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Video game retailer strong arming - article


Supreme Cmdr
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I do not shop at Walmart, I believe that they are a retail predator. They shoot into town promising jobs etc, and they end up taking over the place.

Small business within the cities that they open these supercenters in go bankrupt and have to close, because they CANNOT compete.

Walmart is a predator, pure and simple, and I cannot in good conscience shop there.

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As a Christian, I say what's wrong with a store that claims to be a family store censoring it's retail choices? There's no law against it and it is morally right. How is it any different than selecting one brand over the other? It's the content, not the act that people are complaining about. If Wal-Mart refuses to sell sinful things hoorah for them. Free enterprise means you can sell what you want. It's not their fault that games won't sell as well if they don't carry them.

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Wal-Mart, by its actions, is proving itself to be a Senate for what games purchasers will buy. A 25% share is HUGE. Game makers have to change their products to meet specific single-entity requirements, after already having to deal with the National Rating Board.

They can sell what they want, but if they don't carry what I want, then they lose that sale, plus usually other sales, simply because I'm not in their store while out purchasing.

I can order most of the software they offer cheaper online. I don't have to go to their store, and deal with the crowds, lack of a knowledgable staff (you get what you pay for!), or even their usually anti-social "Customer Service Department."

When I do go to Wal-Mart, I go to Pennsylvania (about 30-miles from Baltimore), simply to avoid the sheer level of stress I get in the local area. They don't train their people here, they have major attitudes, and some are racist (based on their actions.) Complaining doesn't seem to help...

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honestly forget Wal Mart.

go to your local Best Buy. they always have a big selection of games. i think the biggest section they have is the PC game section.

i've been to 2 Best Buys so i don't need much more proof. i've been playing teen and mature games for awhile though and im 14.

my dad KNOWS i play Ghost Recon. he sat behind me and worked on his labtop and knew it was some type of military game.

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Heh. Wal-Mart's got the same kind of restrictions on music. They don't even carry Parental Advisory marked albums; you'll have to settle for edits.

I'm a larger music junkie than a gamer nowadays, but I'll still have to say... It's one of those things that they'll just have to boil down to personal preference. Unfortunately, the fact that they hold a 25% share of game sales changes the way a company handles a game makes a difference. And unfortunately, unlike music, you can't have a regular version and an edited/clean/radio version... Unless someone can convince the publisher to actually try shipping two versions, which really wouldn't work.

I like the fact that they're trying to keep certain media away from kids. I'm with them on those morals, but still. The focus of the game really should stay the same. It's like art or a book or something. I don't believe it's right to limit the expression of any media. Me? I'd just have it sold somewhere else. Best Buy gets a nice cut of the game market. Electronics Boutique is a great place, too. Publishers get it all wrong. If it's a game built for hardcore action for older gamers, then they really really don't need it to be sold to the mainstream. (Bad example, since I consider that "older gamer" action to be mainstream. )

I'm Catholic, but that doesn't make my morals or decisions for me. Anyway, I think Wal-Mart is actually doing some sort of good with that decision. (Seriously, a kid can still buy "M" games at a whole bunch of places without being hassled aobut age or whatnot, which IIRC, was required by law.) And to re-iterate: people should still have access to the medium in it's original intended form. (Even BMX XXX should've gotten it's chance, in my view.)

My two bits.

[ 12-03-2002, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: Cmdr Nova ]

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

...oh man, I smell another controversial topic brewing. Christianity and video games? Brilliant!

Me? I'm just gonna watch, as usual.

Hehehe...

Personally I buy games at walmart when they are cheaper. I got Operation flashpoint and Serious Sam 2 there (so I remember). About 10 bucks cheaper than at Future Shop. only thing that annoys me, is that Walmart is our main competitor where I work, being on the other side of the road, and having only 1/3 of the floorspace, with no space to expand ...

Anyhoo, I think that Walmart should not decide what shoulds be sold or not. As long as its not downright gory / sexual it should be sold, and the customer should decide on what he wants.

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My only thought, you DONT go to Wal-Mart for their service, they have horrible customer help... the have the worse of any store, well that and Best Buy in my area.

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

...oh man, I smell another controversial topic brewing. Christianity and video games? Brilliant!

Me? I'm just gonna watch, as usual.

Well, you know how it is... You don't make Supreme Commander of Everything without rubbing a few braincells together, right, Boss? I mean, you're smarter than the rest of us -- we just jump into the fight because of the fight, with little regard for the fact that, in a battle of wits, most of us fight unarmed.

You, on the other hand, get to watch the battle first-hand, and laugh at all of us, because there is no true winner in these arguments -- uh, that is... -- discussions, because nobody will quit fighting long enough to fully evaluate the other side's points and merits. "My mind's made up -- don't confuse me with the facts" is the general thought, and most of us act on it.

Just my 2 cents worth, though I think you'd lose money if tried to use any of what I just said for investments....

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Wal Mart Is EVIL. They totally screwed up the videogames section in my town. It looks terrible. Id rather take an hour ride to go to the mall and go to EB. The people at EB are ALWAYS HELPFUL and they have a great selection.

PS Im 13 and my parents let me get any game I want. I just have to show them reviews for the game saying that its good when i want to get it from my dad. I print out hundreds of pages of reviews and he thinks im crazy so he just shuts me up by giving me his credit card and telling me to order the game. As for my mom I always go shopping with her because she lets me buy things that I want. I just have to explain the M rating and its mine. And when she asks me for payment ill take that out of the money she took from me to buy the computer, the car, the ink cartriges for our printer, the electric bill, the phone bill (i really dont belive in phones either, they scare me ) the credit card payments, dog food, cat food , hamster food, cat litter, more dog food, the list goes on and on. So if i forget about some money they owe me i can buy the game.

PPS My parents have payed me back for most of that stuff exept some fines they owe me

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I wanted to Boycott Wal-Mart a week or so ago. They and a few others, threatened to SUE the Fat Wallet Forms for talking about Black Friday Sales in advance of the Flyer releases. Details are here. My wife told me that if I could find a store with the same prices or cheaper, she would support my ban. Otherwise she will still shop there. I too am starting to feel that Wal-Mart is a retail predator. In my area, Pharmor and Ames have just gone out of business in the last 6 months. KMart is on thin Ice and have stated that if they don't have a positive Holiday Sales Season, they are calling it quits. I hope and Pray KMart stays around.

Inlight of this thread, I am now reexamining my Software purchasing habits, as of right now, it mostly comes from Wal-Mart. I too will start to visit my EB Games store more often now. Thanks for the heads-up SC.

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

... Me? I'm just gonna watch, as usual.

Well, you "started" it SC

I'm with Jag on this becuase I don't shop at Wally world anymore. Damn its nice to make a living wage for a change

But there are two solutions to this moral oxymoron:

1. Don't shop at Wally World.

2. Devs dont do deals with puds that distro to Wally World - hard to do since they (Wally World) have 25% of the video game (PC or Console) sales.

Remember the soapboxes

TTFN

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