Target Australia will no longer stock GTA5

The Lunatic

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Jun 3, 2010
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Private companies can do whatever they want.

If they feel the game is not worth of a place in their shelves, then that's fine. But, I think they should be uniform about it.

However, more than anything, the statement they're trying to make is pointless. People who want the game will buy it elsewhere.

Any statement about "Violence against women" is going to be overlooked as people are instead going to focus on what they feel is "Bullying" from groups trying to "Get games banned".
 

mxc2012

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Jan 9, 2010
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The Lunatic said:
Any statement about "Violence against women" is going to be overlooked as people are instead going to focus on what they feel is "Bullying" from groups trying to "Get games banned".
In this case that is exactly what is happening.
 

mxc2012

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Gethsemani said:
I don't see the can of worms. All I see is one business making a business decision based on customer feedback, presumably.
The problem is these aren't customers. They never bought it and never would, they just use lies to stop other people from being able to buy it.
 

Jesterscup

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mxc2012 said:
The Lunatic said:
Any statement about "Violence against women" is going to be overlooked as people are instead going to focus on what they feel is "Bullying" from groups trying to "Get games banned".
In this case that is exactly what is happening.
Lunatic, your case in point.

If people want to campaign they are free to do so, even if you, for whatever reason disagree. if a company chooses to heed their message, so be it. petulant mewling about them taking your toys? some cry for free speech? nah it simply makes you look like a spoiled brat. Rockstar thrive on this sort of stuff, you think they care, this means more sales for them, not less.
 

spartenX

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Oct 2, 2009
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"They?re not censors, though - oh, no no. You?ll understand it eventually; what you need to do is censor yourself."
-Tycho

To everyone saying that this is just a private business choosing not to stock an item, I want to remind you that they are only doing it because people petitioned for them to stop stocking it, and pressured them into doing something they otherwise wouldn't. And the reasons for doing so? Because you can be violent towards a certain group of people, just like you can to pretty much everyone else in the damn game. People, this is the kind of news that would have Jack Thompson creaming himself in joy. I am seriously baffled that people are just reacting to this with a shrug, when people used to be pissed that Australia wouldn't even let M-rated games be sold in the country just a few years ago.
 

VanQ

Casual Plebeian
Oct 23, 2009
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To be fair, not a single copy of GTAV was probably ever sold at Target Australia. Target's prices on games are worse than EB Games! And EB already price gouges like mad.

I think it's fine that Target chose to respond to a petition like that. I don't think it's fine that the petition is full of outright lies and bullshit. I mean, have you read what she says about the game? It's utter bullshit, every word. And I think that's a concerning precedent, that they would pull that game without researching whether the game was actually like it was described in the petition.
 

Loonyyy

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Jul 10, 2009
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See, the impression I was given from where I heard about it was that they'd heard of the new 1st person mode, and were uncomfortable with first person sex acts, and felt that it was innappropriate to stock. It doesn't look quite like that with reference to the links provided by other posters though. That given, I can understand and empathise with the linked petition (Also, this isn't referring to simply "Killing women". It's even in the petition. It's more the whole, fuck a prostitute, beat her to death to get money back (Doubly cheap if you don't shoot them). Which is pretty fucked up, and sex workers are often the victims of sex crimes, and are often marginalised. I personally don't agree with them, but I can understand how they can find the content offensive, sickening, or upsetting.

Me personally? I don't think it's innappropriate to stock given it's under an R rating and meant to be sold to adults. But it always ends up in the hands of kids, because they just get their parents to buy it. And that's not just a problem with "Stupid Parents" because how many of you guys did the same thing? Don't tell me that all of you waited until the right age to play these things, I'm sure more than a few of us are in fact those whiny annoying kids, with stupid parents, just a decade or so later (My mother hates guns and violence, so I wasn't let in on the fun. I couldn't even get the Fellowship of the Ring game when I was 16, because the clerk insisted on ID for an MA-15 title, and she decided that it was probably too violent then. God that's pathetic). And let's not pretend that Rockstar intends for it to only be bought by mature adults.

If Target doesn't stock it, if they don't want to, I really don't care. They don't feel it's good for their bottom line, so I guess they're off the list when I'm price checking for my copy when it comes out on PC. I don't personally agree with their position and reasoning, I think they're wrong and misguided, but who gives a flying fuck? It's going to be sold. It's going to sell like mad. No-one is obliged to have their stuff sold from any particular store, and at the very least, here they're criticizing very specifically the product.

Zhukov said:
BathorysGraveland2 said:
The biggest question that needs to be addressed here is who the fuck goes to Target for video games?
Wait, you're from Australia?

Huh. For some reason that I cannot now recall I always assumed you were European.

...

