@Campion: yeah, i saw that odd quarter-turn myself. and the standing characters "seizure-ing" but I've not had it lock up yet. It does seem like this is exactly the sort of thing QC would have seen & that they released it anyway. oh well patch is on the way.

v00deux

Play the PS2 version on the PS3 with upscaling better. You can probably get it for under $20 pretty easily by now.

champ24 vamp_24(psn)

@Iwata: If you want to win, go ahead - we're all imagining the problems.

But I've got both versions in my home as well, and I've seen them both within the last week too. I do visual art and graphic design, and I work in QA at a game company. Sorry if I trust my senses more than your testimony.

You're free to differ, of course. Or maybe you have the exact 360 model they apparently did 100% of the testing on before releasing this port. Either way, good for you.

Campion

How does stuff like this happen anyway? Don't they have testers? It's weird how huge issues like that go undetected.

Pinhead

Hey! Let's all bash on the 360 and Rockstar!

It'll be fixed, just chill.

GH3 for the Wii, anyone?

Billy Bob Joe

@Campion:

Funny, given how i'm midway through chapter 2 and have yet to run into any framerate issues outside of the initial opening cutscene. I've played through the PS2 version 4 times with the last being mid-february and the 360 version framerate is nothing like the PS2's.

I'm also interested in knowing what areas in the game that you complain they haven't upgraded.

Iwata

@Iwata: Interesting information, but I'm really not seeing it on the screen... Meanwhile, the areas where they clearly didn't upgrade the original graphics are obvious -- I wasn't searching for them, they found me.

Even if I granted your point, though -- which would be painless for me since I don't mind the PS2-level graphics in the first place -- they obviously dedicated about zero percent of their graphics budget toward getting the framerate up to par.

I'll assume you're not saying they deliberately rebuilt the game to mimic the framerate of the original, which was slow even for the PS2?

Campion

This game just got downgraded from a 'buy-at-$40' game to a 'maybe-buy-at-$20' game. Kinda sucks, too - I was looking forward to getting this.

Teqonix

@theswitcher: some of us didnt have a ps2 when this game came out.

Snukadaman_

I don't see any big issues with the game other than the internet once again blowing shit out of proportion

Lemming To The Sea

ok, this isn't going to go well....but here goes.......

"ha! how does it feel to get a crappy port of an awesome game, 360 owners?"

sorry. as a PS3 owner, it's a rare occasion to NOT be on the shitty port end of a good game. weird that R* would put out a bad port of a game that people seemed to be looking forward to.

jfx316

Just tried the Wii version. Smooth framerate, no glitches. Seems like this is the version to get.

zztopp

@Campion:

It isn't just a straight port. They've rebuilt the graphical engine for the 360 and wii version and redid all the textures and everything.

Like i said before, pretty much every aspect of the game has taken a noticable graphical leap with the 360 version. The only thing i would say that looks the same as the PS2 version are the facial animations and textures.

Iwata

@Luv2Hate:
Are you serious? I have a feeling once this is patched no one will even remember this happened. Wait, what game is this again?

Natpalm

I'm saying I don't think the improvements in the general appearance have to do with reworked graphics, but are simply due to the higher resolution of the machine output. I thought Bully was graphically one of the best games I'd seen on the PS2, but I'm not convinced that much work went into improving the art assets for the 360 port.

I'm very happy for Wii owners, magnanimous fellow that I am.

Campion

@Campion:

Are you serious? The 360 version looks a lot better then the PS2 version. The graphical differences between the two versions are immediately noticable. The only thing that looks similar to the PS2 version is the Facial animations and textures.

The environments and characters ooze detail on the 360 version that one cannot find in the PS2 version. I was pleasantly suprised at how much of a graphical leap was made between the PS2 and 360 version.

Iwata

I have the 360 version and have put in 8 hours already and it hasn't frozen once and neither has it froze for either of my 3 friends on my list that are playing it. I don't doubt that the freezing is occuring for some people, but i doubt it is a huge problem among people playing the game.

