Bully 2 ??? Industry Analyst Says No
Bully 2 ??? Industry Analyst Says No
January 4, 2007
Don't place that Bully 2 pre-order just yet.
When it launched in October, reviewers gave Rockstar's controversial PS2 title Bully high marks. Down in Miami, attorney Jack Thompson's bizarre attempt to have Bully declared a public nuisance was at least as entertaining as the game itself.
But don't expect Bully 2, says a leading financial analyst who covers the video game industry.
Michael Pachter (left), Managing Director of Research for Wedbush Morgan Securities, told GamePolitics:
Bully sales trailed off pretty dramatically in November. In October, the regular edition of the game sold 125,000 units (I think that the collector's edition sold another 30,000 units...) in the U.S., so we should assume it sold a combined 250,000 worldwide.
In November, Bully sold 105,000 units... My guess is that the game did NOT sell particularly well at holiday, so probably another 150,000 units worldwide in December. We expect it to sell another 200,000 or so units over the next few months, and to disappear from retail shelves.
Those estimates total 800,000 units at an average wholesale price of around $30, so it will likely generate around $24 million in revenues. Since the game took three years to develop, it likely cost Take-Two close to $15 million in R&D, and my guess is that the company did no better than to break even. I would NOT expect a sequel.
Comments
If they make another one, Jack Thompson might try to ban it and lose his license. Let's all buy the first one and maybe even send letters to Rockstar Games telling them what a great game it is. Hey, everybody, think about this. It could finally end Wacko Jacko's legal carreer if he bites at the sequal. He has been reprimanded in the past by the Florida Bar Association and he has not fully recovered yet from his loss in the first Bully case. You all want to get his license revoked? This is the way to do it. You know he'll bite if they make another Bully game. Spread the word. Let's all buy Bully and ask Rockstar Games to make a sequal.
This is one of those JT stories I had but declined to print. It's just bluster...
I'm surprised it got such wide play
I'm guessing someone familiar with GTA series and trying to finish quickly could beat the game in less than 10 hours, so rent for a few days and play a few hours a day and you could beat it easily.
Then again, a lot of crappy games have made sequels. Why not Bully?
http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=7834
Yeah, sorry. Looks like we'll have a cheap drama in our hands again.
In a way, it was very kind of a lot of people to give Bully all that free publicity or it might never have made the amount it did.
Between his admitted bias against the game and his active imagination (lots of "my guess is..."), I'd take this with a sizable grain of salt.
While everyone seems to be buzzing about Bully of late, at least one respected financial analyst thinks sales of the game won't match the hype. Bully is scheduled for October release on the PS2.
Michael Pachter, who covers the video game industry for Wedbush Morgan, told Red Herring, "I think it sounds like a dopey game. But I've always thought that."
Pachter explained that video games generally fall into categories, and added that titles like Grand Theft Auto, World of Warcraft and Halo are "escapist" and "aspirational."
"I don't see how Bully is aspirational for anyone but 14-year-olds," Pachter said. "I don't get how this is going to resonate with (Rockstar's) constituency."
Pachter made similar comments to GamePolitics last summer. At the time, Pachter said, "Bully will be a stupid game, and will rock in England. Doubt it sells well in the U.S."
I'm split on the sequel issue. I enjoyed Bully a good deal, flaws and all. And I actually wanted the story to go on longer than it did, which is always the mark of a good game; I enjoyed GTA 3/VC/SA, but most of the time, I was glad to see them end.
I'm not sure there's really more story to tell, though, unless they go the GTA route and have a new story about a new character in a new place.
As for Bully, I enjoyed it at first, but got bored of it halfway through. Just seemed each season to be the same thing, albeit ending in some different style of punch-up. Still finished it to see what would happen, but had no interest to go back to it... which was shocking for a R* game.
For supposedly disappointing sales, the industry must be in serious trouble if Bully is considered to be doing crappy overall, yet still beating out many other titles... ;)
I still find it frightening that parents will buy their kids GTA, named after a crime that you can go to jail for, maybe even get executed for if you do it enough, but a little red light goes on telling them that a game called Bully, a much less serious but still serious crime, is evil and must be banned.
