Nordic Dead or Alive release ruined

By Robert Purchese Published 20 May, 2011

Nintendo pulls plug amid child porn accusation.

A possible violation of Swedish child pornography law means Nintendo 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions won't release there, or Norway, or Denmark.

Distributor Bergsala capitulated without a fight and pulled the title, not wanting to stoke the national fire that raged recently when a manga translator was charged with being in possession of child pornography.

"Nintendo of Europe have decided not to release the game in Sweden, for various reasons. However, they do not want to list any details regarding their decision," said Nintendo and Bergsala in a joint statement to Eurogamer Sweden.

"We are sorry for how this impacts the Swedish fans of Dead or Alive. Thankfully, it's extremely unusual that these things happen."

The case stems from a forum poster who noticed that three Dead or Alive: Dimensions characters - Kasumi, Koroke and Ayane - violated Swedish law by being under 18 and in a pornographic situation. The pornographic situation in this case being the Figure Mode, where the posing girls can be photographed from every angle.

The author of the report had no intention of outlawing the game. The aim instead was to highlight why the child pornography law should be changed. The author took his report evidence to the police who dismissed it as "lacking" in evidence. Underage girls in thongs, the police concluded, do not equate to porn.

Dead or Alive: Dimensions.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (50) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • SClaw #1 1 year ago

    Wait... it has what? Figure Mode? This is an odd sounding game...

    *immediately orders a 3DS and DOA"

    For, eh, research purposes. Of course.

  • jablonski #2 1 year ago

    "not wanting to stoke the national fire that raged recently when a manga translator was accused of possession child pornography."

    Sorry, I'm not sure how this fits in?
    Could you provide background? (No way I am using those search terms on google)

  • the_dudefather #3 1 year ago

    Banned in the UK due to 'elf and safety and political correctness gorn mad

    according to the Daily Mail at least

  • mkreku #4 1 year ago

    It was a guy in my hometown that was accused of having child pornography when he was working as a translator for Japanese comic books. The case went to court.. and he lost! Apparently it is child pornography to draw pictures of persons that look too young. I'm not sure how it is harming any children, but that's the way the Swedish juridical system saw it.

    Embarrassing, really. You can go to jail for drawing the wrong picture.. Sweden..

  • Drygore #5 1 year ago

    Im shocked.. i'm Swedish, and i think this is the first time any game gets banned here. Ofc it has to be a game i really want.. -_- Anyway, im really surprised this is happening. All the previous DOA games have been released here without any issues. This must be Nintendo playing it safe 'cause of the recent childporn stories recently in the media. As it says in the article, even our police doesnt think its childporn. Oh well, time to order from zavvi then i guess. The UK prices are fantastic compared to ours anyway :-D (it all evens out ofc if you live here, but for ordering through the web its ace) ;-)

  • joelstinton #6 1 year ago

    Surely they would have forseen this and just made the characters 21 years of age? probably the only place they are mentioned they are 18 are in the manual?
    Edited by joelstinton at 20/05/11 @ 14:53

  • Gearskin #7 1 year ago

    Woah, that's a bit crazy! I doubt the poses in Figure mode are actually pornographic and the ability to photograph them from any angle is surely limited?... Will attempt full up-skirt with my copy later. For research purposes.

    Even if this is possible, it's still one heck of a move to make and sets a mildly concerning precedent. I suggest developers continue to model Asian women as they are now... and just patch in adjustments to age. Kasumi is now 32!

  • Kayin #8 1 year ago

    Well, this is completely fucking ludicrous. They've banned it for something it doesn't even have.

    Oh well.

  • Kain201 #9 1 year ago

    Dimensions wasn't banned in Germany nor was it censored. It was rated USK 12.

  • telboy007 #10 1 year ago

    According to the Daily Mail the 3DS causes cancer.

  • FabricatedLunatic #11 1 year ago

    The game isn't banned, it's just that the publisher has taken an overly cautious stance. DoA is not pornographic by any stretch of the imagination, and all the female characters are... generously proportioned anyway.

  • sonicyoda #12 1 year ago

    Can you import from a neighboring European country? I'm sure European games all fit under one region so it should run on your 3DS regardless, right?

