Senran Kagura game delayed on PS4 after Sony requests removal of Intimacy Mode.

Gemini73

Very possibly a sensitive topic this one if handled quite as badly as Eurogamer's rather Sun newspaper approach to the subject in question. The author, Wesley Yin-Poole, even goes as far to say the Intimacy Mode "is, essentially, a molesting underage girls mode".

Having had a brief look at the series history I'm not entirely sure how Wesley came to this conclusion and as the angry, pitchfork wielding mob turn up to help in carrying Wesley's burning torch for him, one commentator posts:

This reminds me so much of the “if you kill someone in a game then you want to kill people in real life” debate, just on another spectrum. I can understand not liking something and not playing it, but the whole “These games are for vile pedophiles and should not exist” sentiment is such over kill it’s not even funny

Does the above commentator make a reasonable point, or is Wesley bang on the money?

I've no interest in playing Senren Kagura, but I am interested in what you fine folk think of the Senran Kagura series. Harmless Waifu adoration, or something much more sinister?

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018 ... imacy-mode

Mafro nailed it in the PCGT.

t:pcgt-v-pc-gaming-community-chat?p=4376524#p4376524

Mafro wrote:

twitter.com/xaradius/status/1051067018726785024

Nonce.

Fondling virtual boobs and asses isn't really something that appeals to me in a game these days but I won't be boycotting it.

I don't see how this is any less acceptable than people watching porn, in fact one could argue that porn is worse as it features real people who are potentially being exploited or coerced into it.

Its a bit on the creepy side but as long as no-one attempts the same in real life then its within the realms of acceptable - but only just.

I guess it more to do with them being underage virtual women.

No one would bat an eyelid if they were adult virtual women.

It's hard to quantify but I would imagine the risk of people that get off on this transfering it to the real world is greater than people playing GTA going on mass killing sprees.

Gemini73

Sandy wrote:I guess it more to do with them being underage virtual women.

Here's the thing though, if you look at the history of Senran Kagura the virtual girls in the game aren't actually underage children, they're young women, it's just that the art style makes them look younger than they're actually supposed to be - which is pretty standard for anime. Granted that might very well be splitting hairs, but the way that Wesley of EG puts it is that they are children even though in the context of the game that's not true, which in turn makes me question if Wesley's "outrage" is actually genuine or he was just after shocks to garner clicks for the website.

For the record I'm not blindly defending the inclusion of this Intimacy Mode in a game that already, rightly or wrongly, garners a lot of attention in regards to its portrayal of young women, I'm just curious as to why Eurogamer have gone for the "Yep they're definitely children and anyone who plays it is definitely a child molester" angle rather than present the facts and in turn raise a sensible, adult debate about these games and others like them.

I think Sony are correct to ask the devs to remove the offending mode, purely to avoid any potential backlash.

I'm not one for "censorship" in general but I do find stuff like this leaves a bad taste. These are clearly meant to be underage characters but just by changing one number they're suddenly not.

I find games of this type unsavoury and embarrassing. I was all for it when Steam announced they didn't want them there and I'm all for Sony or any other platform holder stating their own distaste for it.

They're wanking games and if there is an audience for this gooseberry fool they can get them directly from the developer if they want. No platform holder is obligated to make them available on their system.

Oh and frankly if you get off to images of what are clearly meant to be underage girls (Anime or not) then I'm with Mafro. Nonces.

Gemini73

Oh and frankly if you get off to images of what are clearly meant to be underage girls (Anime or not) then I'm with Mafro. Nonces.

I don't think many would argue with that. I certainly wouldn't and I enjoy watching and reading Manga/anime.

Knoyleo wrote:Mafro nailed it in the PCGT.

t:pcgt-v-pc-gaming-community-chat?p=4376524#p4376524
Mafro wrote:

twitter.com/xaradius/status/1051067018726785024

Nonce.

Gemini73 · Last edited by Gemini73 on Sun Oct 14, 2018 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Just clicked on the Twitter link. That chap doesn't do himself any favours, does he. He doesn't even begin to question whether or not the Intimacy Mode is perhaps a step too far.

Eh, I'll just pick up Peach Ball on the switch since Nintendo are here to save videogames again.

Sandy wrote:I guess it more to do with them being underage virtual women.

