Years Later, Rapelay Making Waves In Japanese Press

@Prathik: It is old. In fact, our "sister" site Jezebel created an enormous, pan-Gawker shitstorm over this game almost a year ago.

Of course people like them and others will find this to be categorically wrong. But then, they're not from the country of origin. Bitches don't know 'bout my Japan, etcetera.

dirtface

@dirtface: No, police actually have some kind of authority. This is more like America: World Morality Alarm.

While I do not agree with this game, I find it sort of weird to see a New York based company pointing the finger at a Japanese made game, which complies with Japanese laws. I honestly doubt that this one game actually affects rape cases.

celark

@iRloading: While I don't really encourage rape sims (rape sims?? wtf?) you are very very right.

Kaneda

Don't really know where I stand on this one.

I mean, I'm all for creative freedom of expression, but the idea of basement dwellers the world over bawwwing because this will add stigma to their hobby of sex vidya is more than amusing to me.

@Grinman: America: World Police.

dirtface

@Grinman: God I lol'd and +1'd you XDDDDD"

@crazyace: Recovery isn't always easy. I take it you haven't been around many rape victims.

Rape is a horrible, unforgivable act of evil that is not acceptable in ANY situation, ever. It is sickening how accepted it is by people like you, and even the law. Rapists should not be allowed in society. They are bad people, all of them. I'm not even sure they should be considered people. They're that bad. There is just no good reason to rape a person, ever. With murder, at least there's self defense.

Valnen

@SsLordMagus: How can neither of you get it? Rapes are not oft reported in Japan.

@crazyace: You've never met a rape victim, have you? It's not as simple as "recover and move on". Yes, they have their lives. A lot of them are so traumatized they'd rather not.

And male rape victims get a double whammy - since society doesn't treat it as a big deal, they get no support at all.

@Johnny_Under: Fuck year I loved that old 90's game "True Love"

@Cellsong: ...

Yanno, if rape is only being decried by one side, whether it's the left or right, then we have bigger issues.

I can understand retailers not wanting to carry this. Most of them won't even carry Adults Only games anyway. It's not worth the hassle they'd get from certain humanitarian and religious groups.

Now, I haven't actually played the game in question, and this is very tricky ground. I don't have a problem with violence or even explicit sex in games, but I do think we need to be careful how that violence or sex is presented. I think rape being an encouraged practice in a game would be just as bad as a game encouraging the slaughter of innocent children, for example. Do I think that games will encourage such behaviors? Probably not, and I certainly wouldn't want to ban such games from being made as I vehemently believe in freedom of speech. However, I also believe that such games deserve intense scrutiny.

We still haven't completely broken out of a patriarchal mindset in the US, so of course this is going to be a sensitive subject, especially among anyone who identifies themselves as a feminist. Seeing people solely as sexual objects is not healthy. Sex is a very healthy, natural activity when performed safely between consenting parties, but unfortunately there is still a stigma attached to it within certain communities which leads to a lot of people needing outlets to channel their sexual frustration into, and probably the reason why these types of games exist in the first place. It's a complicated issue that transcends any one political party, and I think that both yourself (Cellsong) and Tracid do a disservice by trying to push it onto one side.

Bloody american conservatives! for a country beased on freedom and civil liberty they are the most oppresive people on earth!

It has nothing to do with America! It was a japanese game catering to japanese interests and they never released it stateside, The american media needs to look into the matter of how citizens got the game in the first place instead of attacking a legaly released game.

Fine to say the game is odd but dont look over the fact that most of the people whining about it downloaded it illegaly! Sigh

@wulfsaga2: Hell, I downloaded it back when it first released. It was good for a few laughs back then (especially if you put the cat ears on the youngest one), but now, compared to other "erotic" games, its pretty lame.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this isn't anywhere near as bad as half the crap that comes out of Hentai, seriously I wish news media outlets actually had a clue but I think they'd quite literally shit themselves in fear if they'd ever actually seen some of the shit Japan has produced.

When you consider that the U.S. is in the midst of a sexual violence epidemic, while Japan has relatively low rape numbers even accounting for underreporting...

This is seriously a case of the pot calling the pristine lacquered tea set black.

Ben Applegate

@interim is a biscuit:

Your point being?

crazyace

@SsLordMagus: One explanation for this disparity between the two places is that because of differences in japanese society and western society, far fewer rapes are reported in Japan. I think one study found that something like only 1 in 10 rapes (compared to like 4 or 6 out of 10 or something in the US) are reported in Japan.

Under reporting is a huge problem, and something that officials there have struggled.

@phicaluk: The world is a sadder place for the loss of Arrested Development

@Valnen:

Yeah i was surprised at that too and i was borned there... :/

SsLordMagus

@JonathanStrange:

Apparently you've never had anyone killed right in front of your eyes. While rape is bad people can still RECOVER and move on. If a guy is raped by a hot chick, is it going to be the same as the reverse? Both are rape, but society will tell you one is way way worse than the other, and the victims will act accordingly.

crazyace

@SsLordMagus: Wow, and they say Canada is a good place to live. Looks like it isn't.

Valnen

@Chibirazi:

ME?

but if this game IS responsable for all those rape then ok!

SsLordMagus

This is simply stupid.
Rape is and was a common japanese porn fetish,especially in the loli-sector.
Its fictive,jump over your shadow and stop taking it as something real.

@wulfsaga2: Of course they haven't tried it, it would corrupt their innocent minds with the devil and then they'd be hypocrites who can no longer argue against it. LYNCH THEM!

Wait a second...

@SsLordMagus:
Says who?

Not sure why everyone is up in arms about a genre of game. Considering there are movies, websites, media, games etc. on this sensitive issue.

Amazon removing the game does nothing about the various orgy of rape films it has in it's stock from 'La Blue Girl' to 'Legend of the Overfiend'.

I want to see people who are against such games to concentrate on places where women are abused and have no rights daily. Then on an eroge game. But, of course it is easier to pick on a game... I just don't want other forms of media to disappear because of groups who should be doing something then doing nothing.

Roque Cabagnot

@interim is a biscuit:

Are you implying something? It's not clear.

SsLordMagus

Another worthless organization wasting valuable resources boycotting some unknown porn game over RL problems. I hadn't heard of the game until now and I bet you torrents will go crazy with people trying to nab the game. If anything they made whatever problem the game posed, if there was one, worse. Way to go dumbfucks.

crazyace

@LordChris915:
Sorry it won't..

SsLordMagus

@SsLordMagus: That would be 'reported rapes'.

@JonathanStrange:
::puts fire extinguisher away::

Looks like you didn't need it after all?

Just wonderful. Now this extra attention is going to stigmatize the Eroge market more than it already has been, and the games will be more difficult to obtain.

I'm not just talking about the extreme ones like Rapelay, I'm talking any visual novel with erotic situations. All of a sudden not only are they going to be perverted and for desperate losers, but DANGEROUS, too.

Thank you in advance, Super Nannies, for ruining my own private passtime. Perhaps someday we can all be as virtuous as you.

Johnny_Under

@Grinman: I know; if only they had gone with good old tentacles. Everyone loves a tentacle rape. Bringing dudes into the equation was just asking for trouble.

spannu

if it stops ppl raping girls then its fine by me

@MasterNinja:
[www.nationmaster.com]

SsLordMagus

@Cellsong:
Ok err whoever is crying about it then. ^^

Yet the number of actual rape cases in the US completely eclipses the number in Japan.

While I have nothing against a good date sim/ertoic game/strip Mahjong. Rapelay defintely crosses a line that's too far for even the Japanese.

It's one thing to have simulated rape, there's quite a number of women that get turned on by that sort of thing. I'm against it but it could be argued to be understandable. However, when you involve a child in such a situation, even if that child is made up of polygons, you are crossing a line and it cannot be justified in any way whatsoever.

