Target pulls Grand Theft Auto 5 off shelves in Australia

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Target pulls Grand Theft Auto 5 off shelves in Australia

 

Target Australia will cease sales of Grand Theft Auto 5 following "feedback from customers about the game's depictions of violence against women," according to a company press release.

 

"We've been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game's content," said Target General Manager Corporate Affairs Jim Cooper. "We feel the decision to stop selling GTA 5 is in line with the majority view of our customers."

 

Target Australia will continue selling other R-rated DVDs and games.

 

Gizmodo AU points out this corporate decision likely ties back to a Change.org petition and its 40,000 signatures.

 

"While these products often contain imagery that some customers find offensive, in the vast majority of cases, we believe they are appropriate products for us to sell to adult customers," Cooper continued. "However, in the case of GTA 5, we have listened to the strong feedback from customers that this is not aproduct they want us to sell."

 

Source: joystiq

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

This was in GTA3, SA and GTA IV...

 

How did it become a problem now? Just because it sold so much?

 

I played the whole story line with all 3 characters on PS3 and not once did I see "so much" of "that" in the game.

 

Feminazis on a roll again.

[Tomo]

Give me strength.....

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

You're selling adult rated content to adults, people can ignore it if they don't want it.

Whats next? Time to remove DVDs/Blu Rays and books due to violence or sexual violence?

Really annoys me why companies won't take a stand on matters like this to hurry up and force the brain dead to respect gaming like every other story telling medium. Target are in the wrong here, pandering to individual loud mouths instead of shunning them.

[spaceelf]

They would rather not ostracize the people they're selling to.  Who cares?  Buy it somewhere else.

[Guest]

what noise does a sheep make

[Nick H. Supervisor]

...feedback from customers about the game's depictions of violence against women..."

So we can't depict women being attacked in a video game, but it's fine for men to be attacked? Let's remove the women from the game then. Hang on, we can't do that for equality issues...which we were handling by including the same actions allowed against women as men, but apparently that's wrong.

If anyone needs me, I'll be in the corner shaking my head. There is no winning this.

[neufuse Veteran]

I find it highly offensive they make the men look so macho and violent..... :rolleyes:

[+JHBrown Subscriber¹]

Target's loss. Order elsewhere. The rating system is there for a reason. Why don't they pull "R" rated movies from the shelves next?

[Skiver Veteran]

I don't really remember any of the storyline that involved HAVING to be violent to any women in the game in order to progress, anyone help me on that?

 

So if this is happening in a game should the fingers not be pointed at the people who are controlling the character, not the game for allowing these things to happen?

[MikeChipshop Member]

Of those 40,000 signatures, how many would have been directly affected? None is my guess.

 

Stupid decision on Target's behalf. Target is the only loser here as people will continue to purchase it elsewhere and those 40,000 empty vessels that made oh so much noise, probably wont be shopping there any way.

[badb0y]

It's a Game period (.).

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

I don't agree with it personally, being in the United States, but's it's Australia's laws and rules.

Germany, is the other country that heavily sensor's / bans games.

 

Something to consider, In the United States, violence is accepted, sexual is taboo and censored.

In Europe, it's generally the opposite. 

 

Highlander, the Tv Series were shot with violence and sex scene's.

The Us version received the violence, with edited sexual content, and in Europe the violence was censored, with full sexual content.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Blue's News has a great summary:

 

 

Target has stopped selling Grand Theft Auto V in Australia, citing the depiction of violence against women in the open-world action game which depicts violence against everyone

 

The game is designed for adults and adults should be able to decide which forms of entertainment they want to support and purchase.

[Knife Party]

Time to use the black marker /s 

[MikeChipshop Member]

Also this line

 

However, we feel the decision to stop selling GTA5 is in line with the majority view of our customers.

 

...is such BS, so apparently 40,000 people signed a petition for them to stop selling it, what percentage of customers is that? Surely not a "Majority". How many people didn't sign that petition.

Just some crappy chain trying to take the moral high ground to appear whiter than white.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

This is honestly so pathetic.

 

 

Why do people see violent games as such an issue but not films?

 

This kind of thing always seems to be done by clueless people who know nothing about the game.

[SiCKX]

 

 

 

Why do people see violent games as such an issue but not films?

 

 

Why do you give them ideas? :D

They'll remove The Godfather, Pulp Fiction etc. from IMDB soon.

[compl3x]

An online petition that claims open-world action game Grand Theft Auto V ?encourages players to commit sexual violence and kill women,? has forced Target Australia to withdraw it from sale.

 

The online petition, started by three female survivors of violence, ?including women who experienced violence in the sex industry,? now has over 40,000 signatures. The petition specifically focuses on retail giant Target and its sale of GTA V, saying, ?This sickening game encourages players to commit sexual violence and kill women.?

