Rockstar's latest lets players experiment with same-sex make-out sessions; ESRB says that content was considered in assigning the game a T-for-Teen rating.
Rockstar Games' Bully has been the subject of controversy since it was first announced more than a year ago. The game shipped to retail last week after a failed 11th-hour attempt by Florida lawyer Jack Thompson to have it banned.
However, the controversy surrounding the game might not be over with just yet. In navigating the angst-filled halls of Bullworth Academy as 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins, players can participate in some extracurricular tonsil hockey with significant others. But while these significant others are typically female, there's at least one other boy in the game whom Jimmy can successfully court, as documented by this in-game video from GameBrink.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board surprised some people last month when it issued a T-for-Teen rating for the game. The content descriptors listed for the game on the ESRB's Web site are crude humor, language, use of alcohol and tobacco, violence, and sexual themes. When asked about the boy-on-boy make-out sessions, the ESRB told GameSpot, "That content was considered in the assignment of the rating."
Thompson addressed ESRB president Patricia Vance in an e-mail he claimed to have sent to "every major news organization in America and the UK," as well as a host of lawmakers and industry representatives.
"Dear Ms. Vance," Thompson wrote, "We just found gay sexual content in Bully, as Jimmy Hopkins makes out with another male student. Good luck with your 'Teen' rating now, Patty."
A representative from Bully publisher Take-Two had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
The game isn't even controversial in the first place and this seems like a desperate attempt for some people to not look like idiots that complained about a game before anyone knew anything about it and then it turned out to be not anywhere near as bad as they said it was.
What's the big deal with ppl not liking homosexual stuff? They were gonna ban it cuz Jimmy can kiss boys? If they haven't noticed, he can kiss girls too. And nobody makes a big deal about that! I don't get why ppl are so against homosexuality...
1 Like You guys have to understand that Mr. Thompson was constantly bullied as a child, had his car stolen by Tommy Vercetti during the 80s, lost his family to a drive-by shooting involving Carl "CJ" Johnson, and was consistently turned down for sex by every man that he hit on throughout his life. It's completely understandable what he's doing considering his horrible past.
are u Freaking kidding me, look my opinion is that this game is probly one of my most favorite game for the ps2 i didnt really like the idea it had a homo scene in it but u dont have to see it if u dont want to. and who ever wants to ban this game can get stabbed in the eye with a hot french fry..... XD the only reason i heard it was gonna try to be banned was because there was a critic who saw a gameplay pic. of Jimmy dunking a black kids head in the toilet.
Kissing is indeed sexual. And boys kissing each other is a part of life. Homosexuality is a part of the human condition as it is with other species.
Righ Jack, depicting alcohol and tobbaco comsumption,explicit violence, fast and furious driving either on games or on TV is not entirely cool, but two males kissing, ah, that is so prejudicial to Children...
since when is being gay such a bad thing, that it makes content highly offensive. oh and one other thing not only are you an ass Jack, it's quite apparent you are a homophobe too.
Heh why can't jack Thompson stop wasting his money just to ban a video game, and get on with his life and focus on world peace. It's ridiculous. If he doesn't like it, then he should'nt be even being involed in it. So what if it has gay stuff? Love needs no gender. I love Canada. XD
Jack Thompson just wants to ban Bully because Rockstar made fun of him in Liberty City Stories.
"Dear Ms. Vance," Thompson wrote, "We just found gay sexual content in Bully, as Jimmy Hopkins makes out with another male student. Good luck with your 'Teen' rating now, Patty." ummmmm....... yeah.. p.s. listen to what the hotspot says
Okay let me point out that kissing is a sexual act, despite what other posts are suggesting, but I'm sure ESRB would have paid much less attention to it if there were only heterosexuals in the game. People forget that when they call homosexuality "unnatural," thousands of animals are born homosexual, including dolphins, pengiuns, and even grasshoppers. Also, Jacka** needs to stop living in his own dream world, and come to terms with the fact that homosexuality exists and it is all around us whether you like it or not. about 1 out of every 8 people are born with an attraction to the same gender, they can't be "cleansed," they can't be "purified." You can no more change one's sexual preferance more than you can change one's ethnicity. Deal with it. Besides, it is better to expose childeren to different kinds of people rather than hiding it from them, otherwise the child will be confused and unneducated. Modifying what Black Knight said, Wake up, Jack.
What have video games in general done to Jack Thompson for him to almost devote his entire life fighting them ? I will say only one thing: Give up, Jack.