-MasterDex-

Ironically, this will probably make the game more popular than ever.

DRaGZ

Opening theme by 2 Live Crew.

ummm, wouldn't these groups time be better spent trying to educate people about true rape rather than look for a false cause-and-effect of a computer game that only simulates it? This is the equivalent of JT accusing GTA of being a "murder simulator"

Cellsong

@Tracid: By Moped, they meant Push Bike/Scooter. And the Activists always make sure to wear their helmet and shin/eblow pads.

PaxtonAstypalaea

@Mr. Tambourine Man: Not your typical Black Panther/White Pride/anarchist movement huh...?

@Tracid:

sorry to break the news but its usually the left that screams bloody murder when something this non-PC rears its head.

Cellsong

There we go again, blaming games.. They should start helping their ''cause'' in US first than to go in other countries.

SsLordMagus

It's pronounced "an-AHL-ra-pist"

I'm sorry, but for once I've gotta go with the activists. I'm all for free speech and all that, but something things are just so blatantly offensive and stupid they just shouldn't have been made in the first place. And a rape simulator is one of them.

And yes, I do find it more offensive than the countless shooters out there. Rape is simply not something to joke about, ever. Even in Japan.

(Dons flame suit.)

JonathanStrange

"...normalisation of sexual violence in Japan"

I cant stop laughing, really, I cant.

someone must've been bored as hell in America to even bother filing complaints against "rape sims in JAPAN" when clearly there are "murder simulators in AMERICA".

I dunno... double standards, gotta love 'em.

iRloading

@Jon:
I hope that moped is green friendly and no fur on it!

Read some stuff about this on somethingawful a couple of months ago. It may have been a legal release in Japan, but any game that puts you in the role of someone raping a little girl...I don't get how people can make/play/enjoy this ****.

Must be a slow week when it comes to activist schedules.

"Ok so, last week was the Eco Yacht, next week and the week after we have G8, G12 and G-String protests. What do we do this week?"

"Well there is this Japanese game called RapeLay. It was released three years ago, but I think we can swing it."

"Perfect! To the Actmobile!"

*Gets on moped*

It's a game, men are allowed there fantisies whatever they may be. Can they please move on/

latiosking: can't decide 360 or PS3

@Tracid:

Wow. Now THAT'S a noble cause if I ever saw one.

As morally questionable as the content of the game is I have to side with the developers on this one. They did technically follow the law and release the game legally, any argument about them pulling it from shelves or their website should have ended there.

What this degrades down to is a witch hunt dominated by people who think simply because something offends them that it shouldn't exist. You can try to make the claim that rapelay is training people to be rapists, but that argument isn't any more valid than people who say violent movies and video games are training you to be a serial killer.

For once can't those conservative twats in this country stop QQing about other countries? Worry about our own problems like economy and what not.

What next invade Japan under guise they are training rapists and we must destroy them? Oh right Bush not in power thank god. :p

Don't let their QQing get a foot hold or they'll change my Japan :(

PANTSU FOREVER!

good thing i already 'Pirate-bayed' It month ago! >:D
Not a good game IMO, wonder if the protester even try it...

wulfsaga2

Though I think the games really friggin weird and sick.. I dont think its that much a problem.
1. it was within the legal boundaries right? in Japan? and was only sold in Japan.. so.. people in US really have no legal say over it.
2. tis old man.

Prathik

This will teach them for legally releasing a game in their own country 3 years ago!! >: D

Grinman

It grosses me out when the girls in the game are menstrating. I mean...I WOULD NEVERP LAY THIS FILTH!

Rockabully

This game is disgusting, so disgusting I cannot possibly conceive of a rational defense for its existence. I don't care if it took ten years for it to get attention on any side of the pond. The mass production of sexually misogynistic games in Japan is obviously transferring to a worldwide phenomenon, and if that doesn't outrage you, there is something severely crippled in your moral fiber.

I know there are lots of Japanese games like this, and just reading about this garbage depresses me.

fugit

@lasttoblame: Here, watch me pass judgment: rape is bad, and while rape fantasy games are not as bad, they're just about on the right side of fucked up to be worth banning. If the Japanese can't outlaw them, then good for conscientious global citizens for getting involved.

And by the way, there are many global humanitarian groups based in many different countries around the world that are in fact working for women's rights in Islamic countries, working to bring democracy to China, and educating rural African villagers about the dangers of female circumcision.

"You should know about these things and have an opinion, but you shouldn't pass judgement [sic] on a culture that isn't yours." Get a spine, stand up for essential human rights, and turn your opinions in to ACTION.

@lilaliendog: It also has been show that this sort of "pr0n" can help lower crime giving someone an outlet thats not real.

starwind-hawking

@phicaluk: I just blue myself.

twinturbo2

LOL .... so... no more rapelay....
i guess we'll have to fall back on Battle Raper wich actually makes you beat up women before raping them... or Biko that makes you stalk them to find the best spot to rape them...

@dirtface: hehe awesome

"AMERICA...FUCK YEAH!" was replaying over and over while reading this

there is a simple mindset that the "moral right" over here in North America have(i'm Canadian, and there is a little of this here too) that if one of these people find something that offends them, it's gotta go for everyone just because they're offended....

i mean, i'm fine with them speaking out against games like this - that's fine. what isn't fine:

"Activists are urged to protest the game's maker, Illusion, and the Prime Minister of Japan."

take a seat before you hurt yourselves

Japan needs to get some morals.

WildTengu

@mintycrys: TBH, the salaryman IS a hero.

interim is a username referencing an indefinite period of time

@JonathanStrange: I don't wanna get all up in your face with this shit cause rape is some pretty heavy business. But it is also heavy business because we make it heavy business. Rape isn't a new thing. Hell, cave men bonked cave girls on the head and dragged them back to their caves by their hair. It's sad and it's brutal, animalistic even, but we have to remember that we ARE animals. People get this idea that they are so much better than that and impose laws and society, but strip it all away and we are just like those cavemen eons ago.

Also just game, complainers will complain, sudden end.

@Xaviar Gaston: I think that's why so many manga make the salaryman into some kind of hero for enduring the hardships he has to, because let's face it: It's hard.

And the last few generations of my family are still hardcore asian (our generation is now pretty much white), so dad does not get to keep the money he makes. I used to think it was funny until I got a job, and mom squirreled my money away in a bank for safekeeping. Now I don't need to try convincing my own mother that I reeeeally need GSC's new Saber Lily figure or that those Hori sticks aren't gonna buy themselves.

mintycrys just found out why they don't go to Ravenholm...

Obligatory Detroit Metal City reference(try looking for it on youtube):
RAPERAPERAPERAPERAPERAPERAPERAPERAPERAPE...

Tye-The-Czar

@JonathanStrange: Does anyone understand that first person shooters are fictious? Ok, do you understand this "Rape Simulator" is ALSO fictious?

@mintycrys: Yet at the same time, that culture of shame and high social pressure seems to also keep crime extremely low, even if one takes into account under reporting. Many Japanese seem to prefer it that way, actually. Given that, I can't really say if it's a good thing or a bad thing overall.

Plus Japanese men aren't nearly as privileged as the popular stereotype makes them out to be. For example, they are strongly pressured to devote their entire lives working overtime, and turn over their entire paychecks to their wives who maintain full, absolute control over all the finances. It's a society where women are still expected to be housewives, but they have all the real economic power. There are some really unique twists to Japanese society that make their social problems hard to get a clear handle on.

Xaviar Gaston

@Xaviar Gaston: That's exactly what it is. That's why sexual assaults go unreported. SHAME.

mintycrys just found out why they don't go to Ravenholm...

@Stevil_T: I hear you. Japan's social problems have some really strange twists to them, especially the homeless issue. Begging is almost nonexistant among the homeless population. Maybe too much social pressure?

