There's a video game (pictured above) called Bully coming out this October that has the level heads at the UK's Mirror hyperventilating...
A SKINHEAD thug wins a bloody playground fight with a classmate, before hunting down a teacher as his next victim.
This is Bully. A new video game that's been called the sickest ever, a sadistic orgy of violence where you win points for being the most vicious yob in a reform school. News of the game's release comes as research suggests that playing violent video games makes youngsters more aggressive.
There is controversy about the game aplenty in the US, too, and Wal-Mart has reacted by halting pre-orders for what the video game industry's chief-legal-burr-in-their-side calls a "Columbine simulator."
What perfect timing for a November election! Indeed, we'll be watching how this plays out and keep a eye out for video game legislation in general. As all software gets delivered as a Web service, regulating video games is just one step away from regulating the distribution of Web content. Luckily, all this will be easy to track...
The big video game blog joystiq is now running a weekly column called "The Political Game". It's first edition gives a quick history on video game legislation. It notes that in 2006:
Three more states – Oklahoma, Minnesota and Louisiana - passed video game laws this year. The sponsor of Oklahoma's bill, Republican Fred Morgan, told a local newspaper in 2005 that he wanted to pattern his bill on the Illinois law – three days after the Illinois law was ruled unconstitutional. Minnesota passed the most bizarre law so far, a measure that would have fined underage buyers $25 for trying to purchase M-rated games. The bill's author, Democrat Sandra Pappas, rather famously told GameSpot, "Legislators don't worry too much about what's constitutional."
Need more than a weekly fix of video game policy news? The go to author of The Political Game's other online home: GamePolitics.com -- it's an impressive, regularly updated blog.
Here's Bully's trailer:
And, here's a TechTV debate on Bully and video game violence...
Comments