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New York City boycotts Japanese rape games
by God Len, 02/26/2009
New York City boycotts Japanese rape games photo



Here’s a tip: if you have an anime ero game, don’t play it in front of your NYC Council parent/parents/guardian/police officer/firefighter/anyone! Someone messed up and now the entire New Your City council is blood lusted against Japanese ero games, especially ones called “Rapelay” by Illusion Soft. CBS News reports on how people are so upset with the game that everyone wants to ban it from store shelves in New York.

Christine Quinn says "You cannot take rape or sexual assault and package it into a game. It is a violent crime which destroys women's lives.” But what you don’t understand, Mrs. Quinn, is that rape is the way people shake hands in Japan. Anyways, the game was sold on Amazon, but not anymore thanks to this fiasco among others; I’m surprised it was on Amazon to begin with.

It took soccer mom America a long time to discover this hidden subgenre of ero games; but now that they have their claws in it, we are never going to hear the end of it. First it begins with ero rape games, then what next? Ero rape guro games, Ero rape guro loli games, Atlus games? It will never end.

Now this is one of those articles where I am bound to hear “F%$# those Japanese and their f%$# up games. They are sick people.” Well, you know what? I’d rather play a game where you rape someone, than a game where you have to kill someone with a plastic shopping bag. Games about killing are usually 100% OK in the eyes of most people. But when it comes to rape that is unheard of. I’m not defending rape by any means, and would (most likely) never play a game that just features it; but seriously, let’s get our priorities straight. Also, only .0001334% of people currently living in Japan know this game exists, so to completely blame the entire Japanese people, including the Emperor and the samurai Musashi, is completely ignorant.

Regardless, IT'S JUST A GAME! AND A SH*TTY ONE AT THAT!   





(37) COMMENTS



Necros

"It is a violent crime which destroys women's lives."

Technically, Mrs. Quinn, you're not destroying anyone's lives because they're all fake, imaginary people. No crime has been committed unless we consider words and pictures as people. Now, if you wanted to attempt a case, you could go off on supposed influential behavior and at least pretend that it's more of a reasonable argument.
 
DrkCntry

Sensationalist political posturing, at least everyone has a great example of it.

Take ambitious member of congress/political seat, give them adult-oriented games, and then give them a microphone.

Luckily everyone with even a half a braincell is laughing their asses off at this woman and her 'crusade'. After-all, how much work is involved in banning a game that isn't even sold in our entire continent on any store shelves?

A guy tried reselling his more-than-likely-bootlegged pirated version of Rapelay on Amazon Marketplace, whoopity doo. So now we have another outspoken idiot trying to crusade against games to protect the kiddies.

I weep for New York City...and honestly, everyone else who follows the same mentality of that woman.
 
Sigue

"But what you don’t understand, Mrs. Quinn, is that rape is the way people shake hands in Japan."

I lol'd
 
Kyonshiro

Old news is old. The British were on to it before y'all:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-14183546.html

The Belfast Telegrap article is the one I find more balanced.

~

But seriously, can you people really treat fiction as nothing more than entertainment ? For a person like me, I consider fiction of all forms to be realities intrinsic of themselves, even if theya re not immediately real. After all, a fable and a mroal of a story has no meaning if a fiction is nothing more then an entertainment.

I have nothing against eroge. I like dating sims, and I liked a number of other innovative eroges. Even though Big Bang Age had some raep, it was not condoned or a major part, in fact, it was sometimes undesirable.

But Rapelay, and other games of its type take the cake for me; they pander to a aprticular fetish. Personally, the idea of sexual abuse, in any form, is abhorrent; in fact, can anyone really say that line 'Rape is like saying hello in Japan' to a Japanese ? I can't imagine myself doing that, and I have Japanese friends.

Personally, I'd hope that the hullabaloo dies down, eitherwise, the eroge genre may disappear. But even so, I wish that whoever had put Rapelay on Amazon got smacked.

Perhaps it is my bias for more romantic galge and more traditional heterosexual relationships. But I really wish that,a side from eroge remaining a hidden matter, games like Rapelay didn't have to exist to the preferences of some people.
 
Sigue

"can anyone really say that line 'Rape is like saying hello in Japan' to a Japanese ?"

I think I could manage it, yeah.
 
Kageryu

Rapelay was a bad game.

Now Virgin Roster, that game was a masterpiece.
 
Kahl

Those damn moralfags.
 
Zonic505

Just going to add more fuel to the Japanese stereotype fire.....

Was it even IN store shelves? Pretty sure since the game is equivalent to an AO rating most store (if not all) would refuse to carry it.
 
neuromasser

If they continue to offense Japaneselike this, Musashi will come back and slay all the eroge-haters. And then there will be anime based on that... hmmm maybe that's not so bad :P
 
Edward Baylon

Old news is old. That game was like from 2006, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
 
gokumonster

How hypocritical. You're absolutely right. I mean, I sell GTA IV to 5 year olds everyday and no mom even thinks twice about it. This is even AFTER I tell them about the violence and prostitution.
 
Catrophy

noooo. my precious lilithsoft games lol. pretty soon theyll find out about dokidoki majo shinpan for the ds. damn them! taking everything good to me!
sigh. my headhurts thinking about this. im goin back to sleep
 
Reibooi

The main thing that angers me about this whole thing is that this is such a big deal simply because it is a game we are talking about.

Had this been a book or a film it would have been 100% ok and there have been plenty of films in the past that have shown what Rape is like in a very graphic way but that was ok because it was a film. How many womens drama novels have very graphic depictions about rape? Many of them.

Now I am not supporting rape or Rapelay as a game. I would never play it and I would never encourage anyone else to either however the fact that it is causing this much problems simply because it is a game and for no other reason really makes me angry.

