[Mike the Metal Ed]

The BBFC banning a game is extremely rare, the last (and only other) being Carmageddon, which was later allowed release on the Playstation. Rule of Rose also isn't available here, but that was a choice of the publisher. If anything, the BBFC has been lenient to games in the past, suggesting that they could actually be LESS immersive than movies, and allowing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to retain its 18 classification after the Hot Coffee incident, so this would lead me to believe that maybe Rockstar HAVE crossed a line of decency with this title. I haven't seen any gameplay footage of the game, so I can't decide that for myself.

However, I also worry that this has come about either because of the Wii controls (insert "kiddy" comment here), or because of the case of Stefan Pakeerah, which could fuel a lot of controversy whenever a new "sick" game becomes known to the Daily Mail reading public. As long as this is an informed, well judged decision by the BBFC, and not a media-forced reaction to the first game, I'm fine with this, and I guess I can always look around other European countries to pick this up, hoping that the same restrictions aren't applied to Sadness and No More Heroes.

Another concern that isn't brought up much is this from the Nintendo website:
AO (Adults Only) - should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.*

*Please note that Nintendo does not sell or license games that carry the ESRB rating "AO" (Adults Only).

So, this means that Rockstar may now be forced to change the game, for fear of being stuck with a Playstation 2 and PSP only game that can't be sold in a major country, and is practically banned from sale in another.