Xaviar Gaston

Prizes for the game most representative of a country Rapelay - Japan, cause they are all perverts yo GTA - USA, cause they are all cop murdering hooker basing gun wielding thugs yo. Cause shooting cops is fine, raping girls is not.

QuigleyHamster

I don't get what the big deal is, it's JUST rape.

@dunehunter:

@Xaviar Gaston: I'm sorry, are you trying to convince me of something I don't disagree with?

interim is a username referencing an indefinite period of time

Man, just imagine if these people saw La Blue Girl lol

Pious_Augustus

@Deaf Mute: The word you're looking for is "weeaboo".

And Japan is still very much a male-dominated culture, and in cultures like that, rape is MANY times less likely to be reported than in western countries.

It's not that they can't/won't admit to Japan being a pervy country, it's that they'd rather blame America or call America out on its faults rather than acknowledge that other people have faults, too.

Classic liberal guilt: "America get to have all the faults. Get away, France! This is my fault! You can't have it! Mine! I'm taking responsibility for it! You can't have any faults!

It's like being possessive of something that nobody wants.

mintycrys just found out why they don't go to Ravenholm...

Soooo, for all you people pointing out that Japan has less rape. Is your point that the Japanese are ubermenchen and/or have a superior society, and therefore don't rape as much, or is it that games like this lower rape much as legalizing drugs causes less drug use? Either way, I'm interested to see which slippery slope you pick.

They made the right move against this violence sexual content from Japan.

JsonShuuichi

Explaining RapeLay to the uninformed:

"So lets just take your average anime tentacle rape game and pretend it was Tom Clancy's HAWX, now, we take RapeLay, and in comparison, it's like, the Falcon 4.0 of rape simulators."

Glad to see this fruitless discussion popping up so far beyond the game's prime, doubt it will have any relevant financial repercussions for the developer.

Sexy Beach and Co. are better products anyway. Next.

@JonathanStrange: I agree, it is disgusting but we have freedom of speech. Not allowing this game to be made or sold would go against that. And really it wouldn't make a difference anyway. There will always be rapist whether these games existed or not. Though, there is always harrasing buyers of these types of games....

Psychopathic Assassin

@iRloading: Well if you ask me rape is worse then murder. Yeah you may be still living after being raped (if they don't kill you) but you have to live with that experience to haunt you the rest of your life, and the fear of it happening again. I being a psychopath woh loves to see violence, am disgusted at the very thought of rape. Just hearing of stories on the news makes me want to kill someone.

Psychopathic Assassin

ok but how did THEY find this? *COUGH COUGH COUGH*

kilikafinal

@Deaf Mute: Agreed. Don't forget the airbrushing of Japanese citizens living in poverty. I stayed in a really nice neighbourhood in Tokyo a few years back, but you literally had to step over the homeless at night (not to mention hundreds having little campsites vaguely hidden away in Ueno Park). This stuff hardly gets reported overseas.

Overall, I liked Japan, but it really is nothing like how Japanophiles imagine it to be.

Stevil_T

@Gen-an: It is pretty funny when you consider tentacles, egg laying, guro, monster, beast, robots just to name a few.

For years Illusion has had a specific notice mentioning that they have no intention of selling to the US and this is exactly why, the differences in freedom of speech here and there are completely different.

lilaliendog

@Jon: Funny you would know to type it as RapeLay and not Rapelay.......

Psychopathic Assassin

So now all the sexual deviants will actually go out and rape people because they can't simulate it anymore in a game, because you know, games make people do violent things...

Tyr4nt

Wait, wait, wait...

"Activists are urged to protest the game's maker, Illusion, and the Prime Minister of Japan."

Protest the Prime Minister of Japan? Was he on the game's production team or something? This boggles the mind.

@Tracid: Conservatives typically protect free speech even if its something like this, or rather, they say it's bad but then don't do anything about it. It's like Cellsong said: It's the left that's always up in arms about offensive materials (Al & Tipper Gore, Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman), as well as the Christian portion of both parties. Conservatives like their porn.

mintycrys just found out why they don't go to Ravenholm...

@Chibirazi: people have been raped long before this game which is barely a game and not even in the realm of a simulator cus it's not even random or a persistent world.

lilaliendog

@CHunterX: I remember that one, I also played rapelay though when my hd died so did the game. I must say while it was a stalker type game it wasn't extreme. I still own a copy (purchased) of battlerapper 2 which is a hilarious game also made by Illusion.

lilaliendog

So Japan just noticed?

Wow....

@interim is a biscuit: Let's assume @Touy's numbers for under-reporting are true. So multiply Japan by a factor of 10 (only 1 out of 10 rapes get reported), and the USA by a factor of 2 (only 5 out of 10 rapes get reported).

Japan : 0.017737 x 10 = 0.17737 per 1000 people
US: 0.301318 x 2 = 0.602636 per 1000 people

Even when accounting for under-reporting, Japan still has a very low rate. It's still lower than even the USA's non-multiplied rate.

Xaviar Gaston

@Valnen: "It is sickening how accepted it is by people like you"

Where the hell did he say he accepted it? Nobody here is arguing rape is bad. He's just saying murder is worse. Which I would think most people agree on.

ps360blows

wow finally, a game based on ''surprise sex''!

No but seriously, folks, sure this is legal, but...in those terms, I guess people could ''legally'' release a pedophile game where you groom and grope kids, but just because something is legal, doesn't make it a good idea.

People have to draw the line somewhere with good taste, and I'm no prude.

JSPOOLE

@enderx: I'm all for freedom of speech and think that people should have the choice to play this game if they choose to, but freedom of speech also means that people are free to scrutinize this game.

Also, retailers are free to refuse to carry the game, which has nothing to do with freedom of speech at all.

I tend to share the sentiments that this shouldn't have been made in the first place, but I would never want that codified into law or wish to restrict the developer's ability to do so. Feedback from the press and sales should self-correct anything considered unhealthy by society's standards.

@iRloading: to be fair, this is 100% a rape sim, as opposed to Call of Duty, which is like a "murder sim" to the sillies

pandafresh

.....because tentacle rape will always be more subtle and metaphoric?

evilralphwiggum

These damn protesters...if they were actually helping the cuase of rape victims I have no problem with it. But now there is a bunch of people who are unaware of these games will know, and will download just to see what the fuss is about. I know I'm going to do that. I've heard of this before...but never actually tried the title, but I think I will, just to see what the objection is all about. I mean there are porns out there...and even anime. I don't see how this game can be more offensive than that. And if this game actually does anything to a person's mind of whether they are a rapist or not. People can think and simulate but they don't emulate.

Thai Tea

@interim is a biscuit: This is a website full of Japanophiles, they hold the Japanese to some sorta perfect standard.

Trying to convince them that rape occurs more often in a misogynstic, xenophobic, society like Japan is like pulling teeth.

@Cellsong: The problem with that approach is that we don't live in a bubble. Media may be a reflection of the times, but it also has an effect on future times as well.

One game by itself may not have much of an effect, but when a lot of media is bombarding you with the same messages, people definitely are affected. If our entire culture, through video games, the news, advertisements, other media, etc. was telling us that rape was okay, then a lot of people would believe that it's okay. Not too long ago in this country, segregation was considered to be "okay". And the rising amounts of plastic surgery should show just how much of a cumulative effect the media can have on things like body image. One TV show by itself, or one game by itself, doesn't have much of an effect. But when you multiply that by the majority of media, that's when you start to have problems.

So no, one game encouraging it is probably not a problem, but I think there are much healthier avenues to channel sexual frustration into than a rape simulator.

@dirtface: hear hear!

