Bully, Utah legislators, Columbine, gaming legislation, and lawyers

Recently, Utah legislators discussed Bully for the PS2, calling it the “Columbine game” (in reference to the 1999 shootings at a Colorado high school) during a Utah House committee hearing for a proposed video game legislation. Over at GamePolitics, they wondered if this was a sign that anti-gaming propaganda spreads to the point that our lawmakers end up believing them – and if that’s true, then that’s cause for concern for all of us (that’s why this article is cross-posted into several QJ gaming blogs).

So, in the off chance that legislators know how to read things on the Internet, let’s get some things straight. Who knows? Perhaps some legislators who value the truth will try to find the truth, instead of having cronies, lackeys, and legal-political bullies spin a “truth” for the rest of society.

Is Bully a Columbine game? In the game, you play Jimmy, a prankster who stands up against bullies, who defends other students from bullies, and does “boys will be boys” things like going on a panty raid.

Some high-profile individuals have been calling the game a “Columbine simulator.” However, others say that it is shameful to casually say “Columbine” as if the memory of Columbine was something people can casually use as a weapon in negative publicity smear campaigns.

On the other hand, some insist on a Columbine connection… (Read the rest of this section after the Jump. Just click on the “Full Article” link below.)

Is it a harmless “‘Dennis the Menace’ Simulator”? Detractors of the game say this is misleading. While “mature” and smart teenagers who play this game may remain unaffected by it, it can’t be helped that delinquent and antisocial teenagers with violent tendencies will also be drawn to the game – and what happens when they act out in real life the fantasies the game has awakened? For them, the game is not harmless…

Other issues we covered in this article.

What is it rated? The ESRB gave Bully a “T” for “Teen.” But detractors of the game have problems with that…
Has anybody gotten hands on Bully? Yes, there are still rational people who actually wait to see a game before going on national TV to talk about it…
Do legislators think Bully is a Columbine game? Well, the Utah House of Representatives held a committee to study a piece of video game legislation…
THE POINT OF THIS ARTICLE: Do legislators do their homework before trying to make gaming legislation? While you, the gaming audience, think that it’s highly impossible to confuse Bully and SCMRPG, please remember that legislators are people too…

This is just a sneak peak. Click on the “Full Article” link below to read the full version of this article.

So, in the off chance that legislators read things on the Internet, let’s get some things straight. Who knows? Perhaps some legislators who value the truth will try to find the truth, instead of having cronies, lackeys, and legal-political bullies spin a “truth” for the rest of society.

Is Bully a Columbine game? The game is about a fictitious kid, Jimmy Hopkins, in a fictitious school, Bullworth Academy. In the game, you play Jimmy, the prankster who stands up against bullies, who defends other students from bullies, and does “boys will be boys” things like going on a panty raid.

Some high-profile individuals have been calling the game a “Columbine simulator”. The nickname has spread throughout the media.

However, others say that it is shameful to casually say “Columbine this” and “Columbine that” just to generate negative publicity for every video game they find questionable, as if the memory of Columbine was something people can casually use as a weapon in negative publicity smear campaigns.

On the other hand, some people insist on a Columbine connection: they believe that any game like Bully that has the twin themes of “disruptive behavior” and “children at school” comes too close to being a “Columbine simulator”.

Is it a harmless “‘Dennis the Menace’ Simulator”? Defenders of the game call it a “‘Dennis the Menace’ Simulator”, comparing the antics of Jimmy to the “boys will be boys” antics of the comic strip character.

Detractors of the game say this is misleading. While “mature” and smart teenagers who play this game may remain unaffected by it, it can’t be helped that delinquent and antisocial teenagers with violent tendencies will also be drawn to the game – and what happens when they act out in real life the fantasies the game has awakened? For them, the game is not harmless.

Also, some argue that we no longer live in an age where “boys will be boys” behavior will be tolerated. If little boys in the playground make a little girl lift her dress to show her panties, those little boys can and will be punished for sexual harassment. Times have changed, they say, and perhaps video games that focus on “disruptive behavior in school” should have no room in contemporary society – or that steps should be taken to prevent minors from going near those games.

Finally, since parents no longer do their jobs, then society watchdog organizations and their lawyers feel they have to step in and protect neglected teenagers and minors from having access to controversial, violent, and “not family-friendly” games.

