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Truth time: As dumb as Target and K-Mart refusing to stock GTA V in response to a dubious-as-fuck petition is, calling it “censorship” or comparing the company to TEH NAZOIS is dumb beyond words.
One or two companies refusing to sell a game a year after its release (in fucking Australia of all places) isn’t a big deal. Is it unfair, moral panic, PR bullshit? Yes, absolutely. But PR goes both ways; if you don’t like Target’s ethical decisions, don’t shop there. End of. Speaking of PR, Rockstar execs are probably creaming themselves right now, there’s nothing like controversy and talk of censorship to shift units.
But you want to get mad about something, right? What about how most US retailers won’t sell any game that gets an AO rating from the ESRB, forcing developers to self-censor in order to meet arbitrary content guidelines lest they end up being completely fucked in terms of retail sales? I know that story isn’t quite as exciting since it lacks the evil feminist conspiracy angle, but one thing it does have going for it is that it actually fucking matters.
You can follow Grey and Cory on Twitter or you can watch them play videogames poorly on YouTube. Or both. All three. Whatever.
Published: Dec 9, 2014 02:00 pm