Bully (video game)

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Bully (video game)
Developer(s)	Rockstar Vancouver
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Engine	RenderWare
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Release date(s)	October 17, 2006 25 October 2006 27 October 2006
Genre(s)	Action / Adventure
Mode(s)	Single Player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen OFLC (AU): M BBFC: 15 OFLC (NZ): R13
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	DVD

Bully, also known as Canis Canem Edit (Latin for "dog eats dog") in the PAL region,^[1] is a video game released by Rockstar Vancouver for Sony PlayStation 2 on October 17, 2006 in the USA, and October 25, 2006 in the UK. An Xbox version was planned but has since been cancelled for undisclosed reasons^[2]. The game takes place in a fictional boarding school called Bullworth Academy. The motto of the school, Canis Canem Edit, is Latin for dog eat dog. The game is also available as a special edition that includes a limited edition comic book, and a dodgeball of the same style as the ones used in the game, with the word "Bully" engraved on it. The special edition is only sold at Gamestop and EB Games.

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 school, Bullworth Academy."

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Setting 3 Plot summary 4 Characters 5 Controversy 5.1 Sexuality 5.2 ESRB 6 Reception 6.1 Awards 7 See also 8 Notes and references 9 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Early information released by Take-Two Interactive seemed to indicate that the player would be taking the role of a bully, and screenshots printed in Electronic Gaming Monthly showed the player-controlled antagonist administering a "swirlie" and throwing a punch at another student.

The game uses an advanced Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas engine through Renderware, completely changing all the programming code to make the gameplay different. The fighting combat is similar to another Rockstar Games title, The Warriors. What also makes the game engine unique is Rockstar Vancouver's decision to make every student in the school have a unique appearance and, within programming limitations, personality.

The gameplay is similar to the Grand Theft Auto series. It consists of a series of storyline driven missions required to complete the game, and a series of optional side missions. The main storyline is linear but the gameplay not as much, with the main character, Jimmy, having the option to roam over the school campus and town, completing missions whenever he feels like. The game makes extensive use of minigames. Some are used to earn money, others to improve Jimmy's abilities.

School classes themselves are done in the form of minigames, broken into five levels of increasing difficulty. English, for example, is a word scramble minigame, and as Jimmy completes the level, he learns to apologize to bullies, deliver better taunts, apologize to prefects and finally to apologize to the police.

Similar to the Grand Theft Auto series, Jimmy has a multitude of weapons available, although they tend to run along the lines of things a school boy might actually attain, such as slingshots, bags of marbles, stink bombs, and later in the game a bottle rocket launcher and a spud gun. He also has an assortment of vehicles to drive - mainly bicycles with different abilities, but also a moped and a go-kart.

[edit] Setting

The game takes place at Bullworth Academy, a fictional independent boarding school in the United States. Jimmy ends up enrolled in the school when his newly married mother and fifth new stepfather go on a year long honeymoon cruise. The school itself is located in the also fictional town of Bullworth, which resembles New England (this would also explain the high prevalence of 'Old money' and 'Nouveau Riche' influences). The school itself is a classical neo-gothic design and is similar to many other schools and colleges in New England and Britain, in a particular Fettes School in Edinburgh. A reference to the year being 1995 as the setting can be seen in one of the various arcade machine minigames but school sports flags show the school as champions as recently as 1999.

[edit] Plot summary

The game is divided into six different chapters.

• Chapter 1: Making New Friends and Enemies: Jimmy comes to Bullworth Academy and immediately runs into trouble with the Bullies.
• Chapter 2: Rich Kid Blues: Jimmy is now more popular, but he must deal with the spoiled Preppies.
• Chapter 3: Love Makes the World Go Around: Jimmy takes on Johnny Vincent, leader of the Greasers, in New Coventry.
• Chapter 4: A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body and Other Lies: Jimmy teams up with the Nerds, and takes on the Jocks.
• Chapter 5: The Fall and Rise of Jimmy Hopkins, aged 15: Jimmy, after briefly enjoying his power as king of Bullworth Academy, is expelled. He must take his revenge on Gary Smith, and get back into the academy.
• Chapter 6: Endless Summer: Jimmy can tie up any loose ends, such as races, collectibles, etc.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in Bully

The game focuses on Bullworth's newest student, Jimmy Hopkins. As he advances through his academic career at Bullworth Academy, he may interact with the school's students and teachers, as well as people from the neighboring towns, many of whom will give him tasks to complete. He is greeted by Gary Smith, a scheming, unstable sociopath and Pete Kowalski, a shy student who has yet to make any friends. Jimmy has to navigate his way through the five cliques at the school - the Bullies, Nerds, Preppies, Greasers and Jocks, as well as the Townie kids, the school faculty and all the other adult townsfolk.

