Thursday, November 15, 2007
Singapore bans Mass Effect
"Microsoft and Bioware's sci-fi action role-playing game Mass Effect is due to be released on November 20 in North America and November 23 in Europe. There will be one country that won't be playing the highly anticipated title, though--Singapore.
Reuters is reporting that the Microsoft game has been banned by Singapore's Media Development Authority due to the much publicised love scene that can occur between a female human--if the main character is set up as female--and alien 'woman'. The gender of the alien in question is actually not quite that simple; while female in appearance, the designation has little significance for the species in question--the Asari--as they are mono-gendered."
Haha kinda unreasonable to ban the game just for this isn't it? For those who've seen the movie, its just 10 secs of 2 moving heads and 1 hand, so it's.... definitely not as sexually explicit as the MDA makes it out to be.
Maybe it's for the greater good, just like the retaining of Section 377A was for the good of the society, to give gays their own space while still maintaining our status as a society with conservative, traditional values. So maybe in the same way, this ban's to protect the sensibilities of the (impressionable, i guess) youths.
But good news! It’s not illegal to play or own the game in the country. So Singaporean players are still free to obtain their game from other sources. And the MDA stated that a new video games classification system would be introduced next year could allow titles such as Mass Effect to be passed and classified appropriately. Yay!
Edit: About-turn! The ban's been lifted. Looks like Xboxers are gonna be able to enjoy Mass Effect after all (:
Chris
ABUNDANT PEACE :)
11:38 PM
