posted by Sam Richards
I’m struck by how it is that someone would think that this “game” is a good idea. Of course, I’m also struck by how it is that people think that violent shoot-em-up video games represent a positive step forward for humanity. (But since I seem to be in the minority about that, I’ll just assume that it’s me that is out of alignment with my culture.) This particular video game, however, defines “off the hook” if anything ever could. I suppose that somebody will argue that this video game could offer potential rapists an outlet so that they don’t have to actually assault someone. But in truth, I don’t think some outside-the-box psychologist is behind this game. I really just want to know who thinks of something like this and then can find him or herself sitting across the table from their mother or sister or daughter sharing a meal.
In any case, check this out. And judging by the first few comments, it’s going to be easy to say “this is sick and disgusting” and then make some anti-Japanese comment. However, it strikes me that this is symptomatic of some larger and deeper process that is occurring in the world and that is connected to us all.
And one more thing…how many of you men reading this would play this game with your male friends and a couple of beers? Honestly.
Well this game that they are talking about is weird as shit. Who is sick enough to come up with a game like this? And why would anyone pay money to play a game that is so terrible? It is basically tell children who are playing this game that these things are okay. That it is okay to rape a girl on the subway train. Like seriously what the hell? I just cannot get over the fact that someone thought this up and thought it was a good idea. And not only that but some store out there allowed it to be sold in their store and people actually bought it. WHAT? How is it even legal to have a game like this where the sole purpose is to rape a girl? I can only image what the men playing it would be doing while playing, and honestly guys, there is porn for that. I am just really weirded out by this game and I just do not get how it could be in an everyday store, out there for people and children at that to buy and play. What is that teaching children? Why would you want to teach children how to rape a girl? I know that there are some other games that the sole purpose is to kill people and “win” I suppose and I do not agree that those games should be sold either. I do not like them and I do not see the fun in them. I mean, people go through what would be a level on Halo or any other shooting game for that matter, in war. It is in some ways depicting real life events. Now if I was a soldier and came home from war and saw a shooting game in a store, there is no way I would want to play that. How did our once innocent Nintendo games become so violent and outrageous? I remember playing Mario and the worst part of that game was hopping on top of a mushrooms head and squishing him. How did it go from squishing mushrooms to brutally killing people and raping girls? Why was it even let to go that far away from what Nintendo and the like once were? I have to say, when I am a parent and my child wants a video game, there is no way I will buy or allowed these violent games in my house. I do not know what parent would let their child play games like this. I saw on TV once there was an incident where parents would not allow their child to play halo in their household and when he brought it into their house, they took it away. Now this child had been playing this game for quite some time at friends houses and he just snapped and ended up killing his mom and shooting his father. Could this have been avoided if this violent Halo game never existed? Probably, but I guess we just will not ever know.
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I can’t actually believe that there is a game that has this rape aspect in it. I have always played and enjoyed the violent video games like Grand Theft Auto or The Godfather. I used to play them all the time. The violent thoughts never passed through my head and I never took the game any more seriously than the game that it actually is. But, I can understand how people who aren’t mentally stable can get caught up with the game and not be able to define the differences between real life and the video game. People who play these games all the time can get caught up what is the difference between reality and the video games and that’s when it becomes a problem or threat. Personally, I went into playing all violent games knowing that it is just a game and there are no learning tools that can be used in those games. But unfortunately not everyone has that mentality when playing these violent and unrealistic games.
What surprises me even further is that this is a whole genre of video games in Japan. And it is not only just a genre, but a popular genre among the Japanese to say the least. I completely believe that these games would never become popular or even be mass produced in the United States. But regardless it is still sad that video games like these disturbing ones exist. Also, it is unbelievable how accessible these games are all over the internet. Like the video showed, it was possible to play these games via youtube and many other sites, which not only allows so many people to access these games regularly but it can’t screen who is playing them, so for all we know kids could be playing games like this. It is already bad enough that young kids play the violent games like Grand Theft Auto or The Godfather, but now that they easily have access to pornographic games on very accessible websites, it makes the problem of playing video games even worse. The video couldn’t even show the worst parts of the video game, which only lets the imagination wonder how bad these games get. Also, after looking into the background of these games, I saw that they make up 85% of Japan’s video game revenue. I find that completely outrageous. It’s not really the fact that there are pornographic video games that bother me. What bothers me is that these games have rape in them and that they are so accessible online. It honestly is so disappointing that these rape games are so popular and anyone can use them virtually anywhere. Hopefully like the video said, Japan will further look into these games and the legality of producing them.
