A homemade video game about the Virginia Tech shootings has surfaced on the Internet less than a month after the shootings, and it has drawn angry responses.

The game, V-Tech Rampage, casts the player in the role of shooter Seung-Hui Cho. The video campus and surrounding area includes a post office, Norris Hall, a dorm and students to shoot. The player can use the keyboard to make Cho walk, talk and shoot, and the game follows the general plot of the events of April 16.

The song "Shine" by Collective Soul, reportedly a favorite of Cho's, plays in the background.

"It's so contemptible it's beneath response," Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said.

In a posting Tuesday on Gamepolitics.com, the creator of the game is identified as Ryan Lambourn of Australia.

Players can post their comments on the game's site. The conversation is filled with profanity by both the game's defenders and those who are repulsed by its insensitivity. A photo of Cho holding a knife to his throat is also on the site.

The game is available on the Internet through Newgrounds, a "flash portal" company based in Pennsylvania that hosts video games, music and movies posted by people worldwide.

In response to the negative reaction to the game, Lambourn posted a note asking for donations in exchange for taking the game down.

Addressed to "Angry people," Lambourn writes, "I will take this game down from Newgrounds if the donation amount reaches $1,000 US I'll take it down from here if it reaches $2,000 US and I will apologize if it reaches $3,000 US."

Newgrounds founder and CEO Tom Fulp did not respond to an e-mail request to comment on the game.

Some have compared Lambourn's notice with a ransom note, and he has since said that it wasn't meant to be serious.

This isn't the first time a video game about a tragedy has created controversy. In 2006 a game was created about the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999. Several posts from gaming enthusiasts have defended that game as having some merits beyond simple shock value while others derided V-Tech Rampage as little more than a cry for attention.

On the Net: googumproduce.com/vtech.php