Apple rejects Tank Battle 1942 for depicting Germans & Russians as “enemies”

Started by Baron von Schtinkenbutt, March 14, 2014, 10:16:20 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Baron von Schtinkenbutt

QuoteApple rejects Tank Battle 1942 for depicting Germans & Russians as "enemies"

You ready for a good head-shaker? Hunted Cow chief Andrew Mullholland just sent me screenshots of the status of Tank Battle: East Front 1942, the followup to the WWII wargame we just reviewed last week. Apple has rejected the game for having Germans and Russians in it. I'm not kidding.

QuoteWe found that your app contains content or features that include people from a specific race, culture, government, corporation, or other real entity as the enemies in the context of the game, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.

Specifically, we noticed your app depicts real entity as the enemies.

In case you think you've read that wrong, I'll summarise: a World War II-themed game that depicts fighting between two countries that actually fought in WWII breaks the rules. And apparently Drive on Moscow, Panzer Corps, and every single one of Hunted Cow's other Tank Battle games don't.

Ugh.

If this all sounds somewhat familiar to you, it's because Apple rejected Pacific Fleet for including the IJN flag back in 2012, and then rejected GameTheNews' Syrian Civil War game for depicting... Syrians. As I've said before, the problem here isn't the guidelines themselves: hate speech has no place on the App Store. But if Apple's approvals people can't tell that a very run-of-the-mill World War II game isn't hate speech, then we've got problems, man.

I asked Mulholland what he's going to do now. "I really don't know.  I guess we could use 'opposition' [instead of  'enemy']?" Hunted Cow are appealing the decision.

Seriously?  This is why walled gardens suck sweaty donkey dicks.

Josquius

This is dumb.

QuotePacific Fleet for including the IJN flag back in 2012
:lol:
What?
The Japanese naval ensign is forbidden now?
██████
██████
██████

Valmy

Yes if we are depicting violence against it.  Inciting national hatred and all that.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Viking

So, we'll never see the Hatfields vs McCoys game in the apples store?
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

KRonn

This is so lame. I guess next these morons will ban books, or websites, that tell the story of WW2 warfare.

Crazy_Ivan80

Apple should ban itself as it induces negative feelings towards non-apple-platforms.

The Brain

Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Barrister

This doesn't make much sense to me.  I have some WWII airplane game on my iPhone, it has Americans and Japanese as enemies to each other.
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

Josephus

Apple Store carries Hearts of Iron III--which, though I've never played it, I'm pretty sure has Russians v. Germans...unless P'dox really messed that up. :hmm:
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Baron von Schtinkenbutt

Quote from: KRonn on March 14, 2014, 12:24:17 PM
This is so lame. I guess next these morons will ban books, or websites, that tell the story of WW2 warfare.

They have decided games are special.  Thus, books and other traditional media are OK.  Just not games.