Dead or Alive 3DS Rating Revoked In Australia, Copies Pulled From Shelves

Australia's Classification Board revoked its PG rating for scandalous 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions, effectively banning the Tecmo Koei-developed title from sale in the country. The group initially rated DOA: Dimensions PG in February with a warning concerning "mild violence and sexualized gameplay", but it says that new information received about the fighting game's content led to the classification's annulment. Controversy began to brew for DOA: Dimensions in late May when European distributor Bergsala refused to ship the game in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to avoid possibly violating local child pornography laws. DOA: Dimensions features a mode in which players can pose the characters and take photos of them from every angle, including upskirt shots of virtual girls. Several of the female fighters are described as being under 18 years old in the game. Though Nintendo Australia pointed out that its local version of the game did not list the characters' ages, the Minister of Home Affairs in that region expressed concern about the matter, and the Classification Board requested more information about the title. Nintendo said the discrepancy in the game's initial information provided to the Board was due to THQ -- which usually distributes Tecmo Koei's releases in Australia, and was originally set to distribute DOA: Dimensions -- not providing accurate descriptors in its application. "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," a Nintendo Australia spokesperson told consumer site GameSpot AU. The representative continued, "Nintendo Australia did not submit the classification. The application did not provide adequate information regarding the contents of the game." "After considering [Nintendo's response], the Board made the revocation decision," said the Australian Classification Board. "Dead or Alive: Dimensions is now unclassified and cannot be sold in Australia unless it is re-submitted for classification." Nintendo Australia has reportedly re-submitted the game for a new classification.