Judge Clears ‘Bully’ For Release October 16, 2006
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After the possibility of a good caning and expulsion, the controversial game Bully has been released from the dock and sent home without so much as a warning.
The game, from Rockstar, the developer that gave us porn with our coffee in GTA: San Andreas, centres on modern life in school where dealing or avoiding bullies, is pretty much commonplace. Unsurprisingly, a game about school bullies and potential teen violence has attracted much in the way media attention. It spent last week in the dock after veteran game hater and self-publicist, Jack Thompson attempted to have it banned in Florida as a ‘public nuisance’.
Judge Ronal Friedman asked for a copy of the game to be played for a few hours at the weekend to decide its fate. The verdict?
“There’s a lot of violence. A whole lot. Less than we see on television every night. Does that mean I would want my children to view it? No. But does it rise to a point that it’s a nuisance? The answer is no from what I saw.”
Expect to see it over here this Friday although under the less controversial name of “Canis Cadem Edit” or Dog Eat Dog. Wow, catchy.-Martin Lynch
Editor | Martin Lynch
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Comments
Granted, i've never played bully, and I can almost see where this game can draw some negative media attention. We have to agree that a vast vast majority of games (and yes, even those with 15/18 certificates) are played by Children in Highschool (12-16 year olds). This game could potentially fool the "less sensible" children into thinking that this sort of behaviour is acceptable in school, but I doubt that there would be a massive amount of cases where people were getting bullied solely because of this game. It's like Manhunt and GTA being privy to media attention because people kill other people in a fashion similar to that of a game. I doubt the killing was motivated because of the game, although there would be no doubt that the way in which the person was killed was influenced by that game. So all violent game creators are doing is giving more ways to kill people, instead of encouraging it.
Back on track.
Bully looks like a good game, and it could help bully victims vent their anger.