Nintendo Wii Fanboy

When will the UK stop freaking out about Bully? If you guessed "Never," "Probably not anytime soon," "Not in this lifetime," or "Is that a rhetorical question?" then you're on the right track.

The newest slew of censorship whinings stemmed from a commercial for the game, which some people found "offensive," "distasteful," and (insert negative adjective here). The ad featured typical Bully shenanigans: destruction of property, wedgies, and so forth. The Advertising Standards Authority received thirty-one complaints about the commercial in question, as a handful of folks were upset that children could easily see it on their tellies.

Take Two blames sensationalist media coverage for the complaints, and as for the ASA? They don't seem too worried, as the organization declined to take any action regarding the ad. Even so, Take Two has no plans to run it again in the future.

To see the "offensive" commercial for yourself, just click past the break.

If you're the type to never pay retail on anything, especially video games, the like-minded misers at the Cheap Ass Gamers community have found two worthwhile Wii deals for you:

• Bully: Scholarship Edition - $26.99 (Amazon)
• Castle of Shikigami III - $19.99 (GameStop)

If you haven't looked into shoot-em-up Castle of Shikigami III before, make sure you check out the videos we posted a couple of months ago -- there's a flying butler! Amazon also has CSI: Hard Evidence on sale for $19.99, but we have a feeling that not many of you will be too excited to pick up this video game adaptation of a poor man's Law & Order.

[Via CAG]

This week's Sunday ads bring some interesting sales and deals to the table. Most noticeably, it seems like Bully: Scholarship Edition has had a universal price drop, and now only costs $30. Circuit City is the only store to advertise this, but from checking around at other retailers, the slashed price seems like the rule and not the exception. While $50 for the port might have been too expensive for your tastes, $30 sounds a bit easier to swallow.

All the other deals worth mentioning will probably only motivate folks who were already on the fence. Best Buy, for example, is offering a $10 gift card to those who purchase Alone in the Dark. As for Circuit City, the retailer has a handful of $20 games marked down to $15 (Balloon Pop, Furu Furu Park, and Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, namely).

Topping it all off is Amazon's "Deal of the Day," which ends at 3am EST. Here you can find ezGear's Wii Rechargable Battery and Charger, which you can use to charge up your Wiimotes. We're not sure how reliable ezGear is when it comes to third-party accessories, but for $10, this dock might be worth a try.

Hopefully your wallets will come out unscathed from this gauntlet of deals, but if not, feel free to rant at us for our evil, tempting ways.

[Via CAG]

Source: $10 gift card with purchase of Alone in the Dark at Best Buy
Source: Amazon's "Deal of the Day" -- ezGear's Wii Rechargable Battery and Charger
Source: Circuit City (for sales on Balloon Pop, Furu Furu Park, and Rival Swords)

Brazil seems to be having a lot of censorship issues lately, but in terms of video games, Bully is the most recent victim.

According to an Associated Press article, Judge Flavio Rabello recently ordered that Rockstar's controversial game be banned from the country. This means that Brazilian stores (both brick and mortar and online) cannot sell the software, nor can the title be imported, distributed, or promoted.

So, why Bully over other violent games? State prosecutor Alcindo Bastos commented, "The aggravating factor is that everything in the game takes place inside a school. That is not acceptable." Yet, Bully isn't first game to be prohibited in the Latin American country; earlier this year, Counter-Strike and Everquest were banned as well.

It's a shame when governments don't take the time to understand something before following a knee-jerk reaction. Perhaps bullying is a touchy subject, since the issue involves children committing violence against other children, but pretending it doesn't exist by banning media that portrays it won't solve any problems.



[Via Game Politics]

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

This week's European charts mark the arrival of a bloodless No More Heroes and Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition. As both are pretty excellent games, it goes without saying that neither was ever going to threaten the likes of smug old Mario & Sonic.

But hey, sneering sarcasm aside, No More Heroes actually did a little better than we expected, reaching a respectable 14th in the UK, and 13th in Sweden. Okay, so Game Party (9th) and Carnival: Funfair Games (6th) both horrifically topped Suda's brilliant adventure in the UK, and it failed altogether to leave a dent on the top 20 in Denmark, Ireland, Germany, or Holland, but we're still pleased it came close to a top ten position somewhere.

