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Wtf X 10

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Rapelay is a rape simulation game from Japan which Amazon and Ebay have had to prevent third party vendors from selling through them.

I just gotta warn people that the info in the link is pretty horrible.

I wonder what the sales of this videogame is like in the UK. Also, what kind of culture does Japan have for its companies to see profit in such a disgusting investment.

:no:

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I understand why it's seen as bad, but to be fair, it's Japan. It's not like this type of stuff hasn't exist before... Hentai or Ecchi, whatever you want to call it.

    If this was released as a flash game, I bet it wouldn't have had either much press, or much outrage over the subject. There are MANY of these types of games online, tons of them are on (The names gone out of my head! If I remember, I'll post it.)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »

    I wonder what the sales of this videogame is like in the UK. Also, what kind of culture does Japan have for its companies to see profit in such a disgusting investment.

    :no:

    The same culture which has to provide separate trains for women so they don't get groped.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »
    I wonder what the sales of this videogame is like in the UK. Also, what kind of culture does Japan have for its companies to see profit in such a disgusting investment.

    A similar culture to one where simulated murder is the most popular pastime. I don't think we have any moral high ground here. In fact, at least the Japanese tend to keep their violent behaviour in the fictional world.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That is certainly not shocking if you have seen half the wierdo stuff from japan - Ichi the Killer is a good example of the darker parts of japanese culture.

    There is a big fascination with sexual deviants in anime's and comics from Japan and they cater for all tastes - the 'Baby Fuck' comic is probably the worst example.

    The subject itself is sick but its not really shocking.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    oh my fucking god. thats just horrific.

    and no its not ok because its japan.

    Why is it so horrific when arabic muslim women are abused, but the sexual violence and paedophilia in pacific asia is just a laugh (oh those pervy japanese, well thats thailand for you etc etc)

    this is so fucking dodgy its unreal
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    oh my fucking god. thats just horrific.

    and no its not ok because its japan.

    Why is it so horrific when arabic muslim women are abused, but the sexual violence and paedophilia in pacific asia is just a laugh (oh those pervy japanese, well thats thailand for you etc etc)

    this is so fucking dodgy its unreal
    It's "normal" per say for them in their country, so why can't you say "It's Japan, what do you expect?" ?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Im not surprised, upset / disappointed but someone was bound to make this. But then I have to ask myself why this offends me to some degree (I still believe though that people should be allowed to make creative works, even if they are grossly offensive, so long as everyone else has the right to hate / shun it) but games like GTA are a laugh. Is it because there is moer of a stigma attatched to rape then killing? Afterall there are few films that address rape compared to killing in the same relaxed way.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have always wondered about something like this. It is perfectly acceptable for people to play games where they pretend to murder people, and don't just kill them, but are able to see slow action shots of their head being ripped off, where it is possible to blow off body parts and leave people to die slowly begging for their lives, and where you can simulate ploughing down innocent old people who are minding their own business walking up the pavement.

    While some people do really object to those types of video games, most people just accept them, and I've always wondered if there was a game produced where you go round raping people what the reaction would be. There definitely seem to be a double, but why do we find the idea of simulated rape any more abhorrent than simulated murder/torture? Is it just because we are desensitized to the latter :chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think this game will turn into a reason for parents and the media to say that games are the cause for problems in society and towards peoples opinions/thoughts.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i think its more offensive because its just about raping women and children rather than rape in general.
    If manhunt was just about killing black people and it would have had more of an uproar for instance.

    Singling out a section of society and making entertainment out of brutalising them, and simulating child rape is fucking horrible.

    Anyone know if japan has got a higher rate for this type of crime in general, or is it mainly just fantasy
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Here's an interesting paper, if you have the time to read it, looking at sex crimes in Japan between 1972 - 1995, a period during which porn became widely available and post-legalised prostitution. It considers the specifics of the Japanese culture and tries to explain why during this period serious sex crimes fell by almost 80%.
    http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/online_artcls/pornography/prngrphy_rape_jp.html

    In 1998 the comparative rates were -

    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

    Japan basically remains one of the countries with the lowest rates of crime in the world, in general, and this applies to rape as well.

    However there really are unique cultural factors - for example it's a country with huge problems around groping and sexual harressment - which probably goes widly unreported.