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When it comes to video games, there are many different genres one can choose from. Whether it be a role-playing game, or a sports game, the gamer can escape into a world in which they control the outcome of virtually everything. Now that game-makers in Japan have come up with the brilliant idea of adding rape to that list of genres, it is no surprise that we as Americans are the first to speak against the idea. When the video first started playing, I must say that I had an immediate disposition to the idea of raping a virtual character in a videogame. If a child were to be exposed to this, I feel as though it is sending the wrong message altogether. On the other hand, as the video went on I began to kind of get the 'mixed emotions' feeling about these such video games. Think of it like this: here in America, one of the most prolific video game franchises of the past decade has been the Grand Theft Auto series.
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As you could probably guess from the title, these games contain a storyline which features committing more than enough crimes to satisfy ones urges which include: murder, arson, grand theft auto, assault, as well as drug-dealing and drug trafficking. I happen to enjoy this series very much, and although it does include a number of things I probably wouldn't want my child to be exposed to until a certain age, I can't say that I feel as though the game has a negative impact on society. Taking a step back from that, I have to say that rape is a very touchy subject in my eyes when it comes to video games. Creating a plot which revolves around raping the woman who fired you from your job just seems a little ridiculous to me.
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I guess what I'm saying is that although I'm not one-hundred percent against these types of games, I would rather see them incorporated better in a video game plot rather than make it seem to children that the only way to get vengeance on those who have wronged you is by raping them.
Another thing that should be addressed is the culture in which these games come from. Japan and America are obviously not nearly on the same page when it comes to this issue, as well as many others. In Japan, these games are obviously selling so from an economic and cultural standpoint, I don't see how groups in American feel as though they have to right to tell Japanese game-makers what they can and can't do. I guess what it really comes down to is that in our culture, rape would most likely never be put in any video games in which our children could get their hands on them. We just need to do a good job of keeping it out of reach of our children.
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Wow. I cannot believe this at all! First of all, rape is a serious crime. Sexually torturing women for entertainment purposes should, under no circumstances whatsoever, be a video game! Of course this video game would be extremely controversial, and of course it would be pulled of the shelves immediately. How did the video game even get to the point of even making it into stores? Another question I have is what made the creators of this game even think for a second that it would sell and make profit? The fact that this concept for a video game was even a thought in someone’s mind is quite disturbing to me.
In his post, Sam Richards says that people can use video games to release tendencies that they have in real life. This may be true. However, if someone has tendencies in real life of wanting to rape someone, he should seek immediate help from other sources. Raping women in video games is not the answer. Men who want to rape women have a serious mental disorder, and I do not think that video games are a cure for this illness. I think that men who get pleasure out of virtually raping women, will think that they will get even more pleasure out of raping women in real life. I think men like this would want to then it to another level—real life.
Also, this video game caused quite a stir for women activist groups. A main reason for this is because the game is so unbelievably degrading towards women. In addition to raping women, men can also make women’s skirts flail up, along with other things. These “other things” are apparently too graphic for CNN to show on television! This video game, as I see it, really treats women as nothing more than objects.
I was very glad to hear that the video games were taken of the shelves at stores. However, people were still able to find the games on the internet. It is just a shame how anyone in our society could easily access them.
Sam Richards asks the question, “How many of you men reading this would play this game with your male friends and a couple of beers?” Although I am a woman and cannot answer this question, I instantly thought of all of my male friends. I can honestly say that I do not think any of them would. Yes, they are all interested in sex—of course! However, I really think—and hope—they would not get pleasure out of raping women in video games. They would go to pornographic websites, and watch pornographic videos to get pleasure form sex instead. I really hope that there will not be any more games made that involve raping women.
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I think that it is really ridiculous how people think that coming up with a game like this a good idea. Do they not have daughters, granddaughters, mothers, and aunts? How can the maker of this game explain this to his daughter? This game is one of the reasons why society is the way it is now. People think that they can subject women to these types of things and its ok. They cease to see that this is how women become self conscious about them and develop all types of disorders. I am not saying that men are the cause of this but they are what feed it. They are the sparks that cause the fire to grow. And if this doesn’t end soon then I don’t know what will happen next.
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