The Classification Board in Australia has announced that it is taking back the PG rating that was initially awarded to the fighting game Dead or Alive: Dimensions, which launched for the Nintendo 3DS handheld, effectively banning the game from the continent state.
The Tecmo Koei video game cannot now be legally sold in Australia and it will also be hard for those interested in it to get it from abroad.
During February, Dead or Alive: Dimensions went through the normal rating process with the Classification Board and was rated PG with a further warning about “mild violence and sexualized gameplay.”
Since then, the game was widely criticized for some of its content and the ratings agency has announced that new information has led to its pulling the PG rating and effectively banning the video game.
The biggest controversy is linked to the picture taking mode in Dead or Alive: Dimensions, where a player is able to photograph all the included characters from all possible angles, which includes upskirt pictures for those characters who are girls.
The in-game information confirms that some of them are under 18 years of age, even if the information has apparently not been included in the
Australian version of the game.
This has already lead to one distributor refusing to ship the game to Northern Europe in order to make sure that it is not liable under anti-child pornography laws.
Nintendo has issued the following statement on the subject: “When Nintendo Australia agreed to distribute the Dead or Alive: Dimensions game in Australia, it had already been submitted for classification by another video game company.”
It adds, “Nintendo Australia did not submit the classification. The application did not provide adequate information regarding the contents of the game.”
The publisher has re-submitted the game for classification in Australia and is hoping that it will be able to sell it again shortly.
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