Amazon Drops "Rapelay" Video Game

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]LifeNews: Amazon.com Drops Japanese Simulation Video Game Featuring Rape, Abortion
Massive online retailer Amazon.com has dropped its listing for a controversial Japanese video game called Rapelay that involves raping women and forcing them to have abortions. The so-called "rape simulator" game was sold on the web site and included a graphic description of the gameplay. Although a listing for the product is available through online searches, the link to it on Amazon's web page no longer functions. Gaming web sites that have reviewed the simulation describe the "tears glistening in the young girl's eyes" as the player attacks her in graphic detail. Owners of the game begin it by assuming the role of a man who stalks a mother on a subway in Japan before violently sexually assaulting her. They eventually move on to attacking two daughters described a virgin schoolgirls. The Rapelay game, made for the Microsoft Windows platfform, also includes a "freeform mode" where the player can rape any woman and get friends to join in on the attacks. According to a post in a gaming forum, the game also includes abortions. Every time a rape is committed there is a chance the victim could become pregnant. "If she does become pregnant you're supposed to force her to get an abortion, otherwise she gets more and more visibly pregnant each time you have sex. If you allow the child to be born then the woman will throw you in front of a train," the post explains. "Take that pro-life movement!"...more...

[ac!d_burn]

It's not even a very good eroge (erotic game). There are plenty with better stories and gameplay.

[bolt_krank]

Sounds pretty twisted

[Kanchou]

I don't see why this is so surprising. You can buy pornographic video games in a number of electronics stores in Japan, including Sakuraya, and basically every software shop in Akihabara (which I call the cartoon pornography capital of the universe).

It's not that much of a leap to have them selling on major software shops...besides the ones that cater primarily to those markets.

On another note, the politician in the article sounds like a prude to whom freedom of speech holds no meaning whatsoever.

[Mulboyne]

This story has been in a number of British newspapers and on the TV news. It looks like it has also seen similar coverage in other parts of the English-speaking world. The Telegraph reports this comment from the developer:

"We believe there is no problem with the software, which has cleared the domestic ratings of an ethics watchdog body."

Momus thinks this is all a moral panic and a bad case of double standards.

[Mike Oxlong]

There was a Law & Order episode years back dealing with a rape committed by a teenage boy hooked on rape manga from Japan.

http://www.tv.com/law-and-order-special-victims-unit/and133or-just-look-like-one/episode/12328/recap.html

[GuyJean]

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Intl group seeks rape game ban

A Japanese computer game in which players rape women and girls, make them pregnant and then force them to get abortions, has stirred international criticism among human rights groups and lawmakers overseas. New York-based international human rights organization Equality Now has demanded that the sale of the game, developed by a Yokohama-based firm in 2006, be banned in Japan and overseas. In the videogame, a player gropes two girls, who appear to be teenagers, and their mother while on a train, then rapes the three making them pregnant. The player then forces the three to terminate their pregnancies. Since earlier this year, the game has been discussed by overseas-based human rights organizations. In Britain, lawmakers learned that the game could be purchased on the Amazon online shopping site and proposed a motion in Parliament in February expressing their opposition to domestic distribution of the game. Following this move--widely reported in the British media and other countries--Britain-based Amazon.co.uk halted the sale of the game later that month, with a similar decision made by the Amazon headquarters in the United States soon after. In Japan, however, regulation of child pornography is lax, so the game is still available via online shopping sites, despite Amazon Japan recently halting sales.

In early May, Equality Now released a statement saying that in Japan the games industry profits from games featuring violence against girls and women. It also criticized the growing market for pornography found in Japan known as "roricon," or "Lolita complex," which has a child pornography theme. In the statement, the human rights organization also criticizes the government, saying it should take measures to ban the distribution of such games. On Wednesday, Equality Now began asking its 30,000 members in 160 countries to send letters of protest to those who make and sell computer games that feature violation of women, such as rape and confinement. It called for letters of protest to be sent to the Yokohama-based games maker; companies that stock such games for sale; Prime Minister Taro Aso and other senior government officials. Japan-based human rights groups also have started lobbying the industry to make changes. Under domestic law, salacious images of children aged less than 18 are considered child pornography, and production and sale of such images is banned. However, possession of child pornography by individuals--including images downloaded on computers--is not considered illegal in the country. The production and sale of animated and computer-generated pornographic images are not regulated under the law. International groups have called for the possession of child pornography to be made illegal in Japan.

An official of the Yokohama maker in question told The Yomiuri Shimbun: "We were given official approval for domestic sale of this game by the institution the industry established for voluntary screening [of games]...We weren't aware of the protest by the overseas human rights organization, so I can't comment on the issue," the official said. Hiroshi Nakasatomi, a gender studies researcher and associate professor of Fukushima University, said: "Japan is known as a leading producer of game software and animation featuring sexual abuse of women. "The genre is called hentai [pervert] overseas, and human rights groups abroad have long been critical [of this type of product]."

[BO-SENSEI]

[Mike Oxlong]

But you, you're willing to try the real thing, eh...still asking if there isn't rain enough in the heavens?:confused:

[2triky]

[james]

c'mon, just look at her. she totally wants it.

[akira117]

Killing people in a video game vs rape.....yea RAPE GAME HAS CROSSED THE LINE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

seriously this is not news....

