Taking Bully Seriously? 69
simoniker writes "There's been plenty of controversy about Rockstar's PS2 title Bully, but does it actually have anything to teach players? Ian Bogost looks into whether the game actually has a social message, explaining: 'Taking Bully seriously means acknowledging that the game has something to say about the world, not just that the world has something to say about it. It means assessing how effectively the game tackles the topic of bullying and how meaningful its claims about it are.' His conclusion? 'Sweeping away all the dust that Bully left in the wake of its release, it's hard to defend the game, not because it might be a pubic nuisance or a danger to kids, but because it could have been so much more of a scathing critique of high school social politics than it turned out to be.'"
Scathing Critique? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Joke's on you. Be you get scared of girls anyway. Go ahead and perpetuate the belief that
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Nothing. Assuming that's the message of Bully. But what the article really is saying is "don't think of Bully as a vulgar fighting game, there's more to it than that. Really!" My opinion is that in games, there doesn't *need* to be more to it than that. If you want to add subtext and nuance, that's your prerogative. If all you want to do is make something that's entertaining, that's okay t
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In any case, the joke's on you. I'm not even a man!! What? You think all people who post on
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We get it. You're dickless. Bully (no pun intended) for you. Move on, please.
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Do you watch South Park?
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I do, and I enjoy it. I didn't realize it was also a GAME to watch South Park.
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-Eric
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You're enjoying being entertained by scatching critique of social behaviour.
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Well, then we're in disagreement. Every now and then, an article comes around on slashdot about whether or not games can be considered art. Well, when game developers will actually use the medium to make political or social comments, critiques, and social change, that's when gaming will be an art form. Until then, just running your video game character around town and picking random fights for points is just
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Done [emogame.com].
Altought I still can't quite say if it is a parody or particularly inept propaganda...
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Meanwhile, back in the real world, we have games being attacked by idiot lawyers, and some people trying to defend the games on the basis of freedom of speech. I'd rather take the social criticism angle than the "But you honor, beating up kids in school entertains and engages me! Whatever happened to fun for fun's sake?!?" defense. And further, girl, this article is probably not about you
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La! Release it upon the PC. (Score:1)
Well, I am sure this issue will be addressed by the many copy cat games which will follow. Or perhaps in the charity-commission games which will contain a bold and powerful message against bullying.
I want to play Bully. Not because I want to run around beating up children or because I think the whole premise is amusing, but because the plot and story seem different and new compared to the cu
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It's getting old for me too. I mean, how many times can you WOW, TURNIP PRICE IS LIKE 478 BELLS! WOOT! BIGGER HOUSE HERE I COME!...
Erm, as I was saying... how many times can you go digging for HOLY CRAP COOL I'VE FINISHED MY STEGOSAURUS!
No, sorry, what was it... Ah yes. I'm sick to death of that evil bloody kitsune Crazy Redd and his forged artwork. Surely there should be another way of obtaining material for the museum's gallery. That's why I
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You're right. What with Nintendo's incessant release schedule introducing a new Animal Crossing every four years AND the seemingly endless army of Animal Crossing clones the third parties keep releasing. Not to mention the constant public fervor... When will we get a breath of fresh air from small town simulations featuring these anthropomorphic freak
public? (Score:3, Funny)
Yes it could be a social commentary. (Score:2)
I do agree Rockstar can use better writers, their characters aren't exactly inspired (unless inspired means "We just used Tony Montana and gave him a little Ray Liotta acting") So them trying to give a social commentary would be like monkeys acting out shakespeare. You won't get the point, but it could
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Why can't we have social commentary on that level in games? Where is it written that games must be frivolous? I'm not saying that all games need deeper meaning, or social commentary, but it would be awfully nice if *some* game producers actually tried to take it to the next level. That's what Mr. Bogost and the Serious Game Source site are advocating, because the best way to get regulators to take games seriously is to produce games that take themselves ser
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Rockstar is the wrong company to start this type of game because as it is most regulators arn't going to take them serious even if they try to be, they
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Er...
