murderdrome – ɔimoɈɒ

13 Coins Out Now.

13 Coins was released yesterday. I’ve been following the development of this for several reasons, not least because I consider Martin and Greg to be friends, but also because Phil, Paul and I did something similar a few years ago (which Phil has made into a lovely little app dev company. A static picture can’t … Continue reading “13 Coins Out Now.”

A static picture can’t do justice to the 13 Coins comic. What we did in Infurious was revolutionary then and was, by far, the best comic platform at the time. What Corinthian Publishing have done with 13 Coins is absolutely re-define the comic buying experience and the scale and scope of what can be done. It goes much further than just putting a comic onto the iPad, it’s about giving a real comics fan the sort of digital experience they’ve been wanting.

Hyperbole? Maybe a little – but I’ve got experience of this. And this is good stuff. I wonder if they’re interested in publishing Murderdrome?

Silent Hill on App Store

I’m kinda wondering how Murderdrome can get rejected multiple times from the App Store due to “content” and Silent Hill can make it in? I mean – Silent Hill is scary, interactive and promotes the murder of faceless healthcare professionals. Evidently a metaphor for the NHS. Related posts: I Want A Facetime Availability Tool … Continue reading “Silent Hill on App Store”

I’m kinda wondering how Murderdrome can get rejected multiple times from the App Store due to “content” and Silent Hill can make it in?

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I mean – Silent Hill is scary, interactive and promotes the murder of faceless healthcare professionals.

Evidently a metaphor for the NHS.

Things that have happened

At aroud 6 am, two of the Infurious team hit the streets with thirty T-shirts bearing the MURDERDROME logo, based on the tattoo of the anti-hero Brett Heller from the MURDERDROME comic. They were given out, along with some of PJ’s comic, PREVIOUSLY, to anyone waiting outside the soon-to-be-opened Apple Store in Belfast. The night … Continue reading “Things that have happened”

Some people were even interviewed by the BBC wearing the ultra-cool MURDERDROME OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE (M.O.M.). How cool is that?

On top of that, we spoke directly to Apple on Friday about the reviewing results for Apps. There is no appeal process. I think Apple has been caught on the hop here – they are genuinely proud and also genuinely surprised not only at the number of apps being downloaded (and the revenues) but also the breadth, quality and facility of the applications they are seeing. And, like all things, there’s going to be teething problems. I said to the nice man at Apple:

“Apple needs to be seen as the honest broker in the App Store if it is to continue to attract the top level of developers. And, at the moment, decisions have been made which question that position.”

Even now I don’t think Apple realises how big this is going to get. I think they have begun to realise that there’s a lot of low hanging fruit but I don’t think they realise what motivated and enthusiastic developers will shoehorn into this little device. I mean they put NeXTStep on a Phone.

The iPhone may be limited by 128 MB RAM and 8 GB or so of storage but when you consider the most powerful NeXT machine used a 68040 processor, up to 64 MB RA and a 340 MB hard drive, the iPhone is simply a lot better in terms of hardware. And when you consider the applications they built upon NeXT? The sky is the limit!

Apple Store Belfast opens….

Tomorrow morning the Apple Store has it’s grand opening in Belfast and there’s already a herd of MacMacs heading down to queue outside. Murderdrome, the “comic that was banned” will also be there for viewing as well as some T-Shirts being given out to the people at the front of the queue and a resulting … Continue reading “Apple Store Belfast opens….”

I’m in two minds whether to go down early. I have a Hall Pass for the morning to attend so it seems it might be a good idea to go down and have a chat with the poor sods who’ll be sitting out overnight. Five years ago I would have been one of them but for now I want to just watch from the sidelines and then have a poke around once the hubbub has died down. That said, I queued for the iPhone for 2 hours before opening the first time around and for an hour before opening the second time around. This seems different though.

Anyway – if you want to get TWO free T-shirts tomorrow, get into the queue at the Apple Store in the Victoria Centre in Belfast and be near the front.

Murderdrome BANNED by Apple

From the InfuriousComics web site: By now, you might have heard that Murderdrome has been banned by Apple. This is due to the part of the sdk that suggests content must NOT offend anyone in â€˜appleâ€™s reasonableâ€™ opinion. Here at infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content rating system can … Continue reading “Murderdrome BANNED by Apple”

From the InfuriousComics web site:

By now, you might have heard that Murderdrome has been banned by Apple. This is due to the part of the sdk that suggests content must NOT offend anyone in â€˜appleâ€™s reasonableâ€™ opinion. Here at infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content rating system can be put in place to allow material that is no more offensive than many of the R rated films available to download on iTunes.

As a result, PJ has put all of the frames of MURDERDROME on the Infurious web site so people can get a chance to read it. Now, hark back to the post I made a few days ago of films without ratings on the iTunes Movie Store.

It’s also been covered on the “Lying in the Gutters” blog by Rich Johnston (the most popular and longest running comics column on the internet):

A remarkable plan.

Slightly scuppered by Apple telling the creators that “Murderdrome cannot be posted to the App Store because it contains content that does not comply with Community Standards” and “Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users.”

Please give your opinion on the InfuriousComics web site.

I think it’s a shame that it has to come to this but it’s notable that there is no content guideline for applications on the App Store. For “Games” there is a guideline for suitability that is used by some and not all and, as we have seen, Apple is inconsistent in the use of the ratings system for their film content. How many books on there might be said to have explicit content – would you consider Candide (with it’s religious, political and intellectual views), or Dracula (with it’s Victorian examination of sexuality) or Tales of Terror and Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle (It’s horror!) – don’t you think these are as effective as the visualisations possible through comic art?

Might be useful to note that AMERICAN PSYCHO is available WITH A PREVIEW, without a rating. Is it that writing (or the spoken word of writing) is less effective? Less able to rile the emotions?