Retailers Won't Sell New Acclaim Game

DrEnter writes "According to this Yahoo article, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and Kay-Bee Toys are refusing to carry Acclaim's new video game 'BMX XXX'. Best Buy has stated it will sell a censored version of the game. Acclaim is billing it as the first major release game to feature full-action nudity, with prostitutes and pimps and main characters. A Wal-Mart spokesman stated "We're not going to carry any software with any vulgarity or nudity -- we're just not going to do it." I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart sells rated-R movies (including those arguably targeted at the same age group as this game is), so make your own judgement..."

Comments

Some places sell it

[Henry V .009]

There is all that Playboy and Penthouse software on the top shelf of the computer software section at Hastings...

What a joke

[swagr]

Books, comics, movies, tv shows, news and games with violence are everywhere.
Violence is OK everyone.

A naked person, though, will destroy the fabric of society as we know it. And s*x, I won't even dare say the word.

Re:What a joke

[drinkypoo]

You know, I once cited a study commissioned by the Nixon administration which failed to find a link between pornography and sex crimes. I was much younger then; Now I find it extremely amusing. My english teacher probably thought it was brilliant for someone who chose to argue the devil's advocate point of view to choose something from that funding source.

Anyway, I think it IS likely to cause spontaneous stripping. People are more readily programmed by television than you think. It puts you into an alpha state. (Boy is it hard to find reasonably reputable links about that!) As such, you are more suggestible (it is similar to the state achieved during hypnosis, though with somewhat different results here, we hope.)

Now, am I saying that guys are going to run around raping people because they see more porn? No. In fact, some studies have shown just the opposite. If you don't make people feel guilty about sexual urges they're more likely to beat off and get all that tension out of their system. Then they can just beat women up instead of raping them, like good little Americans. Hey, it works for football stars.

Will there be more unprotected sex? I'm sure there will be more sex, and a certain percentage of it is unprotected. So you could say yes, but probably not. Then again, if you make people horny enough they sometimes skip the protection and move right onto the beast with two backs phase of the evening.

Re:What a joke

[squaretorus]

I live in the UK. On Sunday night Channel 4 showed A Clockwork Orange at last - first time on UK TV (other than cable). Very good movie.

Plenty of violence and nudity and drugs and the old in out in out.

What did my partner say at the end? "Was there any need for all those tits? Kubrick was a dirty old man wasn't he! No dicks though you notice!"

No mention of the hefty doses of violence, sinister political activities, etc... just "why so many tits"

Why do I mention this? Because I think the whole anti-nudity thing boils down to guys not wanting to see other guys dicks on the TV.

The latest thing to stir up the tabloid is Tipping the Velvet, a BBC period costume drama with healthy doses of girl on girl lesbian action. Complaints to the BBC are all about how LITTLE action there was. Safe. No guys. Everyone wants to watch!

Equality values are so live, especially in my neck of the woods, that any unequal representation is offensive - particularly if its seen to exploit the ladies. For many, the glimpse of boobs in Fifth Element is more offensive than 'that scene' in Reservoir Dogs. Simply because of the exploitation.

Also, nudity is often surplus to the plot. Shooting someone in the face brings the plot along, because that character is now dead. Seeing some chicks ass doesn't move the plot alon in the same way most of the time. It's just eye candy. So its easier to look down on and condemn. Which film would make more sense if you saw a penis in it? Which would make less sense without the tits? Without the guns? without the swearing?

Personally - I'd throw it all in and let people make and show what they want. Clockwork Orange was a good film. Fifth Element was not. Nothing to do with the tit count, gun count, or how many times a big guy says 'Shit!' as someone comes into shot.

Acclaim...

[Schnapple]

...is the greasy turd on the game industry. What with buying ad space on tombstones, to paying people to change their names to "Turok", to paying speeding tickets for people on their way to buy their racing game, they're scum (though all these promotions did originate in the U.K.). Plus, Acclaim is the "quick and dirty" game house - when you want your property made into a game qucikly and don't give a crap about the game being good (any South Park game, any of the Batman movie games), Acclaim will proudly take your money and make you some piece of crap in a record amount of time.

Acclaim is to the game industry what Troma is to the movie industry.

On a related note, does anyone know if this game will use the extremely rare "AO" (Adults Only) ESRB rating?

Re:In related news...

[coene]

On some level I agree (the Tony Hawks and BMX games popularity is a little crazy -- and this takes is a step further), but on a complete different level... This game looks funny as hell.

If you havent seen the trailer, http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=1222.

Seriously, the trailer makes it worth a rent at minimum... What red blooded male doesent like sports + nudity + pimps + hookers + weapons.. Especially in digital form!

Hey, the world is in moral decay.. and its only gonna get worse. This is the biggest step forward since GTA3. I say enjoy the ride.

Re:What ever happened to Leisure Suit Larry?

[no soup for you]

Careful what you wish for... following is a list of Q and A from the Leisure Suit Larry I Quiz.

Spoiler alert -- contains answers!!!