Iwata

@Collapse The Control:

Here you go
ELM
LOW
MELLOW
MEOW
MEW
MEWL
MOLE
MOLL
MOW
OWE
OWL
WELL
WOE

kavits001

i hear that these problems are due to inferior 360 hardware.

its well documented that programmers are having a hard time figuring out the 360s overly complex structure.

lol. i keed. i keed.

joelface

@Campion: '

I disagree with you. I plugged in my PS2 version on the 60 inch TV, and then compared it to the 360 version, it looks Miles better. They did improve graphics (at least touched them up, added new textures) - and IMO this was enough to make it that much better.

If you don't think so, you are blind!

Benjamin Linus

Every day live on Kotaku it's Fanboymageddon!
Be sure not to miss an episode!
Watch and be enthralled as any post about anything becomes a virtual battleground for Sony Vs Microsoft Vs Nintendo!
yawwwwwwwwwwn......

coconutdelight

Well, that removes all doubt that it's a Rockstar game!
>:p

fuchikoma

I'm an admitted Rockstar fanboy. I liked Bully a lot on the PS2, but I couldn't play it because the framerate made me nauseous. So I had very high hopes for the "upgraded" 360 version.

1) The graphics aren't improved. Obviously the 360 has higher quality output, but the in-game objects are still the same objects. The 360 version just allows you, for example, to see the seams betwen the head sections of the models much more clearly than before. The textures are still rough. Many of the HUD icons are still so rough you can use the jagged edges to count the pixel lines.

2) The music does drop out for a split second from time to time, not for any immediately apparent reason.

3) All the loading phases are still there. They're much shorter now, but even that has a problem -- it's so badly handled that now the loading pages flash by too quickly to read the tips written on them. A 5-second load does not need three different slides -- my ADD is not quite that advanced yet.

4) Walking or standing characters on-screen -- including Jimmy -- fairly frequently freeze in a position and have a mini-seizure. In one cutscene -- a cutscene -- Jimmy is sitting at his desk, and suddenly does a quarter-second full-circle pirouette, still seated.

5) To add injury to insult, the framerate is pretty much the same as before, and still makes me nauseous.

All that observed in less than an hour of gameplay.

There's no way this stuff got by QA, so obviously a decision was made to send this out despite the problems. I'm hoping for a patch for at least some of it, but my expectations are pretty low now.

And speaking of expectations, my expectations of a high-quality game were definitely missed by a good mile or so. They had ages to do this, so they clearly could have done it much better. But they didn't, which means they didn't care to.

Boo, Rockstar. Major respect lost over this shoddy port.

Campion

PS2 version still thes best.

resetbutton

@Jim Reilly: That's the point I was trying to make.

Leave Mad Doc to multiplayer maps.

dynendal

Uh oh. Perhaps T2 really is worth $26.00 per share.

PaulHunter

Funny, I bought the game myself last night, and have played quite a bit of it. I only have had 1 freeze, and I accept that from time to time (all of my favorite games have frozen on me at least once). I am on Chapter 2 right now, and am very happy with the purchase.

dragonsword

I bought this, and haven't had my game freeze. The graphics will pop every once in a while, but other then that, it's been extremely smooth.

I wonder why some people have problems vs others? =/

Benjamin Linus

I can see some big coperate hand playing a part in this but I won't point any fingers.

SandsOfTime

i was gonna buy this version tommorrow too...why does EVERY game i gotta buy come with something messed up...well if worse comes to worse and there ain't a patch day set then i guess ill just deal with kicking kids in the nuts with the wiimote...good thing i have that option

NocturnOwl357

@Jim Reilly:

That doesn't really matter, since Rockstar decided who would be doing the porting.

If I'm busy working, and have to get a babysitter, but don't check up on said babysitter (who has a history of being a pillock), who ends-up dropping my kid on his head dooming him to wearing a helmet and suffering seizures for the rest of his life, its pretty much my fault.

Bully, is that poor poor child, in this case.

SnakeCL

now I know to wait a few days and see what's going on.

DesmondHume

You also said this about the PSTripple Orange Box.

You lied.

The Cat With Two Heads

Well, I was intending to get the PS2 version of this game (had rented it and liked what I played, but never got around to buying it); this didn't change my mind...

relic1980

I think people should know that Rockstar themselves didn't do this port.

