke agenda ". Kotaku editor Alyssa Mercante became

880-626: The Gawker acquisitions, operating under the Fusion Media Group , a division of Univision. The Gizmodo Media Group was later acquired by the private equity firm Great Hill Partners in April 2019, and renamed G/O Media . In December 2018 Pedestrian Group , owned by the Australian media company Nine Entertainment , acquired Kotaku Australia . . The transition to G/O Media led to several departures from

924-477: The award from being given. Eventually, the game screened at other events such as Living Game Worlds in Gijon, Spain and a gallery installation at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs . The film was rejected from the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival – which the film notes during the end credits. Ian Bogost at Water Cooler Games observed that "It's certainly no surprise that those 'subjective decisions' would include

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968-525: The day, keeping more than 500,000 students across the state home. According to Pais' autopsy, however, Pais was already deceased before the manhunt even started on April 15. She had taken about a 40-minute Uber drive from DIA to a mall, and then purchased a shotgun and ammunition from the dealer she had been in contact with previously, before taking another Uber ride from the gun shop "into the mountains" near Mount Evans . According to this Uber driver, Pais "had no food or water and only minimal clothing," and had

1012-429: The editor in chief in 2012. Totilo had previously joined Kotaku in 2009 as deputy editor. In April 2014, Gawker Media partnered with Future plc to launch Kotaku UK , and with Allure Media to launch Kotaku Australia . Kotaku was one of several websites that was purchased by Univision Communications in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016; Gizmodo Media Group was subsequently founded to house

1056-459: The film at GameCity in October 2007 prompted Daniel Etherington to write on BBC Collective, "fascinating documentary... Isn’t it time that games were taken seriously?" He continued: Although Gus Van Sant and Michael Moore had made films about Columbine, many felt it was wrong to try and [address it] in a game. Why? Why are games not allowed to deal with difficult subjects? In part because the medium

1100-429: The first to attend Columbine High School when it opened in 1973. The school has undergone significant renovations since it first opened: in 1995, with the addition of a new cafeteria and library; in 1999–2000, with interior renovations to the corridors, cafeteria, and former library; and in the early 2000s, with the addition of the new HOPE Columbine Memorial Library and a memorial on the site. Columbine High School

1144-468: The general demonization of videogames as an artistic medium, and the nature of school violence. Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is used as a jumping-off point to discuss much broader, much more interesting issues: for this, the director is to be commended. Apart from a few self-interviews and lecture clips sprinkled evenly throughout the film, you don't really feel the presence of Ledonne the Director as he tells

1188-549: The gun sellers Pais had contacted in Florida. The FBI contacted Pais' Uber driver, who described Pais as cheerful and fluent in Spanish, and had "travelled to Colorado for recreation and was excited to see snow". At this point, the FBI decided to alert the public due to the danger of a copycat 20th anniversary shooting around April 20 at or near Columbine High School, although April 20 that year

1232-411: The lawsuit was dismissed the next day. In 2010, Kotaku criticized Japanese magazine Famitsu 's glowing endorsement of Konami 's PlayStation Portable game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker as a conflict of interest. In response, Konami revoked Kotaku ' s invitation to the game's launch party. On October 9, 2021, Kotaku published an article about Metroid Dread , which had been released

1276-457: The medium of the video game should no longer be viewed as a child's toy but rather as a mature form of art (see art game ). The film also examines the link drawn by the Toronto Sun and other media outlets between the Columbine videogame and the 2006 Dawson College shooting . The shooter, Kimveer Gill allegedly listed Super Columbine Massacre RPG! as his favorite game. Melissa Fuller,

1320-621: The memory of the victims. By 2019, the school remained a " macabre tourist attraction " for those fascinated by the massacre, with hundreds stopped annually caught trespassing on the grounds or trying to enter the buildings. In June 2019, the superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools proposed tearing down the school and rebuilding it more securely to lessen its "morbid fascination". On April 15, 2019, 18-year old Sol Pais bought three one-way tickets from Miami International Airport to Denver, Colorado . After arriving in Colorado, Pais bought

1364-526: The past 20 years by GamePro in 2009 and one of gaming's Top 50 journalists by Edge in 2006. The site has made CNET 's "Blog 100" list and was ranked 50th on PC Magazine ' s "Top 100 Classic Web Sites" list. Its name comes from the Japanese otaku (obsessive fan) and the prefix "ko-" (small in size). In 2009, Business Insider reported that Hearst Corporation sought to buy Kotaku from Gawker Media. Stephen Totilo replaced Brian Crecente as

