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You can't get double-talk cheaper, anywhere.
Wal-mart, that bastion of low prices - and low wages - appears to be doing the corporate P.R. two-step in light of its decision to stop pre-order sales of Bully from its web store, Wal-mart.com. The move came shortly after controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson filed suit against the giant retailer and Bully publisher Take-Two Interactive in a Florida court on Wednesday.
The suit and the pulling of the game are not related, according to a Wal-mart P.R. spokesman, who claims that the mega-retailer coincidentally just happened to implement a policy not to pre-sell unrated (or RP for "rating pending") games on the same day that Thompson's Florida case was filed. GP's very limited review of Wal-mart's website this morning, however, quickly turned up several such games for sale, including Crackdown, Phantasy Star Universe, and Justice League Heroes.
To recap the chain of events, after threatening for a couple of days, on Wednesday Thompson filed his lawsuit under a Florida public nuisance statute, claiming, among other things, that to release Bully "is preparing at-risk students here and elsewhere for another Columbine."
By 1:16 on Wednesday afternoon, Thompson sent GamePolitics word that the suit had been filed and attached a copy. GP confirmed the filing with the Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Shortly after 6:00 P.M., the anti-game attorney began sending e-mails claiming that Wal-mart had pulled the game in response to his suit, terming the move a "huge initial victory."
Sure enough, searching "bully" on Wal-mart.com yields only Midway's The Ant Bully, a game based on the recent kid flick.
There was no official explanation from Wal-mart at the time and GP was critical of Thompson on Wednesday for taking a victory lap on such sketchy info. However, Joystiq reported on Thursday that "John Simley from Walmart... said that Wal-mart policy is to not carry any unrated or Rating Pending games for pre-order or sale, in-store or online. This decision was made recently... but just reflected on the web site starting this week, hence the pulling of Bully pre-orders. The policy... had nothing to do with any letters or lawsuits from Jack Thompson."
For his part, Thompson confirmed to GP yesterday that he had heard nothing official from Wal-mart, but added, "Actions speak louder than words."
Kotaku had more, including its own interview with Wal-mart's John Simley, who again denied Thompson's pressure had anything to do with the decision to stop Bully pre-orders.
"I'd like to give credit to Jack Thompson," Simley said, "but there are a lot of Jack Thompsons out there and we are just listening to our customers... If (Bully) comes out as an AO ("adults only" rating) that's not something we are going to carry. I think first we will be looking at the rating. Like any other product though, if it is damaging to our brand or patently offensive regardless of the rating, it's not likely we will carry it."
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August 18 2006, 12:14:27 UTC 5 years ago
August 18 2006, 12:16:04 UTC 5 years ago
Wal-Mart knuckles under pressure from knucklehead
It really does look like Wal-Mart is knuckling under. I can smell PR doublespeak through the internet. It's a gift.But Jack's "victory lap" is really misplaced since Wal-Mart has a long history of not selling controversial products AND the game will still be available at:
Best Buy
Circuit City
Target
EB Games
Gamestop
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
etc. etc. etc.
If people want the game, there are a plethora of locations to obtain it from.
August 18 2006, 13:36:57 UTC 5 years ago
Re: Wal-Mart knuckles under pressure from knucklehead
But Jack's "victory lap" is really misplaced since Wal-Mart has a long history of not selling controversial products AND the game will still be available at:Best Buy
Circuit City
Target
EB Games
Gamestop
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
etc. etc. etc.
If people want the game, there are a plethora of locations to obtain it from.
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That might be why Thompson singled out Wal-Mart instead of other retailers. He might have known they would do that. So when it does happen, he has press releasess saying how it was all his doing ready to send out.
Am I giving him more credit than he deserves?
- Warren Lewis
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August 18 2006, 12:17:15 UTC 5 years ago
Gee, Jack Thompson, Wallmart
All things being considered, who do you belive?Yeah, I'll still belive walmart sooner then an Idiot like Jack thompson.
August 18 2006, 12:34:49 UTC 5 years ago
Re: Gee, Jack Thompson, Wallmart
The lesser of two evils? =P5 years ago
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August 18 2006, 12:49:18 UTC 5 years ago
BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH. Wal-Mart used to have a policy of not carrying M games.
Then a little thing called GTA 3 came out and sold like hotcakes. They rethough their positions.
August 18 2006, 12:57:47 UTC 5 years ago
BIG victory there
when you win over at the place that essentially requires all it's manufactuerers to operate in countires like china, I really don't call that a victory, moreover I call THAT a loss.August 18 2006, 13:24:29 UTC 5 years ago
I smell bullplop
The odds that Bully will come out with a rating of AO are... well, they're none.Let's even ignoring all the buzz that it's much calmer that than the hype and may even get a T rating for the sake of argument here.
If the ESRB rated Bully AO, Rockstar would pull the game back, remove the elements that caused the AO rating and submit for re-rating trying to get the M rating.
