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Slamdance Fallout [UPDATED]
By Corvus | January 10, 2007
Grand Text auto has posted an excellent open letter from Andrew Stern and Michael Mateas, creators of Façade (link).
Jonathan Blow has pulled his game Braid from the festival in protest (link).
I’d like to add that I find the claims that SCMRPG’s removal was not due to pressure from sponsors, but due to a personal and moral decision to be highly suspect. Why go out of your way to recruit a game and then turn around and cancel it? Cold feet? Harumph. Well… perhaps it’s time for the Slamdance crew to meditate on why they’re running the festival in the first place.
It has been suggested that I make this month’s Round Table (which will launch around noon) focus on this topic. I suspect, however, that most of our regular participants have already said what they have to say on the topic. Besides, I suspect that we’ll have plenty of opportunities to discuss the ramifications of events such as this over the next few years. I doubt we’ll see any congressional action on games this year in the US, as they have plenty of other things to focus on. But next year when they start casting about for legislation, I’m sure there will be a game bill or two at the top of the pile. Plus, we’ve got Batjack vowing to stay in the game, new state legislatures, new politicians looking to appeal to their bases, and more competitions trying to balance their desire to increase game visibility without drawing too much negative attention themselves. All flagstones on the path of the inexorable march towards the recognition of games as art.
[UPDATE]
The team behind the compelling casual game, Flow, have also pulled their entry from the Slamdance Fesitval (link). Let’s all sing a little Bob Marley together, shall we?
“Ex-o-dus. Movement of ja people…”
Four more games have been removed from the competition in protest:
Everyday Shooter by Jonathan Mak (link)
Once Upon a Time by Waking Games (link)
Toblo by Steve, John, Brad, Ben, and Zach (link)
Book and Volume by Nick (link)
So, let’s see… that leaves seven games in the running. 50% attrition so far. Plus, they lost a sponsor, USC Interactive Media Division (link). Whew! I have to say I’m impressed by the community’s response to this issue.
Watercooler games is keeping a nice diary of all events related to the controversy as well (link.
Tagged:Games, Industry, slamdance, super-columbine-massacre-rpg. | 1 Comment »
January 8th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I agree. If the judges had felt that the game wasn’t appriopiate for the festival, all they would have had to is not select it for being a finalist. And I can tell from the Carter feedback I got that these guys really play these games intensely. This smells distinctly of a miscommunication between the sponsors and the judges.