It’s from Japan, so you know it’s going to be controversial and weird. I hate to paint all the Japanese with such a broad brush, but for a very repressed society they’re more than accepting of any weird fetish you might have, up to and including the desire to play rape-based video games like the graphic computer game “RapeLay.” While the game was pulled from shelves by maker Illusion and (eventually) banned, it’s become a viral hit in spite of, or because of, publicity.
Here’s the thing: RapeLay came out in 2006. Somehow, a long-dead game has become newsworthy to CNN (and I guess me, too), because some people downloaded it and raised a stink. If people would just leave this game alone (or not have banned it in the first place), it wouldn’t be a big deal. By banning something, you make it a thousand times more interesting than it really is, thus leading people to track it down and check it out. People that, ordinarily, have no desire to even check out any sexy video games.
There’s no need to start censoring or regulating content; Japan and the United States both already have censorship laws on the books. The problem is human nature. Forbidden fruit is the sweetest; that’s how it’s always been and how it always will be.
Tags: video games, Japanese video game, rape-themed video games, RapeLay, sexual assault video games, censorship, banning forces video game underground, viral video games, controversial video game, Illusion
