Rockstar and their ninjas are known for attracting a large cloud of controversy every time they release a new game. Except for Table Tennis. I don’t recall anyone except gamers complaining about that one.
And so a mere month and a half before the release of everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Grand Theft Auto, Bully has taken center stage at the hate-a-thon. (Again.) This time the attack comes from Canadian teachers’ unions.
Mary-Lou Donnelly, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, said in the Canadian newspaper The Chronicle Herald, "Bullying is never fun! It is a serious and insidious problem and it is horrifying that game promoters consider it to be either amusing or entertaining."
Oh, Canadia! Where were you last year when this game was released? At the time a certain Floridian lawyer was trying to get the game pulled for just those reasons. Do you remember why he failed? Because he was wrong about the game, too.
I think the biggest oversight in the criticism of this game is that you are not actually playing as the bully, but instead standing up to them. If you are being taught anything by Bully it is to not let people pick on you with out doing something about it. I’m not promoting fighting here, but the best way to stop bullying is to stop being submissive.
It also seems that Mary-Lou is unaware of the English minigames. During English class Bully actually teaches you how to apologize to other students and the police. The game teaches you how to apologize. How is that bad?
I stand by my opinion that no one should be allowed to write about a game without playing through it first. It is clear that Ms. Donnelly has not played this game, and shot her mouth off anyway. As an educator she, above all, should know the importance of doing research on your topics before you write about them.
Shame on you, Mary-Lou Donnelly, for bringing controversy back to a game that has been on sale for five months, and for yourself being uneducated about which the topics you speak.
[via GamePolitics]
