It seems different countries have various hot button issues when it comes to video games. The sex minigame in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas stirred up mountains of controversy in the USA but didn’t seem to raise many eyebrows elsewhere. Manhunt 2 hit all sorts of walls in the UK due to its extremely violent content but only bothered the conservative politicians and nervous parents in the USA. Bethesda has been one of the most recent companies to encounter this problem, having had to retool some of the features of Fallout 3 to meet the standards of Australia’s ratings body.

Pete Hines, product manager of the post-apocalyptic RPG has expressed his frustration at the difficulty of creating an adult-oriented game that passes the standards of multiple countries. “I guess that’s the way of the world – not every country is the same. You’re not aiming at one target, you’re aiming at six different ones, worrying about how each one will feel about different things,” he said, adding that in the development process they attempt to anticipate these possible problems and how to deal with them should they arise.