Massacre game creator's website back online
The author of the widely reviled V-Tech Rampage computer game has re-established his personal website and is unrepentant about his creation, despite worldwide condemnation.
Sydney resident Ryan Lambourn's crudely rendered recreation of the Virginia Tech Massacre drew international attention when it was discovered in May this year.
Lambourn made the game available on his personal website, googumproduce.com, as well as popular games site newgrounds.com.
V-Tech Massacre puts players in the shoes of killer Cho Seung-hui, who gunned down 32 students at Virginia Tech University in April and sent bizarre videos of himself to the media.
The company originally hosting googumproduce.com refused to continue its association with Lambourn after V-Tech Rampage was discovered, putting his website out of action for several weeks.
But the 22-year-old wannabe "artistical genius" has found a new host for googumproduce.com and plans to establish sections for media and hate mail.
"Alright so ive moved hosts since my old one were c**ks not letting me have vtech up (sic)," Lambourn wrote on June 6.
"I'll also be putting up a media page soon to showcase all the media Vtech got and a hatemail section for that stuff!"
Underneath the message is a picture of Cho's head, popping out of a column from the computer game Super Mario Brothers.
In the site's V-Tech Rampage section, Lambourn has posted another message: "For F***s sake it was a joke."
At the time of the controversy, Lambourn had demanded money to take the game down. The request for money is still there, but with different demands.
"I will never make a pun again if the donation amount reaches $1000 US, i'll never make a sarcastic comment if it reaches $2000 US, and i will never push the ironic envelope again if it reaches $3000 US," he writes.
Comments from other internet users in the same section are mixed, with some damning Lambourn, and others supporting his right to express himself freely.
The game has never been removed from newgrounds.com. However, Lambourn was forced to replace the original soundtrack, a synthesised version of Collective Soul's 'Shine', after complaints from the Recording Industry Association of America.
'Shine' was reportedly one of Cho's favourite songs.
Call for 'sensitive' V-Tech game
Meanwhile an academic specialising in computer games has issued a challenge for designers to create a Virginia Tech game that is tasteful and sophisticated.
Ian Bogost, Professor of Literature, Communication and Culture at Georgia Institute of Technology, calls V-Tech Rampage "an unsophisticated, negligent take on the tragedy".
"Lambourn's game makes him appear unstable at best, deeply troubled at worst," Professor Bogost writes.
In his article for online gaming resource gamasutra.com, Professor Bogost raises the possibility of computer game designers treating subjects like the Virginia Tech Massacre thoughtfully and conscientiously.
"I hereby issue a challenge to the videogame industry: to create a videogame about the Virginia Tech tragedy," Professor Bogost writes. "One worthy of reflection. One that captures the event's despair … as much as its brutality. One that the public can respect, even if it makes them uncomfortable."
Australian authorities admitted in early June that they could not ban Lambourn's game.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority had referred the game to the Office of Film and Literature Classification, which decided it could not be banned.
The game has been classified MA 15+ , the highest rating available for a computer game in Australia.