Gamertell

I suppose it’s better late than never in the case of Bully, which is finally going to be released in Japan on July 24, 2008. Bethesda Softworks will be publishing the PS2 Bully and the Xbox 360 Bully: Scholarship Edition overseas.

In case you’re curious, the PS2 version of Bully was released in the US, Europe and Australia in October, 2006. Bully: Scholarship Edition for the Xbox 360 hit those same countries in March, 2008. So it isn’t too bad a delay for the Xbox 360 edition, but very belated in the case of the PS2 one.

I wonder how this game is going to do overseas. It may sell well, but it might also touch a nerve. Bullying in schools in Japan is a sensitive issue, as some students have been driven to suicide from the practice of ijime (bullying). While the actually Rockstar game Bully does not encourage picking on the weak and rewards players who attend class, it has drawn negative attention due to the title and the opportunity for the main character to engage in fights and mild, deviant behavior.

The stress in schools, homogeneous make-up of Japan and pressure to always succeed can take a heavy toll on Japanese students. If someone is falling behind, or stands out, they can become a victim of ijime. (The manga Hana Yori Dango offers a view of ijime.) Japanese schools are aware of the practice and have been making an effort in recent years to decrease ijime among students.

Read [Planet Xbox 360] Also Read [Ijime: A Social Illness in Japan] Also Read [BBC Learning English] Site [Bully]