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OMEN
11-17-2007, 08:10 PM
Singapore has banned a Microsoft video game which contains a scene showing a human woman and an alien woman kissing and caressing each other, a local newspaper reported.

The Straits Times said "Mass Effect" - a highly anticipated futuristic space adventure game from Microsoft - was banned by Singapore's Media Development Authority.

In October, Singapore's parliament decided to keep a ban on sex between men, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the city-state should keep its conservative values and not allow special rights for homosexuals.

Singapore is the only country to have banned the game, so far, and it is the first Microsoft video game to be banned in the city-state, The Straits Times said.

The move has caused an outcry among local and international gamers who said the decision was too strict, the newspaper said.

The report said Singapore has in the past, banned at least two other video games - Sony's "God Of War 2", for nudity, and unlisted Top Cow Productions' "The Darkness", for excessive violence and religiously offensive expletives.

Reuters

Dark Drakan
11-21-2007, 01:52 AM
This has recently been overturned.

Mass Effect un-banned!


It's turning into a bit of a soap opera in the Singapore gaming scene; Mass Effect, previously banned in the country for its dirty lesbian sex scene, has now had its ban reversed and will go on sale as planned.

Like God of War II and The Darkness before it, Mass Effect was originally refused release by Singapore's Media Development Authority because it contains "a scene of lesbian intimacy... as such the game has been disallowed," a statement read.

Under local guidelines games sold in Singapore cannot feature "exploitative or gratuitous sex and violence, or denigrate any race or religion," even if the scene in question is more Channel 5 than Ben Dover.
Now, according to GameAxis, the ban is being lifted and BioWare's RPG will be released with an M18 rating in Singapore. Apparently the reversal is a stopgap until a full games ratings system is launched in January.

Either way its good news for Xbox 360 owners (and lesbians) in the Far East, who'll now be able to enjoy the RPG in all its filthy glory. Look for our review soon. Thanks to CVG reader Tan Shi Yang for the spot.