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.'"

Comments

Too much buying power...

[Komarechka]

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

Re:Too much buying power...

[chill]

The problem is, this effect appears to be entirely unintentional. Walmart has always tried to maintain a family friendly "Bible-belt" image. As a result, they have never in their history carried games that didn't meet their current criteria.

This is so not true.

I was in Walmart the other day, browsing thru DVDs and what did I see: The uncensored version of Comedy Central's Pamela Anderson Roast; the Director's Cut of Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects"; the "Uncensored" Director's Cut of "The Girl Next Door" -- you know, the one where the porn stars move in next door to this high school kid? Tons of "uncensored" and "director's cuts" of almost-porn and very, very violent slasher movies. DVD seasons of South Park, Tripping the Rift, etc. Family-friendly fare it ain't.

Their "criteria" is, and always has been, whatever sells the most without making too much of a PR stink. Music and games are easy targets, so Walmart forces censorship and gets to wave the "family" flag. Since no stink is made with video, they sell damn near everything except hardcore.

  -Charles

Re:Too much buying power...

[MightyMartian]

Well, Walmart is selling Brokeback Mountain, despite the protestations of those freedom-loving Bible Belt types, so clearly, at the end of the day, despite the image, what counts to them is making money.

Cheap household goods, maybe, but not games.

[Spectre]

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.

Good old capitalism

[multiOSfreak]

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.

Ah yes, the free market

[ronfar]

Wal-Mart, the Abuse of Eminent Domain and Corporate Welfare

Most of Alameda Square's businesses are profitable. Together they generate about $125,000 a year in sales tax revenue. But if the city of Denver has its way, these small businesses will be evicted to make way for a Wal-Mart super-center. The city's Urban Renewal Authority has threatened condemnation if the property owners refuse to sell and has offered Wal-Mart $10 million in public subsidies. That's right: Tax dollars would go to one of the country's most profitable and powerful corporations.

That free market sounds like a pretty sweet deal where you can buy your own city government...

Wal-Mart leads the pack in attracting subsidies, this year collecting $10 million in Denver; $500,000 in Dallas; $36.7 million in Scottsdale, Ariz., (as part of a shopping center that includes Lowe's); $9 million in Bartlesville, Okla.; and $17 million in Lewiston, Maine.

Re:It really isn't a free market

[Jonny_eh]

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!

Walmart... Karl Marx's Dream!

[RexRhino]

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.

So do we have anyone who actually SHOPS at Walmart

[patio11]

All the self-congratulatory "I'm different than the masses who shop at Walmart. I value quality. I have refined tastes." is getting a little thick around here. I bear no ill-will in my heart for folks who bought their gym shoes at some specialty shop instead of buying them for 10% less at Walmart. You can laugh at the quality of Walmart shoes, although I regularly had them last over a year without noticeable performance problems (this is probably because all kids shoes are made in the same Chinese factories and the thing you pay for is the brand value -- people act like Walmart alone killed the US textile industry, when essentially *nobody* does any sort of commodity fabrication in the US). You can also laugh at the quality of their Wonderbread or whatnot, although personally I'm unable to distinguish it from the "local chain store" Wonderbread. I also find it relatively difficult to distinguish a Walmart Vlassic pickle from a Jewel Vlassic pickle... Oh yeah, except for that one thing... WALMART IS CHEAPER. My father was a small businessman whose income gyrated radically on a year-to-year basis, and some years my family was significantly below the poverty line. And you know what? There's a certain attraction in cutting your food bills by 10% and your clothing bills by *lots*. Do I have a really strong desire to go to Walmart as a working professional? No, not so much, the difference between a $60 bill at the grocery shop and $65 bill at the grocery shop is meaningless to me. But it wasn't once, and it isn't currently to a lot of people.

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).