graffiti video game banned in Australia

www.theage.com.au...

Gold Coast Mayor and former Olympian Cr Ron Clarke is claiming the credit for stopping the Australian release of a computer game that its critics say incites the crime of graffiti vandalism.

The game, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, was refused classification by the Federal Government's Classification Review Board earlier this week.

This means the game cannot be imported, sold, demonstrated or hired in this country, making Australia the only country in the world where the game has been banned.

The game was due to be released worldwide this week.

Cr Clarke said Getting Up promoted graffiti on public property, train-surfing, fighting and other anti-social behaviour.

"I am delighted the Review Board has voted in favour of preventing the potential escalation of these social and financial costs to our community," Cr Clarke said in a statement.

The decision was endorsed by the Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, who had asked the board to review of the game's MA15+ classification in response to concerns raised by Cr Clarke and others.
...

So basically...the game passed our censors with a MA15 rating, then one mayor person and 8 or 10 local councils from Queensland complained and got the review board to review the decision. surprise surprise, they banned the game.
meanwhile, every other country in the world is playing the game right now.

Atari responded

"It's unfortunate that during this day and age a government will implement censorship policies which are tantamount to book burning practices from the past," the game's distributor, Attari, said in a statement.

This is just par for the course for the land "down under"

[edit on 16-2-2006 by sardion2000]

*sigh* our leaders down here are morons....kinda sad realy anyway im ptrtty sure that banning a game is technicly unconstitutional due to freedom of speech/freedom of expression but noone bothers fighing it so meh

just a quick question here if i bought here in sunny cali and shippped it to you could u get into trouble


That would be sick indeed

Originally posted by Lamagraa
just a quick question here if i bought here in sunny cali and shippped it to you could u get into trouble

That would be sick indeed

apparently the game cannot be imported into australia. so I guess it would be illegal, but very easy to get away with.

a lot of people are buying the game from new zealand. the government knows about this and has called for parents to be responsible or some rubbish like that.

yeah they've ok'd it here in NZ - but then they ok most things. Surprised that aussie has banned it.....they're usually pretty broad minded aren't they? Well.....usually

Not since John Howard and the 'Greys'* took over. There are more old people than young people now and so politicians only try and please them. Young people are just irritating types who should be working harder to pay for all those pensions not playing video games, and don't forget to save what else you have left to pay for your own private medical insurance, they don't want you using the public system. Australia is slowly turning into a country that bans everything, just like Britain.

* I mean Greys as in the old conservative grey haired lot as opposed to the alien type though.

update

"New anti-classification circumvention measures will leave
those attempting to play vandalism simulation Getting
Up: Contents Under Pressure despite bans in several
EU countries and Australia liable for prosecution, a spokesman
for the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) said today.
The technology, developed by the ratings watchdog, works by
logging the IP addresses of players who are connected the
internet, typically via broadband services, while playing the
game. As IP (Internet Protocol) addresses log location
details, information of this type is already proving valuable
to authorities who monitor access to prohibited media
content. Information can then be shared with law
enforcement agencies who can decide whether further
action will be necessary. Already widely used in China
where censorship is rife, the technology is being put to
use in Australia where federal and state authorities are
currently in the midst of a graffiti crackdown. "Increased
monitoring powers, coupled with orders from the top to
keep Melbourne clean for (the Commonwealth Games),
mean we expect to see further raids resulting from
information provided by the code embedded in this game"
said an AFP source, speaking on condition of anonymity."

It's not like it's the first game about graffiti in australia anyway.
Take Jet set radio for example.
Adults making a big deal over things they dont know about

This is hilarious. A game where you can pick up hookers and slash their heads off to get your money back is one of the best selling games here, while a game about graffiti is banned? These doofuses need to get some consistency at least. If a game like GTA was banned, imagine the uproar and hatred towards these people. They only ban the lesser known games to avoid these issues while still looking like they are important.

Games and politics don't mix.
It goes to show how lost they really are on some topics.
I think the whole martin bryant thing, with him apparently playing virtua cop, helped to fuel this.
Good behaviour begins at home with good parents. They should be looking there.

Graffiti can be a wonderful form of art. Why do they stifle art of all things?

In my opinion they should have just put a warning label on it.

It is ridiculous how far authorities extend their powers.

they should encourage graffiti i think
or at least the good stuff

a colourful wall is better then plain bricks

I forgot to mention this for the benefit of overseas readers:
Australia is in the middle of a massive graffiti crackdown. This is the real reason the game was banned.
Authorities are are trying to make Melbourne look good for the Commonwealth Games in a few months.
There has been an uproar about a graffiti DVD, it was on all the news shows for some reason. Graff videos have been around for ages but I guess nobody in the mainstream noticed before.
Also, writers are getting arrested for having paint or sketches in their houses. Australia's biggest graffiti internet forum was named in the media and the webmaster took it down for a while.

Graffiti has always been illegal. Now it is also illegal to portray graffiti culture in art. and you'd better watch out if you own paint, do sketches or talk about Graff online.

I don't agree with graffiti myself personally. Theres a time and a place for it, but alot of people don't obey the rules.
Bondi beach here has some good graffiti, but tags and ugly stuff like that I'll never like anywhere.