Apple Blocks Obama Trampoline iPhone Game

February 9, 2009

Apple, it appears, takes a rather dim view of political satire - at least where iPhone apps are concerned.

TechCrunch reports that Apple has nixed a seemingly harmless game in which depictions of President Barack Obama and other U.S. political figures jump on a virtual trampoline.

The news comes on the heels of Apple's recent rejection of another would-be iPhone game which parodies December's hurling of a shoe at then-President Bush. That well-known incident was widely satirized via online Flash games.

TechCrunch questions Apple's censorship of Obama Trampoline:

Developer Swamiware was surprised to see its latest iPhone app rejected by Apple, and so are we. The application was a harmless game that let you select a known U.S. politician (both republicans and democrats) and have him/her jump a virtual trampoline...

 

Does the Obama Trampoline app actually ridicule public figures? It’s not obscene or pornographic of nature, so why was it deemed either offensive or defamatory?

Comments

Re: Apple Blocks Obama Trampoline iPhone Game

Submitted by strathmeyer on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 19:51.

But we were told that the only reason Apple needed to authorize games was so that they could prevent malicious code.

Re: Apple Blocks Obama Trampoline iPhone Game

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 10:17.

So, what, was Apple denied a bailout?

Re: Apple Blocks Obama Trampoline iPhone Game

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 09:28.

I was looking for information on iPhone app development the other day and it is tough to find. I wonder if they just don't allow any kind of political satire at all. I read about the Bush shoe thing on Kotaku this morning but this is the first  Iheard of the Obama one.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower

 
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james_fudge: of course he does :)05/20/2013 - 10:23pm
Andrew Eisen: EZK lives!05/20/2013 - 10:17pm
BearDogg-X: Not game related, but found it interesting: http://www.upworthy.com/the-real-reason-they-still-play-mrs-robinson-on-the-radio?g=2&c=mrp1 - 90% of the music/TV/news media in USA owned by 6 companies.05/20/2013 - 2:38pm
BearDogg-X: @PHX Corp: It's like they're just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks at this point.05/20/2013 - 12:15pm
Kajex: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/05/20/neverwinter-money-making-exploit-sees-cryptic-turn-back-time/ My understanding is that none of this was illegal, either.05/20/2013 - 11:42am
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Cecil475: @PHX Corp - The dude's a moron who wouldn't know crap if it came up and kicked him.05/19/2013 - 6:36am
PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/ea-sports-developer-calls-wii-u-crap-and-nintendo-wa-508481261 EA Sports Canada Moron calls Wii U 'Crap' and Nintendo 'Walking Dead'05/18/2013 - 11:42am
E. Zachary Knight: If the videos are of sufficient quality that people subscribe and watch regularly, then those let's players are providing a service that people want. That is the heart of capitalism. That is not something that should be shamed.05/17/2013 - 8:06am
E. Zachary Knight: I have no idea who either of those people are. However, I still don't see why making a business out of creating let's play videos is somehow evil or wrong.05/17/2013 - 8:04am
MaskedPixelante: It sure is if you're just doing it for the money. See Tobuscus and/or Pewdiepie for what happens when people get into it just for the money.05/17/2013 - 7:30am
E. Zachary Knight: Why is it wrong to make money doing LPs? Why should that be something that should be shamed?05/17/2013 - 6:20am
MaskedPixelante: https://twitter.com/PsychedelicSA/status/335183893214924801 Now here's an interesting, glass half full thought about the Nintendo LP thing. It outs the people who are just doing LPs to make money.05/17/2013 - 5:56am
E. Zachary Knight: I responded in writing to all this "let's play" stuff Nintendo Started. No need for my permission, I won't give it. It's not mine to give. http://divineknightgaming.com/?p=29205/16/2013 - 2:21pm
E. Zachary Knight: Lars Doucet of Levelup Labs has a Reddit going on game companies that allow monetization of Let's Play videos. http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1egayn/lets_build_a_list_of_game_studios_that_allow/05/16/2013 - 1:04pm
Sleaker: @Imautobot - yah I wouldn't use an emulator as a good first run test of how stable the console is, haha.05/16/2013 - 11:47am
E. Zachary Knight: The 50th person to jump off a bridge is just as dumb if not dumber than the 1st.05/16/2013 - 10:03am
MaskedPixelante: Yeah, let's all jump on Nintendo for doing this, even though they're hardly the first company to do this...05/16/2013 - 9:47am
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