I know Vampire and its sequel, Zombie Exodus, Rock Star and City of Clouds all received Apple’s “17 or over rating” but most seem to get 12+ or even 9+.
@JimD or @jasonstevanhill, did you think the rating impeded sales or generated complaints from parents/users?
I’m trying to figure out if I should continue letting my WiP drift into 17+ territory or if I should bring it into the 9 or 12 rating crowd.
Also, from everyone’s experience does it seem that drugs/alcohol, sexual situations and language trigger a 17+ more readily than lots of violence?
Honestly it would depend on the subject. Mostly i think people who actually buy the game are all over 20+ than people talking in this forum. I think people here are below the 20+ age and those who really buy the games are those 20+ people.
Doesn’t matter if it goes to a mature audience i think you only need to inform people that its a 17+ game as a warning and they should read at their own risk thing.
Yes, graphical Sexual content and racial or gender discrimination trigger +16 or +18 in the European Pegi scale used by multimedia ,movies, games … gory Violence itself +12 +15 you could kill in all age game always not utter gore or amputations included. The rule is not sex not swears but you could kill entire families. Our society is mad , lol you could wipe a city but not show a niple without a +16 tag.
Lols @poison_mara where i am from anything with adult content is bad and always gets deleted even a tiny kiss is always a controversial thing. I think its lame, but rules are rules.
@Lucas, well it is a comic book themed story, so that is part of my concern about it going to 17+. I’m afraid that might exclude a significant part of my audience, although most of my fav comic stories (Watchmen, Kick Ass, Frank Miller’s Dark Knight stuff) are all mature.
@Lucas Europe is really not very nitpick with violence. And my country Spain is even more permissive, we use pegi format but commercials like toy shops etc don’t have to ask for id card, so here ten years old play Gta v skyrim or whatever. We are way more restrictive thankfully with pornography but the rest not to much
Yeah, it’s odd that most people find the word “fuck” more offensive than daily and needless slaughter. I’d say that most of the readers would be adults, though.
I really don’t know (unfortunately) who did not download my game due to mature rating and have no feedback from would-be buyers. On the contrary, I’ve had parents write to me and give thanks for a rather clean game (no swearing or explicit scenes).
I have not seen reviews either, so I doubt a mature rating prevented downloads. If your game goes too far into mature content, Apple may not accept it, and iTunes sales are the highest of all distributors.
@HornHeadFan You know I’d imagine that most comic fans these days are over 20 years old… Comic books are pretty damned old. If you’d read Watchmen when it first came out you’d have to be over 30.
A mature take on the super hero genre would be cool. Especially since Heroes Rise (which I hoped would be like this) turned out to be less about playing a superhero, and more about passively experiencing the villain screwing you over repeatedly with her ability to write the game’s plot as she sees fit, before suddenly losing that ability at the end for no reason other than that it was time for the game to end.
@JimD, that’s very helpful information and advice. Does Apple give you another chance to edit if they reject your gamebook or is it one strike and you’re out?
@Shoelip, I wish I was 30 again! I’m definitely one of the older folks on the forums. And I don’t try to compare my story to Heroes Rise in any way. I know that guy is a professional writer. I’m just a comic book fan having some fun. I’m doing my best to give readers a lot of choices and to make their MC their own.
@poison_mara: I misread that as “you could wipe out a city if you show a nipple without a 16+ tag.” Which is what I think people in the US must believe, since no one seems to mind massive violence, but heaven forbid anyone show anything below the collarbone in a comic book or graphic novel that might be seen by teenagers.
Actually, in prose books for young adults (ages 14 to 18) you can get away with a lot of cussing and some sex and as much drugs as you fancy and other “heavy topics,” depending on how it’s handled, so I wonder how sensitive the audience/retailers are when the content is in text (not images) but is written in game-form with “you” being the one doing Whatever (kissing, cussing, pole-dancing, emulating the Roman empress Messalina…).
You should focus on what type of audience you want than forcing it to be mature or kiddy or fluffly or OMG cleavage heaven (The best! Lols) comic. @HornHeadFan As the author that is your right, right?
Nah, I think my country is paranoid. @poison_mara but you are right. No one cares if you kill a dozen people with gore details yet someone exchanging spit outside is censored and killed or will be killed later. Welcome to insanity then.
What I do find funny is the books with the “New Adult Content” which is only an upgrade form the young adult. I mean read those and everything will have the words F*** sh** pu** co** blah blah and the never ending c*m words. Ha “New Adult Content” more like porno for the young horny mob.
Which is what I think people in the US must believe, since no one seems to mind massive violence, but heaven forbid anyone show anything below the collarbone in a comic book or graphic novel that might be seen by teenagers.