Flipping through the channels last week — or the week before that, or the week before that — you may have noticed coverage of a certain video game entitled “Rapelay.”

The long and short of the story is this: In 2006, Japanese game developer Illusion legally released the title in its home country to an oversaturated and dying eroge industry. Eroge, for those unfamiliar, is a type of game where the purpose or large majority of the game is sexual in nature, often by portraying simulated sex acts. Possibly in an attempt to make its game stand out from the crowd, Illusion made the goal of the game not just sex but non-consensual sex.

The player controls a man who molests and rapes three women. The objective for the player is to “break” the girls; to make them turn from resistance to desire.

It is, in short, disgusting. There are so many levels on which to find “Rapelay” offensive, we could easily waste editorial space just listing them. But there’s more to this story.

The United States first covered “Rapelay” in 2009, at which point a fervor boiled over, across the Pacific, to the shores of the land of the rising sun.

In June of 2009, Japan’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software met to discuss the controversy. Nearly 100 reps from eroge developers and publishers attended, and all — every single person in attendance — concluded that a ban on rape games was in the near future. Since this was not a legal order from Japan’s government but a self-moderated conference, the regulations are not written into law just yet.

However, steps are being taken toward a more conscientious industry, with some individuals and companies taking honorable steps — Illusion pulling “Rapelay” from shelves, other developers blocking foreign access to their Web sites and Kyoto police arresting the man who leaked the previously Japan-only “Rapelay” onto the Internet.

It’s also worth noting that, according to United Nations reports, Japan has a reported rate of rape of 1.78 per 100,000.

That’s Japan. Meanwhile, we’ve got some interesting events transpiring stateside that sheds a little bit of light on this subject. For example, the fact that, opposed to Japan’s nearly 2 per 100,000 victimization rate, the United States has a reported rate of 32.05 rapes per 100,000 inhabitants.

Also, Dr. Cheryl Olson, video game researcher and co-author of Grand Theft Childhood, was featured on one of CNN’s reports, where she held a mirror to anchor Mike Galanos’ face.

“One of my concerns is that kids generally never hear about this stuff unless it gets this kind of publicity,” Olson said before reminding viewers that it wasn’t until broad media coverage of “GTA: San Andreas’” “hot coffee” mod that thousands of users began downloading it. Similarly, Olson pointed out — as we did in another of our video game-related editorials — that concerns about violent or sexually deviant media making its audience violent or sexually deviant is largely speculation and posited opinion.

Do we think people have a right to be upset over “Rapelay”? Absolutely. More than one Editorial Board member found the idea of the game overtly disgusting, morally reprehensible and emotionally distressing.

But to rise up in anger over an out-of-print video game that was never intended for U.S. release or for children — especially with sex crime victimization and rape-apologetic mindsets as prevalent as they are in our country — is misplacing rightful anger onto the inappropriate target.

As uncomfortable as it may be, we need to observe our system of values and attitudes. “Rapelay” released to timid sales and lukewarm reviews. By contrast, “God of War III” — featuring eye-gouging, bare-handed decapitation, evisceration of intestines, as well as its own highly offensive and sickeningly derogatory sex scene — sold more than 1 million copies in its first week alone.

Fear-mongering and stirring the pot does us no good, even if the topic is one as important as sexual assault. What we need is honest analysis, critique and declarations of what we as Americans and a media-seeking public will and will not support.

Want this kind of thinking and this type of behavior to stop? Don’t look at Japan to curse their industry; that’s facing the wrong way. Turn around and notice the light at the end of the tunnel. It could be you.