CONTROVERSIAL video game Mass Effect goes on sale here today - with an M18 sticker on the package.
It is the first game here to carry a rating, in this case M18, which means someone under 18 cannot buy it.
The Microsoft Xbox 360 game went on sale worldwide on Tuesday.
Although the Media Development Authority (MDA) has not revealed its full rating scale for games, it is likely to be similar to the five-category scheme for movie titles which come under the Films Act.
Mass Effect, a role-play game, was initially banned by the MDA because of a brief love scene between a human and an alien, both female.
The MDA later changed its mind, and effectively fast-forwarded its video-game rating scheme meant to kick in only next year.
As with movie videos, game retailers selling Mass Effect are required to enforce the age restriction and check a customer's ID when in doubt.
The MDA did not specify the penalties for selling the game to a minor, saying it 'will work closely with the distributors to facilitate a smooth implementation of the system'.
Six industry figures who attended consultation sessions to gather feedback on a tentative scheme for games classification expect the model will be that for films.
There is also the American six-category games rating, or the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) model, which they said influenced the local model.
The American rating system is voluntary and the non-government ESRB has no legal authority to prevent a game rated for adults being sold to a child.
In Singapore, the proposed system will see a distributor logging onto a website to declare the contents of a yet-to-be-rated game. An appropriate rating will then be auto-generated.
The distributor can then collect the ratings sticker from the MDA, which will impose a charge for its production.
Distributors and game developers are uncertain about how this charge will be levied.
Said one distributor: 'Depending on the cost and whether there's a fixed fee, it may not be worthwhile to bring in niche titles, which have smaller audiences.'
Ms Chetra S., deputy director, Board of Film Censors, said less than 1per cent of games brought into Singapore this year have been banned.
This was largely for 'adult themes or content such as nudity, excessive violence and excessive coarse language'.
More than 600 game titles - for both console and personal computer versions - are brought into Singapore each year, including parallel imports, with over two million units sold here annually.
However, even with a rating scheme, there may be a loophole: games sold and downloaded on the Internet.
Online games like World Of WarCraft are usually accessed from foreign websites, so it is difficult to impose or enforce ratings on them.
According to a study by research firm DFC, East Asia, which includes China and South Korea, is the leading region for online games and games downloaded online. It accounts for about 50 per cent of worldwide revenue.
The worldwide online game market is expected to be worth more than US$13 billion (S$19 billion) in 2012.
In Singapore alone, online game MapleStory - which can be downloaded from websites - is estimated to have more than 500,000 players, according to its publisher, AsiaSoft.
While local websites for online games could display a rating - as with online games overseas - they will not be able to prevent children from downloading the game without parental consent.
Madam Tee Pei Ling, 33, a mother of two, said that while ratings would be hard to enforce in online games, 'it is still better to have guidelines for parents'.
