Target Audience

[NiPah]

I hate that censorship has become a thing where we can excuse just solely on "private company" excuse.

I hate that the word censorship is fucking meaningless because people use it to refer to anything they don't like. Target also doesn't sell AO games and/or pornography. That's not censorship, it's a company refusing to sell a product. Calling it censorship is not only wrong, it actually cheapens the word and the experiences of those who face actual censorship.

Is Censorship really a word we have to guard from being "cheapened" though? On the one hand we have government censorship on a grand scale like we see in China, on the other hand we have my Disturbed CD "censored version" that I bought 13 years ago so I could get it past the parents.

It's not really a government that's censoring American Pie so people can see boobs, it's just a company choosing to label their product with the buzzword "uncensored version" to sell it to more people.

I agree, this doesn't really fit the definition of censorship since it's not like they're removing content, they're just not stocking the product to begin with, but that's not really what people are arguing...

 

[Bigeyez]

Sorry if you think this is censorship you are plain wrong. As a consumer are only rights are being able to buy a product and getting what we pay for. We are not entitled to have that product sold at the nearest store.

Target can choose to sell or not sell GTA just like it can choose to sell or not to sell Playboy Magazine or Milk or whatever the heck else. Them making that choice is not censorship, period.

What is censorship is the laws Australia used to have that banned any 18 rated game. That DOES stop people from buying it anywhere.

Target not stocking a game simply limits the purchasing options but does not stop an Australian from buying it.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Half the signatures on the petition were taking the piss out of it. I doubt they even read the damn thing and just looked at the numbers.

And can't anyone anywhere in the world sign it? So it wasn't just Australians, but people in other countries too?

 

[Erttheking]

This shit from the same people who would go fucking batshit if people tried to pull a game from shelves for having a gay character.

Well done, hypocrites.

You got hard evidence to back that up? Because I seriously doubt it. You can make pretty much any crazy claim about someone and it means jack if you can't prove it. That'd be like me saying that you would stand behind this if people pulled a game from a shelf for having a homosexual main character. It means nothing because I can't prove it.

And neither can you.

 

[BX3]

I'm not getting into this censorship debate, all I'm gonna say is that this comic made me fucking weak.

Another chortle-worthy strip, chaps... and also basically describes us in a nutshell. And no, that is not a "those other guys" type of "us", that is an "us" that includes myself; Dammit Nintendo, why didn't you stock enough Wii Fit Trainer Amiibos?!? Do you have any idea how important having this obscure character figure in my home is TO ME?! They better have that shit restocked next year....

EDIT*
To further my point: Dammit Harada! Why isn't Lucky Chloe coming to the US! Bring her here. My need to shower myself in the radiating heat of asshurt DEMANDS it!

 

[scorn the biomage]

why dont we let the market decide if the game is bad or not?

The market DID decide. The people who shopped at the store said that they didn't want it.

I mean Jesus, I disagree with Target on this matter, but it's kind of their right to not sell a product they don't want to.

When this happens, my next question is: were the people who complained really Target clients? I supposed this time it falls in a gray area, because Target sells a lot of stuff, not only games.

However there is something else. There is a trap in the petition site. People can't make commentaries in the petition site unless they sign it. Well, I read the commentaries, and a lot were against the petition (which means they all had to sign it) *facepalm*

I really thought this was some trick from 4chans that petition just screams of the ends fathers day scandal a while back where members of /pol/ made sock puppets to fool people that there feminists it wouldn't surprise me if this is something similar.

 

[The Material Sheep]

I hate that censorship has become a thing where we can excuse just solely on "private company" excuse.

I hate that the word censorship is fucking meaningless because people use it to refer to anything they don't like. Target also doesn't sell AO games and/or pornography. That's not censorship, it's a company refusing to sell a product. Calling it censorship is not only wrong, it actually cheapens the word and the experiences of those who face actual censorship.

Yes it's not government enforced censorship, but it is capitulating to an out and out slanderous lie. Have you seen the petition in question? It's lying through it's teeth with the amount of bullshit it's peddling. If you published this about anyone's product to the public and it was untrue you could be sued for slander. Under American law it would be considered Defamation if not for the fact there is an anonymous nature to the petition itself and the person who made it. Granted I understand it's not America, and I understand its not state branded censorship. The MORALLY wrong thing being done here is none of that. It's the lying to the public to hurt a company's product. It's making things up to scare ignorant people into thinking the game is something it's not. That's the WRONG part of all this, not the knee jerk censorship arguments.

 

[The Wooster]

I hate that censorship has become a thing where we can excuse just solely on "private company" excuse.

I hate that the word censorship is fucking meaningless because people use it to refer to anything they don't like. Target also doesn't sell AO games and/or pornography. That's not censorship, it's a company refusing to sell a product. Calling it censorship is not only wrong, it actually cheapens the word and the experiences of those who face actual censorship.

Perhaps you should learn the english language
Censor: An official who examines books, films, news, etc. that are about to be published and suppresses any parts that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
It's censorship.

If you're going to pull the "perhaps you should learn the language" card, you should probably make sure the definition you quote doesn't completely support my point.

