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Apple Yanks "Sweatshop Themed" Game From App Store
First time accepted submitter danhuby writes "Apple have removed sweatshop-themed game Sweatshop HD by UK developers LittleLoud from their app store citing clause 16.1 — 'Apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected.' According to the PocketGamer article, Littleloud's head of games, Simon Parkin, told Pocket Gamer that 'Apple removed Sweatshop from the App Store last month stating that it was uncomfortable selling a game based around the theme of running a sweatshop.'"
Then how did Game Dev Story get approved??
What, so only APPLE is allowed to run a sweatshop?
If it makes you feel uncomfortable, force people to stop talking about it. The definition of political correctness!
"challenged people to think about the origin of the clothes we buy" Challenging people to think is one of the main things an Apple user is not allowed to do. Makes sense if you think about it.
I should think the objectionable thing would be the existence of those sweatshops. It's apparently just talking about them that is offensive? If we just look the other way and pretend they don't exist, then everything is peachy?
Not if it's so popular, it makes people want to buy your phone even more. If millions of people loved "Sweatshop HD", Apple would conveniently forget their clause. Rule of Acquisition number 202. The justification for profit is profit.
If we colonize Mars, it won't be the World Wide Web anymore. UWW?
"Increasingly, Apple is not for doâ(TM)ers. It is not for power users. It is not for creators. It is not for people who think different. It is for posers. It is for hipsters. It is for metrosexuals. It is for wannabes and pretenders."
This game will be called "Patent War"...
The object is to collect as many patents growing around the landscape stuff them in your pocket. The more patents you collect, the better are your chances against the Innovation Monster. Defeat the Innovation Monster and collect Gold Coins. Use the Gold Coins to buy Senators who can help build fences to keep the Innovation Monster away. Once you level up, defeat the Consumer Rights Beast and collect even more Gold Coins and even the Vorpal DRM which can stave off the Indie Media Goblin and the DIY Music Devil.
Kill hundreds of thousands of virtual people in videogames? No prob! Force them to work in a sweatshop? That makes me a little uncomfortable.
Welcome to the walled garden where everything is beautiful inside and you're protected from the ugly outside world (by the gardener's definition).
What could possibly go wrong?
Seriously, a game called "5 minutes to kill yourself" (and the wedding day edition) is okay, but a game where you run a sweatshop isn't? I'm guessing the top tier goal of the sweatshop game had the workers building iGlasses for an unnamed American corporation.
A leaked version of the App Store Review Guidelines already contains a ban on realistic violence.
But the real problem with the App Store Review Guidelines is that they're confidential, intended only for current developers, not for prospective developers. Say someone has been developing applications for PCs and Android devices as a hobby, and he wants to try developing a few applications for the iPhone or iPad. Before he spends over $1,000 on a Mac, an iPad, and a developer license, how can he be sure that Apple won't reject his applications' concepts?
You say that like it a bad thing. Doesn't matter. Censorship is bad... I am quite capable of filtering what I see myself. And I don't care if the mods disagree.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
While I agree with you in principal (the ability to run whatever I wish is one of the reasons I use Android and avoid iOS myself), in practice, what you describe is the same on both platforms.
If I'm selling a commercial app, even on Android, the built-in store is more or less the only avenue to making money. Google's store has rules just like Apple's does.
Sure I can sell through Amazon or some of the other third parties instead. But this obviously greatly diminishes my potential market (and they will likely have similar rules too). What percent of Android users ever install a third party store? What percent are even aware they can do so?
If you're talking about commercially selling software to sideload, the problem is even worse. Most users have no idea this is possible. So in effect, if you're investing a lot of money into a project and Google says "no", the results aren't much different from Apple saying "no".
Touch everywhere, even when inappropriate.
So Apple is enforcing their rules which they've openly and clearly published
When I tried to view the rules on Apple.com, it asked me to log in with an Apple ID. Where should a prospective developer view these rules before spending four figures on a Mac, an iPad, and a developer license?
Just got confirmation that the iPhone 6 has airco built in. So sweat is no longer an option and will be banned from the Appstore.
