No more Bullying for 'Bully'

The premium content development division of game publisher ‘Take Two Interactive’ and best known as the makers of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series, Rockstar Games is ready with its new title ‘Bully’, a game in which players assume the role of a 15 year old wannabe tough guy.

Amidst a recent school violence and discussions, Rockstar Games have defended their ‘Bully’, saying that the issue is not in their hands and all they try to do is, make good video games.

‘Bully’, also known as ‘Canis Canem Edit’ in Europe and Australia, is a video game developed by Rockstar Games for Sony PlayStation 2 and is currently scheduled to be released on Tuesday. An Xbox version was planned but was cancelled for unrevealed reasons.

The game takes place in a fictional reform school called Bullworth Academy. The title of the game is a reference both to the name of the school, Bullworth Academy, and to school bullying. The motto of the school, ‘Canis Canem Edit’ is Latin for 'Dog Eat Dog'.

The players assume the role of 15 year old Jimmy Hopkins, a wannabe tough guy, who thinks he is smarter than everyone else, until he enters Bullworth Academy.

A press release by Take Two Interactive, publishers of the game, states, "As a troublesome schoolboy, you'll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school, Bullworth Academy."

The game has caused hullabaloo among parents, and educators. Criticisms are due to the adult nature of previous Rockstar games, in particular, the Hot Coffee mod in ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’. It has been criticized for glorifying school bullying.

"Some people like our games; some don't," company spokesman Rodney Walker said. "We can't try to beat these arguments. Our whole process we believe with 'Bully' is we have to let the game speak for itself. We just want them to know that this is just entertainment."

The $39.99 ‘Bully’ uses the same freeform design of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ but is rated ‘T’ for teenagers age 13 and older instead of ‘M’ for mature players 17 and older.

The makers claim that ‘Bully’ has a lot of pugilism, but there is no blood, guns or dying. The only weapons used are sling shots or baseball bats. They also held that whoever has played their previous games, will like the new game as well.

Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and video game critic, filed a lawsuit attempting to have ‘Bully’ blocked from store shelves in Florida, declaring it a “nuisance" and "Columbine simulator".

In the United Kingdom, Labour Party M.P Keith Vaz is trying to have the game banned as well. In Belgium, a petition was started by 3 teachers to ban the game from the shelves.

However, the Mainstream Media have a positive view about the game, stating that ‘Bully’ focuses on building a social network and learning new skills from classes, with strictly compulsory punishments for serious misconduct (for example, having to clear snow away as punishment for hitting a girl).

Thompson had filed a petition with the 11th Judicial Circuit Court asking Take Two to provide him with an advance copy of ‘Bully’ so he can have an independent third party play the game and determine if it would constitute a public nuisance in the state of Florida. On October 10, 2006, Judge Ronald Friedman ordered Take Two and Rockstar to provide him a copy of the game within 24 hours.

The judge ultimately saw no reason to restrict sales and dismissed the complaint on Friday.

This is not the first time that Rockstar is dragged into controversy. Last year, a hacker had unveiled a hidden sex scene in ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’. They have also been blamed for arousing the people to such extend that they commit actual acts of violence.

The game's producer, Jeronimo Barrera, said ‘Bully’ was influenced from Hollywood movies such as ‘Sixteen Candles’ and novels like J.D. Salinger's ‘The Catcher in the Rye’.

"We usually pick things that are really difficult to do," Barrera said. "In this case, it was the experience of your school days in this living breathing world. We're not the types that do market research. It's more from the heart. We have a passion for what we do."

As far as future games are concerned, Rockstar Games will be releasing ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories’ in a few weeks, and sometime late next year, the entertainment company plans to release ‘Grand Theft Auto 4’.