Thursday, October 27, 2005

Games - Bully Reaches Westminster


Ooh, ooh, here's a good story.
A former cabinet minister has been asking questions about forthcoming Rockstar title, 'Bully' in the UK House of Commons.
ImageThis week concern about forthcoming Rockstar boundary-pusher 'Bully' reached the floor of the House of Commons in the UK, where former Labour cabinet minister Keith Vaz asked the house leader Geoff Hoon ,"Do you share my concern at the decision of Rockstar to publish a new game called Bully in which players use their on-screen persona to kick and punch other schoolchildren? Will you ask the prime minister to refer this video to the British Board of Film Classification? If they don't make any changes will the government use its powers to ban this video?"

A report from the BBC goes on to detail Mr Hoon reponding that whilst the contents of the game did sound 'disturbing', the effect that they might have on young players were as yet, 'not known'. Rockstar have been coming under increasing pressure of late from parents and anti-bullying lobbies to withdraw the game from release.
My immediate reaction was: this sounds awfully like the "Cake, the hallucinogenic drug from Czechoslovakia" fiasco. Is this for real? I did some research, and yes it is (also some scant Gamespot coverage).

This could potentially be a doosie. My mind is racing at the edginess and the possibilities, especially in Rockstar's dependable hands. While we wait, we can enjoy some screenshots:
[1] [2] [3]

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