There have only been 22 AO rated products according to Wikipedia... all but a few have been due to sexual content... something HIGHLY unlikely for Bully.
More to the point, too many major retailers have standing policies not to carry AO rated products (due to the ratings' perceived equivalency to an X or NC-17 MPAA rating) no matter what. And that's a lot of money to turn down.
Therefore, given that there's no chance at all that Bully will be AO, the logic that they are pulling pre-orders based on that chance is a clear and obvious lie.
August 18 2006, 13:31:04 UTC 5 years ago
Honestly. Bully, getting an AO rating? Are you joking? That's just about as likely as Jack Thompson spontaneously combusting.
I'd like to believe that Walmart didn't listen to Jack, but with talk like that I'm not so sure. Who else could have put such ridiculous ideas into a person's head?
August 18 2006, 13:45:12 UTC 5 years ago
August 18 2006, 14:18:38 UTC 5 years ago
Whoopdy-doo
Oh look, another lie by John Bruce. You had nothing to do with it. You're not as powerful as you would like to believe.Face it John, you're a pathetic old man, grasping at straws and yearning for another chance to feed your narcissistic personality disorder.
You know you'll never get to rate Bully - you're not as unbiased as you claim to be (big suprise, another lie). The other misspellings and errors from your suit Wednesday don't even rate you at your own age. For goodness' sake John, you're fifty five years old (I think) and you can't even use a spell-checker? Granted, I may have spelling mistakes in this post, but one generally can't expect to be taken seriously when one leaves spelling mistakes in a legal document.
I find your lack of brains disturbing.
August 18 2006, 14:27:21 UTC 5 years ago
As per Kotaku...
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.dBully is still there. It's just not accepting pre-orders.
August 18 2006, 15:27:19 UTC 5 years ago
Re: As per Kotaku...
Then Jack hasn't got much of a victory, since pre-orders aren't neccesarly done by all games who want the game. Unless it's something like Halo 2 or the next GTA, there's no need in putting in an order for the game ahead of time.5 years ago
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August 18 2006, 14:59:09 UTC 5 years ago
anyone else find this "reason" really really lame?
They have a policy to not carry any unrated games, yet they are DAMN proud to carry & advertise those unrated movies, which are the EXACT SAME THING.
August 18 2006, 18:25:12 UTC 5 years ago
no not really, most of those movies have been showcased in theatres and therefore have been rated by the mpaa, tunrated means that they added in some delted scenes directly into the film making the film unrated. All deleted scenes are unrated, why just look at any DVD even Shrek for instacne you'll find a little note that says 'Bonus features unrated' and besides are you really likely to find a copy of 'Mary Poppins the unrated DVD'
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August 18 2006, 15:07:18 UTC 5 years ago
Bully rated AO?
Last I checked, the only games ever rated AO are the ones that more than imply sexual content. In other words, you see the act done on some level (though I never heard of a game going into full detail, we're talking censor bars and stuff here) or the game contains a heck of a lot of it. I highly doubt Bully will contain sex or anything. If the ESRB is worried about teens getting the game, they'll just rated it M. I mean, by 17 if kids still bully they need to take a long hard look at their futures.August 18 2006, 15:20:18 UTC 5 years ago
Hey Dennis
Jack just stole your article and posted it in the comments section of Joystiq, Might be just what we need to put him behind bars, as I belive thats illegal to copy work from another location and post it elsewhere without permission.Wish i knew what that law was, but oh well.
Might wanna go ask joystiq to pull the comment and make jack look like a fool.
August 18 2006, 16:11:00 UTC 5 years ago
Re: Hey Dennis
yes, Jack is quick to criticize GP but invariably circulates anything we write that even remotely could be perceived as supporting his position.5 years ago
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August 18 2006, 15:21:01 UTC 5 years ago
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/17/wal-m
August 18 2006, 15:31:51 UTC 5 years ago
So can I be an expert on 60 Minutes
When Walmart puts the "preorder" button back on when Bully is rated T or M?My bet is they'll rate it by the start of Sept, so they can start putting ads in magazines.
My guess is Walmart is pulling pre-orders "just in case" it gets an AO rating. Unlikely, but there's still a chance, and pulling the pre-order button now means they save themselves a ton of refunds on the off-chance that it does get one.
On the other hand, should it get a much tamer rating (very likely), they'll just slap the button back on again and re-add it to their catalog. Don't even need to redo the sale page on the website, because it's still there.
August 18 2006, 16:55:34 UTC 5 years ago
True or not, its obvious that Walmart wants nothing to do with Thompson and his crusade here.
"....claiming, among other things, that to release Bully 'is preparing at-risk students here and elsewhere for another Columbine.'"
How about you direct your energies toward stopping Walmart from carrying firearms? Unless you think the next Columbine will include students being shot with 120mm DVD discs that are rated "M" for Mature, going after the firearms they carry will most likely be more productive to avoiding another Columbine.