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1408-511: The reaction to his videogame re-creation of the Columbine High School massacre. But the film goes much further, ultimately tying questions of propriety and censorship into a larger discussion of the development of videogames as a form of expressive art. While it raises far more questions that it can answer, pic serves as an impressively nuanced call for games to be taken more seriously. Mark Fulton of Film Threat wrote: The documentary

1452-781: The rejection of the film, which is openly critical of the festival." Playing Columbine premiered at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, California on November 7, 2008. It has also screened at Artfutura, the Bradford Animation Festival, the Denver Film Festival , and the Santa Fe Film Festival . It has been screened in academic venues such as University of Texas at Dallas , Emerson College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute . The film has been released online via Amazon Video , iTunes , and Netflix . Reacting to

1496-462: The role of emulation in video game preservation . On October 10, Kotaku revised the article to clarify they were referring to game preservation and, after a complaint from Nintendo on a later date, removed all mentions of piracy from the article. Kotaku also issued an apology and stated that, though they believed emulation was "a vital part of the world of gaming", they did not condone using it to acquire games illegally. In 2007, Kotaku ran

1540-481: The site on April 16, 2020, citing the issues surrounding G/O Media which filtered into disruptions at their sister website Deadspin around October 2019. Schreier subsequently took a position at Bloomberg News . In May 2020, senior writer Harper Jay MacIntyre departed from Kotaku , similarly citing conflicts with management, and joined Double Fine Productions as their content and community manager. Kotaku UK closed on September 9, 2020. Totilo announced he

1584-657: The site, as well as from other sister sites under the former Gawker Media label due to conflicts with G/O Media's management. Cecilia D'Anastasio left Kotaku in December 2019 to become a journalist for Wired . Joshua Rivera and Gita Jackson left in January 2020 stating it was impossible to work with the new management. Jason Schreier , one of Kotaku ' s writers since 2012 known for his investigative in-depth coverage of working conditions at various studios and development histories for various video games, announced his departure from

1628-463: The story of Ledonne the Designer. The vast majority of the film relies on (quite compelling) interviews with numerous personalities based in or around the games industry -- you'll find immeasurably more directorial intrusion in a typical Michael Moore film. I know that's not saying much, but my point is, this documentary sounds far more pretentious and self-serving than it actually is. Ledonne assembles

1672-460: The trailer for the film released in July 2007, Brian Crecente wrote at the gaming site Kotaku that, "Judging by the rather short trailer, it feels like the documentary is a little too much about Ledonne and not enough about the very real and complicated issues involving both the shooting and the idea of tacking [ sic ] serious subject matters with video games." A first look screening of

1716-450: Was a Saturday. After the manhunt became public, it quickly made national headlines, and hundreds of people called the FBI claiming they had seen Pais panhandling, buying a gun or actually outside of Columbine High School. Columbine High School went on lockdown on the afternoon of April 16, and was dismissed normally at the end of the day. With the FBI finding no trace of Pais by the end of the day, Columbine and several dozen schools closed for

1760-480: Was blacklisted by Nintendo, reportedly over articles that covered leaks of unreleased Nintendo games. Further controversy followed when then senior writer Luke Plunkett posted a picture of a fighter plane with victory markings featuring the Imperial Japanese flag. In 2014, Kotaku was part of the accusations that instigated the harassment campaign known as Gamergate when a writer from the site, Nathan Grayson,

1804-405: Was departing as editor in chief on February 5, 2021, though will remain in games journalism elsewhere. Riley MacLeod served as interim editor in chief following Totilo's departure, before Patricia Hernandez commenced her tenure as editor in chief from June 2, 2021. Jen Glennon was appointed editor of the site in October 2023, after previous editor Patricia Hernandez was reportedly fired following

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1848-400: Was falsely accused of writing a favorable review of the game Depression Quest as a result of his relationship with its developer, Zoë Quinn . After conducting an internal review, it was discovered that no review of Depression Quest existed and he had only written one article that mentioned Quinn in passing before their relationship began. The subreddit KotakuInAction became a hub for

1892-458: Was first launched in October 2004 with Matthew Gallant as its lead writer, with an intended target audience of young men. About a month later, Brian Crecente was brought in to try to save the failing site. Since then, the site has launched several country-specific sites for Australia , Japan , Brazil and the UK . Crecente was named one of the 20 most influential people in the video game industry over

1936-409: Was the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern United States history. The shootings occurred on April 20, 1999, when senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire and killed 12 students and a teacher, and wounded 24 others, 21 of them by gunfire, before they both committed suicide in the library. The massacre made headlines both nationally and internationally, making Columbine

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