Jim Reilly

Played all last night without a problem.

Nexus6

I have the Wii version and it seems perfectly find to me. Of course, it's a Rockstar game so it's full of the usual GTA glitches anyway. But no lockups or anything major.

dowingba

Wow, that blows. Seems like Rockstar wanted to get this game out before the behemoth that is GTAIV drops. So much so, they sacrificed extensively bug-testing the game.

Note to Rockstar: The gaming community will not forget this.

And to think, I was on the verge of buying this.

Thanks for the heads up, Kotaku.

Luv2Hate

I demand compensation in the form of free GTA4!

cheesecake000

@ Ahsayuni: @ Collapse The Control: gamewinners.com

Ahsayuni

@SnakeCL: I had LOW as well, ELM & MEOW I didn't think of!

Collapse The Control

@Collapse The Control:

LOW
ELM
MEOW

eerrrm there's a few more I forget.

SnakeCL

wait, xbox 360 having trouble with ps2 port? thats odd

Ahsayuni

Sooo, according to the whole 360 is better than PS3 because multiplatforms are better spiel we've been hearing for over a year, this would mean the PS2 is better than the 360, right? right? I kid.

Looks like someone got thrown under the bus to get it into stores.

SnakeCL

LOL @ the 360 shit talk... keep it come'in :) I almost bought this game... good think I was waiting for reviews ;) I'd like to think that the people celebrating in the streets that theirs bugs in a game and people are having a hard time but I guess this is a trend amongst fan boy this days. Console Wars FTL!

okenny :)

My complain: why on earth do you need loading screens on this game? I understand this is a port, but Rockstar, please, you could've invested a bit of time making this port take advantage of a next gen console. Saint's Row was seamless when it came to moving around and going from interiors to exteriors, so I expect the same from high-end studios.

I hope they release a patch that fixes all of this soon. Until then, this game is going to my "pile of neglect".

qbix

Can anyone help me out in English class???

M E L L O W

12 other words using those letters!

1 - MOW
2 - WELL
3 - MOLE

Collapse The Control

Bully has been working fine for me. I think it might have to do something with the cache. I'm always doing that x,x, y,y crap to erase games i havent played in a while. (but than again my 360 rarely freezes up and i've had it since June/2006)

b1t0

I think they should only care if it's the Wii version doing this.

The 360 can always get updates to fix these issues, but can the Wii version of the game?

Sailorcancer

@Torgen thinks AAA means "Costs $60":

Does this actually work? I would definitely do this, but I'm afraid it might affect my game saves or something. I don't mind re-updating games; I just will have to choke a bitch if I lose my game saves.

HungryWolf AKA C of TeamChink.com

@theswitcher:

stupid question.

marty7044

And I was just about to buy it tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

Doomstink

I got my copy on release day and so far, I'm happy. The graphics could have been better, and the constant loading gets annoying, but honestly - I'm having a blast.

thewafflecult

I dunno if he's talking about it or not, but it would seem that the Wii version: "Add to that a choppy framerate for the PlayStation 2 port and you have a bunch of unhappy customers."

Shaoko

I'm not sure about how I feel about this. I really enjoyed the ps2 version and was thinking of getting the 360 version, but I already have enough games that cause my 360 to lock up and reset (Saint's Row, Mass Effect, and Eternal Sonata, all of which I lost large chunks of progress to before remembering the old adventure game rule of "save early, save often").

The downside is now I will likely pass up on the game, but the upside is that I can spend that money as the ton of games coming out that I do want.

VoidMunashii

Whew, I almost bought this yesterday. Glad I held off.

Tetley

@theswitcher: I intended to pick it up since I didn't play when it initially came out last gen. I'm guessing that is most people's reasoning for getting it. Now though, I don't think I will.

PurpleMonkey

oddly enough, the best place to play a ps2 game is an actual ps2.

pandafresh

Status of the Wii Version?

ph15h

We haven't heard any complaints about the Wii version. I rather enjoyed the PS2 version and hope that, if this is a widespread problem, can be addressed soon.

