I disagree. Apple didn't *have* to abide to complaining mothers. What Apple *should* have done is tell those whining mothers how to set up parental controls in iTunes.
The real danger is if they kept this stuff in, countries might want to censor the app store themselves. That's bad for absolutely everyone. I agree with Apple that they need to play it safe. I'm not sure I agree with all of the rules, but - there's very little they could do here.
I've been developing a strategy game for iPad that happens to feature illustrations of anime-style girls. I have no way of knowing if these illustrations will be considered too sexy for the App store - they're not nude, but they're attractive girls in tight clothes. At this stage I have to seriously consider switching to another platform, or scrapping my existing art and starting again. What is more annoying than the arbitrary and contradictory rules, is the fact that Apple is willing to change the rules at any time without notice. How can I establish a business based on the App store when there is no guarantee that my games will be sold in future? This is a serious blunder by Apple. They need to clarify the guidelines on what is appropriate for the App Store and apply these guidelines consistently or they will lose developers.
There has been many many examples in the past already when this argument was valid too. And the past experience proofs that Apple does'nt give a sh*t. They drag the AppDevs arround like some cleaning rag to wipe the floor with.... They don't care, they simply love the power they got here, and they want to make use of it from time to time...... It would not be to much effort to contact the appdevs in question, a week or two before the pull, but they don't. Same was back in November when the suddenly stopped approving any Game using the Unity Engine, because of a Systemcall which got miss-used by an other (non-Unity) App. But Apple had approved the same Syscall since the introduction of the iPhone Devkit.... They could have contacted Unity to solve this issue, but they did'nt- so Unity Engine Devs had to fight a furious battle against time to be able to provide a patch for the engine ASAP....
I think a lot of developers are taking the wrong approach when it comes to this. Apple is big business. The decisions it makes as a business are business decisions, not moral decisions. Why has Apple made the decisions that it has made with the app store? Because a number of people must have weighed their options, and decided that these decisions would ultimately result in more profit. That may seem a bit harsh, but the app store is breaking new ground in mobile software development. As mobile platforms become more powerful and gain new capabilities, some of the people who started here, trying to figure out how to put a game together, will be able to put their experience into growing a successful business. This means of development and distribution is still fairly new. Of course the app store is going to experience some growing pains. The people who have had great games pulled for no reason have every right to be upset. But Apple is so big that they're not going to lose any sleep over a few indie devs leaving them. I think the solution here is to try to communicate with Apple instead of lashing out at them. Let's do whatever we can to make it known that we want to put great games in the app store, and that we need fair rules to do that.
Well it looks like Apple "missed" this one. Something tells me that the fact that the game hasn't been removed isn't a mistake
Well of course The policy is to remove any sexual content unless it's a big company who have the resources to actually retaliate against Apple. Phil Schiller said so here.
I just read an article from NYTimes about this whole situation and they ask Apple about this. And got the official word from the big man himself, Mr. Schiller. And of course the best quotes is the following when they ask him about how come SwimSuit Illustrated and Playboy apps were still available. You can read the article here : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/technology/23apps.html So from my understanding is that, if you are a well known famous publisher/company well known for those kind of thing (for example FHM, Maxim, Victoria Secret, etc...). Then you wont get any problem, but if you are lesser known entity then you get the boot. Ill say the best to everyone is to avoid any "sexyness" in their apps. If not you might get the boot.
In bbc news here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8530124.stm Probably said already, but I thought the parental controls in itunes are for this kind of thing. I wonder if one sets the controls to children only, does this stop them from viewing the previews for 18+ apps, specifically the screenshots and icons, and description? Also, credit cards for purchases have age information on them. It seems the reason Apple are doing this is to change it's image pre-ipad launch? Or, another theory, is Apple is opening its iPorn store and cleaning out potential competition!
To be fair, I haven't written game code in about a decade. For the last eight years, I've stayed on the art side of game development, and mostly as a contractor. I can't say I know what it feels like to have a game that you've poured the last six months of your life into pulled from the app store. However, I think this is just common sense here. Apple can afford to be unfair to you and thousands of indie devs just like you. You're not going to accomplish much by railing against them. There are more constructive ways to make things happen. Here's a thought -- Maxim has Apple's support, what if Daisy Mae had Maxim's? What if developers and players wrote in to Maxim and asked them to publish Daisy's story? Apple's not likely to do away with an app put out by a fairly big name in entertainment, but they don't want to look embarrassed by them, either. Something like that may cause them to consider re-evaluating their policies. It's a long shot, but at least it's something.
So did Apple change it's mind about Daisy Mae? It is apparently back in the store today. It's prominently featured as one of IUGO's best games. How's that for coverage? Not just a featured app, but a whole selection from one company! Edit: Apparently I fail at reading. TA has an article on this very thing. I guess IUGO makes them enough money that they decided to un-pull the game.
I understand where Apple has come from but not the way this has been implemented. I believe that they wanted to 'clean up' the app store a bit. Removing apps that are blatant soft porn image galleries or whatever is an acceptable decision. I don't necessarily agree that they are offensive, or that even if they are, they couldn't be put into an 18 only section of the store. I do however think, as usual, Apple take things too far with their ban hammer and wipe out anything that remotely relates to the targets. Removing games that feature characters with breasts, too much skin showing or even men in tights is absurd. If the focus of an app is clearly not pornographic.... and this really shouldn't be too hard for anyone to judge unless they have the most prudish person sitting on the panel making the decisions.. then leave it alone. While Apple has the monopoly they can pull sh%t like this but give it some more time and the presence of other devices and their stores will increase and Apple will be forced to change its tact once again to maintain its strong position in the market. Not suggesting that the boob issue will loose their foothold, but if they keep pulling too many stunts like this and costing people money then they will move away from the appstore.
IMHO, this is bad move for Apple. The could've just created an "Adult" app category or section so as not to clutter the store with these kind of apps lying around on almost every category possible. Since they have an approval system, they can control or "guide" devs with their submissions anyway. Furthermore, moderation should be done by the end-users themselves and not Apple--everything is a matter of choice or preference. If parents can't control their kids (or minors) for using such apps, that's a problem they have to deal on their end, not Apple's. As a developer, I have no such apps but I somehow feel bad for our fellow indie devs who got affected by this move. My 2 cents.
Apparently you may get your wish if this article is to be believed... http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/65763/report-apple-may-be-prepping-explicit-section-of-the-app-store/ There may be a new section (roped off of course) for 17+.
