Rockstar's latest game, Bully, is set to cause as much as a stir as its previous titles like its GTA series, because it features bullying at a school in England.

The game, simply called Bully, sees you play a troublesome schoolboy that gets picked on by teachers and plays pranks on malicious kids at a fictitious reform school called Bullworth Academy.

But minsters around the globe are questioning the choice of subject.

In the UK former Labour minister Keith Vaz urged the government to refer Bully, which has pupil fight scenes, to the British Board of Film Classification.

Failing that, it should be banned, he told the House of Commons.

While in Australia, the chief executive of the Australian Childhood Foundation, Joe Tucci called on the Federal Government to restrict the game.

"If we do let it in it should have an R rating so it doesn't fall into the hands of children", he said.

Bully's publisher, Rockstar, said the game, not yet released, would be an "engaging story" and products should not be "judged by their titles".

Mr Vaz, MP for Leicester East, asked Commons leader Geoff Hoon: "Do you share my concern at the decision of Rockstar to publish a new game called Bully in which players use their on-screen persona to kick and punch other schoolchildren?

"Will you ask the prime minister to refer this video to the British Board of Film Classification? If they don't make any changes will the government use its powers to ban this video?"

Mr Hoon said the game's distributors had yet to put it to the BBFC to consider an appropriate rating.

In an interview with the BBC, a Rockstar Games spokesman said: "We support and admire the groups who are working hard to address the long-standing problem of bullying.

"We all have different opinions about art and entertainment, but everyone agrees that real-life school violence is a serious issue which lacks easy answers.

"Bully is still a work-in-progress, but when it's finished we believe most people will agree it offers an exciting experience and tells an engaging story.

"More and more people are beginning to recognise that the stories in video games have as many themes and plotlines as books and movies.

"Just as books aren't judged by their covers, video games shouldn't be judged by their titles or individual scenes".

The game is set to be released in April.

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