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Wal-Mart Controls Modern Game Design?
An anonymous reader writes "That Wal-Mart smiley face is looking pretty evil now that Allen Varney has explained how much influence they have on virtually every modern game: 'Publisher sales reps inform Wal-Mart buyers of games in development; the games' subjects, titles, artwork and packaging are vetted and sometimes vetoed by Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart tells a top-end publisher it won't carry a certain game, the publisher kills that game. In short, every triple-A game sold at retail in North America is managed start to finish, top to bottom, with the publisher's gaze fixed squarely on Wal-Mart, and no other.'"
Wal-Mart has had this impact on developers and publishers for quite some time. One of the most publicized occurrences was with BMX XXX - Wal-Mart didn't want to sell it because of its nature, so they toned it down to fit within Wal-Mart standards. It is unfortunate that one company with so much buying power runs the market. Gamestop is second though, with their recent merger with EB Games. But that's like comparing Godzilla to Oprah. You don't want to make either of them mad, but only one of them is powerful enough to destroy the planet. unless... http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Image:Oprahsaurus.jpg
Electric Pickle Online - gaming news, etc.
Every gamer I know buys from Amazon, EB Games, Gamestop, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc ... but NONE of them go to Wal-Mart for their games. Cheap furniture, office supplies, food, automotive products, maybe. But not games. Wal-Mart in this area doesn't even begin to compete on game selection, price, or in any other way with the more specialized stores.
"Flame away, I wear asbestos underwear"
Wal-Mart has a better idea of what you're buying that you do yourself. The know what gets sold, then know what popular. They could probally tell you how many video games they sold last month, and the result would scare you.
Don't be so quick to call everything a load of shit, because it probally isn't.
It is a bit upsetting that so many companies are at the mercy of Wal-Mart. This doesn't just happen with video games. If Wal-Mart says that this years Easter Bunnies will have 3 ears, your ass better be making some mutant rabbits to scare the kids, or risk getting overthrown by the guy who will.
Wal-Mart holds to much control in the USA (and Canada now) than most people would want. It should be interesting when it all comes crashing down (sooner or later, it will).
Fractured Element
it renewed my sense of horror for Wal-Mart's current management and policies. Just because you have the ability to determine the products that reach consumers shouldn't give you ethical license to do so. I wish Walton Sr. was still around, back when Wal-Mart stood for high wages, good benefits and US made products. Whatever happened to hereditary behavior?
Walmart has a right to decide what it wants to sell. The publishers and developers are the ones making a concsious decision here. Support independent game publishers that don't go through this channel, the ones that understand their customers enough to realize that there is a market that may lie outside of the Walmart shopper demographic and are willing to take the risk to sell to them. Remeber, only YOU can prove there is a market outside of Walmart.
This is hardly surprising. Wal-Mart has had quite a stranglehold on the supply sie of the market for a number of years. Technically, they're not a monopoly, but for all practical purposes, they wield the power of a monopoly from one end of the supply chain to another. You have to admire their innovation (they've revolutionized the modern retail supply chain), but it's also quite scary how much control they have.
Although it's been linked to numerous times here and elsewhere, I'd like to point those interested in learning more about how Wal-Mart deals with supppliers to the now-famous Fast Company article on the subject.
Transistors and Beer!!
But the greatest censor of all of content is the whim of the RETAIL buyer. What the buyer doesn't buy eventually doesn't get sold. Of course, there are niche markets that could sustain some of the content, but even Hollywood is changing its product mix in response to economist analysis of various ratings.
Simply put, even when you take artistic expression into account, media entertainment is commercial art. If you can't sell it, it doesn't get done.
My idea for a "sim-mart" game, replete with bouncing smiley faces knocking prices down, white trash beating their kids in the aisles, and ra-ra sessions in the back room would probably go over great!! There could even be sub games, like "spot the psycho" in the sporting goods gun section.
... what did you expect, something profound?
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
How can you even consider Wal-mart a video game retail monopoly?
Here in little Ottawa, Canada, you can buy games at Zellers, Sears, EBGames, Microplay, Futureshop, Best Buy, Compusmart, Toys R Us, amazon.ca, etc.
Stop with the wal-mart whining already!
Our company makes posters and calendars, and does business with Wal-Mart. We're small (~$60million in revenue, maybe 200 employees in the whole universe) but the tentacles of Wal-Mart snake their way through every decision we make here.
Products live and die based on whether Wal-Mart will "allow" them or not. We had to turn down a license for a moderately popular program on Cartoon Network because of the number of people who don't "get" that the Boondocks is ridiculing both bigots and walking stereotypes simultaneously. We couldn't turn a profit with it if our biggest customer wasn't interested. Based on previous experience, the people that "deal directly" with Wal-Mart said "great idea, it'll never happen." Which is too bad, because I really dig Boondocks.
Frighteningly enough, Huey is becoming my social conscience...
In the evil capitalist system, a corporate giant like Walmart uses it's enourmous power and natural monopoly to exploit the people by driving out competition and lowering prices... and it also gives it the power to sqeeze suppliers and control content of media products.
Where as in the socialist utopia, a government owned corporation uses it's enourmous power and monopoly to free the people from oppression, by lowering prices, driving out exploitive capitalist competition... sqeezing suppliers into charging the people low prices, and ensuring that the government corporation censors media for exploitive and counter-revolutionary material.
Oh, that is right, the socialist system is less exploitive because "we have power"... we get to vote... every couple years... from a small list of parties... who are highly regulated by those in power... and subject to strict requirements written by those in power... and campaigns are funded by those in power... and in which we recieve information about the election from those in power. How could there be anything exploitive like that.
uh DeWalt is Black and Decker.
Incidentally, the whole "Walmart economic death spiral" is a bit oversold. If you operate a retail business, Walmart dropping a store next to you is not so fun. If you work at a retail business, you might well end up working at the Walmart. If you do neither, the only economic impact Walmart has on you is changing what bag your Wonderbread comes in (and, oh, saving you money).
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
Umm, no. Dewalt is a brand owned by Black and Decker, but as anyone that's ever used and abused a power tool can tell you, Dewalt is NOT Black and Decker. Period.