Twisted Tales of Gaming #1

I am a collector of games with historical value. For instance, I own a copy of ET for the Atari VCS, but no Atari to play the beast. I have also become a fan of the PS2 game Bully. It has a place in my heart as the first game I bought on PS2 that I didn't schmooze a used game seller to give me at a discount because I needed a game. However, I can't look at the game without thinking about that night.

I played my original copy of the game ragged. It stopped reading altogether, so I had to find a replacement. Now, I am an avid fan of yard sales and flea markets. But, I went to my local retro game haunt to find a copy of the game. The game seller and I talked for a few moments about Bully and the well written characters before he found the only copy of the game hat he had. It was in the GameStop box that one gets when there was no official box for the thing, and was labeled as Canis Canem Edit. Now, the labeling didn't phase me. As a fan, I knew that the European title of the game was Canis Canem Edit, due to the ruffled panties of uptight parents. Maybe the GameStop employee that labeled it  that as a joke. So, I bought the game and took it home.

I took a look at the disc. As a collector, I try to buy disc games of pristine quality. I only looked at the bottom of the disc at the store, and I wanted to see what I bought. It was on a DVD-R, much to my disappointment. It was labeled as Canis Canem Edit, and had a pretty accurate drawing of the game's main antagonist, Gary Smith, drawn in fine tipped Sharpie. I had to admire the effort the previous owner put into the drawing. He was drawn as if the artists at Rockstar had done the doodle themselves. I also noticed that the picture looked melancholy, like he was going to cry. It made me frown a little, but I thought nothing of it.

I put the game in my black box PS2 and waited for the game to load. After a long amount of time, I was greeted by the Rockstar startup screen that was normal for this game. Then, the black load screen with the word 'bully' being spelt in the corner. No cutscene with Jimmy and his parents nor the pictures of the students and teachers. The save file it loaded was unusual as well. It appeared that, instead of the version of Jimmy I had, Gary stood in the dorm room. Game modding was rather commonplace with Bully, so seeing Gary as my playable character made me understand why the game was copied on a DVD-R. This was a modder's project, I thought. I looked around the dorm room and observed that the room only had a bed, a desk with a save point on it and a closet. I moved Gary to the closet and had all of Jimmy's clothes unlocked, with one addition: Straight Jacket. The game refused to let me equip it, so I moved on. There were no missions on the map, save one. I walked over to the yellow circle and read the mission name: "Final Showdown". I lifted an eyebrow. This was the name of the final boss battle between Gary and Jimmy. You couldn't save before that mission. Still, I hit X and began the mission.

The cutscene was the one I was used to.  When I gained control of Gary, I noticed that I was in front of Jimmy, who was chasing me. It made sense to me, so I ran from Jimmy. The exposition that Gary gave was still there, but the voice sounded uncertain, scared even. He was even stuttering, something very out of character for him. I got Gary to the bell tower and Jimmy followed after quickly. The cutscene began.

Jimmy sounded angrier than usual and Gary seemed genuinely afraid for his life.  Jimmy was the one who insulted Gary's mother before tackling him and starting the boss battle.

The boss HP meter had the name 'Jimmy' on it and it was oddly large. He was fighting with combos I didn't even know Jimmy knew. Gary was able to use his final boss attacks, but Jimmy was ruthless. He managed to beat Gary, despite my best attempt.

They fell through the glass roof, like normal. However, the cutscene's focus was on Gary's still body, with the soundtrack muffled. The controller vibrated as Jimmy kicked Gary's side. Instead of moaning, Gary screamed, as if the kick broke a bone. The focus was still on Gary as Jimmy dragged him out of Dr Crabblesnitch's office. I heard Gary call for his father in a pained tone as Jimmy left to continue the conversation with Crabblesnitch. The soundtrack cut off as Gary continued to whisper for his father. Then, the game went black and it changed to the next day.

I was still playing as Gary, though I couldn't turn him to face the camera. I tried to leave the dorm, but some invisible wall was blocking me in. I tried to save, but I was unable to do so, as if I was in the middle of a mission. I lazily looked up at the in game clock. It was frozen to midnight, but had a red circle going around it, a signal that I was being timed. I had no idea what the mission was, so I hit START and looked for the option to display the mission objective. I eventually found it. "Find yourself." The mission was vague at best, and rather existential for a usually tongue in cheek video game.  I began to wonder what sick fuck made a game like this. I threw away the modded theory a long time ago at this point; the voice acting wouldn't have changed in a mod. The timer was winding down fast, and there was no yellow X in the HUD to tell me where to go. I thought about the cryptic objective for a moment. The last place I saw Gary was in the cutscenes, at Crabblesnitch's office. I tried to get out of the room again and succeeded, but it felt like Gary was walking through quicksand. I ran as fast as I could to the principal's office.

