Bully Released, Civilization Still Stands But Media Overreacts
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: I’m getting sick of Bully and Rockstar Games serving as the whipping boy for every supposed ill that mainstream media and clueless politicians can throw at it, too. However, that doesn’t mean that a lot of morons with access to public airwaves and a microphone aren’t going to chime in and add to the already awful din of criticism surrounding the game.
Since the game was released yesterday, several members of the mainstream media (read: piddling affiliate news stations with too little actual news to report on) have made the game the topic of their evening reports.
The media feeding frenzy actually began on Monday, through Kai Jackson at WJZ-13 in Baltimore, which provided little info other than that the game had angered Peaceaholics, the agency whose protests outside of Take-Two Interactive Software were both documented and mocked by The Software Pirate. While I admit that any group concerned with the development of children is probably worth listening to, I’d stop considering them a credible news source when they compare video game developers to 9/11 terrorists. Tell me, Kai, just how hard did you try to interview someone from Rockstar? Are you sure that you didn’t just give up after you realized they weren’t listed in your local yellow pages?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: I’m getting sick of Bully and Rockstar Games serving as the whipping boy for every supposed ill that mainstream media and clueless politicians can throw at it, too. However, that doesn’t mean that a lot of morons with access to public airwaves and a microphone aren’t going to chime in and add to the already awful din of criticism surrounding the game.
Since the game was released yesterday, several members of the mainstream media (read: piddling affiliate news stations with too little actual news to report on) have made the game the topic of their evening reports.
The media feeding frenzy actually began on Monday, through Kai Jackson at WJZ-13 in Baltimore, which provided little info other than that the game had angered Peaceaholics, the agency whose protests outside of Take-Two Interactive Software were both documented and mocked by The Software Pirate. While I admit that any group concerned with the development of children is probably worth listening to, I’d stop considering them a credible news source when they compare video game developers to 9/11 terrorists. Tell me, Kai, just how hard did you try to interview someone from Rockstar? Are you sure that you didn’t just give up after you realized they weren’t listed in your local yellow pages?
Not to be outdone by Mr. Jackson, several other local stations around the country aired their own versions of the coverage yesterday:
CBS-4 of Miami and CBS-3 in Philadelphia both featured reports on why the game was controversial and the controversy surrounding its release. While neither one of these is particularly damning, both of them feature quotes from everyone’s favorite crazy Miami attorney: words like “Columbine simulator” were still thrown around, but they were countered with some good quotes that displayed common sense from a lot of folks in the opposite camp. I think that even smaller news stations are starting to be wary of Jack; realizing that he’s an adorably cranky, Bible-spouting ambulance chaser who has been trying to bluff America with the same poker hand for years… I just wish he would go away and stop pestering everyone with his nonsense.
KOLO-8 in Reno, NV, actually did what started as a reasonable story about whether the game should be rated M for Mature instead of the T for Teen rating it received. My problem with this little feature was the last two paragraphs:
Still, some video game players said there are far worse games than “Bully.” They said some games even feature sex scenes.
According to the Associated Press, “Bully” was created by the company known for the game “Grand Theft Auto.”
Way to do some research, guys. Seriously, that’s some stunning journalism. Couldn’t you, I don’t know, spend five minutes on the internet and find out this stuff for yourself?
So far, the fallout hasn’t been as extreme as I was expecting it to be. Instead, it seems like Rockstar has managed to come out ahead because Bully isn’t a game which glorifies violence; instead, it seems to be a game focusing on wit and creativity with only some emphasis on settling schoolyard differences with one’s fists. While I wish I could cheer and declare the problems with controversial games and their representation in mainstream news over, I’m pretty sure it’s only a matter of time before the whole cycle starts over again.
Local TV News Stations Pick Up On Bully Controversy
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Video Games on 18 October 2006
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: Bully, GTA, kai jackson, peaceaholics, Rockstar games, software pirate, Take-two interactive, WJz-13, youtube
“While I admit that any group concerned with the development of children is probably worth listening to…”
I beg to differ. Quite often they’re the first ones to get very vocal about banning gay marriage and denying same sex couples adoption rights, because those “harm kids” (which they endlessly say, without offering any actual evidence to back up their blatantly false claim).
Please note that I didn’t say “agree with”. I’m always willing to listen to groups aimed at protecting children, but I feel free to dismiss them as idiots afterwards.
Fair enough. I just have little patience for groups like Focus on the Family, that regularly make denying gays equal rights their mission, all in the name of “protecting the children”.
Ick, “Protecting the Children” makes me want to drive around town with my windows down and my stereo blasting out Bill Hicks.
Just because one of them is a pile of dumb hardly puts the others in the same boat.
And Focus on the Family is definitely worth listening to at every opportunity. How else will we know where they’re coming from so that we can refute it intelligently?
“Tell me, Kai, just how hard did you try to interview someone from Rockstar?”
Maybe it’s a little harder than looking in your yellow book and cold calling? Playing devil’s advocate here, maybe it’s time that Take2/Rockstar actually do something on their own end to better communicate with mass media news. Sure, they jump at the chance to be interviewed by specialized media like Wired and others, but rarely do we see Rockstar comments on news items like these. Art should be able to speak for itself, and GTA/Bully does speak to game media/fans, but not to the folks that don’t play games. A more open dialog or effort (outside of court, that is) might go a long way.
Well, Rockstars brilliant usage of the Thompson effect in their marketing has worked. The stores here are already sold out.
If they did any accual ‘research’, they would know how crazy Jack Thompson is. I particually liked him trying to get Penny Arcade arrested for donating money. That sucker was a keeper.
Research damages their cause and their story, as Jack Thompson proved when he said that the Sims 2 contained graphic nudity.