[edit] Controversy

Bully has caused controversy 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 and to certain aspects of the game, for example, its title (despite the fact the lead character is able to defend others from bullies as much as be a "bully" himself, and any picking on female characters or smaller children is a transgression within the game's internal rules). Groups such as Bullying Online and Peaceaholics have criticized the game for glorifying or trivializing school bullying. Most of these criticisms, however, were voiced before the contents of the game were actually available to the public. In 2006, the United States-based Entertainment Software Rating Board officially gave Bully a rating of "T" (suitable for ages 13 and up), the BBFC gave Canis Canem Edit a 15 rating[1], and the New Zealand OFLC restricted it to persons 13 years of age and over.

[edit] Sexuality

Sexuality is a minor but present theme throughout Bully. Five different missions involve Jimmy running missions on behalf of different girls, the successful completion of which earn him a kiss. Additionally, the art class minigame is used to improve Jimmy's ability to talk to girls, as well as his ability to make out with them. Although it does not play a role in the storyline and is strictly optional, Jimmy can kiss certain boys [2]. The inclusion of this caused a minor uproar, largely by Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and critic of the video game industry. ^[3]. Other sexual themes involve a gym teacher who is stated to have hit on the girls in school, and a student reading a men's magazine - whether the magazine was fully pornographic or more along the lines of FHM can't be told as the magazine's pages aren't visible. The ESRB claimed it was fully aware of the content of the game when they gave it a T rating.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] ESRB

Prior to both the ESRB's rating and the release of Bully, Thompson filed a lawsuit attempting to have the game blocked from store shelves in Florida. Thompson declared the game a "nuisance" and "Columbine simulator" (in response, many of his detractors have mockingly referred to it as nothing more than a "Dennis the Menace simulator"). Also, the protagonist of the game, Jimmy, is not a bully towards the nerds and misfits, but more of a defender of unpopular kids and bully towards bullies. He also argued this point on Attack of the Show along with Adam Sessler (with him on the opposite end) on the show's "The Loop."^[4] Thompson's petition, filed with the 11th Judicial Circuit Court, asked for Wal-Mart and Take-Two to furnish him with an advance copy of Bully so he could have "an independent third party" play the game and determine if it would constitute a public nuisance in the state of Florida (in which case it could be banned).^[5][6] On 2006-10-11 Judge Ronald Friedman ordered Take-Two and Rockstar to provide him a copy of the game within 24 hours. On 2006-10-13 Friedman subsequently ruled in favor of shipping the game, noting that there was no content in the game that was not already on late night TV. Thompson responded to the ruling with fiery speech directed at the judge.^[7]

Similar attempts to have the game banned have also been made by the charity Bullying Online and Labour Party M.P Keith Vaz in the UK^[8]

When given preview build, however, the mainstream media took a generally positive opinion of the game. Press coverage has described the game as free-form, focusing on building a social network and learning new skills from classes, with strictly enforced punishments for serious misbehaviour (for example, having to clear snow away as punishment for hitting a girl).^[9]

Currys and PC World, both owned by DSG International plc said that they wish to not sell the game in the UK because it is "not appropriate for Currys' family-friendly image". The official statement lists what Currys believes is "the explicit link between violence and children" as the reason behind the ban, and continues: "We haven't taken this decision lightly, particularly considering the excellent relationship we have with Rockstar." However despite this decision other high street retailers including Game, HMV and Woolworths, Virgin Megastores have all announced an intention to stock the game.^[10] Interestingly, DSG stores still stock other Rockstar games including the GTA series, and other violent games like Manhunt, which both have BBFC18 ratings, where Bully has a BBFC15 rating.

[edit] Reception

Bully has received generally positive reviews from critics.^[19] The game received ratings of 8.9/10 from IGN, 9.0/10 from Games Radar, a perfect 10/10 from 1UP.com, 8.7/10 from GameSpot, 8.75/10 from VGRC.net, a 5/5 from X-Play, and made the Top 10 Games of '06 in Playstation Magazine. Canis Canem Edit also got 9 / 10 from OPS2 Magazine . Critics generally praised the game's storyline, while they complained about particular stealth missions, as well as the camera. Critics also noted that the game is substantially easier than veterans of the Grand Theft Auto series (Rockstar's flagship titles) would expect.

[edit] Awards

• Won IGN's award for Best PlayStation 2 Action Game.
• Won GameSpot's award for Best Original Music.
• Finalist for GameSpot's Game of the Year 2006
• Gaming Target - 52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2006 selection [3].

[edit] See also

• Rockstar Games
• Video game controversy

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Official Bully Homepage
• Official Canis Canem Edit Homepage
• Press Release by Take Two Interactive
• BBC News article about the controversy
• Attack of the Show: Bully Debate
• Youth Council of Ireland wants boycott of “shocking" game
• Information about the Bully Soundtrack album, composed by Shawn Lee
• Voices and Choices: A Conversation with Shawn Lee