Mermaids is naked fish. Too risqué for Apple?
A new App from MovieMaze starring genre regular Darcy Donovan (Lycanthrope, My Babysitter’s a Vampire) has inexplicably turned the ratings board at iTunes fifty shades of red.
The Plumber, an interactive adventure movie that repeatedly lets the player choose how events turn out by offering them several story options to choose from, has been available on other platforms since mid-February. iTunes, however, have told MovieMaze they’re not releasing The Plumber unless the company agrees to release it with a higher rating than 12+.
A fun, family adventure, The Plumber sees a tradie take on Evil Cho, a rogue determined to take over the world, while unwittingly helping a coven of dark witches get their power back. He is advised by a cranky, beached mermaid.
iTunes decide what to rate an App based on answers to questions about the content. Whether it’s the inclusion of a sexy mermaid (played by Parks & Recreation’s Darcy Donovan) or the action scenes, Apple have a problem with something in that questionnaire and believe the App should be restricted to an older audience.
MovieMaze’s Maria Collis refuses to believe that The Plumber is too racy or violent, and demands answers.
According to Collis, there’s been a gargantuan procession of interest on the App from teenagers and “I don’t want to suggest that the app is too racy for them”.
Collis and MovieMaze co-creator Erik Lundmark believe there’s no reason for iTunes to rate The Plumber anything other than 12+.
Top technology website TechCrunch have said that the method iTunes uses to rate Apps makes no sense.
Over the years a number of harmless Apps have either been rejected or classified too harshly by Apple. And seems it doesn’t take much for the company to consider an App offensive, violent, or too sexual.
In 2009, an App called Obama Trampoline didn’t pass muster with iTunes. In the game, you get to place one of 18 politicians – be it President Obama, John McCain, and so on – onto a giant trampoline and use his or her body to pop balloons that appear on the screen.
Apple didn’t like the game, for whatever reason, so prevented it from being released on iTunes.
When Air-O-Matic’s Pull My Finger App was initially knocked back by Apple, the creators were left utterly confused.
“Their reasons for banning us really didn’t add up,” developer Sam Magdalein said in an interview.
Magadelein would later discover that Apple were simply worried the App – which encompassed flatulence sounds – would offend some of their more sophisticated shoppers.
“After that, they pretty much stopped talking to us or returning e-mail and voicemail,” Magdalein adds.
A month later, Apple reconsidered, seemingly realising they were being too harsh – or knowing they had the potential to make some real coin out of this App. Pull My Finger became a top seller for iTunes.
MovieMaze believe The Plumber could be an equally successful App for iTunes – but not if it’s classified as a game for adults only.
The company still can’t get answers from Apple on why The Plumber has been rejected for a 12+ rating.
About Movie Maze
MovieMaze is the world’s first interactive movie app for mobile devices. The ‘app’ works on smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices, and acts as both a library and a platform for interactive content.