This same bullshit happen to all media, people that are dumb think it encourages people to do what is depicted in the media. Studies often fine crime goes down, but none to this date have found that it encourages people to do it.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Online retailers stop sales of rape game

Internet sales of a Japanese computer game have been stopped after the software, which features the raping of three females, including young girls, stirred international criticism among human right groups, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. New York-based international human rights organization Equality Now was the first to start protesting over the sale of the computer game, which was developed by a Yokohama-based software maker and first sold in 2006. Online sales and distribution of the game were stopped Friday after the protest campaign against the game started on May 6. An official of the Yokohama software company said, "At this stage, we're unable to comment about the future marketing of the game or other matters relating to it."

[IkemenTommy]

[Mulboyne]

Gamasutra: Japanese Organization To Ban Sale of Rape Games

Japan's Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS) -- an industry organization that oversees PC game ratings in the country, and comprised of over 200 software companies -- is forbidding the retail sale and production of games created by its members that simulate forced sex, such as Illusion Soft's controversial RapeLay. The committee's decision was spurred by a recent campaign from woman's rights group Equality Now demanding that Illusion Soft and the Japanese government prohibit the sale of games involving "rape, stalking or other forms of sexual violence or which otherwise denigrate women," according to a report from Tokyo Broadcasting System News translated by the Canned Dogs weblog...more...

[Ketou]

Why is it that almost all change here is a result of outside force?.......

[Midwinter]

Why is it that almost all change here is a result of outside force?.......

Because by their very nature, Japanese vehemently resist status quo shifting change in almost any form.

[prolly]

i just did some research and it seems 99.9% of the entire dating-sim, multiple choice style games are forced sex or outrape rape. so much for that niche industry.

Gamasutra: Japanese Organization To Ban Sale of Rape Games

[Midwinter]

Minori, developer of adult PC titles like Bittersweet Fools and Angel Type, is digging in to protect itself from an onslaught of viewers outside Japan.

Those trying to access the Minori site outside Japan will be greeted with the following message:

http://www.minori.ph/

I'm not sure whether I should congratulate them for having the balls to do this, or flay them alive for being such obvious pricks. Advice, please? Interesting to note also, that rape as an act of male entertainment is apparently now a part of Japanese culture.

[BO-SENSEI]

Interesting to note also, that rape as an act of male entertainment is apparently now a part of Japanese culture.

They don't say. I am so glad that they are fighting the rest the world to preserve such a unique part of Japanese culture.

[Greji]

Interesting to note also, that rape as an act of male entertainment is apparently now a part of Japanese culture.

You checked some of the J-girl's SM sites lately? It might also be part of certain J-gals entertainment as well, as they use horse whips to beat Take and his colleagues into screaming submission.....

[Midwinter]

They don't say. I am so glad that they are fighting the rest the world to preserve such a unique part of Japanese culture.

Yeah, you have to respect the fight, and I do believe that they have their rights in this matter as such content is currently legal in Japan. This sort of protest however, is kind of self defeating as it's basically a big FU to the rest of the world which makes Japan look bad. The smart thing would have been to carry on, business as usual, and let the policos sort things out.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Killing people in a video game vs rape.....yea RAPE GAME HAS CROSSED THE LINE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

That's a good point.

The idea of a rape game definitely seems fucked to me but I've never been bothered by ultra-violent first-person shooters or games base on real wars where the goal is to kill enemy soldiers. If I look at things logically, it's hard to say that one is worse than the other.

What do the rest of you think? Is there a difference and if so, why?

[GuyJean]

.. What do the rest of you think? Is there a difference and if so, why?

If rape were used in war, I guess it's ok since war is cool. Oh, wait..

We're ultimately responsible for our actions, and the programming we choose to help create those actions.. But don't expect most humans to admit it. Or lawyers of a software company.

GJ

[Ketou]

If rape were used in war, I guess it's ok since war is cool. Oh, wait..

We're ultimately responsible for our actions, and the programming we choose to help create those actions.. But don't expect most humans to admit it. Or lawyers of a software company.

GJ

hmm nice idea...time to get started on making a Battle of Nanking fps

[nottu]

[Midwinter]

Here is their explanation as to why they blocked their site to foreign visitors...



SJ, the object of video games has always been to "kill" something. From Space Invaders to Mario, there's always been a subtext of death. It's only been recently however that graphics have allowed for a certain degree of realism which is also currently drawing controversy. The "rape" problem as I see it however, comes from the action of taking onscreen pleasure in the experience. Your character obviously enjoys tormenting his or her victim, and that's the line people don't want to cross. If a game were to glorify torture for instance, you could bet that there would be the same outrage against it as we are seeing now. One form of killing is done with an objective or as a means of survival that's justified with the story, the other be it rape or torture, is a drawn out process designed to stimulate the user as an entertainment experience.

[BO-SENSEI]

I agree with MW about how ever since Wolfenstien and Doom, shooting games have been the bread and butter of the gaming industry. These games have focused on the shooting of Nazis, aliens, demons and basically people who want to kill you too. It wasn't until Grand Theft Auto where you go around killing randomly, running people over with a car, or even getting a hooker in you car. And it has been a top-selling and controversial game ever since. But why do I feel that GTA and rape games are different. To an extent it has to do with what MW said, "Your character obviously enjoys tormenting his or her victim, and that's the line people don't want to cross." But also one of the differences between GTA and the rape game is that in GTA, you get chased by the cops and shot at and they will try to kill you. In the rape games I think you don't you have to worry about running from the cops. If they included a part in the game where you get thrown into jail when you get caught and have to try and stop big guys from raping you, I think that make the game less popular, but i am sure it would be a big seller to people like nottu. This is just an idea to make a game more realistic.

[nottu]