SINGAPORE — The weather in Singapore is nothing to energize a conversation with; consistently warm and exceptionally humid, rainfall is frequent and heavy. Yet with all of that moisture and heat, the island nation’s political representatives prefer their console games cool, dry, and passion-free. Or maybe they just don’t like it when girls keep their damp delights to themselves.Regardless of the reason, Xbox gamers living in censorship-friendly Singapore will finally be able to legally procure and play “Mass Effect,” although it will only be available to those 18 years of age and above.
After being banned by Singapore due to a sexy scene shared by two female characters, the Straits Times reports that the city-state’s media overlord, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has reversed its decision.
At issue is a local rule that forbids any video game sold in the country from featuring actions which depicts what’s considered to be exploitative or gratuitous sex or violence. Games may also not demean any religion or ethnicity. The segment in question appears in Microsoft’s space game and contains what the Board of Film Censors has described euphemistically as “lesbian intimacy.”
With the new rating, however, the game has been made available to Singapore’s adult gamer population. Although a rating system was slated to become operable in January of 2008, the Board of Film Censors stated in a press release that it would “selectively use games ratings to enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore” prior to the official launch date.
According to Straits Times, MDA chairman Tan Chin Nam has assured gamers that previously banned games will be reconsidered once the new ratings system is in place. Titles will likely include “God of War II,” which contains nudity, and “The Darkness,” which depicts both religious blasphemies and extreme violence.
