DoA: Dimensions has rating revoked in Australia

The Australian ratings board has revoked its initial PG certificate for 3DS title Dead or Alive: Dimensions after being made aware that several of the characters are under 18, which renders what the previous classification has referred to as "sexualised gameplay" as unsuitable for a PG audience.

Speaking to GameSpot AU, the board made clear that it considered the game unsuitable for publication under its current classification.

"Information provided to the Board last week suggested that the game contained content not drawn to the Board's attention in the original classification application," a spokesperson for the Board told the site.

"After considering the response to a show cause notice issued last Thursday, June 2, the Board made the revocation decision. Dead or Alive: Dimensions is now unclassified and cannot be sold in Australia unless it is re-submitted for classification."

The game had previously been submitted by the original distributor, THQ, and had been passed as a PG title. However, when a scandal erupted over the age of some characters in the famously risqué fighter, the Australian authorities returned to the case.

According to the authorities themselves, THQ had originally submitted the game without publishing the ages of the characters in question, listing them as N/A rather than as below 18 as they were in other regions. Nintendo has made clear that it will rectify that error upon resubmission.

"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 representative told GameSpot.

"It was classified PG (Parental Guidance) by the Classification Operations Branch. Nintendo Australia did not submit the classification. The application did not provide adequate information regarding the contents of the game."

Australia has still not decided whether it will be introducing an R18+ rating for games, although the Federal government is reportedly supporting the move. Currently, any games deemed too mature to be granted a 15+ certificate are judged as unsuitable for sale in the region.

However, Home Minister Brendan O'Connor has released a draft of a government paper, listed as being revised in 2008 but still under deliberation, which discusses the possible application of an R18+ rating for games. That rating, the paper explains would be likely to operate on similar grounds as those devised for film classification.