Slashdot Mirror
Bully Banned by Some British Retailers
stormhair writes "The BBC is reporting that shops in the DSG Group (Currys and PC World) are banning Bully from their shelves. A spokesman says: 'We took a view that because it touches on a sensitive issue — violence in school — that it is not a product we would stock.' DSG has withdrawn other games from their shelves in the past — Hitman and Manhunt."
What bullies.
Sounds like they are trying to be responsible retailers, according to their own reasonable definitions. Every store should have the right (and does in most places) to stock what games or products it wants, and if they think a title is not good for their customers, they don't stock it. Not sure why this is news.
I am sure some will scream "censorship!", which is of course silly, and only the government can censor. I call this "setting standards for what products you carry". If you really want Bully, I am sure there are plenty of other places that sell it.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Clearly they are not refusing to stock it because of its content -- the British apparently have some fetish against single-word titles.
Are they offering Pong, Gorf, or Combat? I rest my case!
...and it will do so much to stop people downloading it from somewhere else.
Just to clarify, PC World and Currys are NOT major games retailers, Currys is an electrical goods store and PC World is primarily for PC hardware. This isn't much of a blow to Rockstar at all.
Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
Companies like Walmart and this group (I am not a brit, so I am not familiar with 'em). They wana be a family friendly company and only stock family friendly games. So be it.
I am still curious about Bully, is it realy about school violence? To me getting into a fist fight isn't school violence. School violence involves knives, guns, and sever beatings.
Are there any reviews out there on the game yet? or moreo n what the game is HONESTLY like? All I have seen are the numerous articles about that idiot attacking the game, and nothing about what the game is really like.
Is it GTA style? Can you wander around and just pick up 'missions'? Is it a more linear story line ? Is it a linear story line with choice on what path to follow (ala Deus Ex)?
cmon now, I am a gamer, I am interested in the game, not the 'negative' hype!
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
This will ensure the game's success.
"Nothing for you to see here."
Private enterprises can stock or not stock whatever they want.
It's not like they are a regulated monopoly or utility or anything.
They'll lose some business and gain some business. Those who want to buy the game can buy it elsewhere or even organize a boycott if they want to make a statement.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Interestingly, the game is called "Canis Canem Edit" here in Europe to avoid these kind of reactions .
First Post!!!!1111oneone!
...Scientists discover that the amount of Dixons stores in the UK is inverseley proportional to the amount of games they ban.
Keep on digging Dixons, those high street stores are dropping like flies, this kind of stunt isn't going to save you!
On a more serious note it's a shame that our stores seem to so freely endorse censorship but then I've never understoond this country, sometimes we seem to be fairly free in what we can do and say and Americans envy this and other times we seem to be so pro censorship on certain issues yet no one seems to bat an eyelid. Things certainly seem to be done differently here, in the US there's lawsuits to ban bully but shops sound like they're willing to stock it, here individual stores randomly decide to put themselves at a competitive disadvantage by banning it off their own back, I'll never understand that one, I guess they just feel that it strengthens their family friendly brand which I guess is understandable, it is only your run of the mill know nothing about IT families that do shop at Dixons/PC World.
Do specialist Heavy-Metal music shops "ban" classical music? No, they just choose not to stock it.
Why? Because they don't think their intended audience want to see it in the shop.
That's all DSG are doing: choosing their stock to suit their market.
HAL
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
...tiny Union Jacks for others! /YAY!
The game is totally tame. It just got a "T for Teen" rating from the ESRB. With the provocative title, Rockstar totally played the press and Jack Thompson like a fiddle.
If you lived in a country with only one major retailer, or a single consortium of retailers who as a whole decided to not carry the game, then this would be a good SlashDot Censorship story.
Even then, you could still buy it online or from abroad, or from a minor "independent" retailer. But that's a lot more work than going to your nearby Super Mega Mart or even your corner Kwikee-Mart.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Do ya think they'll carry "Destroy All Humans 2"?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Their loss. There are plently of other retailers who'll be happy to take the money.
Especially the ones that suck.
That would save me a lot of money, time, and grief from picking a bad title that looked good on the box.
It's ironic that they'd ban a game that denounces bullying, yet still sell games that allow the cold-blooded murder of prostitutes (GTA series). I guess they're "thinking of the children."
Cheers,
Ian
80-90's UK TV reference
The name gives Rockstar an out when people modify the game to add unsavory content: "That's not Canis Canem Edit; that's Canis Canem Edited ."
These are not specialist shops, far from it. They are like futureshop or best buy. And they have carried plenty of other games that are actually violent. This game is rated T, and is very tame. If they were simply not carrying violent games, or games that are rated M then you would have a point. But they are singling out this particular game because it involves a kid who goes to school.
"Interestingly, the title of the game has less to do with bullying and more to do with a play on the name of the school. Bully essentially puts players in the role of a likeable young hero, not quite as Machiavellian as the characters that players have taken control of in GTA titles."
Sounds like an interesting game.
- barkholt
The stores didn't ban it. They chose not to sell it. They made a business decision and that's their right. This isn't a ban; they won't be preventing others from selling it or kicking in your door to take it from you.
But don't let the facts get in the way of your Slashbotism.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Another one for the consumers who patronize their shops.
The reason they wanted to ban it from their stores - where they do sell GTA and other games - is that it would expose their "public schools" (British for what Americans call "private schools") and the abusive bullying that most of the upper class twits take as a given.
It's a sensitive issue, sure. Sensitive because it exposes them for what they are.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Anyone who thinks that this is censorship is a fucktard and an asshat. Get your thumb out of your ass and get on with your lives.
Really? Who the hell actually goes to Currys or PC World to buy games? I dont even go to PC World to buy PC stuff let alone games. Nothing to see here, move along.
To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.
Yes, they have every right in the world to not sell whatever they want. Here's the thing: Nobody disputes that.
Nobody is claiming that they should be forced to stock the game.
People are simply discussing their intentions. You yourself say that we "can choose not to shop there," but in order to do that, we need to be informed about what's going on. That's why this discussion here occurs: To alert people that they may not want to shop there if they disagree with this chain's politics.
So you're right, they have the right to not sell whatever they want. It's just that for this discussion, it doesn't matter at all.