Texas news report blames graffiti problem on "Getting Up"

by Kyle Orland { Feb 18th 2008 at 1:15PM }

It's a well known fact that graffiti was on the decline nationwide as recently as two years ago. Spray paint sales were down, wall cleaners were going out of business, and the country's youth were refocusing their energies on local art classes and scrimshaw. Then the unthinkable happened. On Feb. 14, 2006, Atari released Mark Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, a game that went on to become a best-seller and created a new tagging boom.

This twisted view of reality seems to be behind this KRIS-TV report, which largely blames Corpus Christi's increasing graffiti problem on Getting Up and games like it. According to CCPD Detective Ramiro Torres, school children use these games to "develop a base of membership to form these tagging groups." The report also implies that "students play this type of game and get ideas." Because, really, no one had the idea to tag a building before these video games were around. The whole concept of putting paint on a wall is entirely a creation of the gaming industry.

Look, we're all for fighting graffiti and preventing costly vandalism. But blaming a recent boom on a two-year-old game that was drubbed by critics and sluggish in the sales department is a bit much. Especially when everyone knows it was really Jet Grind Radio that started the graffiti boom.

Tags: getting up, getting-up, GettingUp, graffiti, local-news, mainstream-media, mark ecko, mark-ecko, MarkEcko

Related From Joystiq

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando Rocker (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 1:19PM

Texas rules!

And for all the haters... watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsd7DGqVSIc

Nigeria @ Feb 18th 2008 1:29PM

Can I say, "confusion".

Why yes sir, you most certainly can.

D_Average @ Feb 18th 2008 1:29PM

nice....

Raikage (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 1:32PM

Konfusion, now spelt with a "K"

Zertoss @ Feb 18th 2008 1:34PM

It's true, everyone from Not Texas talks funny.

ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 1:35PM

Fuzion, now spelled with a Z.

Bboy Izilla @ Feb 18th 2008 2:02PM

Word...is this really top priority? I know a fair amount of graff writers and only know of 1 person who's even heard of 'gettin' up'. Roffles

hvnlysoldr @ Feb 18th 2008 2:08PM

Ludwiggity Giggity Goo

eight @ Feb 18th 2008 1:29PM

Is... is that the United Nations? Dear God, the teenagers have graffitied the United Nations building! they must be stopped.

Seriously, you can blame a lot of things on Mark Ecko. I do. All the time. But this? This isn't him or his crappy two year old video game. Blame parents. I can't wait until people start actually blaming parents for things. The Joystiq headline would read "Journalist Does Something Right, Blames Parents For Kid Being An Idiot"

jack shaftoe @ Feb 19th 2008 7:58AM

Seems to me that "Getting Up" by Mark Ecko would have the opposite effect on Xtreme tagging... go figure.

snowy @ Feb 18th 2008 1:33PM

The whole concept of putting paint on a wall is entirely a creation of the gaming industry.

brilliant just brilliant

Farseer (GDI) @ Feb 18th 2008 1:33PM

My favorite part about the article:

"Local GameStop employees told KRIS-6 News that Ecko's game sells fast, as do Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and Tony Hawk's Underground games..."

As far as I knew, GameStop hasn't been in the business of selling games for a long time. But then again, I'm sure that they meant that everyone was trading it in fast...

Neon Jebus @ Feb 18th 2008 1:33PM

Next they will connect childhood obesity not to all games in general but only the Cooking Mama series.

Was Getting Up even that popular I don't know of any of my friends that have played it. I played it only because I picked it up for $5 at Circuit City. It averaged about 5 minutes of enjoyment before I turned it off and never played it again.

Anticrawl @ Feb 18th 2008 1:35PM

So the real news here is that Marc Ecco's Getting Up sold enough copies to institute a movement.

Geist @ Feb 18th 2008 2:29PM

The real news here is that it sold any copies at all.

