Singapore revamps game ratings

Singapore became the only country to ban BioWare's epic sci-fi role-playing game Mass Effect last November. The city-state's Media Development Authority (MDA) objected to the inclusion of a romantic subplot whereby a female lead character could have a love scene with a blue monogendered alien who resembled a woman.

However, just a day and several news stories later, the MDA announced that the "highly anticipated" game should be given a new rating--that of M18--to allow gamers in Singapore to give it a go.

The MDA also announced at the time that it would be putting into place a new ratings system for video games and that the new classification system would be coming in 2008.

Previously, the system in Singapore had similar issues to the one in Australia. Games with mature content, including nudity or realistic violence, were automatically banned because there was no formal rating system. Titles that have been banned in Singapore include God of War 2 and The Darkness.

Now the country's Board of Film Censors and Media Development Authority have unveiled two games ratings which will be launched on April 28. The first is M18, for games aimed at adults and which contain mature themes, realistic depictions of violence and drug use, nudity, or frequent use of particularly bad language. M18 will be a restricted category, and retailers will be required to check for ID at the point of sale.

The second rating, Age Advisory, is for games deemed to be suitable only for those aged 16 or over. Such a rating will be earned if games avoid the above but still feature moderate levels of violence, portrayal of implied sexual activity, nudity without details, coarse language, or depiction of drug use. However, this rating will not be legally enforceable, although retailers are "encouraged to exercise responsibility," according to the authority.

The Board of Film Censors' chairman, Amy Chua, said in a statement, "The new ratings will provide more choices for gamers. The games distribution and retail industry will also benefit from having a rating system that allows it to make available more games targeted at the different groups. At the same time, the age-appropriate ratings and consumer advisories will help parents make informed choices about the games their children play."