Does anyone know which game companies are part of this “club”?
Actually, no. So far it’s only EOCS and not the CSA (but I wouldn’t be surprised if they release something as well), but afaik, the number of important stores (including online) accepting games not allowed by either EOCS or the CSA is pretty non-existent.
Narg posted it.
These new regulations sound like quite a bad break for those of you who like dark games. On the bright side of things, the new regulations sound like they won’t affect games with story elements similar to what is found in YMK and Crescendo.
I think this is perhaps the most concrete and enforceable aspect of the proposed ban–and potentially the most restrictive. I’m pretty sure that would exclude the likes of Hitomi–and even though I didn’t end up appreciating the game much, I do have to say that the game was hardly a mindless rapefest. Even Eien no Aselia had quite a few rape scenes; here the presence of a viable dark route only made the light route that much more rewarding, by illustrating Yuuto’s fierce struggle with Motome and the consequences should he let his guard down for even a moment. Yuuto was barely spared a fall far worse than his rival’s–without a developed dark path, some of the poignance of the light path would be lost. Thus it’s this rule that bothers me most.
That’s trivial to cirvcumvent though. Count the background art for the various locations, and all CG that isn’t sexual at all, etc. in that total, and then include a couple extra scenes that are not really tied to the main story that are consentual. You could even include the same set of scenes in more than one title, buried in the Omake options.
Aren’t I devious? 
I disagree. I think the new restriction that will be harder on those who like darker games will be this one:
I don’t know about you, but that seems a little bit over broad. Now that I think about it more, this rule might even cause problems for games like YMK and Crescendo when taken to extremes. After all, the offender wouldn’t be doing it if he wasn’t gaining something out of it, now would they?
While this restriction is also concerning, I take the opposite viewpoint: vagueness leads to ineffective enforcement rather than increased opportunity for restriction. This is an industry group after all; the “judges” won’t be motivated to rule against something that falls in a grey area. To be honest, the whole line sounds like a political stump speech: it sounds convincing but it lacks actual substance–exactly what the industry needs to get angry feminists off their backs while continuing business as usual.
I think you could make the case that even Rapelay satisfies this requirement–there’s no good endings to the game. In Battle Raper, the “real” raping is done by the antagonist, and the player is the supposed victim. And these two games are the very ones that have attracted the most attention (at least in the US)! All you have to show is that rape doesn’t “pay” in the end. Which, really, covers about any game I’d want to play at least.
But really this is all just speculation. It’s hard to say right now how things will turn out once this development cycle has run its course.
I suppose only time will tell. For the sake of all eroge fans, I hope you are right.
I own a copy of Oshiete! Popotan for the PS2 and am looking at its CERO 18 rating. One of the screenshots they show has Mea, the maid, with her shirt pulled up clearly showing her chest.
Oh its even easier than that. It says “content”…content is everything the user experiences including the movies, text. minigames, music, etc.
But if I was a producer, I’d base it on bytes. Images do not take up nearly so much as voices and with most products today being voiced…
Hmm…I think the key word there is “promotes”. Most of the games do not really “promote” it as it may be hard in most games to find anything that promotes any of them. Also all of those words like stalking could be narrowly defined…or they could just call that “deep love.” 
On a more serious note, “the offender gains something out of it” is almost certainly to be defined quite narrowly given those who set the rules as broadly defined it could otherwise mean even to have the sex is to gain something. Given that I doubt they want to kill their industry, this makes me believe this statement will be defined as something concrete, like money or an item.
Finally any company that feels too strongly about these rulings can move to CVS or the possibility exists of creating a new group, though not that easy.
And since this situation desperately calls for comedic relief…
Those offended by Rapelay and Battle Raper obviously never came across this (link very much not work-safe): http://maniax.dlsite.com/work/=/product … 47929.html
Nothing like a combination of senseless bloodshed and gratuitous forced sex, packaged into a Mortal Kombat-style deathmatch beat-em-up. So, what do you think are the odds this series sees another title? “Battle Slave”…see, it doesn’t even have rape in the name!
That is part of the MANIAX section of DLsite, meaning its doujinsoft. It is NOT examined by either EOCS or CSA. They can do whatever they want.
