Graffiti game banned in Australia

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

Friday, February 17, 2006

Screen Shot from Getting Up

The Office of Film & Literature Classification Review Board in Australia has refused to classify Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. The computer game's premise is a future world where freedom of expression is suppressed by a tyrannical city government and to win the game the player has to express his message through graffiti. The decision was made by 5 members who voted 3/5 against the classification of the game; Ms Maureen Shelley, the convenor, broke the deadlock on the grounds it encourages crime. The game cannot be sold, demonstrated, hired or imported without a classification. Australia is the only country to ban the game so far. The decision comes even though OFLC guidelines state that adults may hear, read and see what they wish.

The game was originally rated MA15+ for Strong violence, and strong themes on 18 November 2005.

Other games to be banned in Australia include Postal and BMX XXX, while 'Combat: Task Force 121', a game whose premise involves shooting people to defend US interests from Marxist rebels [1] was rated M (below the maximum rating of MA for a video game in Australia) and is therefore available to buy by anyone of any age.

Australia

Other stories from Australia

• 4 February 2010: Interview with Liz Mumby, independent candidate in Australian by-election for the Victorian state electorate of Altona
• 1 February 2010: Cricket: Caloundra defeat Glasshouse in Sunshine Coast, Queensland division one limited overs final
• 31 January 2010: Roger Federer wins Australian Open
• 30 January 2010: Regional council fights to keep sustainable growth on Australian Sunshine Coast
• 30 January 2010: No people or animals hurt in rural Australian fire

...More articles here

Location of Australia

To write, edit, start or view other articles on Australia, see the Australia Portal

Atari Australia, the games local distributor has said it strongly disagrees with the outcome and they defend the original MA rating "We are definitely investigating all our options at the moment. If we can appeal it we will," said Mr David Wildgoose, public relations manager at Atari. Any action to be taken would take place after they receive the Review Board's written decision. Mark Ecko has been also expressed his point of view “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.”

Ms Maureen Shelley, when questioned on her decision by the ABC’s Lateline, said she didn’t need proof that video games encourage crime—only that she thought they could.

Sources

Wikipedia has an article about Censorship in Australia.

• By Stephen Hutcheon, Louisa Hearn and David Braithwaite "Australia bans graffiti game" – The Sydney Morning Hearld, February 16, 2006
• Atari Australia responds to OFLC Review Board ruling "GETTING UP BANNED FROM SALE IN AUSTRALIA" – Atari Press Release, February 16, 2006
  

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.