So, while someone might not have picked it up at the retail price of $59.99, they'll be infinitely more willing to shell out $29.99 for the game. Presumably Sony lowers their own take on Greatest Hits versions of games so that the publishers have a reason to buy into the lowered price, which means that while the developer's take per game might be reduced, they're still recieving cash they might not normally make.
My guess is that Bully is going to be the sort of game which eventually pulls in a profit.
Of gross, the platform holder (Sony in this case) take their large licensing chunk, the retailers and distributors take their markup, and the publisher (Take 2) get their fees. So it's quite reasonable to assume that Rockstar at the bottom of the dev chain will have just broken even with that analysis.
What isn't reasonable is to assume that breaking even is a bad case for a sequel. Profit isn't widespread in gaming (that is, profit at the developer level). Margins are very thin when you get on the ground, and frankly staying alive at that level is a good enough excuse to sign a project. It keeps everyone involved working.
Bear in mind that part of that dev expenditure was also in asset gain, involving tools, skills and hardware that they get to use next time.
Whether Bully is judged strong enough to warrant a sequel is likely more down to how strong they reckon the property is, plus the historical fact that sequels very rarely outsell their predecessors.
Not surprising, since he knows next to nothing about gaming, gamers and developing games (he's a number cruncher).
I don't, of course, know how much, if at all, of the 3 years spent on Bully development were spent on developing re-usable assets (e.g. refining 3D engines, etc.), so Pachter may still be correct about his assessment, purely by accident though.
That's what I like about Bully. You're not the only one there.
In fact, I've gotten a hobby of disrupting bullies ingame in the middle of their bullying, to then have the precincts jump on them like hungry lions. >:)
Note best-sellers list on the right. GAME being the biggest games retail store in the UK.
While Bully was a slight departure from the established GTA franchise that Take Two Interactive are known for, it was received very well. By critics, by consumers, even by analyst Michael Pachter. He will be the topic for this post. See, initially, he was quoted as saying that sales of Bully won't merit a sequel. How would you like those words cooked, Pachter, before we force them back into your mouth? Nah, we won't do that, because you apologized like a human being.
"Please make sure you print my apology to Take Two - I have been consistently wrong about this title. I thought it would be stupid, and it was fun; I thought it would get poor reviews, and it got solid 90s; and I thought it would bomb, while it now appears to be a million unit seller. As a result, I did not expect a sequel, while now I have to acknowledge that a sequel is a possibility."
Pachter makes mention of the GTA4 engine as a base for Bully 2 (should there be one), so we have to wonder if that would be a good engine to use for a more, er, localized non-linear game (a school as opposed to a city). What do you guys think? Sequel or no? Would you like to see more Bully action on the PS3?
read it at http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/01/16/analyst-apologizes-to-take-two-wants...
If realesed on Xbox360, Bully would gain loads. Way more then the PS2 version. Plus, it wouldn't take as much money, due to the fact that its a simple matter of converting the PS2.
The PC would gain a good amount, since almost EVERYONE has a PC. Plus, it probably would't be replaced.
The PSP could gain good money as well.
Add them together, and we have a bully 2.
Oh, and no cars. If we have cars, Jimmy could steal a car and drive it into a school, or, he could simply run everyone over.
