Operation: Pedopriest

Sigh, somebody delete Joaquin’s browser-crashing link, please. This is getting extremely old.

Another shock game? *sigh*

Why would you have a problem with this? Does it scare you that this sort of thing goes on in real life? The actuality of the situation is that some people play this game _in real life_ every day!

Which basically is what happens in real life as well. =)

I’m from Poland, a country where the catholic church has a very strong influence on society, so I should know. =)

i thought it was funny and tried to save my pedo priests the best i could.

what does that say about me? D:

molleindustria was behind that mcdonalds sim, right?

I just wish that just once, somebody will make a good, mature and intelligent game about a controversial subject. Just once.

You should give Peacemaker a try. It does exactly that.

Oh yeah, forgot about that game! Shame on me!

I wish there would be MORE good, mature and intelligent games about a controversial issue ;)

I have to agree with Guert on this one. Games that portray such heinous acts as these (and they truly are) as a game, in which doing the bad thing rewards you, especially with the comic-y art style and light-hearted air, is just plain wrong. The things this “game” represents are not a game, people, these are real men abusing real boys. Why would you want to try on the role of a man abusing a boy?

The arguments about “maybe they are just trying to make people aware of it” just don’t fly, either. It’s in the news enough that you’d have to live under a rock not to know about it. Besides which the graphics are lighthearted, the tone is goofy, the premise is to do the wrong thing and to be rewarded WITH HUMOR for doing it. If it smells like crap, looks like crap, and tastes like crap, it’s most likely crap. You can try to say it’s a T-Bone steak, and smile as you eat it, but it’s still disgusting and ultimately harmful for you. Poop hurts you if you eat it people.

I think that there is a large motivation to be accepting of this sort of thing though, as right now, with all of the talk about games as art, anybody who tries to “push the envelope” and then gets called on for it is simply a misunderstood, repressed artist. Bullshit. They are either getting their own sick fantasies out or else trying to get some name recognition through shock factor. It’s like the dark side of the force, quicker, easier, more seductive, but ultimately a weak and hollow excuse for the real deal.

There is a difference between presenting evil for what it is with the intention of understanding it and overcoming it, and simply exploiting it for fun and profit. The former can produce true, real art, the latter is simply a glorified version of a very base capitalism at best, or an excuse for living out one’s darkest fantasies virtually at worst.

Funny how everyone thinks BioShock is the second coming of Christ because you get to kill little girls but everyone here hates this game because you get to rape little boys…

Encouraging evil in video games is nothing new, in fact it is a major selling point in a lot of popular games… (Black and White, Fable, KotOR, OverLord)

*By “good and mature” you mean “I wish they’d sweep the graphic elements under the rug and let me deal with the light and frilly fringes of the subject so I can fake enlightenment without my delicate sensibilities being offended”.*

Huh. Somehow I found this game to be extremely light and frilly.

Believe me, I don’t fall in with the anti-video game crowd, or at least, I like to think I don’t. I make them as a hobby, for crying out loud :P. But I do oppose people who try to use my medium of choice like this. And if the Onion were to do something similar, I’d say the same thing, as the medium is largely irrelevant of the content. It’s one thing to make a game, or movie, or article in which evil is portrayed AS EVIL, and is to be stopped, or in some way despised, but to try to make it into a light-hearted joke where you are supposed to laugh at or along with men raping young boys? It hardly seems like something to be laughing at, as it is not funny in the least.

I approve

But no, seriously. What is the big deal, again?

oh, my precious sensibilities. i may be drunk but when was the last time that satire had to be delicate and mature? give me a break.

I’d like to add a little thing…

When I loaded up this page and saw the game, I laughed. I found the idea funny to play the bad guys. It looked like it had humor, cool graphics and some interesting content and on top of that a controversial subjects in which I am interested in. I simply love it when cages are shaken! :)

So, I followed the link and loaded up the game. I quickly checked the controls and plunged into the game. At this point I will skip all the gameplay comments and zoom straight to the part where I got surprised… in a bad way.

So, the priest starts caressing a little kid. Ok, weird but acceptable. Then he caresses it more. Ok, weirder but slightly less acceptable. Then… The game shows graphic representation of the abuse on the child along with a big scream coming out of the victim. That’s when I felt angry.

First of all, showing this kind of act that explicitly is close to illegal.

Second, we clearly see a child being raped. Want it or not, rape is a very hard subject no matter your cultural background. A victim of rape is scared for the rest of his life. it’s a pain no one should ever feel.

Third, the witnesses do absolutely nothing to stop this. They simply walk to a phone, leaving the priest alone with the kid again. It felt unnatural and immoral.

Fourth, the characters I control have no obvious reason to save the priest. Actualy, I felt it would’ve been more natural to turn them in and raise my rank and then decide to do or not the vile act myself rather than save them. Evil eats evil. The only reason why I would defend a priest like that is that if someone was menacing me in some way, and even then I would personaly choose death (but that’s a moral choice)

In all cases, I feel the game would have been alot better by being less explicit. Also, it would have shown taste and respect to the victims of these acts in the real world.

True, molesting kids and killing people are basicaly the same but in games where you shoot people down, you have a reason: they’ll shoot you if you don’t. Here the player has no motivation or context and that’s why I don’t like it. The kids are innocent and are pure victims and you do nothing to help them.

I feel like the creators should have researched the psychological implication of the player in their game, especialy with a topic like that. As game dveeloppers, we are repsonsible for the messages we deliver in our games: people listen and learn, want it or not. This game tells us that protecting those who are decadent will honor you make you a better person. I don’t feel this moral is a good thing to teach.

Later!
(sorry for the long comment ;) )

*Games aren’t meant to be taken seriously.*

My point exactly… :) It’s the same as people who claim that current day games are realistic or even *too* realistic. That’s so untrue, especially because games will *never* be anything other than virtual realities that won’t come close to reality in the sense of being actual reality.