  • sega #13 1 year ago

    That's quite shocking really - especially considering, physically speaking, the female characters definately do not look like under-18's in appearance (well can't say I remember any girls resembling Kasumi when I was at school). So this is all from the fact some game designer at Tecmo stuck "17" next to the age in the character profiles. If they'd have typed "18" there instead it'd be ok .... ? What if I drew a stick woman with boobs and an arrow pointing to it saying "aged 17"?

  • abdo #14 1 year ago

    Herregud.

  • fabiosooner #15 1 year ago

    This doesn't surprise me. It's just one more drop in a big wave that's sweeping the world in many levels, and not just about the content of a game or a comic or any other piece of entertainemnt.
    These days, everyone wants someone else - preferrably from the government - to sanitize one's neighbourhood, no matter if there's real dirt in there or not.
    This habit of expecting others to assume one's own choices and responsibilities will bite everyone in the ass eventually. It's this kind of stuff that provides solid ground for dictatorships.
    Edited by fabiosooner at 20/05/11 @ 15:07

  • DFawkes #16 1 year ago

    The age of consent in Sweden and Denmark is 15. You're saying you don't mind your children having sex but you don't want them to star in your fighting games?

    That's really stretching it calling the photo mode pornographic too. If you bought porn and everyone was fully clothed and doing absolutely nothing sexual, you'd take it back for a refund!

  • CloisterBlack #17 1 year ago

    da fuck?..

  • jonsaan #18 1 year ago

    OUTRAGE!

  • silversun #19 1 year ago

    I just bring up an issue of advertising of games , in this case all they had to do was change the age to 18 in the profiles.
    Dead or alive paradise psp the advertising for that game was so terrible i canceled a preorder over it and never brought the game.
    Now im not shy of this stuff, i will be buying duke nukem forever.

  • Eldritch #20 1 year ago

    [link url=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71Q2bF2lqqL._AA1500_.jpg
    ]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71...[/link]

    Definitely not "Banned in Germany".

  • Deckard1 #21 1 year ago

    There's not enough child porn in games today. This is a blow.

  • rivuzu #22 1 year ago

    Let's face it, if they made them over 18, it wouldn't sell in Japan. Bigger Market?

  • acuratebob #23 1 year ago

    Wow. So even though Kasumi is not based on any real person I can't look at her bum or her boobies?

    If I was in Sweden I would have been caught when the first dead or alive was released. Lol.

    Is not a real person aged 17. So what's the beef?

    Now if the guy had real images of real 17 year olds in revealing postures. That's a different issue.

  • Drygore #24 1 year ago

    The weird thing is that even if she's 17 that doesnt make it childporn. That's under 15 (14 etc.) , right? Like someone said, its not banned here, its just Nintendo playing it safe, a real shame since many swedes wont get the game. Meaning i wont be able to spotpass many ppl, if any.. grrrr. Time to order from the UK then.

  • Atropos #25 1 year ago

    Uh, if you read the article it clearly states that the game hasn't in fact, been banned by Swedish authorities; rather, Nintendo has pre-emptively decided to pulled to avoid the possibility of it maybe, possibly, creating some sort of media furore. The swedish police already looked at it and dismissed it as not amounting to porn.
    Edited by Atropos at 20/05/11 @ 15:28

  • Drygore #26 1 year ago

    Also, like i mentioned earlier. All previous DOA's have been released here, and this is the first time that i know of that any "normal" game doesnt get a release here. Silly is what it is..

  • patootik #27 1 year ago

    Is it not also Illegal so shoot, beat, murder people in Sweden? Yet I'll bet theres a few games for sale there depicting just that. Double standards.

    edit: yes ok, not banned, pulled by Nintendo to avoid potential controversy. Still, it does seem absurd.
    Edited by patootik at 20/05/11 @ 16:12

  • ukuleleimport #28 1 year ago

    Like some have already said, the game isn't banned. It is just not being released in Scandinavia. So just get it from play.com or something, where it'll already be half price compared to what it would have sold for up here...

  • Drygore #29 1 year ago

    @patooik
    For the 100:th time, its not banned. Nintendo chose to not release it, which is weak tbh. I know my country, and releasing it wouldnt have been a problem at all. No one would have reacted. A shame.

  • repeater #30 1 year ago

    The relevant forum thread is here if anyone is both interested and skilled in Swedish. :)
    Edited by repeater at 20/05/11 @ 16:13

  • captainCandy #31 1 year ago

    MALMÖ!!!

