NZ Retailer bans violent games

[Cetacea]

New Zealands largest retail group has removed all R18 DVDs and Games (like GTA V) from its stores citing an internal review to ensure that its products reflect its values of Family and Community. The review was sparked by complaints from customers and I can confirm that the founder of The Warehouse Steven Tindall did establish the philanthropic Tindall Foundation in 1994 which is a significant non-government supporter of Community and Family programmes in the country - so he does put his money on the line for the values.

Of course there has been a backlash with adults bemoaning the fact that the countries two major budget retailers of video games are no longer supplying the R 18 games they want. There are screams of censorship, big brother and parental responsibility.

But what do you think NSG, while retailers certainly have the right to remove products they don't like despite consumer demand is it morally sound to be playing censor? Do parents have an obligation to monitor their own childrens consumption patterns and what of the rights to the poor 30-something smhucks who can no longer get an easy dose of graphic violence and sexual content on their PS4?

http://www.3news.co.nz/business/the-war ... 2014112416

[Utilitarian Garibaldi]

steam?

[Utceforp]

If you find a game offensive, you should just not buy it, not force everyone else to not buy it either.

[Tyrinth]

What a stupid business decision. If you're already in competition with the ease of direct download or online retail, why make it easy for them?

No, I don't think it's the retailer's position to censor. Yes, they're free to do what they want, but claiming moral superiority over your customers is just stupid.

[Fartsniffage]

Are they removing 18 rated movies?

[Soviet Haaregrad]

Time to do all your game purchases at another store. And maybe take away whatever other business you can do there and do it elsewhere.
They have the right to choose what they sell and I have the right to shop else where.

[Utceforp]

Time to do all your game purchases at another store. And maybe take away whatever other business you can do there and do it elsewhere.
They have the right to choose what they sell and I have the right to shop else where.

The problem is that this is New Zealand and there aren't that many options to get games.

[Neutraligon]

Does that mean they aren't selling rated R movies?

[Soviet Haaregrad]

Time to do all your game purchases at another store. And maybe take away whatever other business you can do there and do it elsewhere.
They have the right to choose what they sell and I have the right to shop else where.

The problem is that this is New Zealand and there aren't that many options to get games.

Understandable. There's always the internet though, at least for PC games.
Also, by abandoning this portion of the market it's possible that a new competitor might decide to take that entire portion and run with it.

[Cetacea]

Time to do all your game purchases at another store. And maybe take away whatever other business you can do there and do it elsewhere.
They have the right to choose what they sell and I have the right to shop else where.

The problem is that this is New Zealand and there aren't that many options to get games.

Heh yeah I was going to add that note - for a lot of people in New Zealand getting the 'latest' game from another store means a 2 hour trip to one of the cities (New Zealand only has 6 of those)

[Qianrong]

Say bye-bye to all that profit now, Mr. Retailer...

[Wisconsin9]

You know, usually I don't believe that the free market will actually settle things, but I'm willing to believe in this case. Brick and mortar game stores are already dying. Literally the last thing they want to be doing is giving people any more reasons to go digital.

[West Aurelia]

While retailers certainly have the right to remove products they don't like despite consumer demand is it morally sound to be playing censor?

There is no reason to ban violent games. If you're don't like it, don't play it. Simple. There is no reason for you to decide what other people can and cannot play.

Do parents have an obligation to monitor their own childrens consumption patterns?

I would have no problem with kids playing violent games as long as they know it's a game and it doesn't affect their actual behavior. Retailers can simply refuse to sell games to under-18s, and parents can refuse to buy games for their children if they dislike its content.

[Empire of Narnia]

I heard that New Zealand has bandwith caps that are quite lower than in North America so digital downloading games might not be practical for them.

[Laerod]

Hrm. On the one hand, the oligopoly that this and the other store seem to have makes it a major concern for anyone that legitimately wants these games. On the other hand, I can't really fault someone for not wanting to sell things they aren't comfortable with if the reason for this is violence.

[Faiv]

Only this video game store can lose in this situation. People simply go to another store and it's simple as that. Lost revenue and I wonder how long they can go on. Biggest so called boxoffice games tend to be games like GTA and Call of Duty.

[The Rich Port]

Nobody ever accused conservatives of thinking things through.

[The Sotoan Union]

It is wrong to censor things like this. But parents should also have more control over what their kids play. If your kid is playing something that you would take offense at then who's fault is it? These games were not designed with kids in mind, though the companies sure don't mind the money from parents who do buy these games.

[Alizeria]

I'm not a gamer so it doesn't affect me too much, but I can understand the frustration. While they are within their right to not sell those games, it's certainly a very stupid business decision - and I would give it a year or two before "for some reason" they find their profit margins falling again.

Also frustrating because of how small New Zealand is, and how hard it is to buy things anyway. I guess it'll just be more money going to internet retailers, probably offshore and next time there's one of those "Buy Kiwi and we've got it made" campaigns we'll know why no one wants to shop at domestic retailers...

[Jetan]

Ridicilous bullshit. Luckily, the one they are hurting the most with this is themselves. If a store decided to act this condescending towards me I'd certainly take my business somewhere else.

[Jeruselem]

It just means NZers travelling to Australia will be spending their gaming $$$ there!

[Alizeria]

Ridicilous bullshit. Luckily, the one they are hurting the most with this is themselves. If a store decided to act this condescending towards me I'd certainly take my business somewhere else.

The only problem is that there aren't many options in New Zealand. That's my attitude toward a lot of places here, but options are too limited for me to really be able to say "I'll go somewhere else".

[Laerod]

Only this video game store can lose in this situation. People simply go to another store and it's simple as that. Lost revenue and I wonder how long they can go on. Biggest so called boxoffice games tend to be games like GTA and Call of Duty.

From what the Kiwis here are saying that sounds like it's not really an option.

[Costa Fierro]

Say bye-bye to all that profit now, Mr. Retailer...

The Warehouse is like the NZ version of Wal-Mart. There's plenty of other cheap shit for people to buy.

As for my opinion on this, as a card carrying New Zealander and occasional client of the Big Red Shed, I couldn't give two shits. I haven't brought a game from The Warehouse in about a year or so. The last two Xbox One games I have acquired were brought online; one from some computer parts website and one off XBox Live itself.

Not to mention that it's not the only place to buy games. The only thing it has going for it was low launch prices. Other than that, there's really no other reason. I could easily go to EB Games or Dick Smith and get games from there.

The only problem is that there aren't many options in New Zealand. That's my attitude toward a lot of places here, but options are too limited for me to really be able to say "I'll go somewhere else".

The only places that are doing this are Kmart and The Warehouse. You can still get these sorts of games from EB Games, Dick Smith, Noel Leaming etc. or simply order them online or download them through Xbox Live/whatever they have for PS4 .

[Indira]

A stupid move and very patronising, but hardly censorship. Although you have to wonder what family values they're trying to protect, especially when you consider that a lot of games have a very combat-orientated approach