"Tiptoe Through the Tulips" was recorded by c Tiny Tim
"Where's the..." c beef?!
A nehru jacket is b out of date
Bourbon Street is in d New Orleans, Louisi
Calvin Klein is c a clothing designer
Captain Kangaroo's sidekick was d Mr. Greenjeans
Charlie McArthy and d Edgar Bergen
Does a pair of queens beat 3 deuces? a Yes, in Blackjack
Herb Alpert and the ____ Brass? a Tijuana
How many molecules are there in a glass of water? d as many as there ar [sic]
I find computer games with adult content b acceptable
If a physician were on an island with Bo Derek, he would thank God If Bo Derek were here, I'd ask her to d stop playing comput
It's not nice to fool b mother nature
Joe Dimaggio played b Baseball
Lee Harvey killed c John F. Kennedy
Mohammed Ali is c a professional boxe
Peter Piper picked pickled c peppers
Sergent Pepper was c the leader of the l
The largest state is b Alaska
The last name of Annette (on the Mickey Mouse Club) was c Funicello
The most effective form of birth control is a abstinence
The most likely place to find virgins is c St. Mary's Girl's S
The most populous city in the US is c New York
The result of Watergate was c Richard Nixon quit
Utah is full of d none of the above
When playing Monopoly you b must own 4 houses b
Which is non-alcoholic c Perrier
Which is not a car? d Toshiba
Which is not a cheese? d Reisling
Which is not a city in Mexico? c San Diego
Which is not an American armed force? d the national league
Which is not in Hawaii? c Fiji
Who has not been US attourney general? b Sam Shepard
Who is buried in Grants tomb? d Mrs. Grant
Who was not a famous musician? d Tom Garvey
Who was not a politician? c W.C. Fields
Who was not an astronaut? a John Milton
Who was the leader of Nazi Germany? d Adolf Hitler
Who wrote "To be or not to be"? a Will. Shakespeare

My compiments to google (as always) and Ken's cheats?

Christians LIKE sex!

[anomaly]

As a zealous Christian, (dare I admit that I might be categorized as a 'fundie' by the /. crowd?)

I can say that I am not afraid of the human body. I like sex quite a bit, too.

That having been said, I believe that God designed sex to be expressed in the context of an emotionally intimate committed relationship. One reference that discusses sexual satifaction survey results is here
Apparently Christians have higher rates of sexual satisfaction than non-Christians.

With regard to censorship, perhaps Walmart is making decisions based on what their customers want. The marketplace is free, and I don't get up in arms when your favorite pr0n store refuses to carry Jonah - If you want the game, you know where you can find it - Google is your friend.

Respectfully,
Anomaly
BTW - God loves you and longs for relationship with you.
If you would like to know more, please email me.

Re:Traditional game content

[SSJ2 Labsuit]

Americans are a puritan bunch... and the puritans did approve of killing people (remember, they burned witches for entertainment value)... just not of sex.

That's not strictly true. The Puritans were a somwhat repressive bunch, like most of the religious colonists of their day, but they weren't quite as prudish as their name makes them sound. They strongly disapproved of sex outside of wedlock -- but once you were married, it was a different story. They believed a healthy sex life was an important component of a successful marriage, to the point where Puritan ministers actually acted as "sex councilors" if things weren't going well! Puritans actually thought that sex was a kind of duty -- if God didn't want you to do it, he certainly wouldn't have given you such a strong sex drive.

Compared to the "puritanical" groups we have today, the Puritans themselves were pretty sexually liberated.

As for the killing, well, I think you're pretty much on the nail with that one. But again, that was a widespread problem. For most of human history, life was pretty cheap. Killing for various purposes was a common occurance, despite the fact that every Sunday people told each other not to do it. It is only comparatively recently that the right to life has been well respected.

View from an employee

[hirebrand]

A Wal-Mart spokesman stated "We're not going to carry any software with any vulgarity or nudity -- we're just not going to do it."

Ahem.

I am a Wal Mart electronics associate.

We carry Fallout (vulgarity, text), Die Hard (vulgarity, audio). We'll be carrying GTA4: Vice city (audio vulgarity ?).

We carry very violent games.. (PS2) GTA3, (XBOX) Dead to Rights, the new Mortal Kombat game, (PS2) Mark of Kri, (PC) Mafia, etc etc.

The register prompts whether the customer is 17 when you ring a [M] rated game, or [R] rated movie. I let every parent know what they're buying -- and kids don't get mature games from me. :)

Re:In related news...

[enjo13]

Keep in mind that teenage pregnancy and the number of sexually active teenagers has actually steadily decreased over the last 50 years.

In the meantime we have actually identified many diseases as STD's that used to be attributed to things like hygeine. Many experts beleive that the actual rate of STD contraction is way down.

In the meantime the sexual demeanor of the nation has become steadily more liberal... Its a long process, but I think your right. There is a definite correlation between the two..

Re:In related news...

[cenobita]

interestingly enough, each and every one of these retailers comes out as a hypocrite in this.

just yesterday, i walked into wal-mart and bought a copy of GTA3 for PS2. no ID, no huge warning label, nothing. here we have a game that caused such a huge furor, with it's mass amounts of violence and criminal themes, not to mention hookers, pimps, and drugs..purchased from a company that has, time and again, supposedly "put their foot down" on this kind of thing.

$10 bucks says that if this game gets popular, you can expect to see retailers who once claimed they would never tolerate that kind of thing, stocking it in droves to get a slice of the profit. this whole issue comes down to profitability and giving a good marketing face. if the game doesn't look like it's going to be a big seller, it's easy to say "we won't carry this!", because nobody gives a shit either way. turn the tables, though, and not carrying it means a large loss of potential profits.

i can't think of a single retailer who would actually stand behind a claim of morality even at the risk of losing a lot of money.

to finish this, though: i don't think the game looks all that entertaining, nor does the prospect of full nudity really appeal to me. if i want to look at naked women, i'll rent a frickin' porno..not a BMX game.