A Long Way from Space Invaders

There's a controversy brewing over the release of a video game which depicts the stalking and raping of a woman and her two daughters. The game, titled "RapeLay" has raised the ire of anti-violence activists as well as number of politicians, who are working to get video game distributors in the United States to not carry the game. eBay and Amazon.com have already banned the game from their sites.

Of course, the concept is absolutely despicable and sick. I remember the good old days when Atari used to be cutting edge and the game Combat showed a box with a stick shooting block pellets at another block with a stick. Of course, that paled in comparison with Space Invaders, with its fast moving action with rows of bad guys descending down upon the earth. Atari was topped by Intellivision; Intellivision was topped by ColecoVision. Then we made a big jump into Super Mario Brothers on the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System which started the next wave of Super NES / Genesis; then Gamecube / Saturn / Playstation; sequels of the aforementioned; and finally to our present generation of consoles with amazing graphics and gameplay.

What I didn't notice after a while is how the games themselves have evolved. I remember playing the original Resident Evil, which was pretty gory, and had heard of the violence depicted in the Grand Theft Auto series, but rape? Wow, are you serious? Lest I sound like the grumpy old man, what happened to benign side-scroller games when you you jump over flowers and stomp on evil fantasy characters? 

I wonder if the move to ban some of these games is going to find itself on some slippery ground. While politicians are fantastic at grandstanding, we're largely a society that likes to pick its battles, often at the expense of consistent principles. Specifically, if RapeLay has been assessed a "Mature" rating, only to be sold to those 18 or over, is there any more legitimacy to ban it any more than pornography, any movie that depicts rape, or any other violent video game targeted for adults only? 

There are many politicians who willingly take donations from producers, directors, and actors in Hollywood who balk at censorship, stating that "what they depict on film, as abhorrent as some scenes are, are simply a reflection of things that happen in this world" and that they should not be unfairly burdened with teaching moral lessons or making moral judgments around the things they depict on film. Basically, "If you don't like it, don't watch the movie, but don't you dare infringe on my right to show it and market it." The argument could go, why should video game manufacturers be held to a different standard?

Believe me, I'm not a fan of the game and I find the concept absolutely deplorable. It just seems to me that those who have eliminated standards (keep your religious values out of the arts!) from arts and media altogether in the name of freedom of expression are going to have a tough time setting boundaries that don't come off as arbitrary or hypocritical.