Rumors have been bubbling out of the depths of the Internet today, alleging that Bethesda’s upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG Fallout 3 has been refused classification in Australia, effectively banning it. The game was rejected at a preliminary stage by a board from The Office of Film and Literature Classification, the body that decides what is and isn’t suitable for Australians. The rumor comes from a member of Gamespot’s Australian forum who apparently has a friend working for the OFLC.

What could be the reason for this travesty of judgment? Apparently, the main character in the game is able to inject himself with morphine. Seems like the OLFC doesn’t find the idea of players freely dosing themselves up with a powerful, prescription drugs. Too bad.

Of course the old problem with Australia’s classification system is that it doesn’t have a rating above 15+, meaning that any product which would get 18+ anywhere else on the planet unfortunately gets rejected and banned outright down under.

Maybe Bethesda could get around this whole problem by changing “morphine” to “nectar”…?

[See also: Fallout 3 gallery]