A game called “Super Columbine Massacre RPG” was made about the columbine shooting where you are the shooters, you wander around the school and do largely what they did. They were entered in the slamdance competition which is pretty much a small developer/indy comp… they were finalists until they got canned because the corporate sponsors didn’t like that they were in the competition and threatened to pull support and the president caved in. Since originally being reported however, the president of Slamdance says he pulled it on moral grounds. right. There’s a bit more available at rocky mountain news.
Since then, 5 others have quit the contest in disgust over the practice, even if they didn’t agree with what the game stood for and was.
The first contestant to quit was Braid, followed by fl0w, then in quick succession 3 more dropped– Everyday Shooter, Toblo, and Once Upon a Time.
All of them basically have the same thing to say, but I suggest you read each site, they all have slightly different views and insights. Maybe download the games and give them a go, because their creators show integrity and it’s a rare thing to see in the gaming industry these days… or in people in general.
I hope they all get massive amounts of publicity and they each deserve an award for integrity when they could have viewed columbine being disqualified as making the odds of their own game winning better. If they want to exclude something from entering, but do it upfront, it’s dirty and underhanded to do it after the fact when someone you don’t like is a finalist regardless of the reasons.
If I had a game… I wouldn’t enter it in Slamdance– they can’t be trusted to be fair.
EDIT: Sponsors and other contestants (Book and Volume) have pulled themself from the contest also and even some of the judges are up in arms. Baxter (president of sd) commented… it wouldn’t be so bad if they hadn’t actively TRIED to get SC* to compete in the comp.
EDIT2: Even wired is in the act.
EDIT3: The final edit, no one got an award this year the rest of the contestants that still went or were forced to go declined the award. Good for them!