Australia Does What The United States was Unable To Do!

Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure Banned in Australia!

Computer game refused classification over graffiti tips


A computer game has been banned in Australia because the Federal Classification Review Board believes it promotes illegal graffiti.

The game Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure was originally granted an MA rating, but that decision was reviewed after complaints from Queensland's Local Government Association.

The game has now been refused classification, with the board saying it gives users graffiti tips and positive reinforcement for the offence.

Association president Paul Bell says it is a big win as the game was scheduled for release in Australia at the end of the week.

"This game won't be available in Australia and we think it's a significant recognition that this game in itself had some pretty anti-social activity and behavior recognized in the game and we've been able to substantiate that it was a game against the law of all the states of Australia," he said.
 

By Stephen Hutcheon and Louisa Hearn
February 16, 2006 - 1:20PM

Multimillionaire US fashion designer Marc Ecko has slammed the Federal Government's decision to ban his new video game.

The Classification Review Board yesterday refused to classify the game, Marc Ecko�s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, meaning it cannot be sold, demonstrated, hired or imported.

The decision was endorsed last night by the Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, who had asked the board to review of the game's MA15+ classification after local councils and state governments voiced concerns that the game would promote graffiti.

Australia is the only country in the world to ban the game.

"I am extremely disappointed in the Australian Government Classification Review Board�s move to ban my video game ... based solely on a perceived notion that it somehow will promote the crime of graffiti," Mr Ecko wrote in an email in response to a request for comment by smh.com.au.

The action game is published by The Collective and was due to be released in Australia later this week. It has already gone gold in the United States.

Set in a city of the future, the game features a world where freedom of expression is suppressed by a tyrannical city government.

Game players battle the authorities to overthrow corrupt officials using only street fighting skills and graffiti.

Computer games are refused classification on the basis that they either promote, instruct or incite a matter of crime or violence.

The game is being billed as the "first truly authentic video game based on urban culture" and the culmination of a seven-year project by Mr Ecko, who - in his younger days - was a graffiti artist.

On the game publisher's website, Mr Ecko has described the game as "genre-defining. Revolutionary. We will put the flag in the ground of popular culture with Getting Up".

Mr Ecko is the founder of the hip fashion label *ecko untld. His company has expanded into cosmetics and publishes a magazine focusing on hip-hop and urban culture.

In his email, Mr Ecko rejected the notion that the game would cause a graffiti epidemic.

" To the contrary, I would argue that a graffiti tag in the virtual world doesn't make one pop up in the real world." he said.

"... to blame gaming for everything that is inherently wrong in our homes, in our schools and on our streets is much easier to do than to actually figure out ways to fix the systemic problems that exist within our culture."

Mr Ecko said video gaming was a misunderstood cultural movement that was not about "teaching illegal activities".

"If a kid wants to learn how to write on the wall, he or she will figure it out. They have done it since prehistoric times, in fact.

"It�s about sharing a fictional tale set in a futuristic city where freedom of expression has been suppressed by a corrupt government and how one young man is able to change his world by picking up a pen instead of a gun.

Mr Ecko said the game was about ""looking beyond the filth and realising that sometimes there is more to the message".

"You just have to dig a little deeper and be willing to open your mind to two artistic mediums � gaming and graffiti � you may not fully understand or appreciate."

In his press release yesterday Mr Ruddock said: "I am satisfied the decision to refuse classification is consistent with the proper function of the Review Board to reflect community standards and apply the Act, Code and Guidelines."