Vidunder

@JonathanStrange: Well, you're not really all about 'freedom of speech' then eh?

and who cares about rape victims/murder victims?

we're discussing a game. not whatever crisis any of you want to martyr for. I'm not sure a rape victim should pick this game up, but there's a little something called 'choice'.

enderx

Dear Western mainstream press: stop imposing your values on other cultures. Rapelay is a product of Japanese eroge culture and intended as such an audience; however, it's very easy for us to condemn such a piece of depraved and lewd piece of porno when Japanese eroge culture is outside our Western sensibilities.

You know who's problem it is? Theirs. While we do live in a globalized culture where a game that is legislated only to be sold in Japan can make it to your back door in a brown paper bag, it would be remiss of us to make a judgement upon a people and their culture.

If we are to get up all in Japan's face about Rapelay, then why don't we also go liberate those poor Islamic women in their burqas? Or go in and liberate those poor Chinese who live in mass conformity without the freedom of democracy? Or go in guns ablazing and outlaw female circumcision in Africa?

Lots of things are happening in the world; some of it is bad. You should know about these things and have an opinion, but you shouldn't pass judgement on a culture that isn't yours.

Let's all agree on one thing: if you need to rape a chick to get laid in a videogame, you are one sad, lonely son of a bitch .

JSPOOLE

[myspace.roflposters.com]

XD

John Weston

Hey... I wanna know how many people that played a rape video game vs people that haven't and gone onto actually raping?

While I don't agree with the content, or find it tasteful in any way, pulling the game is a bit much. A rapist will rape regardless of whether or not this game exists, and its' existence does not downplay the severity of the act. Rape has, and always will be, apart of Japanese pornography.

Instead of targeting Illusion, why not do something a bit more productive? Like target manga-ka who draw and write ero manga depicting middle aged men raping five year-olds.

@lasttoblame: Changing the subject isn't a valid way to argue.

There will always be other issues to tackle at any given time. Should we just consider ourselves basically impotent, and all stand perfectly still, doing nothing? I don't think so.

Do you have any idea how susceptible young women, trying to understand their place in the world, are to this kind of thing? Dark impulses are part of human nature, and rape and victimization will unfortunately always happen, and they exist in many people's fantasies, but is it really necessary for them to be mass-produced and normalized, sold in the closest thing Japan has to Gamestop?

It's so sad that sexualizing little girls has become so commonplace in pop culture, especially Japanese.

I don't want to make this into a "won't someone please think of the children!" situation, but I was a little girl once. I know how it feels. I know how confusing our western culture can be. I'm just glad I was never confronted with pop culture images of tentacle hentai and little girls being raped. A lot of this eroge stuff is pretty unremarkable, but a lot of it is just fucked up, I don't give a shit where you are from.

Bialia

@dirtface:

Haha. America Fuck Yeah!!!

doing

Lots of post views for this story.. People must must be interested.

@hazuki: You really think that a game with virtual rape should be banned?

Why exactly? Are you some sort of pixel rights activist or something?
It must be that since absolutely no people are being harmed by this game.

Oh wait... Are you one of those people who thinks that acting something out in a game encourages you to do it in real life?

You think like some guy is going to get all boneroid over this game and decide that by golly if he can do it in a game why not real life?

Well let me just be the first to inform you that this kind of generalization holds absolutely no water. Said person would already need to be pretty fucked up in the head to let a video game tell him what to do don't you think?

Even if the game was never released, he could have watched a rape scene in a movie and decided to have a go, or read it in a book, or even heard about a rape indecent on the news. Should we ban mention of rape in all of those too? I hope you're smart enough to see why that's not a good idea at least.

It's pretty fucked up how much Japanese porn involves rape. It's to the point where there are subgenres of rape porn. I know this site is full of a lot of Japanophiles, but seriously, it's a pretty reprehensible situation.

@dunehunter: rather have them raping virtual girls than real ones, m'rite?

I played that game! Hahaha... Its out on piratebay*

*not responsible in anyway shapr or form of piracy...

or rape...

@iRloading: Why does everyone keep bringing up the "murder simulator" issue. If you all think its so horrible then why aren't you speaking out against it? And since when do two wrongs make a right? How can you condone something horrible like a rape simulator because our culture is already flooded with murder simulators? You really want to make it that much worse?

@Turambar: B> Selvaria Body Pillow: "is killed in a gruesome manner". One typo, giant difference in meaning.

@SsLordMagus: That's fine, you're entitled to skepticism. :)

interim is a username referencing an indefinite period of time

I've been watching this whole thing with disgust-- for the "equality" group that's been rustling around. If they really want to deal with gender inequality in Japan, how about they, oh, I dunno, try to help REAL rape victims instead of fictional ones? Or any of a dozen other issues that women face living in Japan?

Or perhaps it'd be more effective for them to try and deal with the root causes of said issues rather than their most extreme but least widespread symptoms?

I say it'd be way more productive for them to create their own eroge that displays the virtues they're trying to push than to try and get Japan to ban money-making products in this economy.

giapet

Actually, there is grounds for saying Rapelay actually has an anti-rape message since the only endings you can have is the one where you, the rapist, is killing in a gruesome manner.

@CHunterX:
No where near as good as Battle Raper 2.

Amirite?

That's a real game, btw >_>

@Deaf Mute: Really? This site has Japanophiles? Because it seems like any post that even remotely relates to Japan is a pile-on of frat boys screaming about how much they hate Japan and Japanese gaming.

Really, I love it when Kotaku posts about how horrible Japan is to women. All of a sudden the same drooling idiots screaming "MOAR BOOBIES!!!!" turn themselves into outraged feminist champions.

@the_answer: You pawned absolutely nothing. The subject was womens rights and you switched it to death. Two wrongs don't make a right. Learn to argue, and learn about human rights.

anime haters on Youtube saying that they will support the game critics (even Jack Thompson if he attack the game) on attacking Rapelay and giving evidence that anime are "rape simulator" and "murder simulator" in 3...2...1.

mdo7

I said it before, I´ll say it again.

We, western people, like to shoot cops in games. It´s just AS WRONG AS THE STUFF IN RAPELAY! Yet, no one gives a CRAP about it. GTA and FPS players aren´t the best example of simulated "morality" in games, so, this is fucking ridiculous, really. Raping people is wrong, but killing people is ALSO wrong, but we, for some reason, love to do it in games.

lucasreis

@QuigleyHamster: AMEN! This is EXACTLY what I´ve been saying...

lucasreis

@resvrgam: My opinion is that, if America wants to stop rape-based games because they´re wrong, why not stopping GTA because killing people mindlessly is also wrong? This is stupid, really. Glorification of violence happens all the time in this media (and other types of media) and no one gives a shit about it. I don´t think raping someone is cool, far from that, I actually think it´s disgusting. But, what I mean is, most of us like doing wrong stuff in games and yet we´re so "shocked" by games like this one, and we still like to shoot people point blank in games...

lucasreis

WELL SPOKEN! One serious and minded person! Peace man!@lasttoblame:

sybnios

Ok bottom line! Americans like always are puritans, full of complexes and retarded, most of them at least and especially the people wich have the "control". Stop fucking everything up and do something with a meaning. You didn't like Jim morrison, you didn't like rock n roll in general, you don't like videogames with gays and raping but you like all these rap gansta swearing and blood bath. I wonder these people don't have real problems to take care of? GET A LIFE!

sybnios

How is Japan supposed to shed its image as a country of perverts when stuff like this is made?

I realise MacArthur's puritanical imposition of certain "morals and practises" were a tad over the top but seriously, Japan has ALWAYS found ways to circumvent these laws by citing 'technicalities.'

Not allowed to show sex on TV? Simply place a barely adequate mosaic over just the genitalia!
Out-whale your waters because you over-fished and piss off your neighbours when you whale in Australia's waters? Simply say you're conducting "scientific research" and kill the whales anyways!
Into some sexually depraved things that even real women won't do on camera? Draw cartoons of it!

