''I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator'' is a 2006 freeware

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by Derek Yu, Chris Hanson, Philippe Jones,

Alec Holowka Alec Holowka (30 October 1983 – 31 August 2019) was a Canadian indie game developer and co-founder of independent game companies Infinite Ammo, Infinite Fall, and Bit Blot. He was mainly known for the award-winning titles '' Night in the Woo ...

and Christopher Howard Wolf. It was created as a satirical response to a challenge by anti-video game-violence activist and disbarred attorney Jack Thompson.

Background

This game was created and released in response to " A Modest Video Game Proposal" issued in late 2005 by activist attorney Jack Thompson, known for his opposition to sex and violence in entertainment, including computer and video games. This challenge dared computer game producers to release a game following a "script" he outlined, in which the grieving father of a child killed by a computer gamer takes vengeance by murdering many people connected with the gaming industry in a brutal manner. Thompson promised to contribute a $10,000 donation to the charity of choice of Paul Eibeler (then-chairman of

Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K ...

, one of the game companies most heavily criticized by Thompson) if such a game were released. However, he has since claimed that the proposal was only a joke, and currently, no charity has been designated by Eibeler. The makers of the gaming-related webcomic ''

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

'' have, however, made a $10,000 donation in Thompson's name to the Entertainment Software Association Foundation, a philanthropic, grant-giving body run by the

Entertainment Software Association The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based in ...

. The "O.K" in the title refers to the initials of the protagonist, Osaki Kim, but together with the first part of the game's name is also a play on the accusation that video game violence is being considered normal by manufacturers and gamers. The reference to a "Murder Simulator" refers to what Thompson regularly proclaimed all violent computer games to be. ''I'm O.K'' is a

side-scrolling video game A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

with

16-bit era In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles, more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era, began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics' PC Engine (known as the TurboGrafx-16 in Nort ...

low-resolution graphics that shares (to a degree) the basic gameplay (and somewhat lowbrow humor) of the ''

Metal Slug is a Japanese multimedia franchise and run and gun video game series originally created by Nazca Corporation before merging with SNK in 1996 after the completion of the first game in the series. Spin-off games include a third-person shoo ...

'' series.

References

External links

*
Download ''I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator''
at Derek Yu's website {{DEFAULTSORT:I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator 2006 video games Clickteam Fusion games Freeware games Indie games Parody video games Retro-style video games Run and gun games Satirical video games Side-scrolling beat 'em ups Single-player video games Video games designed by Derek Yu Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Alec Holowka Video games set in Los Angeles Video games set in New York (state) Video games set in Philadelphia Windows games Windows-only games Jack Thompson (activist)