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The Consequences of Bullying Are Inspiring Silent Enemy

Minority Media, the developer of the emotionally powerful Papo & Yo, isn't shying away from sensitive subjects with its next game.

May. 1 2013

Posted by: Patrick

In This Episode:

Silent Enemy

164 Comments

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stanie12

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Edited By stanie12

neat!

I miss quests :(

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VoshiNova

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Edited By VoshiNova

Love the idea

Also I would love a sequel to Bully.

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Vuud

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oh gimme a break

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SnowyPliskin

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Pure hatred is different to bullying.

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LoktarOgar

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Edited By LoktarOgar

Get a haircut, hippies.

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fiberpay

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Edited By fiberpay

I don't know how I feel about this. It feels a little bit like a marketing ploy. In any game you could say the enemies are the bullies.

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ZeroV2

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Edited By ZeroV2

man I know bullying isn't cool but jesus I'm tired of hearing about it all the fucking time

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binhoker

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Edited By binhoker

Is emotional manipulation for the sake of future profit bullying?

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thatpinguino

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Edited By thatpinguino

@fiberpay: I think the difference is that in most games the player is in a position of relative power and control, whereas a person being bullied is anything but. If this game ends with the player being revealed to be some sort of prophesied hero then maybe. If this devolves into a power fantasy then it will be like any other game, but if it captures the feeling of loneliness and powerlessness that bullying inspires then it could be something special.

@zerov2 This topic never goes away because every year a new generation of parents is exposed to the problem through their children, and every year that group of parents raises the same objection that their parents did before them. I think its better that this topic stays in the public consciousnesses as long as it takes to get rid of the problem, rather than brush off the problem.

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firecracker22

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Edited By firecracker22

@binhoker:

No.

Emotional manipulation can count as good storytelling, though.

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fiberpay

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Edited By fiberpay

@fiberpay: I think the difference is that in most games the player is in a position of relative power and control, whereas a person being bullied is anything but. If this game ends with the player being revealed to be some sort of prophesied hero then maybe. If this devolves into a power fantasy then it will be like any other game, but if it captures the feeling of loneliness and powerlessness that bullying inspires then it could be something special.

True, that is why I said I didn't know how I felt. It could be good once I actually play the game but going by a trailer that focus's mostly on how the dev team was bullied does not really give me much to go on at this point.

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DonPixel

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Edited By DonPixel

looks interesting

@binhoker said:

Is emotional manipulation for the sake of future profit bullying?

does COD exploit nationalism for the sake of profit? Consider also if these guys were about profit they would be doing a free to play farmville for tablets.

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ptys

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Edited By ptys

So cute with your "tinkley" music. Shame there are no ex-bullies on the staff, give it a bit of authenticity.

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bricewgilbert

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Edited By bricewgilbert

Get a haircut, hippies.

You are really funny.

@zerov2 said:

man I know bullying isn't cool but jesus I'm tired of hearing about it all the fucking time

This sort of feeling only contributes to the problem.

Pure hatred is different to bullying.

What is your point? I have a feeling, but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

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mnzy

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Edited By mnzy

Not feeling the trailer at all. But I'm definitely looking forward to their next game.

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FMinus

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The speed of videos on giantbomb is donw the shitter lately, writing from Europe. Takes 2 minutes to load 15 seconds of video.

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Clonedzero

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Edited By Clonedzero

This seems a bit too touchy-feely drum circle nonsense to me.

And yes i love emotional games and movies/shows. I was also bullied in school, so yeah....this looks like well, a hippy therapist trying to force you to cry about something you're already dealt with.

Fuck this.

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billyhoush

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Edited By billyhoush

I'm guessing another interesting concept that will be executed poorly.

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MrMazz

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Interesting idea for a game.

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joshwent

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This could be really interesting, but it depends on the set-up. Are the "crows" still characters with emotions too, or just pestering bad guys? And if it's the latter, could the game offer up any real analysis or solutions.

Exploring these concepts via games is fascinating, but it may too easily become a black and white thing instead of reflecting real-world situations. A big part of the whole problem is remembering that bullies are people too...

Loading Video...

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

Yea this isn't for me.

