canis-canem-edit
Latest
Bully is still riling up the Brits
When will the UK stop freaking out about Bully? If you guessed "Never," "Probably not anytime soon," "Not in this lifetime," or "Is that a rhetorical question?" then you're on the right track.The newest slew of censorship whinings stemmed from a commercial for the game, which some people found "offensive," "distasteful," and (insert negative adjective here). The ad featured typical Bully shenanigans: destruction of property, wedgies, and so forth. The Advertising Standards Authority received thirty-one complaints about the commercial in question, as a handful of folks were upset that children could easily see it on their tellies. Take Two blames sensationalist media coverage for the complaints, and as for the ASA? They don't seem too worried, as the organization declined to take any action regarding the ad. Even so, Take Two has no plans to run it again in the future.To see the "offensive" commercial for yourself, just click past the break.%Gallery-14099%
Bully ad complaints dismissed by ASA
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has dismissed complaints that a television ad for Bully Scholarship Edition trivialized bullying. The agency said that although some might find the game's content and name in poor taste, the content of the ad was "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offense."It's funny that the ASA would take the stance that the Bully ads wouldn't cause "widespread offense" when it received a total of 31 complaints. Comparably, the banned ad for Kane & Lynch only received 26 complaints. The extra complaints isn't exactly surprising; remember that the original PS2 version of Bully actually changed its name to Canis Canem Edit when it was released in Europe.
Bully stirs up controversy in Britain ... again
Poor Rockstar -- the games publisher and developer just can't get any love in the U.K. Britain not only bullied Bully the first time around, forcing the game to change its name to Canis Canem Edit, but The Telegraph is now criticizing the new Wii and Xbox 360 versions. The latest gripe comes fresh after the Manhunt 2 controversy, which has yet to be resolved completely.The Telegraph disapproves of the game because it "features a shaven-headed pupil who torments fellow students and teachers at his school." Like many video game critiques, this opinion is mostly inaccurate and also alarmist. An organization known as BeatBullying is also unhappy with the new Bully, claiming that Rockstar tried to bribe them for their support with a donation. Certain retailers like PC World and Currys refuse to even carry the game.Rockstar is known for pushing the envelope with edgy games, but we have to imagine that they're tired of all these headaches by now. We know we certainly are.
Rumor: Bully giving out swirlies from March 3rd
Over the years, the games industry has developed the irritating habit of cramming all of its best software into the last three months of the calendar year. The inevitable result of this is the dreaded post-Christmas lull, whereby the first quarter of the following year is severely lacking in noteworthy titles.Despite this trend, Q1 2008 content on the Wii looks good. Like, really good. And as if No More Heroes, SEGA Superstar Tennis, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Harvest Moon Heroes, SEGA Bass Fishing, and some Nintendo fighting game you may have heard something about weren't enough to placate the Wiimote-wielding masses, now GameStop has Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition listed for a U.S. release on March 3rd.Which is awesome news, if it turns out to be true. Now all we need to do is convince Take-Two that the Wii is worthy of receiving some GTA lovin'.[Via Go Nintendo]
Colleges band to make anti-bullying game [update 1]
Nine European universities, coordinated by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, have united to create a virtual bully simulator that will help kids cope with bullies and develop strategies to deal with confrontational situations. The program is being headed up by Heriot-Watt computer science professor Ruth Aylett and features universities from UK, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. According to Gamasutra, the first tests of the software are being planned for early 2007 for UK and German children aged 10 to 12. Using video games to educate is a great idea, but we wonder if the planned project has anything to do with next month's release of Rockstar's controversial, though reportedly tame, title Bully (now Canis Canem Edit in Europe). We've sent off a few questions to Dr. Aylett, and we'll update as soon as we hear from her.[Update: Here is our interview with Dr. Aylett.]See Also:Slate author: Madden taught me football[Via Gamasutra; thanks, cringer8]
Bully no more! Call it "Canis Canem Edit" in Europe
Speaking to EuroGamer, Rockstar has announced that they have changed the name of their infamous schoolyard game from the controversy-attracting Bully to the tamer, more cultured Canis Canem Edit, or "Dog Eat Dog" in Latin. While not confirmed, we suspect one of the most prominent reasons is that it's much harder to write a clever protest chant with a six-syllabled Latin phrase.The name change will not affect the launch date; Canis Canem Edit is still planned for an October release for PlayStation 2. According to CVG, the title is only changed in Europe. Why they wouldn't bring the title overseas, where the controversy is even more pronounced, is currently beyond. We'll try to get a hold of Rockstar and find out.Continue reading for a recap of the story so far:
