A shaken baby game gets cleared for sale, but an official Nine Inch Nails app is rejected because users might hear some bad language from the 1994 album The Downward Spiral. Never mind that the album itself is readily available from the music side of the iTunes house.
Such are the vagaries of life on the iTunes AppStore, where an ESRB-like app rating system seems increasingly preferable to the hodgepodge system now in place.
While NIN frontman Trent Reznor (left) is not the first to vent about the AppStore situation, he may be the best-known celebrity to call Apple out. In his rant, Reznor even managed to pull Wal-mart and Grand Theft Auto into the mix:
Thanks Apple for the clear description of the problem - as in, what do you want us to change to get past your stupid... standards?
And while we're at it, I'll voice the same issue I had with Wal-Mart years ago... Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all music they carry be censored of all profanity and "clean" versions be made for them to carry...
NIN refused... My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any "indecent" material for sale - but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film "Scarface" completely uncensored, or buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense?...
Come on Apple, think your policies through and... get your app approval scenario together.
Thanks to: Longtime GP reader ZippyDSM...
Comments
Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's
If I have to explain how inconsequential the "reward" is and how substantial his gaffe is then you're not bright enough to understand its a statement that can easily be misused and further misinformation.
Gain a clue plz.
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay's outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Let's renegotiate them.
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Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's
You get a graded increase for killing small creatures, a small boost to your XP, and, on occasion a specific item, you won't, e.g. get bearskins from rabbits, so different creatures produce different drops depending on the creature itself. In GTA, it doesn't matter which civilians you kill, they will drop the same thing, so there's no impetus whatsoever, no compulsion to kill prostitutes, which is what a lot of censors would have you believe that there is.
I think that is the point people are trying to get at, however, I still suspect it was a slip of the tongue.
Edit: Meant to be a reply to Pinworm
Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's
Right, and any regular units in WoW isn't rewarding because the XP you get is so low and the money negligable. That's why no one every kills NPCs in wow, they go straight for the raid bosses at level 1
*rolls eyes*
This is such a stupid argument and it's mind boggling that people are heckling Raznor for this
Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's ...
Trent has a point, if Wal-Mart is allowed to carry violent movies such as Scarface, Hostel, Braveheart for example & not have them censored, why not sell music with explicit content uncut along the way. The same goes with they're obsession of selling pan & scan dvds only. Trent is protecting his art from being butchered
What we got here is failure to communicate!
Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's
What is it about GTA (4 I guess) that carries such a bad rep?
Also what does Apple and Wallyworld have to do with each other?
Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's
He was pointing out how Wallyworld was being hypocritical, and how Apple is now doing the same thing. For Wallyworld, it was how the demand that artists provide/make a 'clean' version of a 'naughty' album was hypocritical, cause if a shopper turned around or around a corner, they could by an unrated copy of 'scarface' or a copy of one of the GTA's. For Apple, it was how the shaken baby app initally got cleared, but because of the lyrics, from songs that are sold in iTunes, used in his game, his was not.
Re: Would a Rating System Have Prevented Trent Reznor's ...
He's got a point.