I managed to get to the office with a second to spare. The display graphics dropped greatly, the only thing recognizable was Gary. He turned to me and I saw his face at last. He was covered in scars and  cuts, his dark eyes and mouth the only features untouched by wounds. His visible facial features contradicted themselves. His eyes looked scared but he had a smile that was bright and sunny. "Why are you here?" He asked, eyes locked on me. It was as if he knew I was there. When I moved, his eyes followed me around. He was perfectly still, waiting... watching.

I put down  the Dualshock controller and frowned. "Gary," I shook my head. "I just want to play a game?" I had no idea how to answer the question. I doubted he could hear me. After a moment, he turned away from me. A star came up. A new mission. I moved Gary to where the star was, but I was still walking at a snail's pace.

I eventually got to the spot. My mind vaguely registered it as Happy Volts Asylum, the town's mental institution. I moved Gary toward the tree that one needs to climb to enter the asylum. He took three steps back. I moved him foreword. He moved back reluctantly, protesting my commands with silent defiance. After a few more tries to get into the asylum, Gary spoke. "No way I'm going back there." Go back? I don't recall him going to the asylum in a normal copy of the game. I moved him toward the tree slowly. He stepped back, shaking his head. "Don't make me go in there." He sounded petrified. Unfortunately, the only mission on the map was in the asylum. I had to go in Happy Volts to progress in the game. Once more, I approached the tree. He turned to the camera slowly. He looked normal now, no scars save the one over his right eye. But, he looked at me, a wide grin on his face. "I told you. I'm not going in there ever again. You aren't listening to me, are you " My blood turned cold. The colors of the background inverted, the boy's smile widening. I tried to get control, but the directional stick stopped working. He turned away from me and I was only able to move him back, away from the asylum. I tried to move him back to the dorm, but the gates to the school were shut. I remembered the tunnels connecting Happy Volts to Bullworth Academy, but it was getting late in game. I looked for a safe place to stay the night. I tried the clique hideouts, but they were all locked for me. So, I had Gary walk toward the Tenements, an abandoned apartment building in the poorer side of town. I was able to get in and let Gary collapse at 2 am.

The next morning, text came up. Normally, the text upon waking in an unsafe place would say that your shoes were stolen. The text didn't say this. It read, "Your sanity was stolen". Gary moved at a normal pace this time, so I got him out of the Tenements without encountering the Greasers.

There were two missions on the HUD now, and one was close. So, I moved Gary to the closer mission, to a rather run down house. The mission name looked like it was in another language, like Japanese or something more obscure. I accepted the mission, and Gary walked through the door.

There was no cutscene, just Gary looking at a young woman slumped over a table. "Mom?" He asked, moving over to the woman like his footsteps would break the floor. The woman didn't respond to him. He turned to the camera and shook his head. He had the same placid smile as before, but his eyes burned with hatred. "You did this to her." He pointed to his unmoving mother. She appeared to be alive, but frozen in time. "Why did you do that?" I looked at the game's clock. It was stuck on midnight once again. How was that possible? The time was 1:30 in the afternoon in game last I had checked. "Bring her back. Bring them all back!" His voice was angry and demanding. I moved Gary out of the house and onto the street. There was not a soul in town. The music had cut off at this point, leaving only the sound of Gary's breath and footsteps. Again, only one mission was on the map, the one in Happy Volts. The resolution was normal, and Happy Volts looked old and dilapidated, like it had been there through the apocalypse. I moved Gary toward the tree. He refused to move. "I can't go in there. Don't make me go in there." He sounded like he was crying, and when I turned him to face the camera, his head was buried in his hands and he was sobbing. He walked slowly towards what I could only describe as my television screen. He put his right hand in the screen, and frowned. "I don't want to go back there. I'm not insane."

Insane? I didn't question his sanity. My suspension of disbelief was high enough to not care about the boy's sanity. Gary continued to cry, but that overly happy smile managed to crawl onto his face. "I'm not ready yet. I just want my dad to come for me." This was unexpected. He had stated in game that he basically hated his parents, saying that they were one of his many problems. I had no idea what to do for the boy, so he just stood where he was, frozen in time.

He moved slowly toward the asylum gates. Gary stopped next to the sign and turned to face the asylum. "Why did you do that to Mom? She was all I had." Gary's voice sounded like it was coming from a child's tin can telephone. I was able to gain control of Gary and moved him back to the school. The gates were unlocked and I moved him inside. The sky suddenly turned dark and it began to storm. A mission star appeared on the HUD and I followed it. The mission was called "Final Showdown". I dropped the controller. I had already completed that mission! Gary seemed to know something I didn't and moved away from the yellow circle. "I can't do this!" He cried out in fear.  It was the only mission not in the asylum, so I forced him to go toward the circle. He did so at a snail's pace. "Why are you doing this to me!?" He screamed just as the loading screen appeared. It loaded for what seemed to me to be forever.