Also, it is the same as what Nazi's did.

I would love to live in your version of history where the Nazis actually just ran a chain of retail shops rather than a government.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

I wonder if Target will still be stocking it online? Either way, as legitimate an excuse as it might be, all it is is GTA being flagged for it's infamy, considering that their shelves are still going to be lined with other M-rated games that are at least as bad at GTA V itself. It's not like I don't understand GTA's content might be offensive to parents, but Far Cry is a pretty bloody and graphic series, so why is Target still stocking that game?

 

[IceForce]

Perhaps you should learn the english language
Censor: An official who examines books, films, news, etc. that are about to be published and suppresses any parts that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

It's censorship.

If it's censorship, kindly explain who the "official" is in this instance.

Target pulled GTA V not because of market infeasibility but due to moral outcry about its content, which they have every right to do. But don't kid yourself into thinking it ain't censorship.

Don't kid yourself into thinking it is.

 

[Dragonlayer]

why dont we let the market decide if the game is bad or not?

The market DID decide. The people who shopped at the store said that they didn't want it.

I mean Jesus, I disagree with Target on this matter, but it's kind of their right to not sell a product they don't want to.

not really, a group of people who may or may have not bought the game, signed a patetition to get it pulled from the store on the false grounds that it was misogynistic

it the most successful entertainment product every created, its clear the market wants the game

unless target provides some figures showing terrible sales and use that as an argument for pulling the game, it makes no sense

But let's not pretend for a second that GTA doesn't have an unhealthy portrayal of women. Not for a damn second. GTA V took a few baby steps and actually had a few cool female characters, but overall it still has a long way to go

Is it fair to pick on the "unhealthy" portrayal of women in GTA when *every single character* of *every single identity* is an abominable, repulsive excuse for a human being? I genuinely had to stop playing the fifth game because everyone -man, woman and child - was just the most disgusting and unbearable **** in existence; they went too far with making caricatures so unlikable not even killing sprees offered any cathartic value.

OT

That guy's face in the second panel is the perfect visual representation for the worst kind of smug, condescending Escapist arguments:

"Well actually this is censorship...."

"Well actually it's about ethics in gaming journalism...."

"Well actually it's whatever-ist...."

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

I'm not criticizing them for portraying women as "Bad". I'm criticizing them for portraying them as unequal. The women don't have as nearly as much of an impact on the plot as the men do. 95% of the decisions that mean anything in GTA V are made by men. The women just drift around doing nothing and being annoying with the occasional rare exception.

I'm not saying female characters has to be outstanding. I'm just saying their portrayal should be on par with the men.

 

[Dragonlayer]

Snip

I'm not criticizing them for portraying women as "Bad". I'm criticizing them for portraying them as unequal. The women don't have as nearly as much of an impact on the plot as the men do. 95% of the decisions that mean anything in GTA V are made by men. The women just drift around doing nothing and being annoying with the occasional rare exception.

I'm not saying female characters has to be outstanding. I'm just saying their portrayal should be on par with the men.

Hmmmm, fairy snuff. I still wouldn't argue that GTA's portrayal is explicitly "unhealthy" when it comes to women though, because that suggests the franchise goes out of it's way to represent women as especially woeful creatures, when everyone is equally terrible.

I might also argue that the relative lack of women committing crimes is a result of the gender imbalance in real life, but perhaps arguing for realism in GTA went out the window a long time ago.

 

[KazeAizen]

why dont we let the market decide if the game is bad or not?

Some companies would. Some companies won't. Also some do want to have a certain "image" about them. Its the fact that a petition was starting to get a lot of public approval so best to pull it now and look like the good guy and maintain the image. Besides the game is a year old and its shipped about as much as it was going to. The only one benefiting from this really is Rockstar because of all the publicity for their game thus possibly shipping more units.

Sometimes the "market" doesn't always get to decide. If this were an ideal world it would however this is not an ideal world. Still this isn't censorship.

 

[Weaver]

This implies everyone in the petition was a Target and k-mart customer.

 

[Adfest]

Aren't a whole bunch of K-Mart locations closing their doors? Does this mean I can't buy it at K-Mart's going out of business sale?

 

[IceForce]

This implies everyone in the petition was a Target and k-mart customer.

That goes both ways.

All the people outraged over this are implying that they:
- Live in Australia
- Are Target / K-mart customers
- Were going to purchase GTAV from Target / K-mart

 

[renegade7]

Can't you just buy it somewhere else? Is Target the only store in Australia?

I'm very sure that Australia has its own chains of game retailers who will be more than happy to take advantage of this sudden decrease in supply and increase in demand. Which is good, because specialist retailers are always preferable to supermarkets.

 

[Requia]

I don't understand what a discussion on ethics in gaming journalism has to do with boycotts/censorship.

Neither do I, but I was talking about gamergate, the group behind a boycott against multiple publications who said things they didn't like.

I mean, if you want to talk ethics in gaming journalism, that's fine. But I asked about Gamergate, so stop changing the subject.

It's not a question of 'saying things they don't like' but outright LIES.