Singapore unbans Mass Effect

Yesterday news arrived that gamers in Singapore weren't going to be able to get their hands on the highly anticipated Xbox 360 sci-fi action role-playing game Mass Effect.

The game was banned in the country after the Media Development Authority objected to a scene in which the main character (if selected to be a woman) kissed and caressed an alien character of female appearance as part of a romantic subplot.

Today, however, The Straits Times is reporting that the ban has been lifted and the game has been issued an M18 rating instead.

The Board of Film Censors issued a statement saying it would be creating a games-classification system in January, and in the interim, it would be selectively using game ratings to "enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore."

To date, Singapore has been the only country to ban Mass Effect, however temporarily.