So Bully's coming out soon and there are finally glimmers of what it's about. Naturally, politicians like archetypal video game hater Jack Thomson decried it from the start as a "Columbine simulator," despite no information on what it was about being released. As boring and repetative as "GTA in a school" would be* this new idea sounds even worse. Apparently, the game is actually about going to school. When you break the rules, you're forced to do chores to repent, and can dodge punishment with a quick apology. Is it just me, or does this sound like a mind-numbing excursion into the trugery of endless minigames?
"Standing up to and even fist-fighting bullies to stop them from tormenting nerds and other students is encouraged. Giving a smaller child a noogie or other gentle razzing is allowed, though not encouraged. Hitting a smaller child, a girl of any age or an adult is strictly forbidden. You can try it, but you will not get away with it — the dramatic, ton-of-bricks response from school security, complete with purposely boring punishments, is meant to be a strong disincentive.
In short: old-time adolescent high jinks like setting off a stink bomb are O.K.; serious delinquency and criminality are not. The player is certainly not meant to be a total goody two-shoes — that would make a seriously boring game — but he is a cutup, a scamp rather than a seriously bad kid. Unlike real-life boarding schools, you can’t get drunk or use drugs. If a player skips class, the prefects come looking. If a player sleeps too little, you’re the character begins to feel sluggish and unresponsive."
If that wasn't yawn-worthy, get ready for this: It's being laughably released exclusively on the old, archaic PS2, so you can expect the same sub-par graphics and performance of previous Rockstar games due to hardware limitations. Maybe we'll all luck out and it'll be a refreshing change of pace, but I can't help but think that this game is going to sell mostly on the label and the false taboo hype it's received from the media, and, of course, the fact that the PS2 is so popular.
Thoughts? Rants? What do you guys (and the few gals) here think?
*After all, what was Vice City but GTA3 stealing from Scarface with a few UI foibles fixed, and what was San Andreas but Vice City with a black guy, kneeling, and Samuel L. Motherfucking Jackson? (Profanity included because Rockstar seemed very enthusiastic at saying "fuck" a lot in SA. Not that I care about profanity in games or movies, but it seemed to be one of the hype points. "Look at us! We made a game with swears!") Bleh. Enough of my ranting! To be fair, I did muchly enjoy crusing around the cities in a stolen sports-car, moped, and the occasional gunfight due to a double-cross.
Edit: I fail at asterisks.
This post has been edited by Slade: 11 August 2006 - 08:45 AM