The mission started on the bell tower this time. Jimmy was being verbally abusive this time, cussing Gary out and calling him names that came only from true hatred. This was a stark contrast from Jimmy's demeanor in the game. Gary was just taking the abuse from who was supposed to be the game's hero. "I'm sorry," was all Gary uttered, sounding like he was in a state beyond fear. Jimmy paid this apology no heed and attacked.

The boss meter extended all the way across my television screen now. Jimmy had his scoped slingshot this time and began to snipe a defenseless Gary. Jimmy taunted his foe throughout this onslaught, shouting them from his position on the ropes above Gary. Gary couldn't climb the ropes to harm Jimmy, so I had to take the damage and pray for an opening. None came. Gary was defeated after a while of this, and the screen turned black. A message came up.
YOU FAILED
You didn't want it hard enough.
Didn't want what hard enough? How did I fail the mission?

The screen froze on this for an hour. When something finally loaded, Gary was back in the dorm. The game flashed a message. "Change your clothes." I noticed that Gary's school uniform was in tatters. It was a pretty good idea. I walked him toward the closet and tried to equip something else. The only thing in the closet was the Straight Jacket. I equipped it. It was  a tattered yet sturdy looking straitjacket. When I got back to the normal world, I saw that Gary's hair had grown longer and  he had stubble on his face. His head drooped, an in game indicator that the character was tired. The music warped into a cacophony of unintelligible beeps and blips.

There was only one mission on the screen again. I went to it and sighed. The asylum again. This time, Gary threw up no resistance. "I want my father. What have you done to him?" I made Gary climb the tree and go into the asylum. There were no orderlies to impede my progress. The only cell door that wasn't locked to me was one in Cell Block C, which looked in worse condition than normal. I walked into the cell and found the mission. "Final Showdown".

Gary seemed to avoid the yellow circle. I moved him slowly toward it and started the mission. The screen lingered on the load screen for what seemed like years.

The music, which had been absent in this mission, was present. It sounded more sinister, more dire. Gary was back on the bell tower, as was Jimmy. The thunder made the dialogue hard to hear, but I could make out one sentence Jimmy said, as he screamed it above the storm. "I will always beat you, Gary Smith! That woman cannot save you from your fate!" I froze. The battle began quickly.

Jimmy's HP appeared normal, but he was overly strong. Before I knew it, Gary's HP was in the red zone. I instinctively punched in the game's cheat to unlock all weapons. I equipped the Giant Rubber Band Ball and aimed at Jimmy. He laughed with an unnatural laugh full of malice. "She cannot save you! Your fates have been sealed forever!" Jimmy's voice sounded corrupted, as if more than one voice was mixed in for good measure. Gary wouldn't move now. He was shaking, petrified. I couldn't use the rubber band ball or any other weapon. He responded to none of my commands. He was crying and sobbing as Jimmy attacked him without mercy.

It wasn't long before Gary was knocked out. The world around Gary went black. He fell to his knees. " Why are you doing this to me? Do you hate me?" His voice sounded pitiful, like every second was torture. It was the first time that I could remember  that Gary sounded like a child. He sounded like a little boy who was losing his parents. He looked up at me and grinned an overly happy grin. "I didn't do anything to you. Why do you insist on torturing me?" The screen went completely black and the PS2 made a horrifying scratching sound.

The game resumed. Gary was lying on his back, unresponsive. He was still wearing the straitjacket, but looked older. The area around him was pitch black. He looked right at the camera. There was no light in his eyes. "I don't know what I did to you." He got up and I was able to control him. His head was slumped over still, and the screen was blurred slightly. I moved him around the  darkness. There was no sound at all. A lone light appeared in this darkness. A mission. I had Gary approach the circle. The mission was named "Final Showdown". It felt like he wasn't resisting my advancement, so I accepted the mission.

There was no cutscene. Gary stood where he was, a long sob the only sound. A small sliver of light shown behind Gary. I turned him to face the light. He laughed. It was a laugh similar to the one he gave in the final  boss fight, only there was a fearful and somber tone to it with a dose of true insanity. I couldn't see what was in that light, but I moved Gary into it. He looked at me one last time with the contradicting eyes and smile. "This is all your fault." He walked into the light and the screen faded to black.

I took the game out of the console. The whole thing was just unnerving. I put the game away somewhere, but I can't remember where. It might be under my bed. It might be in the attic of my parent's house. I don't know. I haven't played a game in my PS2 since that day nor have I gone back to that game store.