10 Banned PS2 Games Too Controversial For Their Time

Set in the futuristic dystopian city of New Radius, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure hit PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006. Playing as amateur graffiti artist Trane, this ambitious title brought to us by the combined might of The Collective (Indiana Jones And The Emperor’s Tomb) and Atari saw our hero battle rival gangs and use his art as a means to protest against the city’s Orwellian government.

Unsurprisingly, it was this game’s heavy focus on graffiti that sparked outrage. In the UK, for example, the game was met with heavy criticism by Anti-Graffiti Association for supposedly encouraging vandalism prior to its release. However, in (you guessed it) Australia there was a different story.

While the game was initially granted an MA15+ rating, their decision was overturned shortly after. The OFLC stated that, after some more consideration, the game “promotes the crime of graffiti” and contains “detailed instructions” for a crime.

Likewise, the board also took issue with the game including a selection of real-life graffiti artists sharing techniques with the player alongside players being rewarded for tagging public buildings.

With a sequel reportedly in the works since 2013, only time will tell how it would fare under today’s standards.