GP Poll: Was Amazon Right to Drop Rape Game?

Hentai is dumb. Anime is dumb. I think amazon should expand their idea to ban all of both. Maybe then it could leak over into the rest of the world.

I can't really blame Amazon for trying to avoid a PR disaster, but I am well and truly fed up with the people who seek out these kinds of things just for the sake of stirring up controversy and trying to rid the world of anything that they do not personally approve of.  Lots of things offend me.  Take the Saw movies for instance.  The entire premise of them seems sick to me and I have no desire to see them whatsoever.  So, being the rational and capable adult that I am, I simply do not watch them.  I feel no particular need to go on some holy crusade to rid the earth of Saw, just because I don't like it.  It's fiction, nobody is actually being harmed, and nobody is forced to watch it.  Just like this game.

According to the Jezebel crowd, any depiction of rape will turn men into rapists.  Then again, according to the Jezebel crowd, all men already are rapists, or would be if they thought they could get away with it.  This is the exact same kind of unsubstantiated crap argument that is made about violence in video games leading to real world violence.  And for that matter, why is rape so much worse than the murder and mutilation that already feature in so many games?

Bottom line is, it's just a game.  I know the alarmists are getting tired of that argument, and have started to preemptively dismiss it, but that's really what it comes down to.  It's a work of fiction, just like any other book, movie, tv show, comic, or whatever, that depicts rape.  "It's just a game" doesn't mean it can't be taken seriously, as the alarmists try to imply to help dismiss the argument.  TV shows, movies and novels can all deal with sensitive subjects and be taken seriously.  "It's just a game" means that the subject can be explored in a way that does not and cannot actually harm anyone.  Does this particular example have much artistic merit?  I'd say not, but that's just my opinion.  I am quite comfortable with having my own opinion without needing to force it upon others, and I will always come down on the side of freedom of expression in such matters.  One person's or group's mores and taboos should not be used as justification to silence somebody with a different outlook.

While I voice the opinion that while Amazon does have the right to run their site as they see if, it still didn't make it right to drop the game.

There was nothing wrong with the game at all. Ooo, so it's rape, big deal. It's hentai. If you get into the world of hentai, it's something you better get used to real fast, along with a lot of other things. The whole thing is fictitious, with characters who don't even exist outside of the game.

And christ, what next? Maybe tentacles are offensive, too, cause it's inhuman. Or maybe yuri because it's homosexual. Or anything magic cause it might advocate witchcraft! Let's ban all erotic images from Amazon! Save the children from them! Etc.

Amazon caved in. That gives even more resolve to others who shouldn't have it.

It all boils down to Amazon's choice what products they wish to sell or alow sale of through 3rd parties. It is their right to do so.

As to whether they are right? In this case, I believe they are. A company wishes to remain successful, and negative publicity will harm that success. There could have been incredible negative publicity involved with them making a game that portrays rape as fun available (or being seen to through 3rd parties), so it's a pretty clear cut choice, and the correct one for them to make.

Some might argue that it's a slippery slope, but I don't think so. There is a huge gulf of difference between this and a game like GTA.

1.  It's their site and they can do what they want.

2.  It's a bit hypocritical of them to allow the sales of one type of product that can be seen as "offensive" but not another.

3.  It was a used product offered by an individual/private business rather than a product offered directly by, let alone "endorsed" by, Amazon.com itself.

4.  It's a fantasy game.  Like it or not, fantasy and reality are not the same thing.  The implication that one act in a fictional setting will not "spill over" into the real world while another one will is hypocritical and misleading.  Implying that someone who plays a game that contains the act of rape is "sick" and may want to commit rape in the real world but that another person who kills in the name of "God", such as in the "Left Behind" series, doesn't want to go out an commit real murder in the name of "God" just shows where the REAL inability to distinguish reality and fantasy actually comes from.

5.  It's their site and they can do what they want.

So, while I voted and believe in "No", because of my combined beliefs of Freedom of Speech, fantasy and reality are not the same thing, and it was a "used" game, I still wouldn't put up a major fuss because of thier Right to do what they want with their own site.

Nightwng2000

NW2K Software

Nightwng2000 has also updated his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/nightwing2000 Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl