{"id":33726,"date":"2014-12-05T14:46:58","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T06:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=33726"},"modified":"2014-12-05T11:18:49","modified_gmt":"2014-12-05T03:18:49","slug":"grand-theft-auto-v-video-game-pulled-from-target-australia-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/12\/05\/grand-theft-auto-v-video-game-pulled-from-target-australia-stores\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Grand Theft Auto V\u2019 video game pulled from Target Australia stores"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"gameranx.com\"<\/a>
gameranx.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES\u2014Target Australia is removing \u201cGrand Theft Auto V\u201d from store shelves after more than 40,000 people who say the video game encourages players to murder women for entertainment signed an online petition asking the retailer to stop selling it.<\/p>\n

The decision is the latest in a long line of controversies sparked by the 17-year-old video game series that casts players as car-stealing criminals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game\u2019s content,\u201d said Jim Cooper, Target Australia\u2019s general manager of corporate affairs, on Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

A petition posted Nov. 29 on Change.org called for Target Australia to stop selling \u201cGTA V\u201d because it \u201cmakes a game of bashing, killing and horrific violence against women.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest installment in Rockstar Games\u2019 action-adventure series centres on a trio of bank robbers in Los Santos, a tongue-in-cheek rendition of Los Angeles. The open-world, third-person game allows players to participate in a several optional virtual activities, including visiting strip clubs and hiring prostitutes, as well as playing tennis and riding a roller coaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cGTA V\u201d originally debuted in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A new edition for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One released last month adds the ability to play in a first-person perspective, offering a closer glimpse at gameplay, including sex acts that were previously obscured.<\/p>\n

Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Rockstar Games\u2019 parent company, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., called the Australian retailer\u2019s decision to stop selling the game disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Grand Theft Auto V\u2019 explores mature themes and content similar to those found in many other popular and groundbreaking entertainment properties,\u201d Zelnick said. \u201cInteractive entertainment is today\u2019s most compelling art form and shares the same creative freedom as books, television and movies. I stand behind our products, the people who create them, and the consumers who play them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper said Target Australia would continue to sell other R-rated DVDs and games.<\/p>\n

Target Australia operates more than 300 stores and is owned by Wesfarmers Ltd. Evan Lapiska, a spokesman for Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Target Corp., noted that Target Australia is not operated by the U.S. retail company. The companies share the same name and logo.<\/p>\n

\u201cGTA V\u201d will continue to be sold in Target stores in North America.<\/p>\n

Several retailers removed \u201cGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas\u201d from stores in 2005 when sexual content was uncovered in the game, and its rating was changed from \u201cmature\u201d to \u201cadults only.\u201d Rockstar Games later released an updated version with the content removed, and the \u201cmature\u201d rating was restored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u2014Target Australia is removing \u201cGrand Theft Auto V\u201d from store shelves after more than 40,000 people who say the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":33887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","mauthors-derrik-j-lang","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}