January 4^th, 2006 (3:29pm) - A group of city officials in Hollywood, Florida are urging Atari to cancel the release of Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, claiming that the game could encourage children to become graffiti artists.

Atari, of course, will not comply is such a request with the game’s release just around the corner (February 14th), and knowing this, these city officials are asking for the publisher to at least take a stand against graffiti and take part in a campaign against it. At the same time, these officials are also asking consumers to boycott the game, which we are all sure Atari is not fond of.

Speaking to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Atari spokesperson Ryan Barr denied the officials’ claims, stating: "By no means is Atari encouraging vandalism or criminal acts... Just as films depict fictional worlds, this game is amusement and escape into a fantasy world."

Mayor Mara Giulanti responded to accusations that the city was attempting to enforce censorship by saying: "What we are doing is purely making commentary and educating the public that we don’t believe a game that glorifies criminal activity through graffiti or... violence needs to be perpetrated on the kids of America."

"If parents want to do it, fine. We’re not banning it from stores in Hollywood. We’re not the moral police."