Uk teachers call for a ban on "Bully" for Wii and Xbox360

[bilzar]

Despite the fact it's already been sitting on the shelves for over a year on PS2, another ruckus is being kicked off over Rockstar's Bully, reignited thanks to the upcoming release of Xbox 360 and Wii versions of the game.

UK publication Daily Telegraph describes the new Scholarship Edition, as an "even more realistic" take on the 2006 original, which "encourages players to act out assaults on pupils and teachers." Beating a dead horse much?

The game's also sparked additional rows by changing its name from Canis Canem Edit back to Bully, which in itself is enough to get readers all riled up.

Niall Cowley, of the charity BeatBullying, said: "We're disappointed this game was created in the first place. Some mindless people thought this was a fun, interesting piece of software to create, but it undermines all the hard work that organisations like ours are seeking to do."

Cowley said that when the original was launched last year, Rockstar tried to persuade his group to back Canis by offering a donation. "It was the most distasteful thing in the world - the idea that we could be bought off like that," he said.

"We have the interests of the children of this country in our mind, not of the shareholders of this company."

In the UK, PC World and Currys have already refused to stock the Xbox 360 and Wii updates, as they did with the PS2 original. The National Union of Teachers meanwhile has called for a wider ban on the game.

In a statement, a Rockstar spokesperson said: "It is a comedic romp. The last game sold fabulously in the UK and was critically acclaimed.

"It is not a game about playing a bully. It is about the trials and tribulations of a boy in his first year at school. He protects children against other characters. People have to be able to make their own decisions and to judge for themselves, with an open mind."

Is it really worth wasting our words over this anymore? Anyone who's actually played the game will realise it's a tongue-in-cheek action game which mostly has you protecting people from bullies rather than picking on pip-squeaks at random.

It's one of Rockstar's better games in recent times, so we definitely recommend a look when it arrives in the UK this March.

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[261311]

The UK, well, I'd hate to live there. There's so much censorship and crap (not only in the UK but all of Europe) it's disgusting.

 

[Wii_Smurf]

Wo wo, It's not too bad. Yes our laws suck. But it's a good country -Laugh-

 

[Frogger]

The UK, well, I'd hate to live there. There's so much censorship and crap (not only in the UK but all of Europe) it's disgusting.

Hahaha, Eurotrash anybody?

 

[Squall7]

The UK, well, I'd hate to live there. There's so much censorship and crap (not only in the UK but all of Europe) it's disgusting.

There's not that much censorship.

I mean, the British Version of Fahrenheit for the PS2 (and xbox) actually had a proper sex scene in the UK version. I believe that was cut from the US version.

Besides that, what have politicians and Fox news been reporting lately? Pretty much the same scare-mongering tactics used here.

Although Germany seems pretty bad for censoring...

 

[Wiimoto]

Who is actually buying this game anyways? I doubt anyone who even buys this game is going to go around beating people up.

 

[Squall7]

Who is actually buying this game anyways? I doubt anyone who even buys this game is going to go around beating people up.

Anyone who would do that afterwards would also do that before.

Media effects is probably one of the bigger lies in the media itself.

Of course, what they won't tell you is that ALL of the evidence against computer games is pretty much either underhanded, misguided or untrustworthy. I mean, how can you get reliable, replicable result from studying behaviours of people who play video games if you purposefully choose only a short time to do the said study? And how can you prove that the link is a direct correlation (as in people who play videogames BECOME violent, rather than violent people being attracted to said computer games). Likewise, it doesn't seek to differentiate between "casual" gamers, gamers that aren't into the blood and gore, the gamers who aren't into FPS etc...

Pretty much, it's a case of people wanting a piece of the spotlight.

Happened with comic books too. Parent's need to get off their ass and put the damn parental controls on their kids consoles, pronto.

 

[Nintendo93]

Anyone who does anything featured in games like Grand Theft Auto already has some sort of underlying mental condition.

 

[RivalDestiny]

People are taking video games way to seriously nowadays. It's not like anyone is going to play and go into school and actually beating someone up...

 

[Frogger]

People are taking video games way to seriously nowadays. It's not like anyone is going to play and go into school and actually beating someone up...

Then why do we have age ratings?

 

[heymoe99]

Then why do we have age ratings?

because bitchy house wives in the mid 80's complained about songs with "bad words" in them, also with drug use "implied" and some other crap. that trickled down to the video game industry over time.

http://www.deesnider.com/CMS/content/view/24/86/
John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa went to congress over it.

to prove that it was a bunch of crap, Frank Zappa's Jazz from Hell earned the distinction of being the first INSTRUMENTAL album to get a PMRC label..

 

[Squall7]

because bitchy house wives in the mid 80's complained about songs with "bad words" in them, also with drug use "implied" and some other crap. that trickled down to the video game industry over time.

http://www.deesnider.com/CMS/content/view/24/86/
John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa went to congress over it.

to prove that it was a bunch of crap, Frank Zappa's Jazz from Hell earned the distinction of being the first INSTRUMENTAL album to get a PMRC label..

Lol. "Bitchy housewives" like John Denver, Dee Snider and Frank Zappa?

Also, I think the rating system was created a bit before the 80's...

Original ratings
The original movie ratings (used 1968–1970) were:

Rated G: General Audiences. All ages admitted.
Rated M: Suggested for Mature Audiences. Parental discretion advised.
Rated R: Restricted. Persons under 16 are not admitted unless accompanied by parent or adult guardian.
Rated X: Persons under 17 not admitted.
This content classification system originally was to have three ratings, ending with the Restricted rating (like the system then used in most of Canada), however, business pressure from cinema owners forced the MPAA's creation of an exclusively adult "X" film rating to protect them from local church-instigated complaints and lawsuits. Initially, the "X" rating was not an MPAA trademark: any producer not submitting a movie for MPAA rating could self-apply the "X" rating (or any other symbol or description that was not an MPPA trademark).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_rating_system

 

[261311]

There's not that much censorship.

Now compare North America to Europe and see your opinion change, especially the northern norwegian states, they're especially sensitive.

@Frogger, yes you are

 

[Budo]

I bet if Hitler were alive today, and a game reviewer, he would probably give Bully a 9+/10 - that's how evil this game is!

 

[Squall7]

Now compare North America to Europe and see your opinion change, especially the northern norwegian states, they're especially sensitive.

I'm sorry, but that's bollox.

Germany has a problem with censorship. That's pretty much all.

Oh, and "north Norwegian states"? Bit specific there. If you want to say "North Norwegian states has more game censorship than North America", then fine. But to go from "Europe" to "Northern Norwegian States" is a bit of a jump. It's like saying "America is especially open to homosexuals, especially in San Fancisco".

"see your opinion change" I don't think so boyo.

Think what you like about individual countries, but don't brand an entire continent based on a very specific example.

Also, don't confuse criticism with censorship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversy#United_States

There's not all that much game banning (although admittedly, this is an incomplete list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_computer_and_video_games

Someone should really update that.