  • geeza2020 #32 1 year ago

    /slow clap
    Way to go Nintendo. Hows about growing a backbone and not giving into this absolute idiocy that seems to be taking over some of the scandinavians at the moment? Ninty are just scared of muddying their squeaky clean child friendly image, even though in this case the only harm being done is by people who think images of imaginary characters in entirely un-sexual poses classifys as illegal child pornography.

  • Acrid #33 1 year ago

    What's with this sad "figure mode" anyway? DoA is such a juvenile franchise, surely anyone who wants to get off on girls in bikinis can just download some porn on the internet.

  • RobotRocker #34 1 year ago

    according to the Daily Mail at least

    Nah, the DM and Express et all would be more on the "It's good that its banned to protect the innocence of our children" line.

    The thing is, this is an actual case of PC gone mad, yet it wont be recognized as such because that term is propagandized so that it fits with a belief system. See Cameron's plan of making sure "Homosexual kissing on TV is only acceptable post watershed". That was PC gone mad but since it fits with their belief system, the right wing press reported it as a good thing.

    Progress? Pfft, what progress.

  • Bluetooth #35 1 year ago

    So it's alright to piss off 1.5 billion muslims by depicting their god as a terrorist, many of whom are hellbent on actual, physical revenge... whilst messing around with virtual boobies is obviously digusting and horrible and offensive and must be banned. Well done Scandanavia!

  • dagas #36 1 year ago

    I looked in the instruction manual for the DoA games I had at home and in all of them it said "Age: NA" on Kasumi and Ayane so why start listing age now? I guess everyone is a bit jumpy since the new law that was introduced. No one dares to argue against the law though. Only Piratpartiet did and it hurt them bad since people took it as they were pro-child pornography just because they questioned the law.

  • dagas #37 1 year ago

    I looked in the instruction manual for the DoA games I had at home and in all of them it said "Age: NA" on Kasumi and Ayane so why start listing age now? I guess everyone is a bit jumpy since the new law that was introduced. No one dares to argue against the law though. Only Piratpartiet did and it hurt them bad since people took it as they were pro-child pornography just because they questioned the law.

  • AOFanboi #38 1 year ago

    For their next trick, they will be going to the Munch Museum in Oslo to cover up Munch's painting "Puberty". Clearly under 18 that girl.

    Anyone know where Carl Larsson's evil paintings of innocent nude children hang? BAN!

  • funkateer #39 1 year ago

    "Dead or alive paradise psp the advertising for that game was so terrible"

    I thought the 'spank the monkey' add was absolutely hilarious!
    I just couldn't believe that they tried to sell a game like that, like they just admitted the game just sucks 'but hey it's got babes in bikinis!'. Awesome in its awfulness :)

  • DeeWox #40 1 year ago

    Eh... Anyone explain to me how it will affect Norway or Denmark? Scandinavia isn't a country, but a region.

  • Sevens #41 1 year ago

    Questionable.

  • AOFanboi #42 1 year ago

    @DeeWox, as far as I remember Bergsala is the Nintendo distributor in Scandinavia, so their decision will affect all three countries unless I read the article wrong.

  • A_Nonny #43 1 year ago

    I thought the underage girls had their ages listed as N/A in the west for exactly this reason? What happened to doing that?

  • SimonM7 #44 1 year ago

    Nintendo jump at the opportunity to not publish things it seems. Where's my Trauma Team, you bag of knobs!?

  • djed #45 1 year ago

    If you read the original forum thread in Swedish, the OP clearly states that he is planning to buy the game, take "sexy" pictures in "showcase mode", then press charges. The funny things is that he would've been booked as well, for possession of child pornography.

  • Pirotic #46 1 year ago

    Isn't this the reason they put the ages down as 'Unknown' in the dreamcast version for the youngest? Seems silly pulling it over a fictional age.

  • hiddenranbir #47 1 year ago

    Why even allow the weirdos to take up skirt shots of little girls? You may not classify it as porn but it is still pretty weird to do...

  • mukki #48 1 year ago

    That is one odd bit of news!

  • KDR_11k #49 1 year ago

    Banned in Germany for the violence.

    Meh, the banning has lost a lot of strictness. Dawn of War can have its sync kills with all their blood and gore.

  • Smugglarn #50 1 year ago

    This was all started by the manga translator's ex wife.

    Hell hath no fury...