You may have heard that a once-obscure rape game,RapeLay, has beencausing controversyever 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 toeverybody, thus undermining their own attempts to get the game squashed.
The controversy has become absolutely hilarious. Earlier this month, New York-based women’s groupEquality Nowhas 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 gamewasobscure and relatively unknown until Keith Vaz’s ilk started shining a spotlight on it and basicallyadvertisingthe thing to importers. Amazon stopped one of its sellers from posting the game up, and itshouldhave ended there. This self-perpetuating controversy will only ensure thatRapeLayis “enjoyed” by many more Western gamers. Bewildered is the word.
