Comments on: The Sunday Papers

By: FhnuZoag

FhnuZoag — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:15:27 +0000

BargainBinLaden:

I did! I still do!

But well, I just miss tactical combat, and in general dislike hands-off combat.

By: me, ehem.

me, ehem. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:53:31 +0000

Dorian etc, well said. I’m frequently dismayed by how ethical debates play out in gaming circles. Bioshock is supposed to be a game with complex moral decisions, but it basically comes down to whether or not to murder children. So I can either commit one of the most heinous deeds thinkable or not. Well. That this is considered a step forward is evidence of a fault somewhere.

I think a difficulty might be in taking themes from one medium and putting them in another. Books and movies aren’t interactive. In Irreversible, the viewer (hopefully) isn’t rooting for the rapists. In Rapelay (from what little I’ve read, apologies if I’m mistaken), you are playing the role of the rapist. The analogy fails. I don’t want to identify with a rapist. I can’t think of anything I could possibly learn from the experience. Moral choice enters at the level of choosing to play the game, not clicking Y or N on the “Rape?” query.

By: bansama

bansama — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:58:22 +0000

It’s worth noting that DHSGiT! Are no longer in as much trouble with their recent (ie, today’s) debut on Steam. It should have been sold on there from the start. Best DD for it in terms of audience. Far better than BigFish at least.

Will almost certainly be picking it up myself either at the current discount or after payday…

As for what Amazon sell, while the UK/US versions may not sell porn, the Japanese one does. Both via it’s own distribution and via third parties. But then, guess that’s just a different cultural look on things.

As for that game, if it keeps even one wannabe rapist off the streets and safely in the confines of their room virtually raping virtual women instead of actually raping real women, I think it’s doing the world a service. Of course if it incites someone to actually try raping for real, he needs to be castrated for trying to blame his desire to rape on a video game.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:20:13 +0000

The RapeLay kerfuffle has struck me as rather bizarre. Greg Costikyan over on Play This Thing got all up in arms about Amazon’s “censorship” of the game when all they’ve done is removed an item from sale that they never would have sold had they built that arm of their business from scratch. They aren’t treating games specially – they don’t sell hardcore pornography in video or magazine form either. In fact, I don’t think they sell softcore porn like Playboy or Penthouse. The only example provided of Amazon selling anything that could be reasonably considered to be porn are some romance novels and the Gor series, and while I’m sure those are sexually explicit, they probably wouldn’t be sold in an adult media store any more than Amazon would sell Barely Legal #90.

It’s not about the game being about virtually raping people (although that -is- disgusting). It’s just not the sort of thing Amazon sells.

By: El_MUERkO

El_MUERkO — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:42:36 +0000

Not the newspapers and not on Sunday but Eve is on the BBC website again :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7905924.stm

By: Sonic Goo

Sonic Goo — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:35:53 +0000

Is there some way we can set those Killzone fanboys loose on those Townhall types and solve two problems in one go? Pleeeeeeaase?

By: Markoff Chaney

Markoff Chaney — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:30:52 +0000

That article almost had me going too. The saddest part is, I fully expect it to happen some day. Stay well, good RPS reviewers!

By: Tei

Tei — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:22:52 +0000

Gratuitous Space Battles is a cloud of probability, as is not created yet….. I …suppose.

By: Sisyfos

Sisyfos — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:01:22 +0000

For one split second i actually believed a video game critic had been murdered.

I still believe the scenario to be plausible. It’s a sick world.

By: danielcardigan

danielcardigan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:40:19 +0000

sinister agent says: “Gratuitous Space Battles sounds even more interesting. If he does it well it could be excellent – if anything it sounds more to me like Mount and Blade before they added the largely dissatisfying world campaign aspects”

Sounds to me like it’s going to be like every other Positech game. Click ten check boxes, adjust a slider and hit the end turn button. The comparison with Mount and Blade would be accurate, up until you finish character creation and M&B goes on to have an actual game.

By: N

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:39:53 +0000

The level design article… pretty much one of the best chunks of gaming related stuff I’ve read in the last six months or so…

As far as Rapelay goes, played it about a year ago, it’s hilarious, every insecurity and every shortcoming of the japanese average office spread sheet monkey is illustrated by that game, play it and have yourself a hearty lol…

By: BargainBinLaden

BargainBinLaden — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:58:55 +0000

Shame on you, FhnuZoag – did you never draw little space ships battling each other on your jotters and pads when you were bored in school? I think that’s where ‘Gratuitous Space Battles’ sprang from – the pure undiluted joy of pitching space fleets against one another and watching the results. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I, for one, welcome our Gratuitous overlords! :)