There’s a news item going around, apparently originating at Destructoid, that EA’s survival horror game Dead Space has been banned in Germany, China and Japan.

China and Germany aren’t much of a surprise, since they’re known for keeping a tight clamp on media content. Japan, though, makes no sense at all. They’ve got an ESRB-like rating system with an 18-and-up category. I’m not even sure they’ve got a legal mechanism in place to ban games in the first place.

It would certainly be weird since, as everyone is pointing out, Japan is the birthplace of survival horror games in the first place. If it weren’t for Japan, we’d never have games where you’re just ambling along in a Spanish village, minding your own business, and then OH LORDY LOO SOME GUY JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AND TOOK MY HEAD CLEAN OFF WITH A CHAINSAW, WHAT THE HELL.

And I know Madworld is being “developed primarily for a Western audience,” but come on now

GamePolitics has a confirmation request out to EA on the alleged Dead Space banning. I think we’ll see a correction before the end of today.

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