Michael McWhertor

@theswitcher: because maybe they never played the game before. Did you ever think of that before posting such a dumbass comment?

y2julio

@krunkjuice: ??? wtf are you on?

COLDBLOODED_BMC

@KnaveX: Franchise? I was unaware that one game and a port of that game with a little extra content constituted a franchise.

COLDBLOODED_BMC

I almost picked this up yesterday. Guess I'll wait for the patch.

J. Kyle

Well duh... Rockstar hasn't been able to make a good game since Vice City.

Rebelphoenix83

OT but i thought it was funny when i went to buy the game and the clerk got out the 360 version before even asking. wii version not so popular?

v00deux

played fine for me last night but i'm barely into the game.

v00deux

I was almost thinking about picking this up too. Good thing Kotaku is letting people know. Did anyone say if the other console versions are also bad or just xbox?
-Bud
www.myspace.com/gamecasa

GameCasa

@Kyle81: Not nearly as over-present as they have been this gen aroound though.

krunkjuice

@krunkjuice: lol crappy ports and buggy games have always been around.

Kyle81

I had the game lock up on me once, I was at 4% done and had to go back to 3%, but because of it I actually got to redo a class I failed.

The game is real fun, I just have to save often.

Collapse The Control

@KnaveX:
What? There's only one game in the "series", and this is an upgraded port of it.

Shit sucks that it's so buggy. Hopefully patching can fix these issues...

Demaar

Hope it gets fixed - going to buy on friday or saturday :/

BWolf06

Why even release it like that? Maybe they just want to get used to being part of the EA family.

Spartan1308

Damn eh, i was going to pick this one up.

KanoBlade

@Josh*: Hey now! It works really well for heating up a small room in the middle of winter buddy!

krunkjuice

Heh. And I was just going to rent this!

Saved me a few bucks.

Gamebrain87

The 360's problems apparently have something to do with the 360's HDD cache, to the extent that if you clear the cache the performance comes back (but you lose patches).

Torgen thinks AAA means “Costs $60”

The XBOX 360 is dead!

...Too soon?

Josh*

It seems that the Wii version is Ok

Gambare

I just got the Xbox version...played for about 2 hours yesterday and the game locked up on me once. I'm a bit disappointed to read that I may experience more lockups. Haven't experienced any of the audio issues though. Maybe I'm not that far into the game yet...but yeah, this is bad news!

alphonse610

wow bully was one of my favs of all time on ps2 good thing i did not open mine im taking it back asap

beanz05

lol, whenever a new game comes out they always blame it when in fact it's just the crappy hardware acting up.

silenthill4vid

Yeah, I had a bad freeze last night and lost a good portion of time covered in the game. I've been trying to save more frequently but the save points are few and far between. That said, Bully has been a lot of fun.

DJ-KINETIC

*crosses fingers" The Wii Version is Alright *crosses fingers*

youngmike99

What? Problems with a 360 game? Locking up and freezing? No! I am shocked!

mizzle

You could tell the framerate was crap from the trailers, hell you can tell it from the TV commercial for the game. If they can't even make the game look decent in major media advertising, that's a red flag not to buy it.

Stevedroid

hah ports strike again.

Raziel3333

I'm so glad that this console generation is finally bringing the bugginess of PC games to the whole populace of gamers out there.

krunkjuice

Probably just the crappy hardware acting up. Whenever a new game comes out they blame the game but it's actually the system.

silenthill4vid

I'm glad I bought this for the PS2 a year ago. It's a very good game, sucks that the port is having problems.

Kantwon

@Ollivander, @GregoriusH: Jinks...

Josh*

Is the wii version any better? might as well get it on that since ive been totally neglecting my 360 due to suckiness

BryanGuitarDude

Good thing they gave it to Mad Doc.

dynendal

How about Wii?

Josh*

Why are people buying this again?

theswitcher

i was thinking of getting bully this weekend.
thank God for kotaku.

nabils6

Is the Wii version fine? I was intending to pick it up this weekend.

GregoriusH

How about the Wii version?

Ollivander

o thats bad for such a known franchise.

KnaveX