Despite what The Register is reporting and certain detractors are claiming, Wal-Mart has not stopped selling Bully due to external pressure.

Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley says that effective this week the online branch of the company will no longer accept pre-orders for any games that have not yet received a rating.

Simley says it has nothing to do with Bully, but rather is the outcome of discussions that the company has been in for "weeks if not months" about how to handle rating pending titles. Bricks and mortars stores have never accepted pre-orders for RP titles, he added.

"Id like to give credit to Jack Thompson, but there are a lot of Jack Thompsons out there and we are just listening to our customers," he said.

Simley said a decision has not yet been made on whether the chain, which sells to 127 million customers a day, will cary Bully once it is rated and available for sale.

"If it comes out as an AO that's not something we are going to carry," he said. "I think first we will be looking at the rating. Like any other product though, if it is damaging to our brand or patently ofiensive regardless of the rating, it's not likely we will carry it."

Simley said that the decision to reevaluate the handling of RP pre-orders was spurred by customer feedback.

"Bully is a good example, but I don't know if it's a result of Bully," he said. Brian Crecente

Bully Wal-Mart [The Register]

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