One question though, is there anything that prevents these people from banning all eroge in general (basically anything not doujin related) should they like wake up one day and consider it? I mean history has shown that once mass censorship starts, there’s no telling when it’ll stop
Are you sure? Which picture on the back is it? I can’t quite make out some of the images on the back from Yahoo Auction photos, but I’m fairly certain Sony would never allow an actually explicit sex scene, at least back then.
Not following either EOCS nor CSA is easy. What isn’t would be able to sell your games afterwards, since most distributors wouldn’t accept them, which makes it hardly viable a solution.
OT: MTV has admitted that whole thing was a stunt that Eminem was in on. Why do you think he had a live mike on?
I suppose this can be used as an example of what some feminists (like the initial complaining group) “know” that just isn’t so.
A: The ‘admission’ that it was a stunt was, afaik, a very brief statement on some guy’s unofficial blog, which was then removed. The press then ran with the story, even though the source had disappeared. Unless there has since then been some new official statement, the so-called admission is extremely suspect. (There may have been an official statement since then, I don’t follow entertainment news THAT closely. But all the stories I read yesterday were citing a blogger’s deleted post.)
B: Other people who were involved in the process have stated that yes, there was a planned stunt and yes, Eminem was in on it, but the stunt was supposed to be that ‘Bruno’ ended up sitting on his lap. Not planting his balls on his nose.
C: If he were completely okay with it, it’s unlikely he would have stormed off, because that would potentially make him look bad. People don’t generally like the reputation of ‘can’t take a joke’. Along the same lines, it’s quite unlikely that he’s going to publically complain about it or press charges now, because he would be vilified in the press if he did. A huge storm of criticism and mockery descended upon Rihanna for daring to be mad that someone punched her face in; a stunt like this that didn’t technically hurt him would be very bad for his image to make a big deal out of.
D: Hell if I know, I wasn’t there and I’m not him. 
Very true! They believe what they believe. But it also shows that they are (potentially over-)protective of men as well as women.
I remain unmoved. In my opinion, such a sudden and drastic policy change is ultimately useless/doomed in the long term.
The banned “rapish” themes are strictly intertwined with the eroge genre in general, and I can’t see the industry and the devoted(?) fan base turning to exclusive sugar sweetness in their sex taste anytime soon.
I’m NOT advocating complacency, however, rest assured that all of this is a REAL attack against freedom of expression under the cloak of “morality” :roll: :evil: …
http://www.youtube.com/user/equalitynowyt
Not a few comments in the YouTube channel lack good taste, but there is nothing so extreme here, I think :? .
But please note how much insignificant the site itself was until recently, it speaks volumes about the importance/popularity of Equality Now …
As mentioned in the MangaGamer thread, it appears certain English rape games are quietly being stricken off the list: My Sex Slave Is A Classmate and suck my dick or die are now gone…
Although The Queen and Princess as your rewards is still available for preorder. :?:
If a [color=red]Red Name[/color] is reading this: does any ruling in Japan effect titles JLIST manages? For example if Princess Waltz was banned in Japan (yea… I know that will never happen; just bear with me), does that mean PP is automatically barred from selling it in the US? Of course if the answer is a trade secret or contract violation to reveal, just ignore me. 
This “ban” isn’t retroactive. It only applies to titles that have yet to be rated. I’d imagine Mangagamer is much more intimately affected by the Japanese political climate than JList–it’s basically run by a hodgepodge of Japanese eroge industry employees in their spare time. They pulled the games for their own reasons, probably to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb. Like others here, I bet they’re just going to change the name and advertising pitch and put it back up–which knowing Mangagamer, will take much longer than it reasonably should.
Are you kidding me? Naming something suck my dick or die is a surefire way to get consumer attention. It’s so catchy… only something like bend over and take it in the ass would sound better.
Well “retroactive” doesn’t really impact eroge like movies or music. Since rape titles aren’t exactly mega sellers, the vast majority tend to go out of print after a year or so. So even if a ruling was made to cease sales of old rape titles, anything before 2007 probably doesn’t matter to the studio’s (just game resellers).