Australia Bans Another Video Game!

The Classification Review Board in Australia has refused to give Atari’s latest game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, classification and therefore banning it from being sold in Australia.

Their reason? It’s a game that “promotes the crime of Graffiti”.

Interesting. They’re ok with Grand Theft Auto, so long as the sex is kept under wraps. They’re ok with Need For Speed Underground 2, even though it promotes illegal street racing, resisting arrest, and dangerous driving. It’s also ok to kill German’s in a blood thirsty rampage, so long as it has a historical background (Brothers In Arms, Call of Duty) but a game that might promote graffiti, oh hell no.

I’ve played the game. It’s an interesting mix of adventure, fighting and thinking. That’s right, it’s a game that makes you use your grey matter.

But promoting graffiti? That’s a bit of a stretch. Sure the game centers around the underworld of graffiti artists, but it’s not gonna be a call to arms to get everyone going out and tagging.

It’s time for Australian politics to wake up and see gaming for what it is; entertainment, escapism, fantasy. It’s what some of us do instead of watching the evening news (rape, murder, child molestation, war, famine, riots are all covered in detail between 6-7pm every night) or nightly sit-coms or graphic crime dramas.