IF YOU MAKE BULLY 2
MAKE IT FOR PSP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF NOT THEN MAKE BULLY 1 ON PSP(LIKE YOU DID WITH THE WARRIORS)
PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU WILL MAKE LOADS OF MONEY I PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
new nerds
lung su hometown:japan haircolor: black lung su will be joining earnest to take over the school and defeat jimmy hopkins
and Heather mclaze
prettiest nerd girl in school
hometown:texas hair:black eyes:purple her ability is to tell on bullies as much as possible you will make friends with her later in chapter II
now greasers will be advanced to hippies but they wont be the same people
new hippies
heather lennon
very pretty hippie hair:curly blonde hair hometown:england eyes:navy blue
simon shaw
hair:long red hair eye color:blue hometown:california. simon is known to be dumber than russel
colin bongan
hippie that like to bully a lot so dont get in his way looks a lot like russel he is also related to russel
ringo stevenson
if you see ringo blame it all on him the biggest pushover in bullworth but in chapter 3 he will have revenge hair:long blonde eye color:green hometown:florida
seymour duncan the biggest hippie of all hometown:japan:haircolor:black eye color:brown
and there will be more dumbos like russel
puck puck CANNOT RESIST FOOD! looks like russel exept puck is a prehistoric 8 foot giant he has blue eyes but the rest of him looks like russel
mussl jacobson
has the most muscles in school eyecolor:brown hair:shaggy dark red hometown:canada
and you know have the ability to have a see through shirt so if you beat up a prefect or cop they cant find you
you also have new weapons like waterballoons when finished with biology class,dry ice bombs you have to make friends with teachers,BB guns you get at begging of game,paintball guns you have to finish art class, and unlimited FOOD! when you finish your second mission working with edna
you can now also drive vehicles if you beat all 5 shop classes
the rest of the characters are all the same and mission 1 is called back to the bully where everyone starts treating you bad mission 3 is earnests big plan where earnest sends jimmy to the asylum because earnest said jimmy was going to take over the school which was a lie so earnest could take over the school mission 4 is a visit to the asylum where you have to come up with a way to escape the asylum mission 5 is revenge where jimmy starts to tag every secret earnest had ever since he came to the school and earnest starts tearing them down very fastly so HURRY! then you are in chapter II where it starts turning into halloween and you have to get all 100 candy and then you will get a see through suit!
you can now also purchase new things not just ammo for your weapons new secret weapons like the kick me sign the hand buzzer superglue whoope cushions and electric pens! they are all found in the super mart in a new area you already have recieved at the beginning of the game mission 1 the big whoop russel bets 500 hundred dollars to jimmy if jimmy can put a whoope cushion in every seat in every class and there will be a lot more prefects than you think and there will also be security cameras you can only do the mission at night though so you have to sneak in the school and put whoopee cushion in every seat in every room in school and the school will be the same ol school but try to not get caught by the prefects because the invisible suit doesnt work at that time mission 2 mission impossible you have to run from every prefect and every cop in the game because earnest said jimmy was the one who wrote all the secrets about earnest ever sice he came to the school you have to not get busted for ten minutes in the game and they will all pass out and lose you.
the rest the fans come up with if rockstar games doesnt your idea its not on the game but dont get too happy im still going to write about the last mission you have to knock out earnest which will take a while when he is creating chaos then you have to stop the chaos and there will be people separated in teams having the bullworth war
thats my idea of the game
i mean yes grand theft auto sell millions of copys very fast!
because gta has histiory over years
no1 had heard of bully when it was released
you have to give it time and make anuva 1
new nerds
lung su hometown:japan haircolor: black lung su will be joining earnest to take over the school and defeat jimmy hopkins
and Heather mclaze
prettiest nerd girl in school
hometown:texas hair:black eyes:purple her ability is to tell on bullies as much as possible you will make friends with her later in chapter II
now greasers will be advanced to hippies but they wont be the same people
new hippies
heather lennon
very pretty hippie hair:curly blonde hair hometown:england eyes:navy blue
simon shaw
hair:long red hair eye color:blue hometown:california. simon is known to be dumber than russel
colin bongan
hippie that like to bully a lot so dont get in his way looks a lot like russel he is also related to russel
ringo stevenson
if you see ringo blame it all on him the biggest pushover in bullworth but in chapter 3 he will have revenge hair:long blonde eye color:green hometown:florida
seymour duncan the biggest hippie of all hometown:japan:haircolor:black eye color:brown
and there will be more dumbos like russel
puck puck CANNOT RESIST FOOD! looks like russel exept puck is a prehistoric 8 foot giant he has blue eyes but the rest of him looks like russel
mussl jacobson
has the most muscles in school eyecolor:brown hair:shaggy dark red hometown:canada
and you know have the ability to have a see through shirt so if you beat up a prefect or cop they cant find you
you also have new weapons like waterballoons when finished with biology class,dry ice bombs you have to make friends with teachers,BB guns you get at begging of game,paintball guns you have to finish art class, and unlimited FOOD! when you finish your second mission working with edna
you can now also drive vehicles if you beat all 5 shop classes
the rest of the characters are all the same and mission 1 is called back to the bully where everyone starts treating you bad mission 3 is earnests big plan where earnest sends jimmy to the asylum because earnest said jimmy was going to take over the school which was a lie so earnest could take over the school mission 4 is a visit to the asylum where you have to come up with a way to escape the asylum mission 5 is revenge where jimmy starts to tag every secret earnest had ever since he came to the school and earnest starts tearing them down very fastly so HURRY! then you are in chapter II where it starts turning into halloween and you have to get all 100 candy and then you will get a see through suit!