You people are so fucking boring.

Why should games be judged differently from other mediums? I mean, If i saw a funny cartoon about child rapists, i would probably laugh if it was truly funny. Same as a game can be fun or not regardless of whether you’re stepping on goombas or raping children. The dynamics of the medium have nothing to do with the content, but it’s up to you whether you want to take the content into the context.

*Games can and should be taken seriously.*

Why? When was the last time any game raised ANY issue “seriously”? Even if any genius DID manage to do that with a GAME inside a GAME.. it’s still a GAME. If you want to bring attention to a cause or yourself (which most of these developers want, tbh) write a biography or make a documentary. When people play games they don’t play them learn anything. They play it to have fun and if the game raises dumb issues, they will be ignored.

*There is this really super controversial game called Black and White where you wipe out populations of different creed. Women, children and all, all in a funny cartoon fashion.*

That’s cause you are a GOD and considering the amount of people who believe in a god in the real life.. I think they’ll understand (or ‘get it’). Hell, hurricane Katrina is also controversial for most people in that case, probably.

“I mean seriously guys, you are honestly saying there is nothing wrong with raping (or coordinating the raping) of children for fun and amusement so long as they are not real children but merely representations of children. Do you seriously think it doesn’t reflect, if not the game, at least a part of yourself, even if just by your indifference?”

LOOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOOL

*That wasn’t MY point actually. Games can and should be taken seriously. But if you’re going to make an example out of the dynamics of this particular game, you’re opening up a gigantic can of worms.

There is this really super controversial game called Black and White where you wipe out populations of different creed. Women, children and all, all in a funny cartoon fashion.*

Mmm, okey whatever hahaha ;). But I do think your last line proves the point of why games shouldn’t be taken too seriously. I mean, come on, why do people have enough imagination not to take the moral part within B&W too seriously, but end up being totally offended by games such as Pedopriest? Basically it does the same on a different level, perhaps with the minor exception that you can’t rape your followers in B&W, but you cán burn them, drown them and throw them on rocks instead, heck you can even feed them to your pet creature. So… perhaps it’s not thát different, or?

Note: I think real pedophiles should at least be locked away forever or even get the electric chair if they’ve ever raped a kid. I’ve definitely got no mercy for them whatsoever.

They should have done a game where US troops rape iraqi children or young girls.. hmm no wait that would have been the same sh.it as this 1.

Why the hell should i play this?
For God’s sake..

Can’t say the game offended me in the slightest, but then only last week I saw a paedophile disguised as a school.

The game *is* a bit on the pants side though.

Not really any fun to play, didn’t raise much of a smile, nor did it especially make me think about anything other than what I was going to do in 30 seconds time instead of get bored clicking little people.

As satire, if indeed it was meant as satire, it wasn’t especially satirical either. As for raising awareness for a problem? Meh, must try harder.

Give me Chris Morris over this anyday.

What the fuck!? for God’s sake, why the hell do people keep making shit games like this!?!? bah, this is just tasteless bullshit, much like that columbine game and the other crappy shooting one, only 10 times worse.

Graphics look decent though.

@ Lim-Dul
Well yeh, of course games are not real, but they can depict reality, even in the most abstract of approaches.

*..you read the write up Derek did, then you went and downloaded it and played it. Then you were in a huff about playing a game that had you defending pedophile priests…..*

Actually, I didn’t play it. As you say, Derek had a pretty good summary AND a picture, there really wasn’t any need to.

But, even if I had, so what? Let’s pretend Derek didn’t supply the picture. Then what? I have the option of not playing the game and then I could attempt to point out how sick it is and horrible and blah blah blah, but I wouldn’t be able to back it up. The first thing that anybody with any brains would come back with is: “did you actually play the game? No? Then shut up.”. And they would be right.

The other option is to say nothing and just pass it by. If people are saying “it’s okay, it’s okay” and you don’t think it is, but you don’t want to potentially make yourself squeamish by exposing yourself to it, aren’t you really just wimping out? If somebody tells you that people are dying in Darfur, and other people tell you they aren’t, but you decide not to look at some pro-offered images of the genocide and form an educated opinion and THINK FOR YOURSELF because those pictures might disturb you, are you really taking the mature path and being a responsible adult?

Neither of the above options are acceptable. The only thing to do is to play the game so you actually know what you are talking about and can argue with authority on the subject, if that is even necessary. It’s possible that the people saying “it’s okay” are right. You won’t know for sure until you expose yourself to it.

In this case, the picture easily backs up Derek’s writeup. Without it, though, I would have played the game. Without that information, without some verification (including playing the game) of what Derek or anybody else says, I would just be a parrot without any reason to open my mouth at all. And nobody here would (rightly) have any reason to pay any attention to me at all.

Your argument breaks down to this: don’t educate yourself about something that might be potentially wrong, or horrible, with the intention of trying to figure out where the truth about the matter lies, because it might upset you. And if it upsets you, then don’t complain because you looked. Okay, so let’s just stick our heads in the sand and not take a look at reality then. Forming opinions on hearsay is a perfectly acceptable way to think and live your life. “Sweeping the graphic elements under the rug and letting me deal with the light and frilly fringes of the subject so I can fake enlightenment without my delicate sensibilities being offended” . It’s better than making yourself feel icky inside. Right?

I for one have no intention of sweeping the details under the rug. Nor do I have any intention of glossing over what those details are. These are virtual children. They are being virtually raped. And people are claiming that this is harmless fun. I say it is sick. And I am willing to expose myself to whatever is necessary to be able to make that claim intelligently. I don’t make it lightly, I make it because I think this is wrong, and it is worth it to oppose that which is wrong.