Poll: Scary or just morally wrong?

[Arkhangelsk]

So I was having a discussion with someone after telling about how I played Silent Hill 2, and saw the scene where Pyramid Head rapes two enemies, and we argued whether that kind of thing is okay to put in video games. She said it was disgusting and made no real reason to have it, while I said that it did. It was an introduction to Pyramid Head that gave the real impression that you're supposed to fear him, that if you meet him, he's just not going to kill you, he's going to traumatize you, destroy your mind. It called for great characterization and made me fear him even more.

The question is, do you think that scene and scenes like it are appropriate to put in horror games? Or are they not? Do they serve a purpose worthy of putting them in?

 

[joystickjunki3]

Why not?

 

[APPCRASH]

Different cultures. I guess thats all I got.

 

[RedPandaMan]

They can be useful in characterization, such as in the case of Pyramid head, but seems like if they were unrestricted, they would be grossly misused. I don't think you should just throw in random things like that to freak the player out, but only used as a point of characterization.

 

[Robert632]

this is going to start the whole "if there's murder in games, there should be rape too" arguement again, isn't it?

 

[Cxizent]

No! How dare you have something in a survival horror game that would cause an emotional response in the player! Anyone beyond the "Ah! There was an enemy in that box!" reaction is wrong and sick, and anything that causes and real feelings associated with the horror genre should be kept out of video games. Pyramid head should have just given them cuddles, or shared some ice-cream.

 

[Emphraim]

there should never be any censorship on video games as long as they are rated accordingly to their content.

I agree. This whole moral quandary about video games annoys me. People get angry when there is any form of sexuality shown in games yet violence is perfectly fine. I know plenty of people who buy games regardless of rating, but if the game has sexual content there parents don't buy it. An extreme example would be a friend of mine has Manhunt 2, yet his mom wouldn't buy him Fallout 3 since it apparently has "mild sexual themes" according to the back of the box. Even my mom was a bit iffy of buying it when she heard that, though she gave in eventually.

 

[Wayne Insane]

It depends. It shouldn't be treated lightly, but as well as murder or Isolation Rape can be a very effective Tool of Story telling, mainly because it provokes very strongt emotional reactions in the Player.

 

[Woodsey]

I've never played the silent hill games , but all I can say is why not? They have rape scenes in films don't they?

It's not exactly promoting rape.

 

[grimsprice]

people don't question what gets put into songs/movies/paintings in the name of art... so why should video games be treated differently? in the name of art i say. so long as it gets the proper esrb rating.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

this is going to start the whole "if there's murder in games, there should be rape too" arguement again, isn't it?

Hopefully not. I've had that argument way too many times.

 

[Robert632]

this is going to start the whole "if there's murder in games, there should be rape too" arguement again, isn't it?

Hopefully not. I've had that argument way too many times.

over the past month or 2, who hasn't?

 

[Mr Scott]

Your freind wasn't playing the game was she?
Morally ambiguous content such as said rapes fits into the scary/sadistic universe of the SH games.
This sort of content, appropriately falls under the games M rating.
Whether they know it or not, the ESRB are shadowing the land of the non-moral.

 

[Nmil-ek]

Pyramid head was the representation of repressed sexual desires in what way was it not fitting? It was perfectly fitting rather what stronger imagrey of pure lust is there than rape? Stifle story and imagrey for political correctness no thank you, you cant handle the fact that such things exist or are free to be represented in the media and art go live under a rock where its safe as far as I'm concerned.

 

[BoxCutter]

Its appropriate to put in a mature game, it has no place in a game like Viva Pinata. But when it furthers the story or any character development, I see no reason that it cannot be done (though I believe it should be done as tastefully as possible given the situation it is being used in).

 

[Kasawd]

A good deal of people find the idea and act of rape disturbing. if the majority of players follow this trend, then the horror setting has won a victory, however small.

Pyramid head was the representation of repressed sexual desires in what way was it not fitting? It was perfectly fitting rather what stronger imagrey of pure lust is there than rape? Stifle story and imagrey for political correctness no thank you, you cant handle the fact that such things exist or are free to be represented in the media and art go live under a rock where its safe as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah, that too.

 

[Lord Thodin]

I said yes, because the further a game creator can get into your mind, and jerk and twist it the more damage it will do to use that character.

 

[Disaster Button]

Depends, in most cases I'd say yes because people in real life who comit rape are usually unstable and as long as it's portrayed in game slike that then it's fine, its realistic, why shouldn't it be in there?

(shit i voted no cos i thought the pole said innappropriate >.<)

 

[The_Echo]

That scene was put in there to be symbolistic, like almost everything else in Silent Hill 2. Pyramid Head is James' punishment manifested, and him raping the two Mannequins (who represent James' natural urges) is like Pyramid Head mocking James, who feels sexual deprivation and anxiety (symbolized by the Nurses) since his wife's death. Silent Hill 2 is a work of art, despite how graphic or vulgar it may be. There was nothing wrong with that scene at all.