Want to be a bully or rock star? Be both

Too cool for school? Then perhaps Bully is the game for you.

Cool ideas for games these days are hard to come by, so, when a developer or publisher is lucky enough to grab hold of something extra special, they make sure it stays that way. This is why you've probably never heard of Bully, Rockstar's new game, one it plans to show off in closed sessions at E3 this month.

Keeping pace with the originality of Rockstar's other titles -- Grand Theft Auto 3, GTA: Vice City and the somewhat recent GTA: San Andreas -- Bully will continue Rockstar's trend of making games that are actually fun to play.

According to a press release from the game's publisher, Take 2, you'll play the role of a 'troublesome schoolboy', where you'll be required to play tricks on other children, stand up for your romantic interest, and come to terms with Bullworth Academy, the make-believe reform school where the game is set.

The game will be a bit of a departure for Rockstar -- most of the developer's games aimed at older audiences, to the point where some (Manhunt) have received Refused Classification from the Office for Film and Literature Classification.

Considering the content of Bully however, it should easily fit into a G or G8+ rating while appealing to an as broad, or even broader, audience of gamers than GTA.

'We are really excited about the first title to be developed by our Rockstar Vancouver studio,' said Sam Houser, president of Rockstar, in the release. 'We fought hard to keep this title under wraps for ages and I am thrilled that we can finally unveil it to people at E3.'

Simon Ramsey, PR Manager at Take 2 Interactive Australia said that the game has been 'under development for a while.'

'It was a pretty well guarded secret,' he said.

Bully is currently on track for an October 2005 release and will be available on Xbox and PS/2.

Links

Rockstar Vancouver

Take 2 Interactive