Hold on one damn second, you're another Tasmanian? That's not something I ever expected to see. Which city? Er... if you don't mind me asking.
How many of us are there on here? I thought I was alone in this back-end of nowhere. Hobart here, transplanted from Launceston(Or inceston as they seem to call it down South abouts).
 

Jiggle Counter

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Sep 18, 2014
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Woo straya!

Eh, Target. I go there to buy ferrero rochers during easter holidays.

Regardless, unless Target sells their games for cheap (which they don't, it's always RRP) then there's nothing to cry over.

I DID notice a rise in female-watch-dog complaints, recently.

I think it was on the morning show, where one of the greens was complaining about how toy stores market girl toys towards girls, and boy toys towards boys.

"No Gender December"

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/christmas-shoppers-should-not-buy-gender-based-toys-for-kids-greens-say/story-fnet08ui-1227141319300



Yay, Merry Christmas...
 

The Lunatic

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Jun 3, 2010
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spartenX said:
"They?re not censors, though - oh, no no. You?ll understand it eventually; what you need to do is censor yourself."
-Tycho

To everyone saying that this is just a private business choosing not to stock an item, I want to remind you that they are only doing it because people petitioned for them to stop stocking it, and pressured them into doing something they otherwise wouldn't. And the reasons for doing so? Because you can be violent towards a certain group of people, just like you can to pretty much everyone else in the damn game. People, this is the kind of news that would have Jack Thompson creaming himself in joy. I am seriously baffled that people are just reacting to this with a shrug, when people used to be pissed that Australia wouldn't even let M-rated games be sold in the country just a few years ago.
And I think there's a really poor reason to ban something, the theory to me is pretty uninformed, but, just as advertisers are removing ads from certain websites, it's entirely up to the company themselves to listen to them.

I think what needs to be done is those who disagree with Target doing this need to make their voices heard or inform the company that due to this decision they won't shop there any longer.
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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Fieldy409 said:
As another Tasmanian...
Loonyyy said:
How many of us are there on here? I thought I was alone in this back-end of nowhere. Hobart here, transplanted from Launceston(Or inceston as they seem to call it down South abouts).
Jesus. That makes four so far. Madness.

Given that Tas only has a population of roughly half a mil, I'm surprised to see even a handful on our little corner of the vast web.

(Hobart here too btw.)
 

Ambient_Malice

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Sep 22, 2014
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Lotta overreactions. Lotta hyperbole.

I follow a few conservative lobbyists on twitter praising this. They'd previously been asking for people to sign the petition.

I think the premise of the petition is false and misrepresents the game. However, I feel people have a right to politely petition in this manner, even if I fundamentally dislike online activism.

This isn't a ban. One retailer is voluntarily choosing not to stock a product they believe a significant number of their customers are upset by. This falls into the same category as, say, a retailer choosing not to stock 50 Shades of Grey or R18 rated films/games in general.

Boycotting a retailer because they decided to listen to a petition is grossly immature. It's especially bizarre seeing Americans announce they're gonna boycott American Target, which is more or less a different company.
 

Tohuvabohu

Not entirely serious, maybe.
Mar 24, 2011
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Seems pointless, really. The people signing the petition are obviously people who weren't interested in buying the game in the first place. Isn't that enough? And why force a store to take it off their shelves when it's basically the most popular and widely available game? I mean I bet you could walk up to a Target, turn left or right, and find a store stocking GTA V right next to it. So really, what's the fucking point?

The Petition itself misrepresents the game to a laughable degree. [https://www.change.org/p/target-withdraw-grand-theft-auto-5-this-sickening-game-encourages-players-to-commit-sexual-violence-and-kill-women?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=191536&alert_id=KLNsvVtEZm_2TAy7BLyrLkl4FVen4Dx6jdEOfc5jWmiunbPseoBVpQ%3D]

I'd say "Don't like it, don't buy it" is especially more effective with videogames than it is, say, Books.

Ambient_Malice said:
This isn't a ban. One retailer is voluntarily choosing not to stock a product they believe a significant number of their customers are upset by. This falls into the same category as, say, a retailer choosing not to stock 50 Shades of Grey or R18 rated films/games in general.
When it comes to books, I can walk into a bookstore and pick up a copy of 50 Shades of Grey and instantly begin reading about sex. So I'd say not stocking this is understandable.

It's not like you can pick up a game box and instantly be exposed to graphic violence and sex just by looking at the box. The only way anyone will be exposed to this kind of content is if they actually buy the game, take it home, and play it on their consoles. I guess the same can be said for movies, but, aren't games much more expensive than movies anyway? I'm not sure how the prices are for movies and games in Australia.

Even the GTA V box itself has no such graphic depictions of violence and sex. And don't Target stores keep their games LOCKED BEHIND GLASS anyway?

This whole situation is baffling to me.
 