For all the people whinging about "It's their culture, leave 'em alone!" just stop and think about all the people silently going along with it because they're afraid to speak up. Sure the FGM in Africa is awful, the brutality against women in the Middle East is abhorrent, but this is supposed to be a CIVILISED country the western world does business with all the time (not some third world toilet people only care about when oil or diamonds are concerned) -- Japanese culture is very much encroaching on the western world in daily increments (we drive Japanese cars, watch Japanese cartoons, buy Japanese consoles, etc.).

This glorification of rape and violence against women has never been cool (regardless of the country promoting it) but when it's made into a product "legally" (because some perverted deviant figured out a loophole) just makes me even more disgusted.

The sad fact is: there wouldn't be a supply without a demand so I know there are mentally-ill people buying this crap with impunity. It makes me afraid to think how long it will be until that crap reaches our shores with some f*ckwit waving the banner of "freedom of expression."

Rape can sometimes be worse than murder and seeing videogames that celebrate it is a huge middle-finger to the victims who have suffered it.

@fugit: Morality is relative, in Japan this is acceptable. You, imposing your own cultural views onto theirs is no different than outlawing gay marriage.

Not as much fun as Oppai Slider 2.
You can rape a maid with a dog.

@interim is a username referencing an indefinite period of t...:

I did not want to accuse you of something you did not say but without accurate numbers i can't take what you said without doubt you know?

SsLordMagus

Rape simulator? What kind of sick ass shit it this? Geeeez, get a social life and a girlfriend.

10 rapes a second!
Krauser would be proud about you demonchild.

@hazuki: isn't killing people much worse? i don't see these protesters getting stirred up by COD4 and all the other 1,000,000 FPS out there.. ban those FPS, america's favorite videogame genre..

my point is: you should stop passing judgement.. i just pwned a n0ob

the_answer

@Psychopathic Assassin: Well let's make a deal: You rape me and I kill you. Ok?

Kaneda

@Psychopathic Assassin:

RapeLay.. what does that even means? i get the Rape part but Lay? If it was French i would get it, (Rape les)

SsLordMagus

@dunehunter: Yeah, american dirty rape fantasy porn movies and all the pairs that act out rape to make their sex funnier are so sick!

Do you realize that both "little" girls on the cover are pretty "big"?

Areinu

@Zerorush: Especially because main characters methods would get you into jail 101% of times you would try it.

step 1) look under girl's skirt in public, on crowded station, hoping that she and other people around won't realize
step 2) molest her on train until she gets orgasm. Don't forget that first you have to take off most of her clothes. Remember that train has to be crowded a bit, so there's higher chance of you being caught.
step 3) rape her in some place where there's high chance of someone coming, but it's cool because the location looks good!

Areinu

US activists protesting a Japanese eroge... Someone musta found their twelve year old plucking the chicken to it and got pissed.

@Bialia:
I completely agree. If Gamestop started selling *ehem* games right out there, there'd probably be something very wrong with this country. What should happen, is that they start up a subsidiary company called "Gamestop: The Underside," the entrance to which can only be gained by a special card. The government can even put it in those Selective Service things they send out.

...Never mind, we already have something like that. But maybe Japan should consider something analogous. Adult content should only ever be available in seedy little shops.

Faselei

@AlucardsQuest: im with you on that 100% its the same kind idea behind priests raping alter boys.

its human nature to need to "release". if you dont then your mind is eventually going to turn against you.

@VyseTheQuick: I have enjoyed your comments on the post. Well done.

Bialia

@bfwings55: Thank you. :)

Bialia

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi:

Saying, "what about this?!" and making a check list of women in unfortunate situations around the world is changing the subject. I don't know where game violence in general comes into this. That's a conversation I certainly wasn't having.

Rapelay is base and prurient in a way that Lolita is not. Therein lies the difference. Have you seen the content of this game? You stalk a family. You rape a pre-teen girl on her bed with her stuffed animals staring at you while tears well in her eyes. Sorry, where's the literary merit? Have you even read Lolita?

I understand the difference between actual child exploitation and a video game. I understand the importance of free speech, freedom of expression.

But I can't reconcile the basic tenets of free speech, which I believe in, and being okay with this game posing as harmless entertainment. I admit that. I believe that normalising this game, this emotional poison, hurts everyone, end of story. It doesn't matter where in the world it comes from. This isn't an anti-Japan thing.

Bialia

@Stevil_T:

Japan's poverty issues aren't reported overseas because they're domestic issues. I don't know how much of a marvel it was for you to see homeless people in a big city, but that's how things are in cities around the world so it only makes the news in extreme or special interest cases. The one article I read that did discuss it mentioned that it was seen as a social problem over there, even though it was not as bad as it is in the US where in general the populace is less likely to consider poverty a problem(possibly tied to the notion that people out here are more likely to think the poor deserve it)

rezo

@Gunlore: Just because it's our nature doesn't mean it's acceptable.

And in response to the above, let me put it this way: A few years ago not far from where I live there was a rapist who liked to cut up his victims faces after the act was done. He got caught and is in jail now, but his two victims last I read were still in a catatonic state, completely oblivious to the world and unwilling to even leave their rooms.

I have a little sister. And I live in fear that someone something like that might happen to her. And so help me if someone ever even suggests anything like rape towards her I will track them down and kill them myself.

She'll never however travel back in time to become a ninja nazi from Wolfenstein, nor will she even don power armour and do battle in space. And if she joins the army when she's older, that's her choice and she'll go into it knowing the consequences.

But rape is an ever present fear. It's not something to be merely dismissed, and never something to make light of. Ever. And frankly to anyone defending rape saying 'it's better than X' you disgust me.

And the thought of people making games on the subject is just wrong.

JonathanStrange

How about Americans shut the fuck up and learn how to be godamn parents for once?

This is the kind of shit that makes me absolutely loathe 99% of the "rights" groups out there.

I dont want to bring politics into this but Im gonna. If you think shit like this is bad now, just wait until the liberal government expands even further. You're not going to be able to so much as make a simple joke about a particular group or class of people without having some thin-skinned activists attack you.

Killing in games = Okay
Raping in games = NO! BAD!

NewSc2

No one actually complaining for anything but personal reasons has played the game or other eroges? J-List alone is FULL of eroges that involve rape (heck, one starts the main premise of the game by taking three girls' virginity), but nooooooooo, "if I haven't seen it, its new to me" also can be used negatively due to the feminist group that started it and past situations like this.

@twinturbo2:

Is that enough of a reference for you?

@SC123:

Equality is a group of feminists, you know. From New York. I think that settles any question of which side of the spectrum they are on.

Personally i am not surprised this game got pulled there is no need for trash like this. But I am not surprised this is from Japan after I saw on Attack of the Show that there are stores that sell young female minors underwear that has been worn....Some of Japan's culture is seriously fucked up and needs counseling bad.

@interim is a username referencing an indefinite period of t...: The Japanese hold the belief that it is the woman's fault for being raped, and that it shames her and her family if she comes forward about it.

Well this kind of game is still legal even in the US isn't it?