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TheManWithNoPlan

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lol

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deactivated-61356eb4a76c8

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Yawn

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Rirse

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I was hoping this was a announcement for Bully 2!

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golguin

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Edited By golguin

I think it's ironic that people are actively bullying the developers in the video by saying bullying isn't a big deal.

I myself don't know about all the facebook bullying and stuff like that, but if a dude gets jumped and is getting stomped by 4 people I don't know how people can say that isn't a big deal.

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Amikron

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This just reminds me I really liked Bully and they should make a new one of those.

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Milkman

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Edited By Milkman

Boo fucking hoo. Are you kidding me with this drivel? Bullying, the silent enemy. Holy balls people need to get a grip in this day and age. Guess what, everyone was bullied growing up, back in the day it is what made people stronger.

You know why bullying is such a big deal now? Because people making it a big deal have made those who get bullied feel like it is the end of the world, they feel like the only resort they have is to end their life.

Man up World, or we are all going down the crapper.

Wow, what a badass. You're pretty much Rambo, dude.

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mnzy

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Edited By mnzy

@golguin said:

I myself don't know about all the facebook bullying and stuff like that, but if a dude gets jumped and is getting stomped by 4 people I don't know how people can say that isn't a big deal.

I don't think that's bullying, that's a crime.

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golguin

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@mnzy said:

@golguin said:

I think it's ironic that people are actively bullying the developers in the video by saying bullying isn't a big deal.

I myself don't know about all the facebook bullying and stuff like that, but if a dude gets jumped and is getting stomped by 4 people I don't know how people can say that isn't a big deal.

I don't think that's bullying, that's a crime.

Then I saw more crimes than I could count in middle school and high school that didn't result in an arrest. What is bullying then?

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SpaceJamLunchbox

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Edited By SpaceJamLunchbox

Yikes, guys. Stuff like this is supposed to encourage intelligent discussion, not shouting 'get over it' louder than the next guy. While I couldn't relate to Papo y Yo on n emotional level, I could at least understand how someone else could. If this isn't your shit, fine. No one is going to make you play it.

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Edited By Bishop113

@freedomtown: While I think this video and possibly many of the people who claim that bullying has affected them significantly can be a bit ridiculous, being bullied affects different people in vastly different ways. While you may have been bullied or teased like most are at some point in life, it appears you've dealt with it well, other people not so much, some are thrown into a fit of depression until they've had enough and kill themselves, others maybe end up spending the remainder of their lives avoiding others and being an introvert as they fear any human interaction.

But to say it isn't a problem is absolutely the most ignorant and moronic thing a person could say. It's disappointing seeing such childish replies from so many people on GB.

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paulwade1984

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Looks like we have a new way to spell pretentious.

Lets hope it plays better than papa and boring as fuck.

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crashtanuki

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It'll be interesting to see if this game can be as emotionally powerful as Papo & Yo was when the story/inspiration doesn't belong to just one person on staff. I'm guessing that this is their Ouya-exclusive game.

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SaturdayNightSpecials

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Minority Media makes them sound like a fake developer from The Onion.

I have no interest one way or the other in what they're doing, but that's just an ill-considered name.

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deactivated-63c9a5152a56a

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Boo fucking hoo. Are you kidding me with this drivel? Bullying, the silent enemy. Holy balls people need to get a grip in this day and age. Guess what, everyone was bullied growing up, back in the day it is what made people stronger.

You know why bullying is such a big deal now? Because people making it a big deal have made those who get bullied feel like it is the end of the world, they feel like the only resort they have is to end their life.

Man up World, or we are all going down the crapper.

Bullying is such a big deal now because people are realizing that it leads to depression, violent behavior and suicide. Maybe read up on it.

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kwang2000

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Edited By kwang2000

Minority media? Finally, a game studio with a significant percentage of African Americans.

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bhlaab

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Edited By bhlaab

For a company called Minority I expected less white people.

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Doomshine

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Boo fucking hoo. Are you kidding me with this drivel? Bullying, the silent enemy. Holy balls people need to get a grip in this day and age. Guess what, everyone was bullied growing up, back in the day it is what made people stronger.

You know why bullying is such a big deal now? Because people making it a big deal have made those who get bullied feel like it is the end of the world, they feel like the only resort they have is to end their life.

