Poll: Is featuring rape in a game going too far?

[sergnb]

I can understand using rape as some kind of plot device.

Rape as something you can actually do in the game and is encouraged... yes, it's pushing it a little too far.

I mean, I could understand that games like RDR, where you are basically a bandit that goes around killing, stealing and just pissing off the law, could have some kind of sexual content there, because it fits the character. But games that have rape as the only feature? That's kind of... disturbing.

I'm not going to comment on the legal issues here. Videogames have been depicting illegal behaviours for decades now and they are still going. I mean, you can barely encounter any AAA game nowadays that doesn't have some kind of murder in it.

However, morally speaking, rape is something that is not necessary.

You see, when you kill someone in a game, it's not that you are a blood thirsty psycopath. It's a symbol of overcoming obstacles, just a mere test to see what's ahead in the road. Killing someone is just the easiest way to represent you have successfully accomplished a goal, overcame an inminent danger towards your character, and came victorious from a hostile encounter.

When you rape someone in a game... it's because... you kind of want to do it. Nobody would rape a girl in a videogame "just to see what the cutscene is like", out of curiosity. There is an inherent motivation to do it, be it more prominent in your mind or something you have deep in your subconscious.

TL;DR: Rape in games, legal? Yes. Moral? Not quite

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

It shouldn't be a taboo. There are allready games where you kill sentient being with little to no context. It hasnt been proven that this significantly increases your probability of commiting murder, and it hasn't been proved that games that "normalise" (which is an absurd description) rape wil increase your probability of raping someone.

Don't get me wrong there are games were it shouldn't be done and it is SOMETIMES going to far depeding on the context of the game. And I can't really remember playing a game where rape would have added anything to the plot. No act is inherently bad is what I'm trying to say here.

 

[Treblaine]

If a game realistically depicted your character (in first person view) being raped and everything leading up to it and after it, I'd say it'd probably be one of the most horrifying experiences you can create for a game. Pretty much on par with the scenario of having to watch yourself slowly being tortured and cut apart. It could show the terror and powerlessness of such an experience (without the pain, but rape is much more of a psychological form of abuse), and perhaps make people who don't really consider the seriousness of what it means to be a rape victim rethink their position.

When most people think about rape, they think of a victim who is completely different from them and has nothing to do with them. But to put that experience in front of someone, especially in the medium of a game (that has a fundamental feature of the freedom of control), and then take that control away from the player, that brief period of time you will know exactly how traumatising and torture-like rape actually is.

I think in that kind of a context, rape is in the game for the purpose of making a strong statement (against it). For any reason that comes short of that, it would at risk of being unnecessary or kind of glamourising it, because it's not a fun topic despite the fact that lots of immature guys (and some girls) seem to love joking about it and throwing the term "rape" around casually.

Both of those HAVE happened in games already.

FEAR 2 you are raped (by a woman, who may or may not be your own mother, uuu *BRRRAAFFF*) and Quake 4 you are captured by aliens and are the subject of a live autopsy where - among other things - you can look down to see your legs getting sawn off. I still can't even watch that and no, I will not embed the video of it or even link to it.

"seem to love joking about it and throwing the term "rape" around casually."

Classically, the term "rape" is not limited to "the crime of force sexual intercourse" but violation and taking or overcoming of something in an abhorrent way. Classically you can say "Lucas raped Indiana Jones" from how bas Indy 4 was, even if there was no coitus involved and that imagery was not intended in a metaphorical sense. Though Parker/Stone do seem to be intent on driving home the literal visualisation. PS: I can't watch South Park any more.

 

[RadiusXd]

A man, hunted by the government for experimental purposes. His only weapon? an extremely virulent form of HIV that he carries.

 

[Danzavare]

Violence has its own over-the-top fun in gameplay, rape doesn't. (Outside of a niche, I'm sure) Violence tends to be undifferentiated, in games we're essentially cutting down rag-dolls/machines. Rape is inherently a human issue (Bestiality aside). For there to be actual rape present you have to represent the human character as having some kind of meaningful human agency and then brutally deprive them of it. Rape just doesn't have the comical implications that violence does, nor is it so detached from the real world that people can be expected to suspend their beliefs enough to enjoy it.

There's just no real reason to incorporate it into gameplay. If you want that kind of stuff, I'm sure the internet is full of it.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Rape as a plot point? Sure.

Rape as a gameplay feature? HELL NO.

Agreed 100%. I don't think it is in any way acceptable to let the player rape someone. That's just breeding all kinds of bad mojo.

And... Genocide isn't? I am sometimes disturbed by what people think is perspective.

I'm not against rape in a game. Evil actions and all that. The bad mojo argument is basically saying that objects cause crimes instead of people. However, the inherent mature rating will be inevitable and that means that the number of developers willing to take a risk is close to zero.

