"His mama named him Clay, I'mma call him Clay!"

I have not been a big fan of Rockstar to begin with. I have enjoyed a few of their games, not to the point of pre-order or anything like that, but I did have a lot of respect for their refusal to cave under the "video games are killing/ruining our kids" pressure. That took serious balls. I respect having and exercising your balls. And Rockstar had been exercising their balls on a regular basis until the recent game name change. They stuck it out when they were first pressured about the game and kept developing it. They continued to weather the storm when the waters got rough with mounting protests outside their office buildings. They seemed to flex their balls at every turn and so my respect grew.

Rockstar Games this week changed the name of a game they are releasing in October 2006 called, "Bully" to "Canis Canem Edit" which means "dog eat dog" in Latin. As a professional and individual capable of educated thought processes, I understand why Rockstar felt the need to make this change. The folks over at Rockstar must be tired of the flack they have been receiving over the Bully game; tired of the protests and weary of the constant barrage of negative press from the mass miss-informed public.

I mean, look back over the past year...with "Hot Coffee" problems, the FCC inquisition, and Jack Thompson declaring that they are responsible for all that is unholy in present day America the name change must have seemed the easiest of decisions to make in order to gain some sort of reprieve. [Let's face it, when Adam Sessler ends up defending you to your buddy and mine Jack Thompson, you probably need all the rest and positive press you can get your hands on.] So change your products name to something that will not aid in triggering more negative responses. Really, I do understand it...but at the same time, it seemed like a total "wuss" move to me. I am not afraid to say that a little piece of me died that day.

But back to the game. The main thing that I got my attention about this new game Bully was how the game's basic plot line resonated with me. The game is about a character going through school having to either face or run away from bullies. I was picked on elementary school [being the only black kid didn't help, but neither did being the shortest kid in school either] and in high school [being the only black female in my school to get into an ivy league college didn't help me get a superlative in the yearbook let me tell you] so the idea of a video game that would allow me to avenge my younger self against the embodiments of my former tormentors really interested me. Then I started thinking that it could be therapeutic for me, and not only me but other gamers as well. This game might allow players to express any feelings of repressed anger or resentment that they may have to be released in a safe and controlled environment. Wouldn't that be a great thing? If people used the video game to blow off steam as opposed to self-medicating using alcohol, drugs, or resorting to violence?

It would wonderful if people would recognize video games as the fun diversions they are meant to be, but the politicians and "family values" groups won't allow that to happen. These groups that say they want to protect children from sex and violence refuse to address the issues that make kids choose these outlets for their emotions or how to handle them in the first place. No, they will continue to harass the people at Rockstar, make appearances before the media with no real or educated arguments and just out right dog this game...but in my heart of hearts I hope that the Rockstar dog eats their dog.

So from today until the end of time this game will always be Bully to me.

Labels: Games, Jack-Thompson, Lies, Ninjasistah, Rockstar, Videogames