Anticrawl @ Feb 18th 2008 2:31PM

Indeed, but I didn't want to be to harsh.

Jevanzz @ Feb 18th 2008 1:35PM

What the fuck is this...?

NATO_Duke @ Feb 18th 2008 1:38PM

The makers of that game should thank the news for geeting it some media attention. It may not have caused graffiti in reality, but maybe graffiti can get them a sale or two of a game that bombed.

danny. @ Feb 18th 2008 1:41PM

On topic:

If you are at all interested in the real artwork that is going on out there, a good starting point is www.woostercollective.com and the work of Banksy http://www.banksy.co.uk/

StrangeBum (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 18th 2008 1:46PM

Banksy has long been a great inspiration for me personally. His work always leaves me feeling great somehow and I love seeing it in places.

I went around a little town here in AZ called Bisbee which is widely known for having such a strong art culture and community and I found quite a few works that were definitely Banksy inspired. Check it out. Took these pictures while I was there.

http://tinyurl.com/3yd9o9
http://tinyurl.com/388eyp
http://tinyurl.com/3bbz4c

Jevanzz @ Feb 18th 2008 1:47PM

Banksy's work adds so much life to the centre of Bristol, walking around town and spotting the odd pieces of graffiti is fantastic, I love it :)

Nigeria @ Feb 18th 2008 1:53PM

Are you guys serious?

He's a bit...awful. And pretentious: that way he appeals to students/young adults who want change but don't want to work for it. The safe rebel.

Or maybe I missed your sarcasm. If I did, ignore this message.

danny. @ Feb 18th 2008 2:04PM

I strongly disagree that he's pretentious. I'd say he's quite the opposite. I don't really care about the whole rebellion thing, but a lot of what he (they?) do is very risky. Check out what they did to Paris Hilton's record and the Disney installation for further detail.

Saria the Cat @ Feb 18th 2008 2:51PM

Oh, yeah, graffiti is safe rebellion, alright. Never mind that it can actually land you several years in prison on a first offense, at least in the U.S. I think there's a fine line between vandalism and real art when it comes to graff, and Banksy is clearly on the artistic side. There's tons of work put into his stencils, most of which are life-sized, composed of several layers, and creatively placed.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 18th 2008 3:21PM

Yeah.

Or, he's just a criminal with a can of spray paint. A talented criminal, but a criminal non the less.

If he was a real artist, he'd find a legal way to express his "art". But if all he can find is other people's property to deface, then he'll get no respect from me.

FOXHOUND @ Feb 18th 2008 1:42PM

Actually, I was enticed to rebel against society thanks to my NES copy of SKATE OR DIE. Mark Ecko is a copycat.

qbix @ Feb 18th 2008 1:43PM

If they only knew the kind of quality a good graffiti artist can produce:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trashisfesch/410332471/sizes/l/

I wish people would stop being so ignorant.

jorojoserojas @ Feb 18th 2008 1:59PM

That is AMAZING!!!

Ranus Studios @ Feb 18th 2008 1:45PM

I don't know anyone who's ever played Getting Up.

Jet Grind Radio, however, FTW.

qbix @ Feb 18th 2008 1:54PM

I've played Getting Up and it was not as great as I expected. As for Jet Grind Radio, I only played after I had bought a Dreamcast on ebay. Jet Set Radio Future on the Xbox was my favorite though. Great art style and tons of fun. I couldn't agree more.

PSN: KillaKornbread @ Feb 18th 2008 3:25PM

i bought Getting Up for $4 on clearance when i was working at K-Mart. i still havent played past the first boss, and hence have never had the urge to "tag" a building. i guess since i didnt pay that much for it, i dont really have a drive to play it. ill get to it someday lol.

i played Jet Set Radio Future on my cousins Xbox when it first came out and i can say that i did enjoy that game alot. but it also never made me want to "tag" any buildings.

new motto: dont blame it on your bad parenting, blame it on the video games you bought them!