The Mass Banning Effect - How it all begun

Welcome to Singapore, where 3 year-olds are allowed to play Manhunt 2 but 17 year-olds are not allowed to purchase or play Mass Effect. Well, you might have heard of Manhunt 2 getting banned in UK or chewing gum being banned in Singapore. But a video game being banned in Singapore? That’s a first.

Of course, Singapore is known for it’s strict laws. Chewing gum, smoking, ERP, fines, and the recent Lust Caution issue… well, you name it. But what came as a shock to both Singaporeans and Hardcore Gamers was the recent brief banning of Microsoft Game Studios’ Mass Effect video game in Singapore, which later was later lifted. The game was later given a Mature 18 rating.

Like comic books and movies, many video games in the past have been banned or censored around the world. Notorious video games like Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt and Mortal Kombat all have been raised as controversial subjects over and over again. Many of these “notorious” video games were also banned in various countries, most notably in the United States and United Kingdom.

However, in the case of Mass Effect, it was the first time a video game has been given an age rating in Singapore, and also one of the few video games in the country that have been banned. Sure enough, The Darkness and the original, uncensored version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were banned in Singapore, but no video game in Singapore’s history has been given any age rating other than Mass Effect.

The reason of the brief banning/M-18 rating of Mass Effect was due to a lesbian love scene between a soldier and alien, the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) said. However, what was shocking about MDA’s desicion was that more “hardcore” or mature games such as Manhunt 2 had been to escape the M-18 rating.

Well, we gamers can go on speculating about Jack Thompson’s part in this. Of course, we might not know if he had played a part in this, but we can’t deny the fact that both Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories can be played by and sold to anybody in Singapore and nothing is being done.

Jack Thompson might be targeting Microsoft Game Studios, now that Take 2 Interactive, the publishers of Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto, is “untouchable” due to an agreement between him and Take 2. This makes it easy for us to point out Jack Thompson’s role in this recent incident, although we can’t be too sure about this.

Well, of course, there are many game stores in Singapore who are still selling this game to minors, but I’m not naming any in particular. Of course there are many other options to obtain or “acquire” Mass Effect if you’re under 18, so this M-18 rating is, well, rather useless. Well, that is if you try hard enough to get the game. Coming up on Tuesday - “Why is Rockstar Games missing X’mas?” Stay tuned, and give this post a lovely comment!

Related: GamesIndustry.biz, CrunchGear.com, Internet Siao, S’pore Sundry

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