CNN discovers RapeLay

[witheringsanity]

i believe that americans get offended at this stuff because we're far less sexually progressive than (some) other countries, and that with or without the "rape" aspect, people would cry for a ban of hentai games here the same way the cry for a ban of porn now. but even if rape is an illegal and hateful crime, that doesn't mean that media depicting, or even glorifying it, should be illegal here or japan.

same goes for murder. think about mass effect, a game where you end up killing hundreds of people, even innocent people, and yet the flack it got from the media was about it's 5 seconds of butt nudity.

censorship is a slippery slope, allowing the censorship of one thing will just be a foothold for the next step in censoring anything that people don't like. we need to draw a clear distinction between what is REAL and what ISN'T. until we have concrete PROOF that playing violent or sexually deviant games turns you into a violent or sexually deviant person, i dont think we should be banning anything in games or other media.

 

[Lepre-Khan]

After noticing this article from CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/30/japan.video.game.rape/index.html?hpt=C2] on my homepage, I just had to post it here. It concerns the game RapeLay, as well as the very old, though CNN describes it as if it is new, controversy that came with it. Basically, it ends up boiling down to this: should Japan ban games such as this, especially since they have now reached international attention?

I find this intriguing. Honestly, I'm slightly offended that someone would even ask this question. I don't feel like we, as Westerners, have the right to say that Japan shouldn't release media with content such as this, especially considering how much we are supposed to respect freedom of speech. It just comes of as if people are judging a culture they don't know very well harshly because they find something in it, which they are unwilling to look at through the eyes of the place from which it emerged, objectionable. Granted, this is not to say that rape is approved of in Japan, but rather to state that the game itself may not be considered strange there, at least by some portion of the population, and that we don't really have a right to impede upon their culture with our own.

So basically, rather than the controversy surrounding RapeLay, I'd rather this discussion be about examples of cultural imperialism, from any culture against any other, in video games. For instance, is it really proper to criticize certain gameplay elements that may be popular in Japanese games when these titles are released in the west?

I agree wholeheartedly.

Well...except for "is it really proper to criticize certain gameplay elements that may be popular in Japanese games when these titles are realeased in the west."

I believe we have a right to criticize certain popular gameplay elements in Japanese games (or any games for that matter) when these titles are released in the west, because some of those elements and western gamers don't really get along. But outright banning of the games because of those mechanics? No.

 

[Phoenixlight]

Hmm I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to ban games like these. It's not like they're very good or even remotely necessary when there's so many other better games around.

 

[Phoenixlight]

I've never played it but from what I know it's a rape simulator right?
While America is SUPPOSED to respect the first Amendment, we really don't. Sure we don't ban music and whatnot but controversy arises over the slightest thing.

Take Lady Gaga's topless twitter pics. There was no pornographic content at all. you only say her shoulders and a bit of cleavage. The media erupted over this. We're in a war in the Middle East and America is focusing on Japan and boobies?

America wants to play Global Police Force. We still want to protect everything. We can't change Japans culture and it would be a dick move to try to.

Well if they're wanting to make the world a better place to live in you can't really blame them, it benefits all normal members of society.

 

[Amnestic]

I really wouldn't rely on comparing rape statistics between the US and Japan. That's REPORTED rapes, and in Japan, where the female is expected to be submissive and is still very much a second class citizen, very few victims of rape ever report it. Unless, of course, the perp is a foreign national.

I've argued this before and in the end I'm unconvinced that Japanese society can account for over 18x fewer reports than U.S. society (which isn't exactly Rape Report Central to begin with, ya know?). While number discrepancies are expected, I just don't think there's that many to support the argument that they're not still behind the U.S. in numbers of actual rapes.

But, regardless, the U.S. is not low on the table and they should probably look at about fixing things on the hometurf before going abroad to ***** about an Interactive Storytelling Experience with virtual rape.

 

[oppp7]

Dammit, I just realized we can't make fun of Custer's Revenge because of this...

 

[II2]

Should stay out of Frontiersman's crank file and focus on reporting government spin jobs.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

yeah cnn is trolling way to late about this..plus who are we as americans to try and tell them thats wrong? the facts have pointed they have one of the least rape rates in the world while we ***** at them for having stuff like this...honestly i would tell japan to keep em goin, obviously its working over their, and maybe someday we can get off our high horse and set bullshit sheltering aside and try out what works

 

[gamefreakbsp]

This is just wierd. I know very well that different cultures have ways that can seem.....unusual.....so to speak. But this....I just can't wrap my head around a culture accepting something like that as normal. It leaves me wondering if eventually american culture will be in the same place.

 

[Snotnarok]

You can tell CNN cares because this game now got free publicity. GTA got the same thing, and Mass Effect, if you didn't want people finding out about it, reporting it is a BAD IDEA, maybe if you, ya know didn't say the name?

The game is old news, my friend got it to show everyone how hilarious japan can be and get away with it how offensive it is. Or was that Rape-play, I recall it was identical to Soul Calibur but clothes came off, all the way off.

 

[Yopaz]

Is it proper to criticize foreign gameplay elements?

Hell to the yes. My standards are always the same, foreign game or not. They can't pull the culture-card and claim that it makes them immune to my criticism.

I must say you do make a valid point here. Spain got bullfighting and that's supposed to be OK because they eat the bull after they're done and it's a part of their culture?
Just because it's culture it doesn't make it right.

 

[C117]

Just leave Japan alone. They've been somewhat weird and different from us westerners ever since the picture The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife was made.

And that's just the way I want them.

 

[Lullabye]

Leave japan alone.
God I hate it when people single out videogames for this crap. How come they don't want to censor out all rape porn? Huh? Well? Exactly.
Hmmmm.........the thing that really bothers me though is how long it took them to catch on.

 

[Snotnarok]

You can tell CNN cares because this game now got free publicity. GTA got the same thing, and Mass Effect, if you didn't want people finding out about it, reporting it is a BAD IDEA, maybe if you, ya know didn't say the name?

The game is old news, my friend got it to show everyone how hilarious japan can be and get away with it how offensive it is. Or was that Rape-play, I recall it was identical to Soul Calibur but clothes came off, all the way off.

Sounds like Battle Raper 2 to me.

I love how this game came out 4 years ago and then people played it and then it was shitty and then people forgot about it. I actually played this with a group of people and we lolled for like 30 minutes and then went to play a game that didn't suck. I had forgotten about this game, until about a year ago when it kicked up a controversy for no reason AT ALL. I am sure there have been more games in that 3 year timespan than this. Though to be honest I don't really track the hentai game scene much anymore.

This is so stupid, I am tired of attempting to defend the industry itself for this. Why is it when a gaming related controversy goes up they use it to paint the whole industry? Using Rapelay as a basis to judge the video game industry is the equivalent of using Cheerleader Gangbang to judge the movie industry. I believe in TOTAL freedom of speech. Yes, I am well aware that isn't the case, but in my ideal world I would TOTAL freedom of speech. So on, I do not want it banned. I don't want ANYTHING banned.

That was it! Friend put it on and we just laughed our asses off, it was quite hilarious and bad.