Gethsemani_v1legacy

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mxc2012 said:
The problem is these aren't customers. They never bought it and never would, they just use lies to stop other people from being able to buy it.
I am eagerly awaiting your evidence that these people have never, nor ever will or intend to, bought anything at Target or are regular customers there and are, in fact, just out to harass Target into not stocking certain games. With the kind of certainty you are making that statement with, I can only assume it is some very solid evidence, I am thinking maybe a thorough demographic survey.
 

rob_simple

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Aug 8, 2010
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Ambient_Malice said:
Boycotting a retailer because they decided to listen to a petition is grossly immature.
Almost as immature as, say, petitioning to have a game removed from sale at a store because you, personally, find its content disagreeable?

Nobody was forcing these idiots to buy a copy of GTA V, this is just a company bending to the will of some reactionary puritan dipshits because they cried the loudest but, as others have rightly said, it won't stop people buying it elsewhere so, hey, if Target don't wanna stock one of the best-selling games of all time then that is literally their loss.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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May 15, 2010
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BathorysGraveland2 said:
The biggest question that needs to be addressed here is who the fuck goes to Target for video games?
Target down under must be different than Target US... I get some damn good deals on games here, sometimes up to 1/2 MSRP on new games and not just on Black Friday.
 

mxc2012

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Gethsemani said:
mxc2012 said:
The problem is these aren't customers. They never bought it and never would, they just use lies to stop other people from being able to buy it.
I am eagerly awaiting your evidence that these people have never, nor ever will or intend to, bought anything at Target or are regular customers there and are, in fact, just out to harass Target into not stocking certain games. With the kind of certainty you are making that statement with, I can only assume it is some very solid evidence, I am thinking maybe a thorough demographic survey.
I was referring to the game itself not the entire store.
 

silverleaf81

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Oct 2, 2009
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Man, I haven't bought a game from Target in...ever. Guess I'l just have to...do nothing. Until it comes out on steam. >:)

Either way, I'm surprised this went through. I don't think Target actually looked at the video in which the women was talking about. I have a disturbing feeling that the women herself was a victim of Sexual Assault, but at the same time the petition doesn't match the accusation of sexual violence. Its basically a video of a guy having sex with a prostitute, then running her over and setting her dead body on fire to get his money back. Bloody violent, but not rape. I doubt even Rockstar would go their. GTA V can be accused of Sexism, but I've yet to see sexual assault.

https://www.change.org/p/target-withdraw-grand-theft-auto-5-this-sickening-game-encourages-players-to-commit-sexual-violence-and-kill-women

Petition ^^^


Video Accused of encouraging sexual violence ^^^


Anyways though, I don't see this having much of a negative effect at this stage, so apathy all the way for me.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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You know, I'd make a joke about how it's only wrong to boycott things I like, but I think Zhukov has made it completely pointless to do so.

mxc2012 said:
the store did not decide anything, it was forced into it by a group of extremists who are blatantly lying to further their own agenda.
Unless petitions are binding legal agreements or there were actual threats of harm involved, I'm having trouble seeing how they were forced into anything. They were presented with the option of listening to the customers in question or losing their business, same as any other petition.
Jesterscup said:
If people want to campaign they are free to do so, even if you, for whatever reason disagree. if a company chooses to heed their message, so be it. petulant mewling about them taking your toys? some cry for free speech? nah it simply makes you look like a spoiled brat. Rockstar thrive on this sort of stuff, you think they care, this means more sales for them, not less.
Honestly, I'm betting at least half a dozen Rockstar execs popped champagne or...whatever game execs do when they heard this news.
 

peruvianskys

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Jun 8, 2011
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Zhukov said:
OMG, IT'S CENSORSH...

No, hang on, it's a business responding to customer feedback and choosing not to sell a specific product that is still freely available to anyone who wishes to buy it.

"We are your customers, listen to our feedback! Hear our voices! Obey our comm... whoa, whoa, don't listen to those customers, they're feminazi SJW marxists!"

Heh. I love you all. I really do.
Bingo! This is my response exactly - for a community that whines over and over about how retailers and developers won't listen to them, they sure do get upset when the same folks *start* listening...to the people they don't like.

rob_simple said:
Almost as immature as, say, petitioning to have a game removed from sale at a store because you, personally, find its content disagreeable?

Nobody was forcing these idiots to buy a copy of GTA V, this is just a company bending to the will of some reactionary puritan dipshits because they cried the loudest but, as others have rightly said, it won't stop people buying it elsewhere so, hey, if Target don't wanna stock one of the best-selling games of all time then that is literally their loss.
They aren't opposed to GTA 5 because they "find its content disagreeable" - they're opposed to GTA 5 because it allows you to murder prostituted women. That's not "puritanism". Puritans loved violence against women. This is a basic expression of feminism: We probably shouldn't turn violence against women into a hobby.