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

Re:Too much buying power...

[Otter]

The smaller packaging of games has made them easier to store, produced less waste, and has generally been good for consumers as a whole.

Heaven forbid that anyone, including the submitter or editor, should bother to RTFA, but in fact the article goes into lengthy detail about how Wal-Mart drove game publishers to use more efficient packaging, as they've done for many of the goods they carry.

"from the telling-you-what-is-good dept", indeed...

Re:Too much buying power...

[Kjella]

You just don't buy the right games. Grand Theft Auto: New Jersey (Q4/08) is rumored to come with a used condom, a hypodermic needle and a dead hooker in the packaging.

No, you just got an opened package where nothing is in the original condition. First you use the condom on the hooker, then you use the drug shot to overdose her and cover up the evidence. It brings "This activation code has already been used." to a whole new level.