None
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure has gotten a lot of heat in the US. Opponents of the game believe that it promotes graffitti as an acceptable means of expression. The game was set to release in Australia in two days until the Australian Classification Review Board refused to classify the game. An unclassified game cannot be displayed, sold, or imported in Australia.
“Both the National Classification Code and the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games state that a computer game will be refused classification if it includes or contains detailed instruction or promotion of matters of crime,” Maureen Shelley, the board’s Convenor, stated. “It is the Classification Review Board’s determination that this game promotes the crime of graffiti.”
“Obviously we don’t condone any criminal acts,” Ryan Barr, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Atari, disagreed. “We don’t condone vandalism. [Getting Up] is really just a metaphor for getting out and getting your voice heard.”
Yet, the review board believes the “realistic scenarios whereby the central character Trane acquires his knowledge of graffiti tips, techniques, and styles” is promoting graffiti. They also state that the game rewards players for graffiti and includes interactive biographies of fifty-six real-life graffiti artists, some who began their careers engaging in illegal graffiti and some that still participate in it.
“Essentially they banned the game, which in our opinion is rather ironic considering that the game takes place in a city with a tyrannical government that tries to suppress the freedom of expression,” Barr continued.
Barr states that Atari plans to appeal the decision immediately, but there is no telling how long the process will take.