What is it rated? The ESRB gave Bully a “T” for “Teen.” This is often compared to the “PG-13” rating for movies. Those who agree with this rating say that the bullying behavior in the game is no worse than what is shown on TV and in the movies. The disruptive behavior of the protagonist is no less jarring than those in award-winning books. And the values of education and “being responsible for the consequences of your own actions” give merit to the game.

Detractors of the game say the game tackles the issue of “violence and children”. If that is true, then it’s still too mature to be “family friendly” like “Dennis the Menace”. Worse, it glorifies disrespectful and disruptive behavior within a school setting.

Has anybody gotten hands on Bully? Yes, there are still rational people who actually wait to see a game before going on national TV to talk about it. Mainstream media have taken a neutral-to-positive stance on the game. Critics have praised the fact that misbehavior is punished, that you have to learn things from the classes you attend, and so on. Respectable gaming sites like IGN and GameSpot gave it high scores (8.++/10).

Do legislators think Bully is a Columbine game? Well, the Utah House of Representatives held a committee to study a piece of video game legislation. Among those who were asked to testify were Jim Olsen, the president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association, and Steve Sabey, attorney for the Entertainment Software Association (the U.S. game industry’s trade association; most top publishers in the world are members of the ESA).

A legislator asked Olsen if he was familiar with Bully and what rating that game “would” have. Since we aren’t aware of the context, we don’t know why the legislator asked Olsen instead of Sabey about the rating; it was the ESA that established the ESRB (back in the days when the ESA was still the IDSA, the Interactive Digital Software Association). Anyway, here’s what happened (taken from GamePolitics.com):

Olsen: I am not familiar with that game.
(off-mic voice believed to be that of bill sponsor Rep. Wyatt): “T”
Legislator: That’s the Columbine game?
Olsen: It’s rated “T” for teen.
Legislator: Okay.
(off-mic voice believed to be that of Rep. Wyatt): The Columbine game’s rated Teen…
Legislator: The Columbine game’s rated T?

Then confusion sets in.

(off-mic voice believed to be that of Wyatt): It’s not? What’s it rated?
(off-mic voice believed to be that of Steve Sabey, attorney for the ESA): It’s a web game. It’s not rated…
Legislator: Okay, that’s great…

It seems that there might have been confusion between Bully and Super Columbine Massacre RPG or (SCMRPG for short). Let’s set the record straight:

Bully

ESRB-rated “T” game produced by a professional studio (Rockstar Vancouver) and released by an ESA member (Rockstar Games, owned by Take-Two Interactive or T2). It falls under the scope of responsibility of the ESRB and the ESA.
Bully is the game that some people call a Columbine game. It’s about a kid who defends other kids form bullies (although the kid is quite the prankster).
Games like Bully would be addressed by the bill that was studied by the Utah House of Representatives.

Super Columbine Massacre RPG

Home-made, independent (“indie”), or “homebrew” game made by an artist to enter in a film festival. It is a game with “poor” graphics that “somebody” created and that “anybody” can get from the Internet. It is not rated because it is homebrew on the Internet, so it isn’t under the scope of the ESRB and the ESA.
Super Columbine Massacre RPG is the game that really isa Columbine game. You take on the role of the killers and explore the events before, during, and after Columbine.
The current bill before the Utah House of Representatives doesn’t seem to address this game because it is homebrew on the Internet.

The point of this article – when they make gaming legislation – or any legislation for that matter – do legislators do the homework the taxpayers are paying them to do? So now we come to the point of this article. You now know the facts.

Is Bully a Columbine game? Were the legislators correct in describing it as a Columbine game? Then that concerns the gamers who disagree and think that legislators (many of whom know little about gaming) have no business saying which game is in which genre or whatever.

Is this anti-gaming propaganda in action? Have lawmakers been swayed by propaganda? Then that concerns us all: because our lawmakers should be above propaganda.

Or is this simply lawmakers caught in a moment of miscommunication and confusion? While you, the gaming audience, think that it’s highly impossible to confuse Bully and SCMRPG, please remember that legislators are people too. They sometimes make mistakes.

Then again, some of us think that saying “legislators should be allowed to make mistakes” is like saying “heart surgeons, air traffic controllers, and nuclear weapons security staff should also be allowed to make mistakes.”

But in this case, the legislators made a mistake on a topic that doesn’t seem to be their field of expertise, so it’s understandable. But it is an eye-opener: if the people who make the laws don’t fully understand the issue they’re making laws about, then… what becomes of us?

You can download the audio of a portion of Sabey’s testimony before the Utah House of Representatives at GamePolitics.com.

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