If certain people get there way we may not be able to play alot of the great visual novels out there like Snow Sakura and Ying-Yang X-Change Alternative.

I think Len makes a very valid point. I find violence in games like Manhunt far more offensive and while that can caused a bit of a stir no one wanted it off store selves which I think is wrong. And how many movies have we seen with Manhunt level violence? Many of them probably a few a year. The US seems more and more to be a country built of violence and ignorance then Freedom and Understanding and more and more that makes me sad.

 
Pangloss

First it begins with ero rape games, then what next? Ero rape guro games, Ero rape guro loli games, Atlus games?

Atlus would be the logical next step, yes.

 
Mooman18

haha nice comic... i think when it comes to these type of things the general public should just stfu and gtfo...people have the right to buy merchandise and if it's being sold freely in Japan then who's to stop someone from importing it over? I mean... the GTA series has soo many bad themes (the expansion has male nudity which i'd figure would tick many off)but no American would pass an act that bans the sale of that game cuz it's made there...(that's just my opinion i could be wrong)
 
Horatio Caine

I'm just thinking how many so called "otakus" can rape anybody. Their chances are very low because 1) they're actually weak & can't take on anyone 2) they're actually afraid of that gender that they intend to rape. My 2 cents. Let me send you 2 more of my cents. Raping anyone real person should lead into castration. Yeah, you heard me. I'll take care of that 8th amendment. Horatio Caine for the US senate in '09. Goodnight everybody!
 
Kougeru

Wonder if this will prove unconstitutional since there's solid evidence that it makes ppl rape ppl
 
jpmeyer

Rather than commenting on the morality of the game and whatnot,

1) How do you boycott something that you don't even buy anyway?
2) How do you boycott stores that sell something when you don't even know where it's sold?
 
mega324386

Guh, the world has left me in despair.
 
DrkCntry

If memory serves, like I originally stated, this was all over a fandangle that someone was reselling their copy (which if I also remember correctly, was a pirated version) of Rapelay on Amazon marketplace.

It was hence removed, not so sure because of it's questionable content, but because of it not being a legitimate copy.

In swoops the hell-bent politicians looking for the Soccer-mom support and you get what we got here.
 
DrkCntry

I should also note, you cannot buy *any* of IllSoft's works in any brick and mortar store in the States (unless it's some small import shop). It's not bound by the ESRB, and is not even English translated.
 
kamanashi

I think it would be funny to get a projector and project the game onto the NYPD building.
 
mana

I honestly don't have a problem with the ban (since its a state issue) as long as it permeates into all forms of entertainment. Movies, Books, Television...these are all forms of entertainment where rape has been portrayed and if New Yorkers agree that their amendment rights need to be tweaked a bit to allow Rape in media to be outlawed I have no issue with it.

its just another case of law makers trying to bring up issue with something that probably has never been sold in an actual store in New York and bringing attention off of the pressing issue that analysts keep predicting deficits and thats costing tax payer jobs.

either way this article went too far off into a rant than actually being presented as an issue. there has been plenty of research done into what kind of pornography can and can not be sold...see Redrup v. New York, Miller v. California and Roth v. United States.

 
Double RR

Damm wat a couincidence. I was just watchin welcome to the NHK


 
The Amazing Shenazin

I like how more people are gonna buy this now because of all the hoopla

NO MEANS NO!
 
The Amazing Shenazin

also I'd like to add

"A video game that's growing in popularity is also gaining controversy."

"A video game that's growing in popularity"

what a complete load of bullshit, no one had ever heard of this game before this and it's from 2006, they make it sound like I can't walk into a gamestop and buy it
 
dan_dare

i know i'm gonna get shit for this but i had to say-from what i read of the comments it seems like none of you know exactly what this game involves. this is the first time i've heard of them-but apparently they are far worse than your regular rape games *and i shudder even to say that* :

"Players begin the game by stalking a mother on a subway station before violently raping her. They then move on to attack her two daughters described as virgin schoolgirls.

Players are also allowed to enter ‘freeform mode’ where they can rape any woman and get other male game characters to join the attacks.

Pregnancy and abortion are listed as ‘key features’. One review said: “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."

is this typical of rape games? i honestly don't know.

and personally i think rape is just as serious as murder. you have no idea how badly rape can effect someone so please don't say throw away comments about rape.

 
pd771

I wonder if anyone will be willing to take them to court over this, because I'm sure this violates at least one Supreme Court decision about artistic depictions. People get all outraged and forget that this country is one founded on the idea of freedom, even for things you despise.
 
rxantos

Using the same logic, motion picture with killing in them should be banned.

Also, ALL Armed forces videos should be banned, as they encourage young people to become mass murderers in war.

 
smithy621

hi...
i just made dis account wot u all talking about?
 
smithy621

wot music ever1 like?
 
smithy621

hellooooooo
 
smithy621

hey, way i got a new complain!
Goin of the rails of the crazy train!
=
crazy but thts how it goes millions of people living as foes and mayby its not to late to learn how to love and forget how to hate...

 
smithy621

ive listened to preechered ive listerened to falls ive listened to drop outs who make there own rules wat was a condition to rule and control...
 
smithy621

Metal wont still screeming driving me insane im goin off the rails on a crazy train. im goin off the rails on a crazy train i no that things are going rong for me you gotta listen to my word...

 
smithy621

sunshine of your love... bass

|-7-7-5-7-------------------------][-----------7---6---5-----3-------][-----------------------5-----5---][---------------------------------[ ... well thats wot i play XD

 
Agata

First of all, did anyone of you ever think why NY banned Japanese games? I think that rape games just are selling well enough to be worth boycotting...huh? It seems to me a lot of those people who have never played, don't even understand the genre and just make wrong conclusions.

 

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