Man up World, or we are all going down the crapper.

The fact that people are afraid to talk about being bullied is exactly what the fucking problem is. To say that "everyone was bullied" and that they should "man up" is a slap in the face for people who have genuinely suffered psychologically from bullying.

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FengShuiGod

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I hope videogames can get back to trying for art and criticism instead of advocacy and cheerleading. This is like a Dave Hickey nightmare come true.

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Sooty

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Edited By Sooty

Emotionally shitty

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Edited By Dan_CiTi
@saturdaynightspecials said:

Minority Media makes them sound like a fake developer from The Onion.

I have no interest one way or the other in what they're doing, but that's just an ill-considered name.

Yeah But I don't even know what the Onion is so it sounds like a Media Molecule punk cover band.

@bhlaab said:

For a company called Minority I expected less white people.

Actually, globally speaking whites are the minority.

Anyway it is nice to see people take advantage of what video games can do instead of jacking off into Four Loko cans like most of your rollercoaster action blitzkriegs these days. But yeah this will probably be really rough around the edges like Papo & Yo

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clumsyninja1

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Edited By clumsyninja1

People that are bullies need to grow up.

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RonGalaxy

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I feel both ends of this problem (the bullys and the bullied) gestates at home. Im sick of people vilifying bullies when its most likely a coping mechanism for some pre-existing issue (not always, though). As for the bullied, parents need to stop codling their goddamn kids and teach them how to take care of THEMSELVES. Theres really no excuse for either party to do what they do (take shit or give it).

What I'm trying to say is punishing the bullies and pampering the bullied will only go so far. For example, germany after ww1... Need i say more? Pull the weeds from the root god damnit!!!!

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Anjon

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Edited By Anjon

Boo fucking hoo. Are you kidding me with this drivel? Bullying, the silent enemy. Holy balls people need to get a grip in this day and age. Guess what, everyone was bullied growing up, back in the day it is what made people stronger.

You know why bullying is such a big deal now? Because people making it a big deal have made those who get bullied feel like it is the end of the world, they feel like the only resort they have is to end their life.

Man up World, or we are all going down the crapper.

And here I was thinking it became such a big deal when kids started killing themselves. But you're right, it's much more entertaining if you ignore all the dead kids and focus on the living ones, and then call them all pansies. Less depressing too. Unless you're saying school is a "Survival of the Fittest" situation and some kids have to kill themselves to make room for the stronger, less socially attached ones. But at that point, why not just make everyone happy, herd the students into an island arena and reenact Battle Royale (for the youngsters in the crowd: that's like Hunger Games, only old and Japanese... you pansies).

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Aetheldod

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Edited By Aetheldod

@joshwent: No they are monsters and fucking cowards .... fuck bullies!!!!! They deserve no defense.

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arjybarjy

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Edited By arjybarjy

Boo fucking hoo. Are you kidding me with this drivel? Bullying, the silent enemy. Holy balls people need to get a grip in this day and age. Guess what, everyone was bullied growing up, back in the day it is what made people stronger.

You know why bullying is such a big deal now? Because people making it a big deal have made those who get bullied feel like it is the end of the world, they feel like the only resort they have is to end their life.

Man up World, or we are all going down the crapper.

Boo fucking hoo. Are you kidding me with this drivel? "Oh please stop all this talk about bullying people being bad, because my experiences and anecdotes of bullying are great examples of personality-building and anyone having other opinions about such things is a big stupid doo-doo brain".

You know why bullying is such a big deal now? Because some people are still thinking bullying isn't a big deal, not just for the victims (that can become not just bullies themselves but potential serial killers in extreme cases) but for curbing down on the negative behavior of the bullies themselves.

World, keep scrutinizing on bullying or we are all going down the crapper.

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Jazz_Lafayette

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Edited By Jazz_Lafayette

I get that this is a serious issue, and I certainly hope the dev can convey their thoughts in a powerful and substantive way, but the whole black-and-white, arty-angles, can-only-be-described-with-excessive-hyphen-usage concept for this trailer is only going to inspire preemptive barriers of cynicism from the audience I think they're trying to target.

Especially with a game about bullying, being clear and concise in your marketing and reserving messaging for the work itself seems like the way to go.