Singapore - Censors have lifted a ban on an Xbox video game
for buyers 18 and older, reversing an earlier decision to impose a
total ban over sex scenes between a woman and a female alien, news
reports said Saturday.
The role-playing space adventure from Microsoft will be sold with
an M-18 label, the first time a console or computer game has been
issued a rating in the city-state.
In a statement published in The Straits Times, Singapore's Board
of Film Censors (BFC) said it would 'selectively use games ratings to
enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore' before
an official ratings system was due to take effect in January.
A video-game classification system will provide more choice for
adults while protecting youths, the BFC said.
The ban was announced last week because of a scene depicting the
human-alien couple in a brief love scene, which ends with the alien
saying, 'By the Gods, that was incredible, Commander.'
Homosexual acts are criminal in Singapore and rarely depicted in
films or other works.
The earlier ban triggered a furore among gamers in the city-state
and internationally. Singapore was the only country to ban the game
ahead of its release.
Gamers and Microsoft welcomed the decision to rate and release
Mass Effect.
'We will continue to work with MDA on promoting responsible gaming
here,' said Ian Tan, Xbox 360 marketing communications manager for
South-East Asia.
Microsoft submitted Mass Effect last week to the MDA as part of a
routine procedure to get the game distributed.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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