DixonHespera

eh, whoever is so outraged about the existance of this game has a write to not buy this game. i'm not racing to play this game, just saying. if i see a game in a store and its not something i agree with morally, i dont buy it. i dont launch a protest based on my personal moral standard so others (regardless of my opinion of that person) wont have the right to play it.

just like the consumer has the right to choose what to buy and what not to buy, developers have the right to create whatever game they wish, hollywood can create whatever movies and tv shows the want. i mean, alot of the things mentioned in rap music is pretty foul. and we all have the right to not watch, play, or buy materials that offends us personally.

this is just another example of people trying to cut into human rights. just with games like grand theft auto and manhunt. 15 years ago it was mortal kombat

gojyo

@Numanoid: jesus christ guys

eh, whoever is so outraged about the existance of this game has a write to not buy this game. i'm not racing to play this game, just saying. if i see a game in a store and its not something i agree with morally, i dont buy it. i dont launch a protest based on my personal moral standard so others (regardless of my opinion of that person) wont have the right to play it.

just like the consumer has the right to choose what to buy and what not to buy, developers have the right to create whatever game they wish, hollywood can create whatever movies and tv shows they want. rappers create garbage in music, etc.
we all have the right to NOT watch, play, or listen to materials that offends us personally, by not purchasing a product or changing a channel.

this is just another example of self-righteous people trying to cut into human rights in gaming. just like with games like grand theft auto, manhunt, and 15 years ago it was mortal kombat.

gojyo

My take on any sort of sexual fetish simulation is... if you take away the simulation of a fetish, what do you think that people whom are interested in that sort of thing will do next? They aren't going to go on a guilt trip, they are going to find a new way (a cheaper, easier way) to release their sexual tension... and we're not going to like it. I honestly think that Japan doesn't have a surplus of crime because they have a lot of outlets for their sexual frustrations, if you take that away... use your imagination.

AlucardsQuest

@JonathanStrange: Sure, the Japanese have the absolute freedom to make kiddie rape games. And we have the absolute freedom to call them sick fucks for doing so.

SC123

@lasttoblame: Exactly! If you think pedo rape is bad, you are a RACIST!

SC123

@LordChris915: It won't.
The same way banning violent games won't stop people from killing each other.
Simple as that.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

It never ceases to amaze me how gamers defend these type of things. When issues about race are brought up you get the same reaction, every gamer (ok many, not every) pulls together to defend their beloved lifestyle/hobbie no matter the content of the game. It has become an automatic reaction to any valid critique of gaming. As games I urge us to be critical of our hobbie, and push for a more race conscious, sex conscious, and class conscious discussions about these topics. It doesn't matter when the game came out.. it's a game about raping. It's sold as a raping simulator and that is clearly marketed in this way. In this case you don't have to play the game to realize this.

Movies, Television, even books are subject to these type of critiques. That doesn't mean that there are not racist/sexist forms of those media (trust me they are plenty), but why don't we push to critically discuss the issues in games as gamers. Rather than just responding by hurling poop at those who question issues presented in video games.

topogigio

@mintycrys just found out why they don't go to Ravenholm...: The Christian right really hates porn (or at least pretends to hate, while secretly masturbating) and is no fan of free speech. And the Christian right makes up the majority of the right wing in this country. Libertarians look like a much bigger force on the internet than they really are, because they all hide in their mom's basement and post on message boards all day.

SC123

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi:
See, I'm not saying you have to buy the game and like it.
I'm not saying you have to support it.

I'm not saying what happens in the game is right, or that people should copy it.

But the publisher can't be censored of forbidden to publish his game based on arbitrary opinnions.

As far as I know, the game does not make apology to the crime... it goes more along the BSDM line (never played it, I also don't like it).

Here's a pretty simple example: If this game is to be censored and outlawed like that, I don't see why Nabokov's Lolita should still be around.

Not only that, but also treated as classic.
And there are thousands others like it.

You can try to justify all you want. Because it has "virtual girls"? Because it's a japanese game? Because I don't like it?

Truth is, the news on this side of the world is ALWAYS searching for "weird, deviant and specially sexual" things to post about Japan.
We NEVER read about child abuse percentages, domestic violence and rape crimes in our own countries save cases that are very graphical or peculiar.

Japan is the scapegoat of our own sexual deviations.
The only problem is that Japan itself has the lowest rape crimes and lowest child abuse cases in the WORLD.

You don't have to believe me, just go ahead and search for some official statistics, they'll prove me right.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@VyseTheQuick:
@Bialia:
No. The issue here is the exact same one. He isn't switching the subject.
Violent games and Rapelay are exactly the same.
The portray a fantasy.
The same way someone who likes shooting antiterrorists on a game shouldn't be treated as someone who will go out of his house shooting random people on the streets, someone who plays this game shouldn't be treated as a rapist.

It's the same discussion on rock music, and on certain types of literature some decades ago.

If you are arbitrary on the freedom of speech just because your personal opinnion is against it, someday society will be against something you like others don't.

Our so called freedom we all like and defend works like that.

You just don't have the right to complain about news putting blame of crimes on games and other crap like that if you can't see what I mean.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@Bialia: I wish I could <3 you twice.

@dunehunter: You don't have to.
This is the beauty of freedom of choice and freedom of speach.
We are all equally free to choose, as long as we are not violating any laws.
Or so I wish this would be truth.

Sex on the missionary position alone, by reproductive alone!
And since we are at it, also ban all games were you can act as a criminal, like GTA or... Dungeon Master?

Because hay, we all know Japan is the country with more rapists running amock on the streets right? WRONG!

I don't mind feminist movements working for a just cause, but THIS ONE ISN'T.

I read what they wrote, bunch of crappy useless baseless arguments.
According to them, Rapelay is some sort of magic faerie dust that will suddenly turn men into rapists. Just like Counter Strike and some other games will make us run around shooting random people on the streets.

I couldn't careless for the game, and I am turned on by the exact opposite of what this game portrays (women having pleasure instead of crying), BUT this is no different from the violent games discussion.

If people are willing to accept such weak arguments from some random feminist group, it's no wonder violent games, movies, music or whatever will come next.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

I think Illusion thought that a 3 year old game wasn't worth the trouble and complied.

Dunno if this is going to stop them from releasing a sequel though, if they do, they'll probably just use a different name.

What a disturbing game.

@wulfsaga2: they prefer real life

on a serious note though, it annoys me to no end that they latch onto one obscure game out of nowhere to antagonise an entire genre, and maybe soon the industry.

El-Badass

Im embarassed to be an american at times like these.

Another fucking country has a legal game out for years, but when we are offended well we just have to make sure everyone else is offended also and that the company stops making the game.

Its just a fucking video game for gods sake. Its not real, its fake, its make believe and if you dont like it then dont fucking play.

Plus it seems weird considering how many damn rape and erotic games/anime asia has, this is a drop in the bucket.

And I "found it" on the net and tried it for shits and giggles. Its god awful, maybe if the controls werent total shit I might have spent more than 40 minutes on it. I just wanted to see something different and the rape wasnt even like rape, it was a total joke.

@Falcon: No I disagree

Regardless of how "real" video games become or what the subject matter is, the fact is that by "playing" a game you are mentally acknowledging that it is not real. To be confused about this is not dependent on visual clues or otherwise. This would be a mental disorder.

If you were to present me with a robot who looked, felt, acted, smelled, and tasted like a real human being and the robot and I were to engage in any sort of activity
(I'll let your imagination decide what activity that is)

When I walked away from the situation I would still know it was a robot and not a human being and that my actions towards human beings should not be the same as my actions towards the robot.

Hopefully you got my analogy but in case you did not

Games = Robot

Hence I stand firm with my original argument.

@p.e.r.e.g.r.i.n.e.: I made that distinction very clearly. Did you read my entire post?

However, like I said, the more realistic we make the situations, the less of a leap there is between the fantasy and the reality. Right now, there's such a huge leap that there don't seem to be large real-world effects. Video game violence is currently very unrealistic. Currently. And the desensitization doesn't lead to being desensitized to real world violence as much, currently.

But you're assuming just because that's true now it will always be true. If video games ever get to the point where you feel like you're strangling someone with your own hands, I have a feeling we would see a huge link between video game violence and real world violence. I don't think any game is even close to crossing that line currently, and games doing that is probably 10+ years away. Games aren't even close to murder simulators today, even though the press likes to throw that phrase out all the time.

I'm saying that we need to pay attention to how similar the experiences are. If your brain gets used to that feeling and associates it with pleasure, it will cause horrible real world consequences. There may be enough of a disconnect with Rapelay that it doesn't cause real world problems, but these things need to be monitored very closely so when we do get to that point we'll be ready to head it off at the pass.

