Poll: Is featuring rape in a game going too far?

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

nope it's not going to far.

honestly if people don't want it, they won't buy the game/won't use that feature, simple as that.

 

[plugav]

I can imagine a context in which featuring rape in a game would be justified. However, 1) we're not there yet, the industry can barely handle healthy sexual relationships; 2) I'm still not sure I'd be able to play that kind of game.

And should games feature rape in the same way they feature killing? Like in Fable, for instance? No. Rape is extended, violent torture, both physical and psychological. It scars people for life. It should never be associated with scoring points and unlocking achievements.

It's a poorly framed question. Rapelay glorifies the rape of women, which is incredibly sexist and misogynistic. There's no such thing as simulated sexism, just regular sexism, and this piece of shit has it in spades. There IS such a thing as simulated violence that hurts and degrades no one, so you can't really make a direct comparison between the two.

Is it possible for a game to deal with rape in a mature and thoughtful way? Yes. Rapelay is the opposite of that.

Well said.

 

[The Abhorrent]

Rape as a plot point? Sure.

Rape as a gameplay feature? HELL NO.

A perfect summation.

The subject matter is actually one which has frequently been implied (but seldom explicitly alluded to) in several games, and fairly often it's done in a manner which paints the perpetrator as a complete bastard. It's the fastest way to make the audience hate a character, regardless of medium. Implying or stating it's occurrence is fine in a game, provided it's handled appropriately.

Allowing the player to commit the act? It's generally portrayed as sickening already, and there is some justification for it never being justifiably implemented into a game. Even in the case where they're trying to illustrate the player as an irredeemable monster... yeah, there's always some moron out there who will take it as a good thing. The media has a tendency to blow everything out of proportions, but the touchy-ness of this particular subject does mean it almost certainly shouldn't be included in a game's design.

---

Now, onto two senarios which are a little more difficult to consider.

Senario #1 - Showing the scene as a cinematic in the game.
Very touchy territory here, but it could be done in games which permit sex scenes already (rated appropriately, of course). Chances are such a scene would greatly disturb the player, but that could be the entire point. Nevertheless, this particular use should be used sparingly and never off-handedly.

Senario #2 - Including it as an interactive gameplay element, but having the player as the victim.
Okay, this one is possibly the most touchy version of them all, but it could be the perfect way to portray the act as horrific and irredeemable. Obviously, this would probably be a form of "controlled helplessness" (and could be done from a first person perspective); to say the player is guaranteed be disturbed by this occurring would be an understatement... but that would be the entire point.

The next question would be "Is Senario #2 going to far?", and that's quite difficult to answer. In an age where most player characters are escapist characters, it would be the ultimate subversion of that idea; something so jarring that it couldn't be emphasized more. Still, it's a question of if any developper would be willing to do it (even if for the right reasons) and if the player(s) could handle it (or would that go against what it's trying to do?). Anyhow, that's something I'm not so sure of... but it would be the only reason for someone to include it as an interactive element.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

No. If it makes people who are about to rape play this game and NOT rape, how is it bad?

That's a pretty big 'if'.

 

[Vykrel]

no, but it would have to serve some purpose in the story. and there is no way the player character would be the one doing the rapin'. that would cause a media shitstorm.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

The industry can barely handle healthy sexual relationships

Checkmate! Even healthy relationships are a stretch in most games. The Darkness was a brilliant example though.

 

[Freaky Lou]

No I don't. If people want gaming to be respected as a medium then why should it be regarded as too far???
There are books, films, and music with rape as a subject. Yet no one questions whether it should happen or not..

Well, the difference is that games are an interactive medium. Most people wouldn't have a problem with a character in the game raping someone or being raped as part of the story, but when it's actually something the player is doing, that's an entirely new issue.

 

[Psycho Goose]

I want an "it depends" option. Because having rape in a game may not be going too far, but allowing the player to rape would definitely too much. The reason I don't draw the line at mass murder is that it is possible to think of situations in which killing may be justifiable. But rape? No. Not really.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

depends.. really if it's in a fantasy type setting or something they eh I don't mind to much but that's fantasy not real life. Rape-lay was one of the worst eroges I have ever played aside from the content. The interface doesn't recognized shit, the animations are choppy if at best dream-cast 3d rendered, it was just a broken piece of shit game that got to much attention for it's content.

