Apple Initially Rejected Papers, Please for "Pornographic Content" - Update 2

J Tyran

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Dec 15, 2011
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Most importantly I now know that Papers Please is on the App Store, I hope to see an Android release as well. Its a great game for mobile devices, sorting papers while sorting papers would be great.
 

Davroth

The shadow remains cast!
Apr 27, 2011
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So with the latest update, it seems to me this was a mountain made out of a molehill.

Glad the game made it to the App Store uncensored. This is a great game.
 

Neonit

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Dec 24, 2008
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I love how when such scanners are implemented into real life, its normal, nothing to worry about, move along citizen.
But in games, it is downright pornography! It demeans the virtual people! How could you do such horrible thing to virtual people!

Its almost some kind of social commentary...
 

Hairless Mammoth

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Jan 23, 2013
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neonit said:
I love how when such scanners are implemented into real life, its normal, nothing to worry about, move along citizen.
But in games, it is downright pornography! It demeans the virtual people! How could you do such horrible thing to virtual people!

Its almost some kind of social commentary...
Actually, I thought there were some stories about the operators saving the pictures or just enjoying their jobs way too much. The stories may have been false, but the Apple censors, being idiots and/or over thinkers, may have seen that as an implied way to enjoy the game.

OT: "Pope added this decision is not a result of Apple bowing to pressure but admitting it had made a mistake in the review."

I won't say this isn't a possibility and that they already were talking with him before the original news story hit the internet. But, I have a good feeling that after all the OKed fart button apps and denied encyclopedia apps that had passages that apparently violated Apple's rules, Apple probably felt the pressure of an impending outrage against the original decision and got the ball rolling to reverse the rejection before things got too tense.

Maybe Apple should reeducate their review board members? Or stop getting them from the same place the MPAA get's its members (read: upper-middle class old white people with no connection or understanding to most of the things they review).(That last part is mostly a joke. I have no idea what backgrounds their review board has.)
 

mew4ever23

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Mar 21, 2008
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These people have not seen the nudity in papers please. It's not erotic, it's not sexy, it's just another part of the job of the border officer we follow.

Or, more likely, they don't care.
 

Infernal Lawyer

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Jan 28, 2013
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Ed James said:
So rules are rules. You adhere to the Escapist Posting guidelines (I hope), so it's only reasonable that if you want to publicly distribute what you have produced (such as this comment) on someone else's medium, then you follow their rules.

Apple has a strict set of rules when it comes to publishing content and on top of that, they enforce an annual fee, as well as verification (Quality assurance by humans, not machines), something that is not widely done. Rules are put in place for a reason, to be honest, I'm surprised I have to explain why it's fair to play by some one else's rules when your round their house. This gives a barrier to entry that is a necessary deterrent to sub par developers that want to exploit the user base.

On the side of Apple being some sort of pure evil against games as an art form, there are three main factors that you should consider in your argument:

1. Audience

Like it or not, this a mobile platform, and can be compared to other portable game media such as the Vita and 3DS to some degree. As such, what's the longest period you spend on your phone/tablet/portable games device playing games? Games for mobile platforms are inherently designed for burst style play. You rarely see gourmet chiefs preparing meal deals outside of supermarkets.
Games like Papers Please on iOS are for a very specific audience. Is there really a need to feel angry about a game that you clearly support, and is obviously not in jeopardy following rules that mean you can enjoy it elsewhere.

2. Screen Real Estate

Although PP is coming out on the iPad, people seem to be railing against Apple in general, as such, I feel I can generalise the 'war on Game Art' argument to all iOS products. Angry birds sold well because it was designed for the platform. 'Art Games' are not primarily targeted at mobile platforms because of both the audience wanting something with rapid response, and the screen to display such an expierence on being sub par.

3. Battery life

If you actually have an iThingy, if yours last to the end of the day, please tell me your black magic secrete, because the things leak battery quicker than my sink at the moment.

TLDR; If you feel that the boobs are the difference between a good game or not, then you are clearly the person who is getting off on this and are projecting your own insecurities, so grow up you (hopefully) teenager and learn that life is following someone else's rules until you are big enough to make your own.
Except as has already been said, even by their own rules there's nothing wrong with this. Nudity does not make a game porn or even erotic, and even if they really wanted to be harsh they could have simply asked for the devs to make the "turn off boobs" option mandatory.

Anyway, as the update states they've realized that their curation process failed and they're letting the game in.
 

Haerthan

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Mar 16, 2014
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Strazdas said:
Ed James said:
TLDR; If you feel that the boobs are the difference between a good game or not, then you are clearly the person who is getting off on this and are projecting your own insecurities, so grow up you (hopefully) teenager and learn that life is following someone else's rules until you are big enough to make your own.
or perhaps we are grown up enough to see when rules are moronic and are willing to call them out as such?

Does apple has a right to make thier own rules? sure.

should apple have this right? Nope.
You my friend are a gem. I completely agree with you
 

alj

Master of Unlocking
Nov 20, 2009
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"not a result of Apple bowing to pressure" err sure whatever you say apple.

In all seriousness its good they have looked again and admitted it was a mistake however it is a shame that a game is not treated the same as a book or song as it can be art just the same as they can, i think its something we need to get past and i am glad apple have seen sense and taken another look.

Whist the mobile market is usually not known for quality games that tell a story ( not saying there are not good games but its not common for something like this to be on there), anything that advances the idea that games can be art is a good thing in my book.