@Bialia: That said I think You made a lot of good points.

@Bialia:
Human nature is a rather complexly layered object. Violence and sex are intertwined in our every decision and perception.

When an individual enters puberty a process occurs that turns every traumatic memory of their life into a sexual one.

This can lead to some very bizarre fetishes.

On the other hand Rape is essentially sex and violence combined into one identity.

In terms of modern society it may seem crude and sexist to say that it is a man's natural tendency be aroused by rape, however in a more uncivilized time(not really all that long ago considering how long evolution takes) rape was essentially the same thing to a man as sex.

I would say that consensual sex in the early developmental stages of man was virtually no existent. To expect those sort of instincts to simply disappear off the earth because they are no longer needed is unrealistic to say the least.

I am not saying this game is a necessity or that I even approve of it.

I am just saying men liking rape is not that unusual considering how our sexuality developed evolutionarily speaking and how each person's sexual identity develops sociologically speaking.

And if there's a market for something, someone will make it.

@Falcon: Are you serious? People play games and are desensitized to things that happen in games? Why god? WHY???

I think it has been pretty well established that yes people are desensitized by game violence. But what they are being desensitized to is game violence, not commiting real violent crimes. I think the same would apply here regardless of your own personal feelings on the subject matter.

Anyone who can't tell the difference between what's okay in real life and what's okay in a game is someone who needs real mental help.

@latiosking: can't decide 360 or PS3: NO! God forbid some people of all sexes/genders can enjoy rape and/or bondage fantasies. Quickly alert the Evangelicals!

Notice, I didn't call for a ban. Don't put words in my mouth. I admitted, already, to be at an impasse when considering this game vs. free speech. Doesn't compute. Such is life. I never called for a ban. The spirit of my comment lies in an uncomfortable gray area. Don't just skim my comments and reply to me.

Also, off-topic, but to acknowledge your comment further, did I say I consider all game violence ok? Yeah, I do personally find this the victimization of the vulnerable worse. I don't see why it is necessary to tackle both of these issues head on.

I approach this from the perspective of a woman. Sorry, that's how it is. I grew up in the latter half of the twentieth century. I know how difficult it is to try and navigate your way and find your identity while being bombarded by conflicting images. I get an intense visceral reaction when young girls are shown to be desirable as helpless sexual victims. And it pains me when I see men who get their biggest hard ons when their latest sexual conquest little more than vulnerable prey, imaginary or not.

I don't want to ban anything- like Faselei says, keep it out of mainstream retailers like Sofmap and convenience stores. Don't normalise this stuff. That is my problem.

Bialia

@TheHun: A lot of you are missing a huge point, though.

There is a difference between a "sex simulator" and a "rape simulator". Most games that have you killing people do not have those people begging for mercy while you slowly slit their throat, which is more analogous to a rape simulator.

There is a huge disconnect from the killing in games, which is precisely why it's okay. It's obviously fantasy and otherwise we'd have a ton of Halo players robbing convenience stores. However, I do think that if the killing in games was made so graphic to the point that it was hard to distinguish it from the real life act, then yes, we would start to see psychological problems arise from killing in games. If games ever start sliding in that direction, I will be standing up and speaking out.

I have no problem with a game where you're having sex with women, and it can be as explicit as you want to make it. However, when the woman in the game is tearing up, or begging you not to, etc. then it becomes a problem in my eyes. That kind of game experience should be discouraged and should disturb people, just as torturing someone very graphically in a game should be disturbing to people.

Desensitization does happen, so we need to be careful what areas we allow it to happen in.

Sometimes I actually feel BAD about being American.

It's usually because of BS like this. :(

soulmonarch

@JonathanStrange: Here is a little bit of information that one should know before critizising Japan. Using statistics rather than prejudice, we get a different picture of the Japanese:

Murders per 100,000.
1. Russia Federation 18.07
2. United States 6.32
3. Malaysia 2.73
Taiwan 1.17
Spain 1.08
Japan 0.58

Rape per 100,000.
1. United States 34.20
2. England and Wales 14.69
3. France 13.38
Taiwan 8.82
South Korea 4.38
Spain 3.23
Japan 1.48

(source: [answers.google.com])

Maybe if America had Japanese values our crime rate would be as low.

bornonce

@JonathanStrange: But MURDER is an ever present fear. It's not something to be merely dismissed, and never something to make light of. Ever. And frankly to anyone defending MURDER saying 'it's better than X' you disgust me.

And the thought of people making games on the subject is just wrong.

ps360blows

Anyone know where I can find this game now?

nbsp

You know what's great? All the free publicity the game is getting from these "protests."

@lilaliendog:
Could it be that you targeted that comment at the wrong person?

@Bialia: It isn't changing the subject, Bokusatsu_Tenshi is making a valid analogy. It's all about fantasy. Books Movies Games all fulfill fantasies that people don't usually encounter in their everyday lives. Murder is worse than rape, yet it is prevalent in all forms of entertainment. Shouldn't those be banned first? There are groups who campaign against GTA, Manhunt, CS, etc. I'm sure you don't think they should be banned. With what logic can you say these "murder simulators" are ok but the "rape simulators" aren't?

"I don't want to make this into a "won't someone please think of the children!" situation, but I was a little girl once... I'm just glad I was never confronted with pop culture images of tentacle hentai and little girls being raped."

You are precisely making this into a "think of the children" issue. The game is not intended for children, it is up to the parents to be good parents, and keep such things out of their children's hands.

So are we to ban everything "bad" or immoral? There are many vices people enjoy, this is just another one on the list.

TheHun

@-MasterDex-: Look: some people have odd fetishes. Isn't it better to let them get off to a game? It's hurting nobody, even if the thought is disturbing.

Get off your high horse. People can't control what turns them on; and if it's illegal to actually do, it's just plain ol' unfair to ban their only form of release.

Sooku

I'm just hope Japans Minister says something Like
FUCK YOU! American Moralfags
but you know in a diplomatic way
you know kind of like when he visits the war shrine(relations with china)
That would be awsome

Malform

@Kagechiyo: It's because the world is overpopulated hence violence = goodgood while procreation = NONO :3

moehannes

@Jon: Give them a break. Bush is no longer in office, so now a lot of protesters just don't have anything to do anymore.

beetnek

@Lightbunny: I vote for "America: Why doesn't anyone think of the children"

develin

I am certain that they can release erotic games that aren't rape based.

@lasttoblame: Especially when you are presented with only one facet of that culture.

Think of all the violence that one-sided judgments have caused (and are still causing) throughout the world.

Kagechiyo

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: Nicely said.

Kagechiyo

@SsLordMagus: It's supposed to be a play on the words Rape and Play but probably romanized into Rape-Lay.

Strangely enough, it is japanese but as with other loan words - the meaning of the words change when it enters the Japanese language.

Kagechiyo

@Zerorush: Seriously, the game is limited to Adults, who supposedly have the common sense to know that said content is not real and the willpower not to go around acting out said fantasies.

I think it's interesting that you can have games where you drink the blood of your opponents, ram spikes in their faces, dismember them, plan elaborate methods to kill characters in graphically explicit ways and that's all ok.

Throw in a boob or a butt and that's still ok.

Throw in the full monty, a wild beaver, a scene that implies sex, and "oh, think of the children!" becomes the cry of the day.

Mix sex and violence together and you get the birth of the antichrist.

Where have our values gone?

Kagechiyo

@francoamerica:
I find it pretty ironic that the one country that includes freedom of expression in its core values is also one of the loudest when it comes to telling people what they can and can't say.

These freedoms are not something that can be tailored to meet your individual tastes - you can't be for freedom of expression and then suddenly be against it when someone says something you don't like. It's all or nothing.