"HE'S LOSIN' IT, HE'S LOSIN' IT!!", quote but i don't remember from where.... anyway..... not only the gamer community (already) hates jack but now he's hated by the homosexual community.... JACK WILL BE SOON GONE FOR VERY VERY VERY GOOD!!!!!
"HE'S LOSIN' IT, HE'S LOSIN' IT!!", quote but i don't remember from where.... anyway..... not only the gamer community (already) hates jack but now he's hated by the homosexual community.... JACK WILL BE SOON GONE FOR VERY VERY VERY GOOD!!!!!
I say it's a free country! Everyone knows there are gay kids. Everyone has at least one gay family member, if you can't point him out, it's probably you. Don't let people keep you away from the truth.
i see his point kissing another guy is pretty disgusting for some players like me and others y didnt they just keep it to the chicks?
Why am I NOT suprised that among his other gross failings, Jacky boy is a homophobe? Sometimes the onslaught of idiocy from bigots and homophobes and neocons just becomes too much. It's not violent game that make me want to off sooo many people... it's STUPIDITY AND INTOLERANCE. (end quote) I know! If he's anything like the guy who tried to have Spongebob banned, then he has much more problems than I thought he did! And if you read about him on wikipedia, it says he asked Janet Reno if she was hetero, bi, or homosexual (because he was mad at her for something), but she said she only was interested in virile men (I guess meaning manly), which is why she would never like him! I don't know much about Janet Reno, but I do know that she's awesome!!! By the way, nice slam on that Fakk guy.
Fakk2 Use punctuation. Learn to spell "their". Oh, and Shut The **** Up. "Just [your] opinion" is worthless and innacurate. Bad graphics? They're the best the PS2 can do in a large world setting, and if by "clunky" you mean "without a hitch" I guess you're right. "I like strawberry" is an opinon. "The world is flat" is stupidity. You fall into the latter catagory.
No, I don't think one post covers this... It's just so... blatantly ignorant and closed minded. So very toolish. This guy makes me cry.
I believe Rockstar only put that in thier game because they know thier games run clunky and have horrible graphics and the only way to get people to buy that garbage is simply to throw things into thier games that offend people in some way so they make the news with each game they release and that bad press causes a stir in the gaming community and people buy thier crappy games just to see what all the fuss is about. Bully among most Rockstar games = piece of garbage not worth the purchase. Just my opinion of course.
Hey Jack..."That content was considered in the assignment of the rating." They already know about the freaking boy-on-boy kissing scene...There is nothing wrong with it! He must be having a field day...first, gay sims...now a gay little boy. LOL
Why am I NOT suprised that among his other gross failings, Jacky boy is a homophobe? Sometimes the onslaught of idiocy from bigots and homophobes and neocons just becomes too much. It's not violent game that make me want to off sooo many people... it's STUPIDITY AND INTOLERANCE.
Kissing is sexual now? I mean, I wouldn't really associate kissing with actual sex. Wait... does Jack Thompson actually think you'll get pregnant by kissing? I mean, I thought that was a stereotype of conservative people.
hah, what a dumb reason to try and get the ratig upped, he is just trying to find any excuse he can to save face...
Wow so if it was guy on girl then it is ok but if it is guy on guy then it is bad, wow. Thompson is going down by the gay community. (iam not gay
well at least now we have the gays to join us against Jack Thompson's bullsh** now that he officially outed himself as a homophobe. That little comment he made is a guaranteed shot in the foot.
This brings up a intresting question. Is Jack Thompson against gays now? How is it worse if a boy kisses a boy, then a boy with a girl?
...sigh, why cant people just focus on the government and stay away from games? maybe just for 2 minutes? please
This shows more than anything that Thompson has nothing better to do with his time. He's a one-trick pony, and eventually, people turn away and say, "seen it all before." NotAFurry is exactly right, Thompson's on minute 14 of his 15 minutes of fame. Watch as an angry mob of gamers in Florida hunt him down like a fox in the woods if he spews his junk again.
If the MSM gets wind of this R* is screwed. The US' opinion of homosexuality is, for the most part, very negative. We as a nation are pretty homophobic, and finding out "OMG teh lead character in this game is teh ghey THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!" and before you know it CNN will be reporting that Jimmy Hopkins gives it to some greaser in the poop chute--whether it's true or not.
I'm below 17 years old and play violent games all the time and you dont see me blowing people away. Jack@$$ thompson is an idiot.
[UPDATE] Jack Thompson's attempt to keep Take-Two from shipping out its controversial game apparently thwarted; attorney compares decision to Iran nuclear crisis.
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