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?
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Comments

Re: Apple Blocks Obama Trampoline iPhone Game

Submitted by strathmeyer on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 20:51.

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 - 11:17.

So, what, was Apple denied a bailout?

Re: Apple Blocks Obama Trampoline iPhone Game

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 10:28.

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
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary

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