Australian ratings board bans Reservoir Dogs game

Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification has refused to grant forthcoming movie tie-in Reservoir Dogs a rating - thereby effectively banning the game from sale in the region.

Reservoir Dogs, which will be published in the UK by Eidos on PC, PS2 and Xbox, is based around the cult Quentin Tarantino movie of the same name. It's said to explore additional plotlines, such as the whereabouts of Mr Blue and Mr Brown and the further adventures of Mr Pink.

The OFLC has yet to issue an official statement, but it seems highly likely that the game has been refused a rating due to violent content. Atari, which was to distribute the game in Australia, will not be resubmitting an edited version for reclassificiation - with a representative telling tech website APCstart: "That's the end of the matter."

Australia is notoriously tough on games with violent or sexual content - games such as Leisure Suit Larry, NARC, Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto III were all banned from sale. Most recently the OFLC refused to grant Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure a rating, arguing that it could promote the crime of graffiti.

Some Australian gamers have long called for a change to the OFLC's ratings system, which only allows for games to be given a maximum rating of "MA 15+". There is no "R18+" rating as there is for films.

Reservoir Dogs is still on track for a European release this autumn.