Bully Ads Are A-OK With ASA

31 complaints against a TV ad for Take-Two's Bully: Scholarship Edition were dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority. The complainants said that the ads "glorified and trivialized" bullying, but the ASA found that the ads themselves were not in violation of any standards.

According to GamesIndustry, the ASA did find the game distasteful, but was not glorifying violence because of its "comic and exaggerated" nature:

"Although many might find the name and content of the game to be in poor taste, the content of the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," it said.

ASA dismisses Bully advertising complaints [GamesIndustry.biz]

Rockstar Acquires Mad Doc Software, Turns Them Into Rockstar New England

We are very aware of the problems some people have been experiencing with the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition and have been doing everything within our powers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We will be releasing a title update through Xbox Live within the next week that we are confident will rectify the problem. We apologize wholeheartedly for the inconvenience that this matter has caused some owners of the game.

Rockstar "Horrified" By Xbox 360 Bully: Scholarship Edition Issues

We wrote earlier today of the issues surrounding the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition, hoping to get a statement from Rockstar Games on the status of either a fix or a replacement plan for those affected. For those not up to speed, the 360 port is reportedly plagued with freezing issues and audio glitches in addition to a less than solid frame rate. Rockstar issued a statement tonight, saying the staff was "devastated" to learn of the issues surrounding the Bully port, something they say didn't come up in the QA process.

Their full statement follows.

Bully: Scholarship Edition Sounds Like It Should've Been Held Back [UPDATE]

Teachers Still Demanding Bully Ban

Haven't we been over this already? A year and a half after the release of the original game, a coalition of teachers' unions in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, South Korea and the Caribbean are urging retailers to ban Bully: Scholarship Edition from store shelves.

"We're asking retailers to be responsible," Emily Noble, president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation, said yesterday. "Yes, they can sell it and make a buck out of this, but is this the kind of marketing that they want to be [doing], selling games that glorify violence?"

Bully Valentine's Day Trailer Celebrates Love Lost

It's Valentine's Day, and while many of you are planning romantic dinners, expensive flowers and early bedtimes, Rockstar is putting together highlight reals of nut shots and face slaps to promote their upcoming Bully: Scholarship Edition for Xbox 360 and Wii.

Trailers like this remind us that maybe the most overlooked talent at Rockstar is its video editing crew, and that love ain't always chocolates and perfume...unless chocolates have evolved to crack their own nuts...in which case we are all doomed.

Bully: Scholarship Edition Trailer Debuts

The high school hijinx of Rockstar Games' Bully is about to get a resolution boost and loads of additional content for those in the Wii and Xbox 360 console camps. It may not be the prettiest game pressed on a 360 disc, but don't let that deter you from enjoying the open world experience of reliving high school without all the real-world beatings. Bully: Scholarship Edition is due to ship March 4 for anyone who's interested. Pixel-nitpickers may want to eyeball the hi-def version over at GameTrailers for a better idea of what the current-gen port will bring.

Bully Scholarship Edition HD [GameTrailers]

It's doubtful that almost anyone was, at any point, visually blown away by Rockstar Games' Bully on the PlayStation 2. Oh, it's a fantastic title, one that appropriates Grand Theft Auto gameplay in a remarkably natural way. It's just that graphically, we're underwhelmed. That proud tradition of solid gameplay and "meh" graphics will continue on the Wii and Xbox 360 this year, as Bully: Scholarship Edition forces current gen gamers to come to terms with their inner graphics whores. Easy on the eyes it's not. At least the Bully port should give GameTrailers an opportunity to have its first Wii vs. Xbox 360 comparison video.

Rumor: Bully Wii Dated for March

Go Nintendo is reporting that the Scholarship Edition of Bully for the Wii has a firm release date now on Gamestop's website, which lists it as hitting on March 3.

Contacted for comment last night, Rockstar officials said they have yet to confirm any hard street date for the game, but that an announcement is coming soon. If I had to guess I'd say that the March date is probably not that far off. I do know that Rockstar is starting to show the game around to press, which is usually a good sign that a date announcement is in the tubes.

Bully looks to have a firm release date [Go Nintendo]

Rockstar Games is on a porting tear lately, following on news that the company is bringing Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis to the Wii. Not long after that release, the developer plans to re-release its high school adventure Bully for the Wii and Xbox 360. The new version, dubbed Bully: Scholarship Edition, as we know it features little in the way of Wii and Xbox 360 exclusive features—obviously, there's going to be some waggle involved as well as achievements—but we're sure Rockstar will come up with something for the double dip.

Say, I just realized something. If this is the "Scholarship Edition" that must mean it's free! Thanks, Rockstar! Full press release on the world's most dangerous game follows.