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UK Politicians Threatened By Bully
Though its release date is still a ways off Next Generation is reporting that UK politicians are already calling for careful consideration, and possible banning, of the Rockstar title Bully. From the article: "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[game]?"
Man that would be a great game. For adults.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
There has been a lot of devolution going on in UK politics the past few years.
,many steps were made during the 70's and 80s to loosen up the censorship in the UK . Are we now taking another step backwards, if this comes to pass then I would say yes.
Some of it great , like the devolution of parliamentary powers . Others not so great , such as the New labour AKA: Old conservatives.
This type of censorship is totally unacceptable , we have a ratings system which is complied to by retailers , giving it an 18 rating is more than sufficient .
Devolution of public freedom
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
If you were a bully at school, you've already done it. If you were bullied at school, that's hardly going to be an enjoyable activity.
I listened to a radio documentary about bullying a few months ago - and there a few "bullying" games out there (one of which focused on girls and relied on social stigma as opposed to violence). The woman they had try it out enjoyed it.
Frankly, I don't buy either of your arguments. If you're the type who likes to dominate - then gaming offers you a means to do so (and is consequence free). If you're someone who has been dominated - then to dominate others (even fictional others) in a game can be cathartic.
That doesn't mean I support a ban - but I don't think you can assume there's no market for it.
The opinion above is fiction. Any similarity to real opinions, including facts and logic, is purely coincidental.
Every time Bully comes up, there's always the instant response of "Oh, that's horrible! A game where you bully kids?!"
So many people seem to be missing the point that this game is about pulling pranks on bullies, not kicking Mortimer Snerd's butt and taking his lunch money. The idea is supposed to be that you get picked on, then you start fighting back on behalf of the little guys.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Because the game isn't about being a bully. It's about fighting back. And meeting girls, pranking teachers, etc. Imho, it's the coolest concept ever for a game, and I'm disgusted by people who think "ooh, Rockstar is making a bad game about beating up kids" without even looking into it (or looking at what your kids are going through at school and realising how this game might make them feel better about it).
Any game that lets me beat children is a definate buy for me. Besides I went to jail enough already.
That's hardly fair, isn't it? You're using your actual knowledge of the game in this discussion, instead of imagining all kinds of things. What are the politicians supposed to do?
Rockstar isn't about making good games ... ...
They aren't about making games that empower people
Simply put Rockstar is about making any game and then putting a marketing spin on it in such a way that it offends everyone except for their core demographic; they add elements to their games that are not important, and don't really add anything, simply to offend people.
Why do they do it? Because getting a politician to claim that their game should be banned (or actually getting the game banned) does wonders to build 'street cred' ammong insecure teen boys, who then buy the game in droves.
Do I think Rockstar doesn't make good games? No, Do I think there games could not empower people? No. I do think that they're playing a dangerous game that will only result in massive political opposition to 'Mature' rated videogames that will have governments regulating the videogame market; the reason the ESRBs were created is because the videogame industry did not want the government to have control, Rockstar is single handedly undoing the work that was done beforehand.
My cousin, on the other hand, between growing up wrestling us (his cousins, older than him by five years) and playing violent games is a serious bully at school, and whenever he sees an ad for a game with guns his instant reaction is "that game looks awesome!
But are you sure the bullying is due to wrestling and video games, and not just him being big for his age/a jerk/etc.? I mean, you yourself just said you grew up similarly, and yet never became a bully.
I'm not saying video games can't have some emotional or cognitive impact- pretty much any medium can, but I haven't seen much to indicate a large causal relationship between fictional and real violence. Certainly not enough to consider the regulation of it a public safety, rather than a public standards/obscenity matter.
Goes out of its way to feel sensitive towards those who want to blow up the kids in the schools. Banning Piglet and piggy banks.
What a screwed up sense of priorities. Worry about what the kids are exposed to only AFTER you worry about the kids getting blown up by a member of the religion of peace.
Government IS the problem.