you can now also purchase new things not just ammo for your weapons new secret weapons like the kick me sign the hand buzzer superglue whoope cushions and electric pens! they are all found in the super mart in a new area you already have recieved at the beginning of the game mission 1 the big whoop russel bets 500 hundred dollars to jimmy if jimmy can put a whoope cushion in every seat in every class and there will be a lot more prefects than you think and there will also be security cameras you can only do the mission at night though so you have to sneak in the school and put whoopee cushion in every seat in every room in school and the school will be the same ol school but try to not get caught by the prefects because the invisible suit doesnt work at that time mission 2 mission impossible you have to run from every prefect and every cop in the game because earnest said jimmy was the one who wrote all the secrets about earnest ever sice he came to the school you have to not get busted for ten minutes in the game and they will all pass out and lose you.
the rest the fans come up with if rockstar games doesnt your idea its not on the game but dont get too happy im still going to write about the last mission you have to knock out earnest which will take a while when he is creating chaos then you have to stop the chaos and there will be people separated in teams having the bullworth war
thats my idea of the game
see that forget all of it that was a crappy story
Therefore, Most people wold have the so called "Expensive" consoles in the first place.
Here's my idea. Jimmy is still at Bullworth, but his mother dumps her boyfriend, tells Jimmy to pack his bags, and they set off to England.( Where her new boyfriend who she met on the cruise lives.) So we have american Jimmy, dumped in an English school ( St.Cunningham private school) with the typical British cliques
These would be
Chavs: Obnoxious, foul-mouthed, and cheap 'bling wearers'. They would hang around the bike sheds smoking.
Bullies: Sort of a Chav, only more violent. Appears prominently throughout the school.
Goths: The dark people who hang around in dark areas.
Emos: They would hang around in secluded corners of the school, whinning about poetry.
Nerds: Same as Bullworth, only with a British accent. They would help you communicate with your buddies at Bullworth.
Jocks: Same as Bullworth, only obessesed with football and rugby.
Band people: Basically members of the music community.
Preps: Like those at Bullworth, only with a genuine british accent.
So those are the cliques.
The town: Cunninghamdale.
Would feature British cliques
Would feature a shopping centre and another few schools.
(One major competitor, Cunninghamdale public school)
One primary school with little kids, Cunninghamdale primary.
The Nerd connection.
Basically, the Nerds would have conncetions to Bullworth. You must become friends with them in order to complete the game.(See Below)
FINALE chapter/Mission
"Retutn to Bullworth".
You are the new king at St.Cunninghamdale. All cliques have been controlled. However the nerds have some disturbing news. Looks like the Bullworth nerds have been blockaded in their own observatory. Gary, taking advantage of Jimmy's absence, has gathered up the cliques again into his control under the guise of a new kid. The Nerds found out about this, Earnest has been taken hostage in the belltower, and the entire TOWN of Bullworth has plunged ito chaos. In order to get there, you must sneak some plane tickets from your mom's new boyfriend ( Who reveals himself to be a former Bullworth student). So you get an entire chapter of seeing Bullworth Town in chaos, the Industrial park( apart from Zoe's house) into a giant mall, New Conventry in Ruins and the Police struggling to defend the Preps from Gary's Reformed gang.
and the town should still be available. But there will be a entirely new story line for jimmy to follow as well as new clothes,friends,and vehicles to use in the game.