RapeLay - Japanese "rape simulator" game

[TonyTheTiger]

Hentai does not automatically equal "bad". There ARE simple nude drawings of legal age adult characters, and soemtimes someone actually draws a consensual act.

The closest the US had to this was Ethnic Cleansing, the white supremacist game crapped out by the morons behind Resistance Records. Only mindless white trash bought copies to play. Funny, really, since most white supremacists are probably too stupid to play video games.

I know. I wasn't including general "animated porn" in this. Or even "real life" porn, for that matter.

And, yeah, Ethnic Cleansing as well as that JFK shooting simulator fall into a similar category of artistic irresponsibility. We've all had these moments where somebody is telling bad (read: racist/sexist/vulgar/etc.) jokes and you're all laughing because they're genuinely funny but then somebody goes "a little too far" and it stops being fun. It hits too close to home, so to speak. I think that's what can happen in these situations. I can't draw the line but I know when it's been crossed. And it's usually when you first see somebody give that uncomfortable smile where they only show the top row of their teeth.

I'm the biggest fan of "edgy" humor but even the most open stand up comics who work with racial humor all the time probably cringed when they saw the Michael Richards fiasco, regardless of their color. Our personal "lines" might be in different places but I think most people have them.

[DonMarco]

Why bother responding to this topic at all?

1. Defending Rapelay either makes you a rapist wannabe or rapist video gamer.
2. Defending rape play (between two consenting adults OR fictional characters) makes you a weird creep.
3. Defending controversial topics in video games makes you a pariah.

Lastly, is there nothing more important we should be looking over? Usually, when politicians do things like this, they're only using it to fuel some other fire. Say... Preventing minors from buying M-rated games (unconstitutional). Fining people who sell M-rated games to kids (also unconstitutional). Or shipping M-rated games by mail (much like with wine, tobacco and porn) which could find their way into the hands of some poor impressionable youths. Or fining a tax on the sales of M-rated games? Or preventing any American company from working on erotic games????

Seriously, if the best Illusion game can make it to CNN after three years ... What could a decent American game company do?

U-S-A!
U-S-A!
U-S-A!

Which brings up another thought. Why does "erotic game" make people go "lawl Japan" when it should be "lawl prudish America". And a crackdown on game content is a very real threat, people. Look at Germany, which made selling Gears of War 2 illegal just like dozens of other games. Look at in China and that Warcraft expansion. Look at Japan, which censored blood/red out of No More Heroes.

I really want to write up a much longer article on this. I probably won't, but at least I'll think about it tomorrow.

[TonyTheTiger]

snip.

You realize that you just posited a huge straw man, right? Nobody in here, or even in the media, was making the argument you just attacked.

[Zap!]

So what online stores carry this? Yeah it's sick and I would never play it, but if it's gonna be banned I want it because it'll be a part of gaming history.

[TonyTheTiger]

It's not banned and it won't be. It's just that this all started when Amazon noticed the game was being sold on the site and decided to put a stop to it. That's what caused the "news." Some major online retailers are not allowing it but I'm sure you can find it if you look hard enough.

[c0ldb33r]

heh wow, what a post

Why bother responding to any topic at all?

1. Defending anything either makes you a rapist wannabe or rapist video gamer.
2. Defending anything makes you a weird creep.
3. Defending controversial topics makes you a pariah.

Seriously? Why bother trying to stifle a conversation. If you don't want to engage in the conversation, don't bother.

[Cryomancer]

Look at Japan, which censored blood/red out of No More Heroes.

No More Heroes is a Japanese developed game. Europe doesn't have the blood either, it was ADDED for the American release.

[Half Japanese]

Can we agree that outside some folks' shield of anonymity provided by the internet, that hentai, dating sims, and associated forms of "entertainment" are extremely lame?

[kedawa]

I've watched a few videos of this game, and it looks boring as hell. I couldn't even tell it was supposed to be a rape simulator. It seemed more like a voyeuristic game where the girl was slightly uncomfortable.

[Aussie2B]

Can we agree that outside some folks' shield of anonymity provided by the internet, that hentai, dating sims, and associated forms of "entertainment" are extremely lame?

No way, man. Some dating sims (hentai or not) are really fun. You could throw boobs into, I dunno, Metal Gear Solid or Resident Evil, and it doesn't make them suddenly not worth playing. A fun game is a fun game. At their core, dating sims are about gameplay-centered character interaction. They're not much different from, say, an RPG with the usual love interest part of the plot, except instead of just sitting back and watching who the lead is predetermined to hook up with, you get to have fun interacting with a bunch of characters and deciding what couple you prefer best. There's a reason why games like Harvest Moon, Thousand Arms, Ar tonelico, Persona, and others have dating sim aspects. It's just fun.

Of course, none of this is really relevant to RapeLay, as it's not a dating sim nor are most hentai games like it.

[SegaAges]

I don't care if it is out.

I see it like porno mags. If you don't like it, don't buy it or read it to support it. Make a fuss, more people know about it, but if you just be quiet and not support it, then they lose a sale. If everybody does that, then you are good.

[Graham Mitchell]

Can we agree that outside some folks' shield of anonymity provided by the internet, that hentai, dating sims, and associated forms of "entertainment" are extremely lame?

Hate to play Devil's Advocate but I must admit that I've seen some pics of Hentai games and some of them actually look kind of interesting. Some of them appear to be adventure games similar to Snatcher or the LucasArts games. The gratuitous sex and what not are probably difficult to sit through, true, but there were some that I saw and thought I would actually like to try them.

I love games where part of the puzzle is choosing the right responses to questions, etc, and that's what some of these games seem to be all about. Of course, I'm sure when you get deep enough into them, they become absolutely disgusting.

[poloplayr]

Ah! This must be the game that rapists have been playing and inspiring since the dawn of humanity. Probably the same software house that put out the murder simulators that Hitler loved so much. Yes, they surely must be banned because imaginary drawn people get hurt on the screen.

Japan has the most tasteless and immoral porn in the world but please correct me if I am wrong but its rape-related crime statistics are considerably lower compared to the US and other Western countries.

[Ed Oscuro]

Nah, Japan's statistics for rape are way out there; high enough that they've organized women-only cars on many subway lines in various cities.

I'm kinda torn about the whole issue of stuff.

On the one hand, it's a fantasy and responsible people can separate between that and reality.

On the other, the more time a consumer spends with this stuff, they have to sort of obsess over it. There's probably a difference somewhere between a person understanding what kind of person they are and what they like, and putting themselves in proximity with stuff that's creating a world where, in this example, rape is okay and just a fact of normal life.

It's easy enough to blame it on the reckless deviants, but what about the attitude shift in everybody else?

[The 1 2 P]

Can we agree that outside some folks' shield of anonymity provided by the internet, that hentai, dating sims, and associated forms of "entertainment" are extremely lame?

Hentai? Funny. Dating sims? Ridiculously funny. As for the other stuff like this rapeplay "game", I'm sure someone out there finds it entertaining. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion.