The Gamer’s Quagmire: 31st Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo

Trying to find the right game to talk about can be an daunting task at times. Given how often I wind up writing about GTA I made a conscious decision to stay away from the controversial games for a while. Still, it was inevitable that I’d be writing about the new Rockstar game “Bully,” as such this article now fulfills said obligation. The reason I avoided it for so long was simple- this is nothing more than another example of Rockstar being the best at writing edgy and controversial games. The GTA series proved this and now Bully fulfills Rockstar’s controversy quotient until GTA 4 is ready for mass consumption next year.

Most of the problems surrounding this game are not because the game glorifies bullies but because it promotes violence and revenge. Somehow all of the Tom Clancy games avoid scrutiny as well as games like Dead Rising, God of War, Mortal Kombat (which hasn’t caused a stir since its initial release), and so on. This new Rockstar games lets you control a student in a school seeking revenge on bullies. To me this sounds like an interactive punching bag, in that if students would not rather work out their frustrations by unloading on a punching bag for an hour or more they can just go around and beat up bullies in a fictional and safe environment. Most kids have thought about ways to stop the torture they get from bullies as it can become quite ugly. This game provides, at the very least, a creative outlet.

Of course there are other means. The punching bag is one. Taking martial arts, working out, learning the subtle art of humor, becoming the dork who does everyone’s homework, and other classics are alternatives. Somehow video games are the mainstream media’s, politicians’, and several lawyers’ own personal punching bag. By all means actually learn how to beat someone up and give them a lifelong debilitating injury but whatever you do don’t just relieve stress at home in front of your television. I had to deal with this before getting to high school and I’m quite thankful it never became all that serious, so don’t think that this is just some hypothetical babbling. I’m certainly not going to suggest diving directly into video games to beat up bullies. The issue is much deeper than that.

What needs to be said, again, is that this game is getting much more press than normal simply because Rockstar’s name is on the box. I hate being the one to tell you this (okay, not really) but sometimes a reputation is far more important to people than fact. Not all that surprisingly a lawyer has decided to continue his misguided quest against Rockstar by claiming, among other things, that this Bully game is nothing more than a “Columbine simulator.” I can’t even begin to describe all the things wrong with this statement. As a global statement I’ll just say this- making a statement this detached from the truth is an incredible slap across the face of everyone traumatized at Columbine. Considering this was made by an attorney as someone who claims to be a crusader for victims of violence in my mind the statement’s even more insulting. At least the main GTA theme is still there, which is that the game somehow trains you commit unspeakable violent acts.

Right… I’ve completed every GTA game ever released. Feel free to take a look at my yellow sheet any time you want. Not to ruin a surprise, but it is eerily reminiscent of the deer in the headlights look- BLANK.

Honestly though I was expecting several sources to complain about this game (including Hillary Clinton, who apparently doesn’t care about games not named “GTA”), so it was much more of an amusement that these comments were made. Sure, maybe that is trivializing everything surrounding this game but that is the point I’m trying to make here. Bully is really not a whole lot more than a mole hill. Rockstar found a good hot button, thought up some good gameplay and script, and made the game, thereby pressing the button. You have to stick with your strengths, and Rockstar found yet another way to piece together a creative game that is so close to GTA in concept it’s scary. The environment in the game still basically speaks of a hypocritical society where those in power and speak for the moral good are more corrupt than anyone and the world you are in is filled with all the downsides of high school. The fact that they pick a private school, where uniforms are supposed to somehow remove this element, makes the statement all the more satirically brilliant.

How well the games sells is yet to be seen, but the numbers will only increase as the game gets more coverage. If nothing else, despite all the negative press Rockstar games get they probably save a boatload in the advertising department. If people think Rockstar is just ignorant and perpetuating slime they have every right to believe that but you have to admire them for creating games for which they know they will get free press from. They even got some press for releasing Table Tennis because it wasn’t controversial, which to me says that the media expects Rockstar to be the gaming industry’s central hub for controversy.

Don’t believe me? Negative press was being churned out about the game over a year before it was released. The groups designed to lend special help to kids that are victims of bullying openly complained about it by claiming that the game actually promoted bullying. There’s nothing quite like doing a little research first before getting all your ducks in order (this saying has to stem from the water gun game at the carnival, right?). The majority of the game has you helping out the victims at an prep school by stealing stuff from bullies, sneaking around without being noticed (something Metal Gear fans would appreciate), and occasionally directly defending people being attacked. The game also has a noticeable lack of blood and death (another dagger in the appalling Columbine analogy). To me speaks of just how ignorant and arrogant people are when they decry games, like Bully, when they know close to nothing about them. This isn’t like yelling fire in a movie theater or bomb on an airplane- you should be allowed to bring up controversial topics in this country without being demonized.

On top of specific people not liking the game there are several major retailers not carrying the game here in the United States. The game is even called something different in the UK gaming region (Latin translated into “dog eat dog”, because, as we all know, game titles in Latin are infinitely cooler than the otherwise rudimentary English). No, I don’t expect companies to make rational decisions about what to carry but this type of decision making happens all the time.

Honestly I only know about the game because of so many people complaining about it. The odds of me going to look at the game are swimming around 5% despite all the intriguing things built into the game. If you’re one of those people that enjoy seeing the world change as you interact with it then this game should be up your alley. Everything I’ve read and seen talks about you being able to ally yourself with the bullies or protect the weak. In the end while this game sticks closely to the vest of the GTA games the violence isn’t there, which is the flash that usually draws people into buying Rockstar games (and if that doesn’t make you question if society has a problem as opposed to a game publisher then nothing can help you). If you are honestly worried about this game there is no need to panic- after a couple weeks the whining and moaning about the game will die down and you’ll forget the game was ever released. That is, until someone sues Rockstar over a bully getting beaten up by some otherwise docile victim.

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