You may have heard that a once-obscure rape game, RapeLay, has been causing controversy ever since the hentai title was discovered “for sale” on Amazon. The Japanese game was pulled from Amazon’s used market, but Western reactionaries did what Western reactionaries did best — they cried and shouted about it until the game was known to everybody, thus undermining their own attempts to get the game squashed.
The controversy has become absolutely hilarious. Earlier this month, New York-based women’s group Equality Now has started a letter-writing campaign to developer Illusion Software, demanding that they cease sale of the game, even though the game is produced for Japan and has never been officially on sale in America. Illusion Software has issued a quasi-statement, rightly saying it is “bewildered” by the campaign, because the game isn’t intended for American audiences.
“We are simply bewildered by the [Equality Now protest],” stated Illusion. “We make the games for the domestic market and abide by laws here. We cannot possibly comment on [the campaign] because we don’t sell them overseas.”
Don’t get me wrong, a game based on rape sounds rather vile. However, the game was obscure and relatively unknown until Keith Vaz’s ilk started shining a spotlight on it and basically advertising the thing to importers. Amazon stopped one of its sellers from posting the game up, and it should have ended there. This self-perpetuating controversy will only ensure that RapeLay is “enjoyed” by many more Western gamers. Bewildered is the word.
