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The Xbox 360 video game Mass Effect has been banned in Singapore because it features a lesbian scene between an alien and a human.

The game contains " a scene of lesbian intimacyas such the game has been disallowed," the deputy director of the Board of Film Censors said. The board is a division of the Media Development Authority (MDA) Singapore's media watchdog.

Video games sold in Singapore cannot "feature exploitative or gratuitous sex and violence, or denigrate any race or religion," according to the Board Film of Censors. Mass Effect will be launched globally next week.

Microsoft, maker of the Xbox console said it understood the MDA's action. "We strictly adhere to the laws, regulations and norms of the markets we operate in,' it told the AFP. The MDA says that a new video game ratings system will be put in place next year that could allow video games like Mass Effect to be sold in Singapore.

Other video games that have been banned in Singapore include "God of War II" for nudity and "The Darkness" for violence and religiously offensive words.