While the term is extremely insensitive, especially to those that have experienced domestic abuse, it is not entirely inappropriate in context.

After all, although the word is most frequently associated with sexual abuse nowadays, a cursory look at a dictionary will reveal it derives from the Latin rapere (to seize) and can also mean any means of taking by extreme force (plunder, violent seizure, abduction, carry off by force) - not just of people but of territory ("the rape of the countryside")

As I said before, the word is extremely insensitive, but I have a feeling convincing the gamer crowd not to use it and to use alternative terms instead (then again, "owned", which carries connotations of slavery, is a popular term used entirely out of its original context) is going to be far easier said than done.

Oh, in respect of the computer game, the game's developers have made it clear that Lara isn't sexually assaulted or raped - what you see in the trailers is as far as it gets. The 'character building' element is that she's been captured, and the only way to escape is by killing them. Given that Lara is supposedly an aristocrat (who before embarking on her adventure would hardly have been a trained soldier!), they had to come up with some form of plot device to explain how she ended up being the trigger-happy wielder of a pair of Uzis which features heavily in earlier games in the series.

Not exactly something you'd find in real life, but a standard element of most action films and games, regardless of the gender of the character. After all, if you think about male protagonists, it's a standard trope for the antagonist to capture their wife / daughters and will them into action with the phrase "You wouldn't want any harm to come to them", strongly implying sexual abuse and/or facial disfigurement either before or instead of their murder.

We should stop telling jokes altogether, I mean you have no idea who you may offend :-0. Actually everyone stop talking from now on. And don't write anything either, I find all these article on the new statesman really offensive.

"To me, it feels like a way to reinforce the maleness of online multiplayer, reaffirm that this a frat-boy-ish place where Mom isn't around to tell you not to cuss."

In a way examing the motivations for this voip trash talk is irrelevent, seeing as they are of little importance compared to the potential consequences of the words as triggers on survivors and the psychological pain they can cause.
Having said that I think you're off the mark with your theory for why players use the term. I think it's merely used as an, inapproprite and jokey, synonym for violation and destruction. Like saying "I massacred you" or "I desecrated you" but with fewer syllables. I don't think the vast majority of gamers who use the term have any agenda, even subconciously, other than gloating over a pleasing victory. Their failing is of ignorance to the possible sensitivity of these insults to their fellow players.

Yeah, and the same goes for cancer jokes. And think about what baby jokes do to someone who has lost their baby. And sex jokes in games, they can really hurt virgins.

People who play and were not raped, form reactions to words in games as well. The more people use rape 'jokes', the more 'normal' and common 'jokes' get. Thirteen year old may repeat 'joke' not knowing its true meaning, but grown-up gamer who actually was raped surely knows what's what and uses deliberately the 'joke' to hurt (abuse verbally) others. Kill before they kill you. Everything that counts in games is to kill before being killed yourself. And this is being transferred to daily interactions in reality. This illustrates poverty of reality testing in gamers.

"banter".
So far, the most aggressive men I've met in my life were males who were sexually abused as children (raped/repeatedly raped in other words). They do not realize how destructive they are to others and to themselves because of their behaviour.

In much the similar fashion, my father was murdered a few years ago. Ever since, any time anyone dies in a game, it ruins the game for me.

Obviously, the statement above is not true. But it reflects the peculiar take people have on life-changing events. Obviously, I'm not going to sit here and say "Whoopdedoo, you got raped, get over it". Never had that experience, and I'm damn glad for it. But the usage of rape as a concept to convey dominance has more to do with the taboo surrounding it. Vulgarity in general is utilized not because of the concepts it conveys, but the impact with which the use of "forbidden" language exudes. And I would not only challenge you to find a single act in American culture considered more offensive than rape, but one so closely tied to the concept of dominance.

That having been said, I tend to condemn trash talking in general. It is certainly NOT a necessity of online gaming.

This is an interesting article but it misses the point. The use of rape in video games is like the use of rape in any other entertainment or art medium and should be kept separate from the use of the word by people interacting online.

The real point here is the veil of anonymity that almost encourages people to push the bounds of what is socially acceptable. Like another commenter here, I played Counter-Strike over 10 years ago and use of the word was prevalent. But since then this pushing has evolved to the point where white middle class men and boys sit around and call each other the 'n' word. That word carries so much stigma that activates the profanity filter on this site. Is it disrespectful? Yes. But does it bring up painful memories for anybody? No, it belongs in the past and that’s where it should stay.

Use of these words have certain connotations around sexism and slavery but I don’t believe they are consciously evoked, merely copied by juvenile people seeking attention. It is a part of the culture, but one that reflects on our society as a whole and the nature of humanity rather than just a small segment of it.

Why are video games being singled out here? Its not the only media where the exploitation of rape occurs, nor is it a new phenomenon - think last house on the letf or i spit on your grave, both movies from the 1970s, and both considerably more vile in their depictions of sexual violence than anything in modern gaming.
I'm not saying that the misogyny found in some games and amongst some gamers isn't a problem - it is and we should fight it. But I am a bit tired computer games being singled out as a particularly sordid medium of entertainment, and even more with the stereotype of gamers as repressed, socially inadaquate women hating weirdos.
Gamers come in all shapes and sizes - you shouldn't judge us by the loudest and most obnoxious examples, anymore than you'd judge all muslims by the more vocal and extremist elements within the islamic community, or indeed all feminists by the SCUM manifesto.

Frankly, I think
it goes hand in hand with a lack of intelligence. The less intelligent you are, the less you foresee the repercussions of your actions. The less you foresee the repercussions of your actions, the more likel you are to be happy with using offensive terminology that carries a risk of being heard by someone who will not take kindly to it. I'd imagine that if you told the sort of people who might say 'I raped you' when they want to convey their satisfaction at their dominance not to do so, you would probably be called a 'f*ggot'. It takes all types to make up a world - that doesn't mean it wouldn't be better if it didn't.