Pachter Surprised, Disappointed by Target's Decision to Remove Manhunt 2

When GP asked Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter about the financial impact of the Manhunt 2 flap, he initially referred them to Penny Arcade's comic take on the issue.

Then he got serious:

"All kidding aside, I think that the game will have limited appeal (the horror genre has not been huge outside of the Resident Evil games), and given that it's not offered in Europe yet, it's unlikely that it will be a big moneymaker."

GP: "Mike, what about the bad press? Does that help or hurt in the long run?"

Pachter:

"The publicity probably will hurt more than help, but we'll never really know."

[kspraydad]

I'll spout the same stuff for 1/2 the price.

[Owner360-PS3]

Screw Target, thats there loss. There will be Plenty of retailers who will gladly take our money.

[ta1snake]

Come on, just get over it, please.

[BloodySinner]

It's not like this game was good anyway...

[Cat]

"surprised and hurt"? suck it up and be a man; who are you, Brody Jenner?

"I don’t think individual retail chains should play censor." They aren't playing censor, as a business they have a right to choose their stock. They have opted for the risk of losing money on some game sales v. the risk of customer displeasure at the game being stocked.

I don't even buy games from Target, but I bet a lot of the people that do are parents/families. They probably weren't going to pick up Manhunt 2 for little jimmy.

[Syko]

Ahhhhhhhhhh! I just googled Brody Jenner to find out who the hell you where talking about, and thanks to the pictures that came up I poured Acetone in my eyes to try to erase the images from my pupils.

Thanks....A bunch.

[Rooftrellen]

"They aren't playing censor, as a business they have a right to choose their stock. They have opted for the risk of losing money on some game sales v. the risk of customer displeasure at the game being stocked."

But this is what I have problems with. If I walk into a Target and see a movie that is rated R (which is actually slightly harsher than a game rated M), they ARE censoring, not just choosing not to stock something consumers might not like.

If you make a choice, you must stand by it. Making a choice is to say you will not stock anything that are meant for people only 17 or older because some customers might not like it.

Censoring is picking and choosing what you stock or don't stock. They sell movies that are rated R. Heck, they even sell Halo 3 and other games that are rated M.

They are censoring, not just choosing to not stock things meant for people 17 and older or that some people might find offensive.

[Cat]

@ syko:
lol, that was brave of you. see what bravery gets you?? ;)

@rooftrellen:
i guess that's just where are opinions part ways. i'm not a big fan of businesses deciding what is and isn't available to me, but that is just what they do everyday. why can't i find darigold at my local supermarket? b/c they find it more cost effective to stock a different brand. yes, in this analogy manhunt 2 is the milk. ;)

(and legally, the censorship argument doesn't hold water :()