Set in 1995?

I think it could have been set in the 90's too, due to the obvious lack of mobile phones and computers.

Who can take you higher than a twin peak mountain blue?

I always assumed that Bully took place in a time warp. So many aspects of the game represent conflicting eras. For instance, the greasers represent a now defunct sub-culture from the 50's. And the preps in this game seem to be modeled after the early 80's Reagan-era WASPs. Then you have the more subtle era references, like the very old fashioned looking asylum (a wink and a nod to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest). And many aspects of the game seem to suggest it takes place in the present such as the townies and the jocks...

I thought it was just 2006, the year the game came out (right?). If it is set in the 90's that would just make it way cooler because I definitely love the 90's. Either way, though, I just always sense some 2000'ish era.
"Not my diagnosis."

[deleted]

I'm sure you're right. 1995 seems right.

However, I just checked up the release date of the Fight Club novel and that was 1996; see Hal Esposito says a quote with reference to Fight Club - "Maybe I should start up a club like Fight Club, only instead of fighting we'll eat cheeseburgers". Pretty funny.

But I just now thought about how the arcade consoles are probably one or two years old at least, and so it's probably more like '96 or '97 (thus including the Fight Club novel in its timespan).

I find it interesting that Hal actually knows about Fight Club though, especially before the film is even out. I suppose he could have just been told about fight club by someone else and he thought it was cool, or maybe its' one of the few books he's actually read - it is very short. Plus apparently his ma is a therapist, so I imagine he's not quite as street rat-like as the other greasers, and perhaps has a little more culture and ...well motivation to read.

"Quick nip next door, to the vendor of charisma!"

I think it's set somewhere between 1997 and 1999. The townies have a grungy nu-metal/punk look that was popular at the end of the '90s and the internet exists but it's something that only nerds seem to use. It also seems to be set before things like comic books and Lord of the Rings-type fiction became mainstream, since the nerds are seen as inferior for having those particular hobbies, which again seems to place it, culturally, before 2001-2002.

Of course the fun of Bullworth is that the town seems incredibly dated (more like the late '50s or early '60s) but I think that's partly the makers of the game commenting on small towns being behind the times.

I think it takes place in the 90s.

Don't think there ever was an intended year for the setting, and it should be considered contemporary to be honest. I think when this was made, Rockstar wanted to make it modern enough so players can re-live what it was like to be in school more or less. If you follow.