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:
In May 2005, Rockstar announced a title called Bully, "the brutally funny debut title from Rockstar Vancouver" where you play a troublesome schoolboy who, among other things, "stand up to bullies" (according to the press release).
But a game from the Grand Theft Auto makers called Bully must be the end of Western Civilization. Anti-game activist Jack Thompson has mentioned the game in nearly every press release about the game, decrying it as a "Columbine Simulator." Despite a dearth of information, anti-bully group Peaceaholics protested.
Rockstar goes very quiet. Then suddenly last month, the company gave mainstream press access to Bully, and newspapers like USA Today and NY Times wrote about the game's "relative tameness" and punishment system that keeps the protagonist from bullying others.
As you know, reality often has a liberal bias, so the mainstream coverage did little to satiate the Peaceaholics, who continue to protest (despite showing confusion to the game's content), or Jack Thompson, who last month filed a lawsuit to get an early copy of the game (that never works, trust me).
