Hi I design and program games for cellphones. Last January I created a game called "Shoot'em Down" where you have to kill paratroopers before they reach the ground. The universe is based on WW2. This month a mobile operator rejected it because, they say, the name and content of the game is too violent. Are they just being stupid, or should I really think twice before starting to program Shoot'em Down! 2 ?? There are thousands of games based on world war 2 which are played and nobady says a thing against them... why bother me with a game as simple as this?? More info on Shoot'em DOwn! at http://codingdreams.xrs.net Telmo "Shyro" Amaro

Hmm. there was a shareware game back in the day. It might have been published by Apogee, but i'm not sure... had the same idea though.. didn't seem to have any complaints. Perhaps the mobile company wants to concentrate on a more family friendly audience... or perhaps the paratroopers blow into a billion tiny pieces when you hit them.

EDIT: Hmm.. I took a glance at the game and it doesn't look too violent. Maybe they just took one look at the name and threw it out.

[edited by - falkone on July 3, 2003 6:35:15 PM]

Hi,

I too was recently rejected by a company for the content of a game.

The reason they hinted at was that other countries might find the material offensive.

First, I would ask them exactly what their rationale for rejecting your game based on the violence is. We did, and we are now able to alter the game to accomodate their tastes.
You definitely have to look at the company''s business model. If they aren''t taking violent games, then you may need to move on to another company. I notice that some companies don''t mind when robots or insects are destroyed, but humans are off-limits.

You may also want to look at it from a multi-cultural point of view. Germans certainly don''t want to play a game where they are shooting their own people out of the sky (this would apply to any country setup you have in your game).

Meanwhile, I didn''t play your game, but is it based on the old game Paratrooper? It sounds like it. I made a similar game, which you can find on the GD Showcase under the name Air Strike. :-)

Hope that helps,
--Brian

Mobile companies are particularly sensitive about violence. I think some of them have rules that prevent them from publishing a game in which killing is the main point.

Consider that the market for cell-phone games is more mainstream than that for either PC or console games and you might get an idea of why they are sensitive on this point.

Change the paratroopers to falling cupcakes and change the gun to a spoon launcher. No - seriously. Same game, different graphics, totally acceptable. See the difference?

Cas