When RapeLay (which actually is a play on words in Japanese for Rape Play) Gate first hit the websites, the story was linked to Kotaku's affiliate site - Jezebel. You should have seen the responses there - people saying they were feeling "physically ill" and were "enraged" that such a thing existed.

With all the terrible, negative things going on in the world today, isn't there something else more constructive out there to focus on? How about unresolved claims of the use of leisure women (state sanctioned rape, as claimed by some) by the Japanese army in WWII? How about Islamic Law (whatever the special name is) that prohibits education to women past 8 years old and gives their husband the right to beat them if they don't go out without their special headwear? Or even if they directed their energy into improving their own community - think of all the positive change they could bring.

Oh well, good luck with the language barrier, I guess.

Kagechiyo

...nooo, not Illusion...I just got into modding their games, too!
In other news, it's times like these that I throw out the attention whore card.

@moehannes: You know, that actually makes sense :P.

Cridia

@Bialia: It's great that you have opinions and values that you stand up for. I say that without any sarcasm.

However, my point is this, just as I said earlier in my post: this isn't your problem, nor the Western world. Why? Because it's Japan's problem.

This isn't to say that you can't care about it or have an opinion. Rapelay is a pretty despicable game; there isn't anything redeeming about it really, save that it can satiate the lewdest and most perverse fantasies a man can have. Having played it, I can tell you - you're right that this is one morally bad game.

But whether it's reprehenisible or not isn't the issue - I'm saying let other cultures take care of their own problems, and you take care of your own.

What you are advocating is "Think locally, act globally" rather than "Think globally, act locally" which is what the world needs now (ie. environmentalism). You think that your moral standards should be those that the world follows? What gives you the right?

Female circumcision is terrible, just awful. A while back a famous model came out and appealed to the UN to do something about it, having suffered female circumcision as a child. This is the way to do it: have a member of that society appeal to the world community to do something, and not for us to impose our standards upon a culture that has its own values.

I mean, look at it outside your own culture: you are a woman who is speaking her mind. To some cultures of the world, this is unspeakable. They would fully expect your husband to drag you home and beat you until you shut up.

Would you enjoy it if your culture was conquered by this one, through force or otherwise, and you had to follow suit? If these people thought like you do and had the ability to impose their will, this would happen.

@lasttoblame: No, anonymous internet commenter. You are wrong about me, my understanding of my own culture, and my place in the world. You are accusing me of an ethnocentrism that simply is not there.

We're not even talking about the same fucking thing. Do not accuse me of being a morally righteous western cultural crusader with a false sense of superiority trying to impose my viewpoint on others.

I'm talking about a gut reaction, and you're making me out to be an ignorant destructive moron who doesnt understand the limitations of my own scope in a global context.

You know what? Fuck you. A thousand times, fuck. you. Don't use me as your whipping post. I've never been more condescended to in my life. I'm not an uneducated idiot.

That's as civil as I'm capable of being, so I'm stopping here.

Bialia

@hazuki: Human rights? Rapelay is oppressing people and their ability to protest governments and voice their opinions without recrimination?

Hazuki-san, I believe what you're talk about is misogyny and its sober counter-part, feminism. And from what I gather, there is no feminism in Japan. And while outsiders may scorn at the lack of something regarded as a human necessity, like democracy in China, it is still their own row to hoe. People there may like it that they have no democracy, just like people may like it that there's no feminism in Japan.

Say what you will, but I still believe you should respect other cultures to be what they are unless they appeal to the international community for aid/leverage.

@Bialia: That's civil? Hello? I think the banhammer has dropped on far less serious infractions than your post.

I read, and then re-read your post, and then again, and still I can't find any proof with which you refute my claims that you're being ethnocentric, unless and I quote you, "fuck you. a thousand times" can be used where ever you're from in a court of law as admissable evidence (uh, Tenessee?). I don't doubt your rage, but I don't know what you're arguing since you're not using any arguments. (just imagine that in italics or in bold)

Let's recap:
- I said, "Hey, let's not impose our values upon other cultures."
- you responded to me and said, "You're changing the subject, rape culture is bad culture and Japan supports rape culture"
- I said, "you shouldn't interfer with other peoples' culture as you wouldn't want them to interfer with your own"
- you said, "no no no no" and something about "fuck you"

So far, all I've been talking about is that we should respect other cultures to take care of their own problems; Japan has a government that would prohibit or ban games like Rapelay if they see fit. While we may see eroge/hentai culture as disgusting and sexist, we are seeing it outside the cultural context it lies in; while this isn't an argument to condone pornography, this is to say that there is a place for this inside Japan, a niche, and while its baffling to outsiders it makes more sense there. Let's learn more about this place before we pass judgement on it.

You identify with being a Westerner by saying "our Western values," and then you drop this bomb:

"It's so sad that sexualizing little girls has become so commonplace in pop culture, especially Japanese."

This is your quote, and you even went so far as to put "especially" in italics. By singling out Japanese as the worst offender of the sexualizing of little girls, you are ostracizing this culture for this deplorable act, but for what? A hentai game you haven't played from a culture you don't know? Why "especially" Japanese? What makes them the greatest world offenders in this regard? Aren't you being "especially" condescending with a smug sense of superiority?

The sexualization of children is a problem with a growing trend to sexualize them younger and younger. Fashion runway models and magazine models are getting younger, looking more adult as they wear makeup and sexy, revealing clothes. Pop icons like Brittany Spears and Christina Agulaira encourage young girls to dress more grown up (read: sexy). Technology and the internet is making kids grow up faster (ie. teh pron and sexting). Yup it's happening; and you know what? It's happening outside Japan - a place where kids still look like kids.

Really, what are you going to come back with? Fuck you a thousand and one times? I don't deny that my post was confrontational and provocative, but in the absense of any arguments from you, your angry insubstantial backlash just proves me correct.

I don't know you, but I'm getting to know you from your anger. Hope it all works out for you.

@VyseTheQuick: I am just saying that for one to even bother outside their cultural and geographical borders regarding an offensive matter such as "rape simulation" in japan is being hypocritical in the sense that in their own shores they too are guilty of creating graphic and over the top content in their media.

and to bring up a game that has been years released, it's like bringing up fallout 2 once again for being able to kill children.

We all remember how overly graphic and brutal games in the past have stirred the hive's nest of unwanted attention, mostly due to intended audiences being able to play games clearly not intended for them and the coming media frenzy with such games.

Such is the case with this game, horrid in nature yes but it's a hentai game made for the Japanese adult market.

As stated by the makers that their creation is "not for sale anywhere but Japan".

If people, mainly Germany had this mindset when Wolfenstein was released then gaming as we are today with portrayals of racial/social/ethnic groups would leave us with blue-skinned 3-eyed aliens as enemies in our next Call of Duty.

I'm not weighing in the moral depravity of murder vs. rape.

But you will have to agree that to perform "murder" is easier in videogames as it is variably much more entertaining to a much more general audience as compared to "rape".

I'm saying that "murder simulator" is prevalent in the American market, then why did they even bother targeting an old game intended solely for the Japanese market?

It's similar in media, an editorial cartoon in the local papers about a foreign religious icon is deemed offensive in another country, a stand-up comedian gets millions making fun of whitey, a movie gets critical acclaim for portraying the cruelty of germans against jews, a cartoon stereotypically portrays an ethnic group, a videogame advocates that crime is the only way to progress towards a goal. A place in europe legalizes prostitution and marijuana...

If each of those were deemed offensive and a party were to claim retroactive action, well you get the picture.

It's also why certain media/games is unavailable in other countries due to licensing/distribution issues.

main point(in the manner of this post being tl;dr):

it was not intended for America, therefore America butt out, let Japan sort it out amongst themselves.

iRloading

@wulfsaga2:Since when do people play games before protesting them?

eggy32