Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#1

Post by iamnirav » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 4:44 PM UTC

Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store
twofingerplay.blogspot.com

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#2

Post by briansmith » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 6:08 PM UTC

This seems to be all about the name, not about the actual game play:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris#History

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#3

Post by ryanwaggoner » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 6:31 PM UTC

That has to be really frustrating as a developer, to know that you could probably prevail in court if you could afford to defend yourself, but since you can't (and they know you can't), the mere threat of a lawsuit is enough to make you fold.

Any sympathetic attorneys out there who might want to help the guy out with a bit of advice at least?

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#4

Post by iamnirav » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 6:35 PM UTC

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #3

That has to be really frustrating as a developer, to know that you could probably prevail in court if you could afford to defend yourself, but since you can't (and they know you can't), the mere threat of a lawsuit is enough to make you fold. Any sympathetic attorneys out there who might want to help the guy out with a bit of advice at least?

I know the developer, and he's gotten advice from others. It's just too much of a time and money burden for a student to take on.

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#5

Post by trezor » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 6:44 PM UTC

That AppStore besides being a single point of entry for developers, also sure seems to be the single point of failure, single point of getting booted, not to mention now also a handy single point of litigation for those into that game.

Excuse me for not seeing it's brilliance.

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#6

Post by silencio » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 7:23 PM UTC

trezor wrote: post #5

That AppStore besides being a single point of entry for developers, also sure seems to be the single point of failure, single point of getting booted, not to mention now also a handy single point of litigation for those into that game. Excuse me for not seeing it's brilliance.

I don't think that's really the problem here. My favorite tetris clone (quinn) was pulled for a while because the developer ran into legal issues with the Tetris Company.

So if Tris wasn't distributed through the app store, this likely would have happened anyway, just mainly involving the developer and the Tetris Company, not those two and Apple included.

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#7

Post by ashu » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 7:30 PM UTC

I think the real reason why Apple has kept such tight control over the App Store has nothing to do with the applications or quality, at all. It has to do with iTunes and music locking. If you opened up the device, it's only time before a variety of media players and mp3 syncing mechanisms will appear -- all without DRM, of course and without the restrictions (only sync with one device, etc. etc.) And that is what Apple can't afford to do. It could potentially cannibalize the entire iTunes business unit.

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#8

Post by trezor » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 7:30 PM UTC

silencio wrote: post #6

trezor wrote: post #5

That AppStore besides being a single point of entry for developers, also sure seems to be the single point of failure, single point of getting booted, not to mention now also a handy single point of litigation for those into that game. Excuse me for not seeing it's brilliance.

I don't think that's really the problem here. My favorite tetris clone (quinn) was pulled for a while because the developer ran into legal issues with the Tetris Company. So if Tris wasn't distributed through the app store, this likely would have happened anyway, just mainly involving the developer and the Tetris Company, not those two and Apple included.

Not debating that, but without the AppStore-only solution people still enjoying the game would be able to distribute it to friends and what not without having to deal with the Tetris company.

When the AppStore is the only way to get applications for a non-jailbroken iPhone, you lose that option and having something pulled from the AppStore means it's gone for everyone.

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#9

Post by sysop073 » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 7:41 PM UTC

I can't believe the Tetris company actually cares that people clone Tetris. It's the cloned game, there must be 10000 different clones out for every platform in existence

Re: Tris Pulled from iPhone App Store

#10

Post by silencio » Mon, Aug 25, 2008, 7:47 PM UTC

trezor wrote: post #8

silencio wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's really the problem here. My favorite tetris clone (quinn) was pulled for a while because the developer ran into legal issues with the Tetris Company. So if Tris wasn't distributed through the app store, this likely would have happened anyway, just mainly involving the developer and the Tetris Company, not those two and Apple included.

Not debating that, but without the AppStore- only solution people still enjoying the game would be able to distribute it to friends and what not without having to deal with the Tetris company. When the AppStore is the only way to get applications for a non-jailbroken iPhone, you lose that option and having something pulled from the AppStore means it's gone for everyone.

Technically, the developer can distribute it to friends. He's in the iPhone developer program, he can use the ad-hoc distribution method to send it to friends. I suspect if he "released" the source, any person in the program could do the same.

But yes, I understand your point. The app store model has some benefits and some downsides. The simplest thing to do is to just not buy an iPhone or develop for one if you dislike the model. I know that I don't like some aspects of it from both a user and developer perspective, but I like it more than what I had to deal with when I had other smartphones/PDAs.