Alien sex doesn't do it for me
What a strange world we live in, eh? Games get banned in different countries for all sorts of reasons, but is this the first time a mainstream videogame has been banned for portraying Lesbianism?Pokeman games are banned in Saudi Arabia for apparently promoting Zionism. Soldier of Fortune Payback, Reservoir dogs and many others have been banned in Austrailia for their excessive violence, and there's a long list of countries that have banned games depicting any war which is set in their country, whether fictional or not - South Korea alone have banned Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
But is the lesbian scene in Mass Effect really that offensive that it should lead to a ban? I've watched it a few times and I have to say I didn't reach for the tissues once. If someone ever says those tantalising words, 'lesbian scene' to me, it doesn't conjure up images of two videogame characters, of which one is an alien, having a quick peck and caressing each others thighs, but Singapore obviously think that it's outrageous and hence have banned the game from being sold in their country.
"'Mass Effect' features realistic content and interactions in the context of the science-fiction story line," Ian Tan, marketing communications manager for Southeast Asia said. "The game takes a mature approach to various relationships amongst characters throughout the game and the content in question is another dynamic of that."
It's no real surprise that this game has been banned when Singapore is a country that doesn't advocate homosexuality. In fact, any gay sex act in Singapore is considered to be an 'act of gross indecency and may see any Singaporean caught engaging in such frivolities serving a 2 year prison sentence.
Meanwhile, everyone else can look forward to some tame girl-on-girl action on the 23rd November when Mass Effect hits stores. Oh...the game is supposed to be pretty good as well.