    Some people also argue that it's precisely because rape is so rare in Japan that it can still be part of a 'fantasy' or pornography - that's not to justify it, but to try and explain why it doesn't seem to provoke the same kind of outrage in Japan that we feel when seeing such a game.

    Japanese culture also has a different attitude to sex and love compared to the west. There was a great BBC documentary called Sex in Japan, or something similar. The main point being that Japan doesn't see a particularly strong link between sex and love - and doesn't culturally see a connection between fantasy and acting out fantasy in reality. As a result they wouldn't necessarily see this as something that's connected at all to the reality of rape.

    Where real rape is a problem, such as wit the American military prescence in Okinawa there is huge outrage about the crimes.

    In general rape is just very oddly handled in Japan compared to what we would be used to and this is another part of that - it's a regular staple of 'pink movies', a long running superhero series is called Rapeman and involves a father and son raping aloof feminists into being 'proper women', even a great art house director like Kitano has scenes where female characters are raped casually by leading characters.

    Anyway, not saying I'm any less shocked than anyone else, just shedding some light on possible reasons why Japan is often stated as a truly different culture.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So i downloaded and played this game today, its one of the worst ganes ive ever played.

    Badly coded, awfully translated, cheaply produced, short and a copy of Virtual Jenna Jameson which was a shite game anyway.

    This game is so bad i can honestly say ive played flash games on Newgrounds with more care and attention put into them. I think the articles springing up are just people looking for something to be outraged by because this is sooo bad its not even worth a mention.

    Like most 'controversial' games (like manhunt) they spent too much time being controversial they screwed up the actual game. Total garbage.

    A quote from a friend of mine who also played it: "virtual rape is a fantasy, keeps some of the nutcases off the street hopefully" - i think that sums it up really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jim V wrote: »
    Here's an interesting paper, if you have the time to read it, looking at sex crimes in Japan between 1972 - 1995, a period during which porn became widely available and post-legalised prostitution. It considers the specifics of the Japanese culture and tries to explain why during this period serious sex crimes fell by almost 80%.
    http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/online_artcls/pornography/prngrphy_rape_jp.html

    In 1998 the comparative rates were -

    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

    Japan basically remains one of the countries with the lowest rates of crime in the world, in general, and this applies to rape as well.


    However there really are unique cultural factors - for example it's a country with huge problems around groping and sexual harressment - which probably goes widly unreported.

    I do think there is something in those figures, but it's also worth pointing out that Japan isn't exactly a country where it is easy for someone to come out and say they've been sexually harassed. I can only assume the same applies to rape. But obviously this would have no influence on the corrolation between pornography laws and the rate of reporting. That reduction has to be a real reduction. But rape is always a crime where it's difficult to compare countries. Sweden has an extremely high rape rate, for example. But does it really, or is it a country that makes women more confident about reporting it?
    Jim V wrote: »
    Where real rape is a problem, such as wit the American military prescence in Okinawa there is huge outrage about the crimes.
    I'd also take this with a pinch of salt. That's not an outrage about the rape, it's an outrage about the Americans doing it being on Japanese soil, and the Americans protecting their own troops from prosecution in Japan (I'm not sure if this is still the case, but I remember reading something about this happening in the past).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    I'd also take this with a pinch of salt. That's not an outrage about the rape, it's an outrage about the Americans doing it being on Japanese soil, and the Americans protecting their own troops from prosecution in Japan (I'm not sure if this is still the case, but I remember reading something about this happening in the past).

    Good point.

    I also agree there's going to be serious problems for people considering reporting rape, but even if a large number go unreported the rates are very, very low across Japan for all crimes - even those that there wouldn't be the same cultural problems to report.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think you've also got to consider the drinking culture. As the (now ex) Japanese finance minister will tell you, the Japanese like a drink. But it's nowhere near the level that the heavy drinking cultures in Europe (which also tend to have higher rape rates). I also think that it tends to be a more male thing to do in Japan, so women are less likely to end up in a situation where they are vulnerable to rape. I'm just looking at a study about alcohol problems from Osaka university, that says that only 15% of women admitted to drinking alcohol at all. Even if their answers reflect social pressures not to admit it, there's still no doubt that they drink far less that Western women.
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