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There's a higher level of tolerance for vulgarity in TV and film because the cultural watchdogs are satisfied that they can be kept from children. The same people still think of games as being strictly kids' stuff, so vulgarity in games is horrific to them.
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Have you listened to any of the radio station in any of the GTA3 series games?
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Life's not fair, so I can hurt people however I want, right?
[i]Rockstar's job in developing Bully was to make an entertaining game, not to push some progressive agenda[/i]
Who said they were under an obligation to do so? The author of the article certainly didn't.
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I'm looking forward to playing it... (Score:2)
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Pubic Nuisance (Score:1)
Concentration Camp Tycoon (Score:2)
Match the cards and solve the rebus (Score:2)
And if you can match the cards and solve the rebus [wikipedia.org] before the Jews, you get to go through with the Fuehrer's final solution, right?
It's called "KZ Manager" (Score:1, Insightful)
It's called "KZ Manager" [wikipedia.org]. "The goal of the game is to keep the camp functioning by keeping the "public opinion" or other important resources and gauges over or under a certain threshold. In one version, public opinion rises when the "manager" executes a number of prisoners with Zyklon B. However, ordering said gas costs money, which can be gathered by forcing the prisoners to work. Spending too much time without a "sufficient" number of executions makes "public satisfaction" drop, and having too few workin
Games are games (Score:1)
Games are about fun. Since when do they have to worry about including a social message?
Take Mario for example. Bowser is attempting to institute a tyrannical rule over the Mushroom Kingdom. This is fertile ground for a scathing critique of invasion and dictatorships, but that would make a re
It may have nothing to say, but (Score:2)
Grups (Score:1)
I've said it before and I'll say it again - games aren't JUST for kids, I think us grups can handle a few bullies, or at least have fun tryin.
If you don't like it go play "Hello Kitty Island Adventure" and shaddup.
Why be fun when you can be dull? (Score:2)
I really can't think of anything I'd be less likely to see/read/watch/participate in than a "critique of high school social politics". Sounds like something shown at 3:15am on the public access station.
I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with games having more depth, but the thoughts they provoke should enhance the game, not make me fall asleep.
Violence OK. Kissing? Not so much. (Score:1)
We all love the lesbians, but male on male still doesn't sell well to the mainstream.
Of course, Jack Thompson did his best to help publicize the game, so we'll have to see how well it does.
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From the article:
"I can't have my kids playing this game. This is morally reprehensible. GTA (Grand Theft Auto) is a real man's game, Bully is a disgrace," wrote a poster using the handle spideRRR on GameSpot.com.
Yeah, it's nice to know how people prioritize...
What's the big deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
Has this one just become a big deal because the Spectrum couldn't handle full motion 3D graphics? Bully seems to be just a logical evolution of Skool Daze, a game that's over 20 years old now but was great in its time (and I played it recently on a Spectrum emulator and enjoyed the hell out of it, still!). Hell, it even had the "homosexual content" thing down where you could kiss guys, so even that's nothing new.
Having said that, I'm actually looking forward to picking this one up and playing it. I have always enjoyed Rockstar's games and I see no reason I won't enjoy this, too. I doubt it's going to turn me into a bully because (a) I'm not at school; I'm in my 30's and (b) Grand Theft Auto didn't turn me into a carjacking gun-toting villain except maybe for a few hours every few days when I got time to play it! If you seriously can't separate fact from fiction enough to play a game like Bully, then you probably shouldn't go to the movies, or watch TV... or hell read a book!
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If you can't argue them on the points, then put words into their mouths. It makes it much easier to win when you control both sides of the argument.
They aren't saying this, but they are saying (correctly of incorrectly) is that Violent video games can also make people violent. This is something that is very difficult to prove is wrong. Have you noticed yourself
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The primary problem her