No amount of money (And $1k is nothing when talking product development), guarantees returns. So in this case, Apple rejecting the concepts is just another risk to add onto the list.
If it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, then pick a different platform to develop the concept for. Except every other platform carries it's own risks and benefits.
They could even rank it down to a -2 which is only visible to the randomly designated mods so they can rescue posts that end up there without subjecting everyone else to that shit.
There is a perfectly workable system already in place that relies on, rather than centralised censorship, crowd-sourced moderation. Unfortunately, it's ruined by chumps who reply to to the trolls, thus bringing otherwise rapidly hidden posts to the attention of all and sundry.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
What about the Tapper game that's been around since the dawn of time ...
You do realize Tapper was reworked to use Root Beer in most of its iterations including a version for Arcades, the version for Coleco and Atari, and even the version on Xbox Live all are "Rootbeer Tapper"... even the Tapper scene in "Wreck it Ralph"; looks like the original Tapper game, but the Bud logo is not present, and you can clearly hear a patron interrupt Tapper to order a Root Beer.
Probably not the best example.
So in this case, Apple rejecting the concepts is just another risk to add onto the list.
How does adding this artificial risk benefit Apple in a way that just publishing the Guidelines does not?
Never heard of Sweatshop HD before this...
Now I MUST PLAY IT!!!!
Good work, Apple, the dev couldn't pay for this kind of publicity.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
You can create your apple id for free
I just logged in with my Apple ID, and it told me "Sorry, you cannot access this page. The Apple ID you signed in with does not have permission to view this page."
Sweatshop HD is such a crude and offensive name. The game simply needs to be renamed: Foxconn Fun or iFactory, maybe Making Apples...
Let's be fair.
He was "just a fucking guy who marketed technology to the mundanes."
And the truth is that he was a genius at that. No, he wasn't "innovative", he sure as hell wasn't "a visionary," but he did succeed at selling what were "geek toys" to hipsters, who are always willing to pay a premium.
MP3s, tablets, smartphones: they were all around long before Apple made its "contributions" to the market[0] , and usually done better, but they never got sold to the "Any Key" crowd.
So let the Followers of Jobs have their worship. Even if they are just worshiping a marketroid, he was a good one.
[0]Newton was an exception, in that it was very, very much a geek toy and was a flop.
Why bother requiring intervention - just get rank it down and let a mod rescue it if and only if it was somehow relevant.
I can think of three reasons.
First, moderators tend not to rescue posts after the first few hours of a discussion.
Second, users can set a threshold on whether replies show up in their Message Center. An on-topic reply to one's comment that's robo-modded due to forbidden keywords might never show up. I, for one, depend on Message Center for notifications of replies to my comments.
Third, Slashdot karma works on a percentage scale. Each "In" moderation adds 2 percent, and each negative moderation takes away 2 percent. (Funny appears to do nothing.) Only users with "Excellent" karma (over 50%) get to post with the bonus, which is essential to keep late-discussion comments visible. A post at 1 that's robo-modded down to -1 due to forbidden keywords takes away 4% karma.
How hard would it be to port the game to the Mac and offer it for download?
Not as hard as it would be for iPhone and iPad users to carry around Mac laptops in their pockets just to play this game.
Your political party doesn't care about your rights and only represents corporate interests.
You should be able to see the rules for free by joining the Apple Developer program.
In the interest of fairness to iOS, I'm trying to build an accurate walkthrough to do so. So I logged in using my Apple ID, got "Sorry, you cannot access this page.", clicked Member Center, and then under "Professional Profile", I selected Games as the primary market, and got this:
It appears one is required to have already bought a Mac in order to truthfully complete this page of the Apple Developer Registration form, as Apple has confirmed discontinuation of Safari for Windows. Seeing "Legal agreement" as the next step and remembering "you warrant and represent" clauses in other sites' TOS, I'm trying to be careful not to lie on this form. Can I safely assume that "you develop with" was a typo for "you plan to develop with"?
Sincerity mode please; I'm trying to be fair to Apple, so please be fair to me.