 

The petition goes on to claim that GTA V is a game that encourages players to murder women for entertainment: ?The incentive is to commit sexual violence against women, then abuse or kill them to proceed or get ?health? points ? and now Target is stocking it and promoting it for your Xmas stocking. This game means that after various sex acts, players are given options to kill women by punching her unconscious, killing with a machete, bat, or guns to get their money returned.?

 

The campaign highlights one particular YouTube video that shows the use of GTA V?s new first-person mode in picking up and then killing a prostitute.  The first-person perspective is a new feature for GTA V?s recent release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it has given certain activities in the game a more realistic, and potentially more brutal, edge.

 

Some gamers have questioned the petition?s accuracy, however, with one commenter, going by the name Professional Bob, pointing out that having sex is not a requirement of GTA V, and that ?it certainly does not increase health.? He also explains that ?it is impossible to commit acts of sexual violence on anyone in this game. The only sexual acts which can be carried out are consensual, either in the form of a lap dance or paid sex from a prostitute. The fact that the game allows these sorts of things to be done does not mean they are actively encouraged.?

 

Target initially fended off the petition, with general manager of corporate affairs Jim Cooper tellingNews.com that there are two sides to the argument. ?We?ve got to listen to our customers and there are as many defending the right to buy the game as there are who want it removed,? he said. ?We respect the sincerity of people who do not want it sold and their opinion is valid, but we are a retailer for everyone, as long as we are selling the game responsibly.?

 

However, that position has now changed, and Target has withdrawn GTA V from sale. ?We?ve been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game?s content,? Cooper said in a statement.

 

?We?ve also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective on the issue. However, we feel the decision to stop selling GTA V is in line with the majority view of our customers.?

 

?While these products often contain imagery that some customers find offensive, in the vast majority of cases, we believe they are appropriate products for us to sell to adult customers. However, in the case of GTA V, we have listened to the strong feedback from customers that this is not a product they want us to sell.?

 

 

http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/03/target-pulls-grand-theft-auto-v/

 

 

Odd Target was the only one ... targeted. Why not all retailers who carry it? 

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Topics Merged

[remixedcat]

This is the guberment over there thinks vidya games are just for children and want to keep it such.

[timster]

I just posted this on Facebook.

 

Anyone who has played Grand Theft Auto knows that it's a full, drawn out story and not just 'violence for the sake of violence'. Yes, there is violence, but that's a consequence of parts of the story. The characters after all, are criminals.

Sure, there are those that will see senseless violence, but it's because that is all they choose to see and hop on that bandwagon.

Video games are rated for a reason, just as movies and television programs are. The choice to watch, listen to or play is up to the consumer, or too many cases, the parents of the consumer who are buying adult content for their teenagers.

 

[Tidosho]

In this game I kill prostitutes, run women over, stab them etc, but I would NEVER do it to a real live woman. I love women to bits and heartily deeply appreciate everything they stand for and go through in life. Simply for the wonder of childbirth, a woman amazes me and I love her. A woman makes me a man. Having her to love and care for makes me a man.

 

It's the people PLAYING the games that are the issue, NOT the games. Mentally handicapped people who play a game and then go out and try it in real life are the ones who should be banned from playing. I drive like crazy in GTA 5, in real life I drive like a saint, following the Highway Code. There's a big difference between virtual and real, it winds me up so much every time this crap comes up.

 

Extreme feminism needs to stop. Women are beautiful human beings but all this crap where they can insult men, call us pigs, but no outcry, yet if a man dares to insult a woman or kill a pixellated one in a video game there's an outcry by the feminists is really annoying.

[Noir Angel]

Another group caving to the inherent stupidity of social justice warriors and radical feminists. Political correctness is going to end up turning our societies into cultural wastelands if someone doesn't step in and stop this madness soon. I'll wager most of those 40,000 signatures were from people that don't even play games.

[compl3x]

The petition is particularly misleading and dishonest. It makes out as if the only purpose of the game is to engage in misogyny & it is actively encouraged. Neither is true. It also claims you are rewarded via "health" which, as far as I know, isn't true.

 

We had to kick and scream for years to have an R18+ rating added to our systems to make sure games with themes like GTA V weren't obtainable by kids. We used to only have a MA15+ which a lot of games with adult themes were usually shoehorned into. It was the gaming community and retailers who were being the responsible ones by demanding an exclusive adult rating. You get no points for guessing the types of groups who opposed such a rating.

 

 

I think companies vastly overestimate these petitions. These petitions are just slightly more useful than the like button on a Facebook post. Target is probably going to suffer a lot more from gamers who will now avoid their stores for buckling to uniformed pressure.