Apple is So G Rated. The Apple Approval Process.
For those of you that don’t know, the only way to get a program on a non jail broken IPhone is through Apple’s App Store. Apple approves each application individually. The process normally takes no more than two weeks. They even review updates.
I have a couple of games on there now and have been trying to come up with new ideas.
So I get this bright idea to make a “Strip Poker” program for the Iphone using these cartoon models that you can pose and dress. I use this technology now in my adventure games. Now I know Apple doesn’t approve programs with nudity or pornography. My initial idea was to get them down to bra and panties and then have a link to a web page for final nudity. Since the nudity wouldn’t be in the app itself I thought maybe they’d be ok with. And it’s not like these are real models.
Now making a poker program on it’s own is a lot tougher than I thought. Just dealing with the AI and the mechanics of cards and randomization is no easy task but I work through it to make a poker game that isn’t very hard but pretty slick. I’ll post some pictures later. I didn’t even want to make the poker game very hard because people aren’t really playing it to get a poker challenge. This whole process is about a month’s worth of work.
Now mind you, I wouldn’t think that I could get a strip poker program on the Iphone if there weren’t about 10 other strip poker games already there. I figure my program wouldn’t be any worse than these.
I get my game finished and submit it for approval. I get an immediate rejection that says it thinks my Icon is basically too sexy saying that although I’ve marked my game for 17+, younger people can still see my icon. The icon was just a woman from the cleavage up but it showed nothing. So I change that and resubmit it.
I get a second rejection that says it doesn’t like the images of the girls covering their breasts with their hands in the game. So I get rid of that and resubmit it.
The third rejection just sends me a form letter saying it violates one of their submission rules about objectionable, adult, or pornographic content.
I assume they mean that link that takes you to the nude portion so I delete that and just as I was about to resubmit it, I read this on the statesman that came from the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/technology/23apps.html
It’s basically saying that Apple has removed almost all lingerie and bikini apps. WTH! This exactly coincides with the timing of my game. How the hell did I have this bright idea right when they were tightening up their approval process?!
I thought it was a really decent idea too. One of the most successful games on Iphone is called Pocket Gods. The main draw on that game is that you get a game for .99 but the hook is that it’s updated all the time and the updates are free. I was going to do that to my strip poker game too. In the end I wanted like a hundred different combination of models and clothes.
That article speculates this new level of control is due to the IPad coming out and they want everything to be completely family friendly.
To checkout the validity of this article myself I look up “Strip Poker” to see if those old apps are still out there.
They are all gone. Back to the drawing board. I guess I better just concentrate on finishing the triology of my adventure game and try to brainstorm some new ideas.
Uncategorized | tdo | 
February 23, 2010
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