TOKYO, JAPAN — Japanese software regulators have banned distribution of computer games that encourage players to act out violent sexual fantasies against virtual women.Provoked into action by foreign outcry against RapeLay, a video game that awards points for stalking and raping virgins, the software industry’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software said games that combine sex and violence “deviate extremely from social norms” and no longer will be offered for sale in Japan.
More than 90-percent of the software sold in Japan carries an approval sticker from the organization. The stickers carry no legal weight, but they represent self-regulation the industry hopes will prevent the government from passing laws developers may consider too restrictive.
Following protests from U.S.-based human-rights organization Equality Now, a spokesman for RapeLay developer Illusion in May said the company was perplexed by demands the game be banned. RapeLay was designed for the Japanese market, Makoto Nakaoka noted, not the American market, and nothing about the game is illegal in Japan.
RapeLay was offered on Amazon.com until February, when complaints about its content caused the e-tailer to remove the game.
