Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/05/23/game-platform-steam-set-to-ban.html
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Never played them, but disagree that they should be removed. “pornographic content”. Hmmm. What about Witcher?
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Hadn’t noticed, but I use Steam extensively for Skyrim, FO series, etc. But now that I look, those types appear to not be listed anymore. As @markstephan notes Witcher (idk v-3?) has sex on horseback, Steam still carries mods for games that add in nudity, etc. Interesting dilemma to watch what happens.
Mrs Badcrumble will be disappointed.
I’m usually in favour of a hands off approach, but some of the content being targeted comes under “very creepy” on the Tanner scale (Link NSFW).
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Those big eyes are big turn-off. It’s a mystery to me that this style is so popular.
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As a friend of mine likes to say, “Goddamit, Japan!”
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Finally a company steps up. At least some of the scarily creepy japanese imagery/storytelling will disappear. There will be plenty left though.
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And of course the article is already out of date, as Valve has already told developers to disregard the notices
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What works in Japan is obviously not what works in the US. I was stunned when I learned that not only do they publish “ero-games,” but it seems like most of their games have a bit of cartoon porn as a reward for clearing a level. Moreover, some of the most classic anime begin life as ero-games. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, one of the bloodiest horror stories, has these. And its characters are young teens.
This might not be what you want to enjoy, but it’s extremely popular over there, and we don’t really have the ability to change Japanese culture. So what… ban all Japanese titles? Subject them to a naughty-filter? Maybe we should set clear standards for just how much skin a costume can show? How do you say burqa in Japanese?
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I actually looked up some gameplay vids of Hunniepop yesterday when I read this… I was all people like giggly anime girl voice + bejeweled + crappy dating sim mashups? Oooookay takes all kinds I guess.
True, some of the content. The problem is that Valve don’t seem to be using any kind of coherent set of standards to determine which. They aren’t coming out and saying “Yeah, this stuff looks like pedophile wank-fodder,” which would be a perfectly reasonable stance to take, they’re making nebulous statements about “pornographic content” without giving any yardstick by which to judge if a given title qualifies.
I’m always leery of this kind of thing, because it very often seems to end up being the case that heterosexual stuff gets regulated much less rigidly than queer stuff. Look at the shit Robert Yang has had to put up with; I can’t recall if he’s had trouble with Valve before (though I believe that he has) but Twitch certainly have banned his games from their platform for some very thin reasons which stink of heterosexism.
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Valve doesn’t have a coherent set of standards.
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[citation needed]? That came to me as a surprise, but I can’t find any evidence. Are you confusing them with a different indy game, like Tsukihime or Fate/Stay Night?
I am sorry, but regardless of how this is resolved, the BB article on it is utter BS.
First, it is Valve’s walled garden, not the publishers’, not ours. So Valve’s rules apply. Nobody is forcing anyone to publish there (there are plenty of alternatives) and the content creators are agreeing to the rules in exchange for the access to the platform. If Valve decides to enforce the rules in an arbitrary manner, well tough. Sue for breach of contract (good luck with that). It could be bad for their business but that’s all. They don’t owe giving a platform to anyone, not even those “sexual and political minorities”. Would it be nice? Sure. Do they have to do it? No.
This is very much the same thing as any other proprietary walled garden - be it Youtube, Facebook, Apple Store, you name it. If porn, hentai manga and what not are not banned - bad Valve, bad Youtube for not censoring the smut. If they are banned - bad Valve, bad Youtube for censoring it. Literally the only way for a company to win this game is to not play it.
If you don’t like someone else’s arbitrary rules and don’t want to be censored because your content may be disturbing to some advertiser (Youtube …) then either build your own platform - or demand your government to make either provide one for you or to protect those legitimate minority interests. It is their job that you are paying them for with your taxes.
Which is a completely legitimate thing to do and it is not without precedent in the media space - it is partially why e.g. BBC or NPR exist. Large part of their remit is to provide a platform for minority genres like documents or things that purely for-profit TV/radio wouldn’t give space to (not porn, though). Maybe the same needs to be done for indie/minority game genres too?
It would be certainly more constructive than to whine about censorship in proprietary walled gardens and demand demand and demand again (who talked about being a “tinderbox of rage and entitlement”?) that private companies accommodate this for some higher moral reason, even though it hurts their bottom line.
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What? I am never wrong. How dare you?
Guards! Seize him!
@jan_ciger, Actually, I very much agree. I’m not a fan of this genre, but I know about it. I was surprised to learn Steam offers any of these games. If you like cartoon porn, it’s awesome, but if you’re looking for games they just suck. The porn is easy enough to find if you ignore Steam and go for, oh I dunno, Google?
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Which is why I usually prefer a hands off approach.
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Ok, that is not safe for work!
The preview box was worse.
(I should have labled it NSFW, but I got called away before I could edit it again)
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They’re not all porn. I don’t know any titles that don’t include at least some sort of romance, but only some of the games get explicit
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