Perhaps surprisingly, Bully: Scholarship Edition didn't fare as well, at least on the Wii. While the Xbox 360 version is performing decently in the UK (5th), Holland (10th), and Sweden (19th), the Wii edition is nowhere to be seen, save for a lowly UK ranking of 26th.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we're sorry to announce that we're down a chart this week, as our usual sources for Spanish data are busy enjoying their four-day Easter weekend. The cheek! They'll be chained back to their desks next week. Go past the break for more charts than there are tulips in Holland. Probably.

On numerous gaming forums, we've been reading about people having problems with the Xbox 360 port of Bully: Scholarship Edition. According to many owners of the game, the 360 version constantly freezes and suffers from poor framerates. There have also been some complaints about glitches and audio drops, which have led many to conclude that it's a shoddily made port.

Fortunately, it seems like these issue aren't present in the Wii game, but we figured we'd check with our readers to be sure. Have any of you picked up a copy of Bully yet? If so, have you encountered any problems, or is the game running smoothly for you?

This week's releases have something for just about everyone. You can be a hero on the baseball diamond, in the classroom or ... wherever it is that ninja train. A bamboo thicket? Well, whatever, the joke had no chance, anyway.

The point is that there are some decent games available this week. That is, unless you hate America's pastime and aren't a fan of Rockstar or things that train you to be a more effective killer. If that's the case, then try to find ways to pass the time before a certain something releases.

• Major League Baseball 2K8
• Bully Scholarship Edition
• Ninja Reflex

Hitting North American shores on March 4th (the rumor was only one day off) and March 7th for the UK, Bully: Scholarship Edition will be bringing extra content to Wii gamers that skipped giving this a wedgie when it released on PS2 back in 2006. What we would like to know is if you feel like participating in this class come March when it releases?

[Via Joystiq]

Poor Rockstar -- the games publisher and developer just can't get any love in the U.K. Britain not only bullied Bully the first time around, forcing the game to change its name to Canis Canem Edit, but The Telegraph is now criticizing the new Wii and Xbox 360 versions. The latest gripe comes fresh after the Manhunt 2 controversy, which has yet to be resolved completely.

The Telegraph disapproves of the game because it "features a shaven-headed pupil who torments fellow students and teachers at his school." Like many video game critiques, this opinion is mostly inaccurate and also alarmist. An organization known as BeatBullying is also unhappy with the new Bully, claiming that Rockstar tried to bribe them for their support with a donation. Certain retailers like PC World and Currys refuse to even carry the game.

Rockstar is known for pushing the envelope with edgy games, but we have to imagine that they're tired of all these headaches by now. We know we certainly are.

What can we say? We like you too much to force you to check out these Wii-specific images from the upcoming Bully: Scholarship Edition, but we thought you might just enjoy them. If we had cookies, we'd give you one, but you'll just have to settle for the screenshots. Port or not, it's still somewhat exciting to see Rockstar taking a continued interest in the Wii. We can't wait to see what they do next.

Over the years, the games industry has developed the irritating habit of cramming all of its best software into the last three months of the calendar year. The inevitable result of this is the dreaded post-Christmas lull, whereby the first quarter of the following year is severely lacking in noteworthy titles.

Despite this trend, Q1 2008 content on the Wii looks good. Like, really good. And as if No More Heroes, SEGA Superstar Tennis, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Harvest Moon Heroes, SEGA Bass Fishing, and some Nintendo fighting game you may have heard something about weren't enough to placate the Wiimote-wielding masses, now GameStop has Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition listed for a U.S. release on March 3rd.

Which is awesome news, if it turns out to be true. Now all we need to do is convince Take-Two that the Wii is worthy of receiving some GTA lovin'.

[Via Go Nintendo]

We spent yesterday going through the big releases that've been announced for next year so far -- Smash Bros. Brawl and/or Wii Fit likely topping your personal "must get" list -- but what about the second-tier games that don't usually receive much press or attention?

Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!

You may already know that Rockstar's Bully is going to be ported to the Wii (and Xbox 360), but aside from it being a "port-plus," the game is now also boasting an award winning script. It seems that Bully (the original, that is) managed to win the "Best Videogame Script" title at the Writer's Guild of Great Britain Awards 2007.

We're not going to argue over the prestige of such an award, but keep in mind that since it's for the Writer's Guild of Great Britain, only writers from the UK can be nominated. Bully faced off against another Rockstar game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, as well as Charles Cecil's Broken Sword: Angel of Death.

For those of you who have already played Bully, you probably know whether or not you're interested in this Wii port. Yet, for those of you who haven't, this may (or may not) be a reason to put Bully: Scholarship Edition on your radar.

[Via GoNintendo]