 

[James Mann]

Showing visual depictions of rape in a game would probably not be a good idea, but including it as an aspect of the games. implying it, however explicitly, shouldn't be a problem as long as it serves a purpose. But for the most part video games are still viewed as being childs activity, and when you play games like call of duty multiplayer you can understand why. So, for most games it likely a terrible idea. Rape isn't like killing; rape is a much more personal crime; its not an act of war, its not like you're fighting to defend yourself or get revenge on someone who killed someone you loved, for the most part its not against anyone who has brought any trouble to you, the only reason is a persons sick perversions and power fantasies, for fun and no other reason. That being said there is no reason why most games would need to include rape, at all, ever. To include it without a very VERY good reason is good enough reason for that game not to exist. But in a game where it can be implimented well, a game where the exposure to it is limited to only to increase immersion, to imply it or imply its been done at one point or other;

A good example i think was Dragon Age: Origins, it implies rape on more than one occasion, firstly the City Elf Origin story, in which nobles kidnap a bunch of female elves, including the player character (or his to-be wife, depending on you're characters gender) and it is heavily implied that the reason for this is to rape the elves, and also implied that one of the elves was in fact raped. of course, the player is never told explicitly that the rape occurred, and the elf may only have been abused or have rape attempted.

Another example from the same series is that of the broodmothers, the chat implies that the broodmothers come from exposure to darkspawn taint and its heavily implied an aspect of rape here, especially to those of us that understand where babies come from and what the function of a broodmother is.

During both of these instances i never feel that they should have avoided the issue, after all the game was aiming to make the setting dark and to an extend realistic, the elves being almost slaves, and there was a time in history when slaves were treated that way. But of course, never is the player exposed graphically to the rape, which does not seem needed, as the implied rape is more than enough to bring the feelings the rape was supposed to have.

But in my opinion its an awkward bridge to cross, to direct about it and it seems like the game just becomes sick, but the subject needs not to be avoided at all costs, a game can use any subject to a certain degree to further develop the characters and story. Nothing should be completely off limits, but some things are harder to use than others. Although i would definately say there are things that games should never make playable, and this is one of those cases, if a game was to ever make rape playable, as either the victim or the assaulter it WOULD definately be crossing a line, this isn't like killing a bunch of npc's, where its fight or die; or even murdering npc civilians. As i said, rape is a power fantasy to the mentally sick, and to make that either playable or to an extend even graphically show it, is crossing a line.

 

[AaronDemoncia]

Nothing is Sacred, Everything is Permitted

 

[Blandman]

Doesn't Japan have a pretty low rate of rape compared to quite a few Western countries (including the US and UK)?

Just popping that in there. Bye.

 

[NerdElf]

Video games encourage rape as much as they encourage violence. Or growing flowers. Seriously, with such a diverse market, we should expect even sicker stuff and accept it maturely, not kill it with fire.

 

[viking97]

did cnn mention that your character get's stabbed to death by the victim at the end of rapelay?

 

[Orcboyphil]

It really depends on the situation and how it is played out. Is it going to be the wank fodder that is rapelay? Or is there a story reason why the rape is occurring? I don't think actually having the player be the rapist is very helpful and certainly not desirable, its far to easy to do it wrong and end up with a situation that either glorifies rape or is just plan hilarious (c.f. something like Urotsukidoji or La Blue Girl for when rapes become so ridiculous that they actual start to look funny). On the other hand cutscenes involving a third party being raped in the right context, say you come across soldiers raping a woman in a CoD style game could work. I was even thinking last night how powerful and shocking such a scene could be if committed on the actual player from a FP perspective. But this would really have to be done right and I don't think any publisher or developer would ever go far enough to actually make the scene worthwhile, they'd either play it for laughs or leave it so ambiguous that it might not as well be in there.

 

[Alma Mare]

It has been done well before. Silent Hill 2 was loaded with raped references. In the Witcher there were several characters that were explicitly stated to have been/were intended to be raped. And it made sense in that context.

 

[88chaz88]

If rape is off limits I'd say we also ban games depicting murder.

So there goes most games ever made.

 

[Orcboyphil]

did cnn mention that your character get's stabbed to death by the victim at the end of rapelay?

Its one of two possible bad endings. If you get in the cowgirl position with one of the girls she does stab you to death. Another ending is getting pushed in front of a train by your child if you don't abort any pregnancies that may occur.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Well, it really depends, if you make it a quicktime event (press X now to blow load in the face) would be too tasteless, but if rape can be done in film (excellent example: The Sopranos) then it can probably be done in games.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I wouldn't fancy it as a Gameplay mechanic, as part of the story, yea. Whatever.

Its the same as it being featured in a movie.

 

[Denamic]

Why is rape such a big deal?
You know what's worse than rape?
Murder.

 

[Orcboyphil]

As I see it, rape is a subject that is almost never directly explored in visual media, which means that there's plenty of ground to be broken, and a lot of interesting themes to be explored...

Really? Ahem, Boys don't cry, She Fought Alone, The Accused, The Virgin Spring, Deliverance, American History X, the entire Rape/Revenge genre, Fat Girl, Lipstick, Born Innocent, Baise-Moi (translated as either Rape Me or Fuck Me, I believe Fuck Me is the more accurate translation), Kids, Straw Dogs, Thriller- a cruel picture, Ms-45. All of these films have featured rape as a central plot device and range from deep analysis of the after effects of a sexual assault to the mere exploitative. Rape is hardly new ground when it comes to film.

Edit: So not a double post

Why is rape such a big deal?
You know what's worse than rape?
Murder.

I may be the only person who believes this but I actually think murder is a lesser crime than rape. You can only be murdered once but with rape you can relive it every day of you life.