 

[Creator002]

It definitely is going too far. Commiting genocide in a GTA game, or blowing up a nuke in Fallout 3 for some caps is definitely better than one person (or three, as in RapeLay) being raped.[footnote]I really feel that I shouldn't have to say this, but here it is anyway: This part of my post was sarcastic.[/footnote]

EDIT: Ahh, I should probably add some substance. It depends. If it's mindless rape or a major feature, by that I mean it's what the game is, no. If it's used as a plot device, to show how evil you are, or someone else is, like in a movie, fine. Even to have rape as a minor feature (as in, something that can be done, but doesn't have to be) would be alright, but don't hype it up.

 

[DirgeNovak]

I look at it this way: almost everyone you kill in videogames is trying to kill you - unless you're a complete psycho when playing GTA or SR. A game will very rarely make you murder someone in cold blood - except in games like TES' Dark Brotherhood or Hitman, and even then most of your victims in those are portrayed as assholes who deserve what they got. So most of the killings you do in games are in some way justifiable.

But there is never justification for raping someone. So yes, the player raping another character in a game would be going too far. Using rape as part of the plot is perfectly alright, though. The city elf origin story in Dragon Age Origins is a great example of this.

 

[estoria-etnia]

Silent Hill has already incorporated rape into it ? there's Pyramid Head along with all of the wild-mass guessing and theories that the fans have about it. There's also the fact that one of the characters in Silent Hill 2, Angela, was sexually abused by her own father.

It's also been implied in the Fatal Frame series; to be specific, it's implied (or guessed by fans) that in the fourth game Ayako is the daughter of Sakuya and her brother. Yes, it's squicky and it's incestuous, but the implications are still... there.

 

[thePyro_13]

Media is media, theirs rape in heaps of TV shows, I don't see why it can't be in games. SO long as it's rated appropriately. Whether it's done tastefully or respectfully is up to the developers.

 

[Jimmybobjr]

Why do i feel that Americans are, Once again, attempting to impose themselves on a foerign culture?

I mean, In that CNN report, Foerign Governments are... "Suggesting" That a completely different country change the way that they view theyre media.

OT:

Yes. Rape in a game is too far- ESPECIALY if it is out of context. Say im playing... Red Dead Redemption, and im walking through town only for a nude girl to run out of a Alleyway, nude and bloodied, and So on and so forth.

Its... Not cool. Its not in context of whatever i was doing, and not in the context of the game. While it might be in the context of the period of time in which the game is based, i bought the game for great shooting, a storyline, and horse riding. Sexual assault isnt something i want to deal with.

Considering that games like RapeLay are BASED around the mechanic, the affect it has on me is lessened greatly.

 

[Sariteiya]

My question is, why would anyone want to play a scenario where your player character rapes someone? Who, aside from someone fairly sadistic, gets enjoyment out of that? Now murder, oddly enough, is one thing, it's been normalized and glorified for ages, and for some people, it's part of their day to day jobs. Society accepts that murder can be funny, meaningless and that someone can play a simulated murder without really being emotionally disturbed. Rape however, is, has been and maybe will always be a different case. Rape in our culture is an emotionally charged act, even when simulated. Rape is used in media as shorthand for trauma and suffering. Very few people can witness a realistically simulated rape and not feel troubled by it. That being said, who would developers be catering to if they included player induced rape in their games?

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I don't think anything should be explicitly off limits, but that said there are very few ways to tastefully portray rape. It could probably be used as a story element to give depth to a character or to create an intentionally ugly situation (IE the videogame equivalent to the shawshank redemption's rape scene) aside from that, if the only demographic you want to reach are a niche group of lonely fucks with power fetishes looking for a wank that's one thing. Otherwise I think its territory that shouldn't be tread on unless its absolutely necessary. One might argue that it's a lesser crime than all the killing and murder that happens in games, but unlike murder victims there are people who have experienced rape firsthand that are actually alive.

 

[jetricx]

If presented properly, yes it's fine.
Although it is very difficult to get it into a game without a massive uproar in response.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Rape is in every form of media, in every form of culture that has every form of media. Video games seem to be the exception.

Tbh, I know rape is a dark subject, and very controversial at the best of times. But if everything else has it, why can't games?