Anyhow, if somebody from GP sent me that text message the other night impersonating Jack, props to you, that was amusing. If that was actually Jack, man you really need to go on some kind of ego diet. You're not going to rescue anybody from anything with your endless lawsuits. Whats it like being a laughingstock among the legal community? Do the judges in Florida roll their eyes when they get your lawsuits yet or are they still being polite?
August 18 2006, 17:00:11 UTC 5 years ago
And before the anti-Wal-Mart crowd gets here, lets take a look at this from their perspective: They are a "family-friendly" imaged company, and this game is taking lots of heat from the protect the children crowd, so they pulled pre-orders.
Wal-Mart execs aren't gamers, and therefore can't understand that the reports about this game are, in all likely-hood, wildly exaggerated. Look at it from a non-gamer standpoint. Who do you believe? One crowd yells about violence against kids, teachers, and toture etc. The execs probably haven't looked at any legit previews and are just covering their prospective asses from a customer stanpoint. It will piss off customers if they sell pre-orders for a game they can't sell (due to their own policy).
Plus, as others have pointed out, just pre-order from a more reliable pre-order source. Wal-Mart is rather bad at video game street dates.
Besides, pre-ordering is for chumps. Who pays for something that doesn't exist yet, and probably have its release date changed 4 times?
Also, Jack loses to Wal-Mart. That has to sting.
August 18 2006, 17:11:05 UTC 5 years ago
Rockstar gives analogy for Bully, Brit style
Liz Carnell, director of Bullying Online, said a representative of the firm told her their game Bully was no more than a contemporary retelling of Just William, the books that in the 1920s told the tale of a good-hearted, prank-loving, gaff-prone boy.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/0
Ah Just William. Those books were hilarious. And about as violent as "Bully" is described to be.
I highly recommend the series. William is like a Brit Dennis the Menace, only with a BB gun instead of a slingshot. My fav was when he convinced the ultra-Christian that her cat had been "spellbound" by a local witch coven, to cover the fact that he had accidentally shot it in the garden and had replaced it with first someone else's cat (explaining the strange behavior), then a stuffed duplicate (because the other cat also died)...
August 18 2006, 23:47:11 UTC 5 years ago
Re: Rockstar gives analogy for Bully, Brit style
I don't think anyone wants to be bothered with your little"facts" and "rational thinking" and "logic". You'll just make people confused and give them a headache.
August 18 2006, 17:34:27 UTC 5 years ago
Preorders for console RP games at Walmart.com
GBA.............35Xbox360.........23
Xbox............29
PS2.............71
DS..............47
GC..............17
PSP.............52
Total...........274
Andrew Eisen
P.S. - Credit to Jabrwock for pointing this out yesterday.
August 19 2006, 00:31:20 UTC 5 years ago
Re: Preorders for console RP games at Walmart.com
Wow, that just makes my idea that they're going to do it to all /future/ RP games make more sense - there's just too damn many RP games there already. :PAugust 18 2006, 18:24:30 UTC 5 years ago
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?prod
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009S
http://www.atomicpark.com/xq/aspx/b
http://www.mediadis.com/games/detail.as
http://take2store.stores.yahoo.net/bupl
I win this round, Thompson.
August 18 2006, 18:45:41 UTC 5 years ago
OT: GP Joystiq Column!
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/18/the-pExcellent Read!
August 18 2006, 19:13:08 UTC 5 years ago
Re: OT: GP Joystiq Column!
why thank you... mom5 years ago
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August 18 2006, 21:29:26 UTC 5 years ago
Gotta give JT credit...
...just when you think the self-important bastard's megalomania can't get any worse, he goes and outdoes himself yet again. I really think he must be insane on some level, I mean, how can someone continue to lose over and over again yet still have such an overinflated opinion of himself?Great job on the column, btw Dennis, looking forward to next week's.
August 18 2006, 22:20:30 UTC 5 years ago
Why isn't anyone calling Wal-Mart
Call them and tell them that if they cave to pressure and won't sell Bully that you'll never buy a game from their stores again, they do listen to their customers and WE ARE their customers!!!August 18 2006, 23:34:20 UTC 5 years ago
Re: Why isn't anyone calling Wal-Mart
That wouldn't be a stretch. I don't really buy games from Wal-Mart as is.- Warren Lewis
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August 19 2006, 00:00:32 UTC 5 years ago
Puh-lease.
Yeah, like anyone can tell WAL-MART what to do. (Short of maybe the National Guard.)Wal-Mart pulled the game because of their normal sale policies, not because of Thompson. I mean, there was a time that Wal-Mart didn't carry Jon Stewart's book, "America," either, but it's there now.
I think it's just a coincidence. Thompson needs to put his ego away. Also, I think Warren was right: Thompson singled Wal-Mart out because of the history of their sale policies.
August 19 2006, 00:35:31 UTC 5 years ago
Pre-Orders?
While I think pre-ordering for a game like Bully is pretty stupid, what the hell happened to the money that those people spent to pre-order it?← Ctrl← Alt
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