I also don't like the term "art game" to me that misses the point of games as art, traditional "art" games are more a interactive art installation than a game that is art in itself.
 

killerbee256

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Aug 14, 2014
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alj said:
"not a result of Apple bowing to pressure" err sure whatever you say apple.

In all seriousness its good they have looked again and admitted it was a mistake however it is a shame that a game is not treated the same as a book or song as it can be art just the same as they can, i think its something we need to get past and i am glad apple have seen sense and taken another look.

Whist the mobile market is usually not known for quality games that tell a story ( not saying there are not good games but its not common for something like this to be on there), anything that advances the idea that games can be art is a good thing in my book.

I also don't like the term "art game" to me that misses the point of games as art, traditional "art" games are more a interactive art installation than a game that is art in itself.
How is calling an game a "art game" different then calling a film a "art film?"
 

Zendariel

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May 15, 2012
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I'm guessing this comment is aimed for me, my comment came a bit harsher than I intended so apologies for that.

Ed James said:
So rules are rules. You adhere to the Escapist Posting guidelines (I hope), so it's only reasonable that if you want to publicly distribute what you have produced (such as this comment) on someone else's medium, then you follow their rules.

Apple has a strict set of rules when it comes to publishing content and on top of that, they enforce an annual fee, as well as verification (Quality assurance by humans, not machines), something that is not widely done. Rules are put in place for a reason, to be honest, I'm surprised I have to explain why it's fair to play by some one else's rules when your round their house. This gives a barrier to entry that is a necessary deterrent to sub par developers that want to exploit the user base.

On the side of Apple being some sort of pure evil against games as an art form, there are three main factors that you should consider in your argument:
My comment was based on a publicly available document that is actually linked in the article and as far as I'm aware, I did not break any rules. I was mainly trying to condense the main content restrictions.

And what I meant with bending the rules was that because the review process is made game by game basis you might be able to sell slightly more controversial/artsy/morally grey games than what the rules usually allow.

I'm not really against Apple. I don't enjoy OS X, mostly because it is very different user experience and I hated XCode when i tried it during my studies in University of applied sciences. They also have to my knowledge the strictest policy regarding both computer and phone/tablet applications. Which is both good and bad, It's great for overall user experience, but less so for those who want to tinker around with their hardware and software (again to my knowledge, not much experience on the platform)
Ed James said:
Rules are put in place for a reason, to be honest, I'm surprised I have to explain why it's fair to play by some one else's rules when your round their house. This gives a barrier to entry that is a necessary deterrent to sub par developers that want to exploit the user base.
Rules are a two edged sword. I agree that they are useful and often mandatory. But if they are set in stone and never challenged, they will always limit what can be done. In this case stagnating the market eventually. It is fair to play by their rules, it's also okay to ask if rules can be changed provided there is merit for it.

Ed James said:
1. Audience

Like it or not, this a mobile platform, and can be compared to other portable game media such as the Vita and 3DS to some degree. As such, what's the longest period you spend on your phone/tablet/portable games device playing games? Games for mobile platforms are inherently designed for burst style play. You rarely see gourmet chiefs preparing meal deals outside of supermarkets.
Games like Papers Please on iOS are for a very specific audience. Is there really a need to feel angry about a game that you clearly support, and is obviously not in jeopardy following rules that mean you can enjoy it elsewhere.
Personally i feel there is room for many different types of games even on mobile platforms. I'm not really a part of the core mobile audience as I usually play at least half and hour and more often multiple hours on any given platform. Unless I'm sampling through games that i might want to try later. Longest periods would probably be anywhere from 4 to 8 hours on DS/PSP and 3DS but they are very different from phones. I think it's great that Papers Please was released on iOS as the gameplay should work really well on those devices, and I think more good games available is only a positive thing.

Ed James said:
2. Screen Real Estate

Although PP is coming out on the iPad, people seem to be railing against Apple in general, as such, I feel I can generalise the 'war on Game Art' argument to all iOS products. Angry birds sold well because it was designed for the platform. 'Art Games' are not primarily targeted at mobile platforms because of both the audience wanting something with rapid response, and the screen to display such an experience on being sub par.
People often rail against everything popular. Apple is an easy target as it is kind of a niche at least where I'm from. But from what I've seen, iPad has a great screen and you could do a lot with tablet devices. I do agree that the market probably is not quite there yet for games that need more time dedicated for them. I can see them working on tablets but not really on mobile phones, though I hope to be proven wrong.

Ed James said:
3. Battery life

If you actually have an iThingy, if yours last to the end of the day, please tell me your black magic secrete, because the things leak battery quicker than my sink at the moment.
Can't help you there. I don't have one, but smartphones in general are pretty good at emptying their batteries. My phone is empty after three hours of semi heavy usage(usually gaming) though it can last about 3 days in standby. I really hope they'd improve this over getting few more pixels into a little smaller device than the last one.

Ed James said:
TLDR; If you feel that the boobs are the difference between a good game or not, then you are clearly the person who is getting off on this and are projecting your own insecurities, so grow up you (hopefully) teenager and learn that life is following someone else's rules until you are big enough to make your own.
I really don't have an answer for this. Honestly it feels like that was an accidental copy paste from another discussion. I'd like there to be more variety available in types of games and characters. And often "cheap" sex appeal feels really tacked on and can drive me away from even trying the game. I kind of feel guilty ignoring skullgirls based on panty shots and cleavage and then recently hearing that the characters are actually good? Still have not tried it.
 

RicoADF

Welcome back Commander
Jun 2, 2009
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Its good to see Apple admitting they stuffed up and asked the dev to resubmit. Bravo Apple, there may be hope for you yet.