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.