Video Game Censorship

Posted: November 28th, 2013

Video Game Censorship

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Video Game Censorship

A video game is described as visual simulation of an event that is meant to elicit pleasure on the part of the player and is created for purposes of making profit. The video gaming industry has come under much scrutiny due to different games that have been banned for issues ranging from explicit sexual content to horrifying violence. Some games have been restricted form selling their wares and others have been prohibited form total sale of the videogames (Ferdig, 2011). Controversies have been fueled by the growing demand of violence related video games and the presence of sexual activity in video games. Violence and sexual activity has been a major driving force in sales of such games attracting people from all corners of the world who are at times addicted to playing game with obscene graphics and violence. Hence, addiction to games has made the game developers to churn out more games what are becoming widely accepted in many countries, which has been facilitated by the world growing into a global village.

RapeLay is a game that was made and published by Illusion Company in Japan. The game is three-dimensional and is mainly played via mouse control on a personal computer. The game has a brief story line, which centers on a man who stalks a woman and her two daughters such that he eventually rapes them. The game is about a groper or ‘chikan’ who finds sexual pleasure in sexually touching people. He goes by the name Kimura Masaya. He stalks and eventually rapes a woman and her two daughters; members of the Kiryuu family (DeKeseredy, 2011). A player has different sexual positions to choose from after he captures the Kiryuu family. The rape actions are performed by scrolling with a mouse, which enables the player to remove the clothes of the women and to grope their body parts in the presence of people in a crowded train (Ferdig, 2011).

The game enables the player to experience realistic sexual simulation by the different sexual positions that are present in the game such as woman on top, fellatio and threesome with the woman and her two daughters. The game has three play modes (Ferdig, 2011). The first one is described as Nozoki mode whereby the main character has the ability to pray which results in a strong wind that lifts the girls’ skirts up to expose their undergarments. After accomplishment of that fete, the player then has the possibility of removing the girls’ underwear and inserting sexual objects or vibrators. The next mode is the chikan mode whereby the player has the ability to fondle them and remove their clothing. The next mode is the two-player mode, which enables the player to rape any of the three women and the possibility of oral sex and the character can enter into a danger zone if he ejaculates internally. The next modes are similar to the previous modes. The next mode is the four-player mode, which enables four people to play at once. This level is characterized by the ability of the main character’s ability to rape more than one woman at intervals. The preceding mode is the five-player mode, which enables the player to have sex with only one woman in the game with all five players having a woman to have sex. In addition, this level is full of restrictions because more people are playing at once. Moreover, this level is played in confined places, which are relatively small in comparison with other modes where the spaces are larger. The next level is the Neko-Kappa, which is not accessible to the player. This mode if available allows the player to have sex with two women tied up or held against their own will.

The sexual content depicted in this game is fit only for persons of eighteen years and over but was made available to people of all ages without sufficient scrutiny (DeKeseredy, 2011). The game attracted criticism from people form allover the world due to its explicit content. In addition, the game seems to advocate for heinous sexual acts such as groping people in public means of transport. In addition, it seems to advocate and encourage the player to rape women. The developers might have developed this game because of the growth in the lucrative video game industry. Moreover, the game was developed to satisfy the demand for the ever-growing pornography industry, which proved to be lucrative (DeKeseredy, 2011). The game was influenced by the predominant groping behavior in the Japanese subway trains, which are usually crowded with people, squeezed next to each other.

The art of groping of people is considered as ethically immoral in most of the societies in the world but is not widely condemned in Japan, hence its inclusion in the game. The video game was developed with the Japanese community in mind due to their behavior of groping others in public means of transport especially trains (DeKeseredy, 2011). The game is offensive to women across the world because it depicts women as sexual objects who are a source of sexual gratification. The game should be banned because it advocates for raping of women and immoral sexual acts such as groping in public means of transport. The game was censored based on advocating for immoral behavior. Rapelay was banned in Argentina and other countries but it continues to be sold in Japan where issues such as incest and rape are considered as normal. The United Nations was also involved in calls for the game to be banned in countries around the world because of its depiction of women as sexual objects for men to achieve sexual gratification. More government especially where religion takes first priority , the game was prohibited from entering the market for instance in countries of Arab origin where sexual morality is a crime punishable by death the video game did enter into the market.

Banning of the game would ensure that game developers come up with game scenes that can be accessed by people of all ages because most games are designed for the younger population because they have ample time to play the games. However because the game is not banned in its country of origin it would be fit to ask the developers to come up with games that are gender sensitive for people from across the world.

References

Ferdig, R. E. (2011). Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

DeKeseredy, W. S. (2011). Violence against women: Myths, facts, controversies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.