No one would bat an eyelid if they were adult virtual women.

It's hard to quantify but I would imagine the risk of people that get off on this transfering it to the real world is greater than people playing GTA going on mass killing sprees.

Sony have stated it's nothing to do with the characters, it's the interaction.

My problem with it is not necessarily the game per se. Let's face it, Japan has quite a sexist society still, and portrayals of women in some (not all) of its media and some (not all) of its anime/manga are unrealistic, support negative character tropes, worrying appearances (it's fine! The character is actually 25 and just looks like a 12 year old!) and are overly sexualised. The sheer amount of kids that absorb this media is worrying too.

The vast majority of crimes here are men against women. I don't have an figures here, but I would guess that they have a bit of a problem with sexual assault. They have women-only carriages in rush hour, they have signs up in alleyways saying to watch for perverts, Japanese phones have their shutter noises unable to be turned off to stop people taking unwanted photos.

It's overall a very, very safe country going by Western standards, but I think for a certain quarter of the population they view women in quite a dangerous way.

For example, every girlfriend I have had her has said she's been groped on a crowded train. Some people think the ties to stuff like this and getting your arse grabbed on the train are a little tenuous. But it contributes the bigger picture, which is some Japanese media portals women, and female sexuality, in very unrealistic terms.

The anime/manga fans here might think I'm now a 60 year old Daily Mail reader decrying something I don't understand, but having lived here for a while now, I definitely think some of the media young guys consume is a little unhealthy. And they consume a hell of a lot of it too.

To bring it back to the game, I'm not sure why people want to argue for its inclusion. It just seems all a bit unecessary and a weird thing to want. I'm sure some are going to make it about censorship, but again, I find it quite hard to understand why someone wants it in their game.

Qikz wrote:Sony have stated it's nothing to do with the characters, it's the interaction.

I haven't seen Sony make a statement on it. I saw the CEO of the publisher tweeted that he doesn't think it's anything to do with the age and thinks there would be problem even if they were adults. I'm not convinced though.

Over on ONM a couple of years back, an article was published criticising Senran Kagura, and following a little publicity generated as a result, it led to all hell breaking loose.

The discussion thread found itself invaded by hundreds of seriously deranged and unbelievably creepy randoms who showed up en masse to defend their beloved franchise, we'd never seen anything like it.

Haven't Sony allowed this kind of thing before on the Vita? (Made even worse by the fact you're actually touching the touch screen rather than just using a controller)

I wonder if they consider it acceptable there because the Vita is seen as something of a niche console, especially outside of Japan, but they don't want the controversy it would bring in a mainstream console like the PS4.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:I'm not one for "censorship" in general but I do find stuff like this leaves a bad taste. These are clearly meant to be underage characters but just by changing one number they're suddenly not.

I find games of this type unsavoury and embarrassing. I was all for it when Steam announced they didn't want them there and I'm all for Sony or any other platform holder stating their own distaste for it.

They're wanking games and if there is an audience for this gooseberry fool they can get them directly from the developer if they want. No platform holder is obligated to make them available on their system.

Oh and frankly if you get off to images of what are clearly meant to be underage girls (Anime or not) then I'm with Mafro. Nonces.

I sort of agree with that but the games (from what little I've seen of them) seem to be squarely aimed at 14 year old boys and also while quite pervy don't feature actual nudity or sex (unlike a certain infamous 'rape simulator' which I won't even name) so still sit within what is currently legally permissable.

I'd be worried about adult men buying and playing this kind of thing but less so about the target audience doing so.

However, I do think there needs to be some kind of legislation regarding what kind of content is permitted in such games as they don't portray women and girls in a way befitting of a supposedly fair and equal modern society.

Ironhide wrote:(unlike a certain infamous 'rape simulator' which I won't even name)

Such a thing exists?

Ew, nasty. :dread:

It's a Japanese game.

Sandy wrote:I guess it more to do with them being underage virtual women.

No one would bat an eyelid if they were adult virtual women.

It's hard to quantify but I would imagine the risk of people that get off on this transfering it to the real world is greater than people playing GTA going on mass killing sprees.

Ahem

Senran Kagura game delayed on PS4 after Sony requests removal of Intimacy Mode.

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