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Apple would rather you not blow up teen couples on your iPhone, asks developer to edit video game

Casey Baseel Apr 18, 2015
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In a lot of ways, digital distribution of video games is a great thing, as it allows developers to easily add new content to a title after its release. It’s a double-edged sword, though, and that same streamlined pathway from programmer to player can also be used to quickly make changes that take things away.

A few weeks ago, we took a look at a smartphone game whose lonely, jaded protagonist and his mystical, jaded companion use their powers to make affectionate couples meet with a host of calamities, including straight blowing them up. Apple, however, is not cool with this sort of vengeful fantasy, and so the iOS version of the game is being toned down and given a new name since the original title, Explode, Real Types! no longer describes the game’s contents.

As we talked about last month, Uehara Labo’s new mobile game called Riaju Bakuhatsu Shiro! references “real types,” the term used by the more bitter factions of Japanese otaku to describe people who have strong relationships with, well, real people. It’s especially used when talking about people in an active and healthy romantic relationship, and those who can’t stand to see others enjoying their time in the real world had already made “Explode, real types!” a jealous rallying cry on the Internet and social media before the game’s development.

As such, there’s at least a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor in Uehara Labo’s game which gave the player the power to literally make loving couples explode by tapping them when they appear on-screen. Apple, though, apparently didn’t appreciate the humor and/or visceral pleasure of making people explode just because they date. Deeming the title and gameplay to be overly violent and the in-game equivalent of terrorism, Apple temporarily pulled Explode, Real Types! from the iTunes store.

It seems this wasn’t a complete shock to Uehara Labs. In a series of tweets, the company explained that prior to its initial release, Explode, Real Types! had already been once rejected by Apple for being too violent. “We really tried to tone it down after that,” the developer says, “but once [the game came out and] started getting so much attention, it seems like Apple rethought the situation.”

The iOS version of the game is now once again available, but with a number of changes. All text references to blowing couples up have been removed, and instead of making hand-holding teenagers explode, the player’s main mode of attack is now creating portals that suck them into subspace.

▼ Original version (left): “OK! Let’s go blow up some real types!”
New version (right): OK! Let’s go rain down divine punishment on some real types!”

In light of these alterations, leaving the game’s title as Explode, Real Types! would upset both those who find the prospect of such violence appalling and those who’d be disappointed Uehara Labo isn’t actually delivering on that promise anymore. As such, the game has been retitled as Riaju Zetsumetsu Shiro!, or Go Extinct, Real Types!

When you stop and think about it, it’s not entirely clear how much kinder and gentler the new version of the game is. Is being pulled into subspace really that much better than getting caught in an explosion? In the original version of the game, the old man who says “Let’s go blow up some real types” definitely seems like a crazed coot with dangerous magical powers, but his offhand mention of “divine punishment” makes it seem like he’s now been promoted a full-on deity. And while death seemed to be implied by Explode, Real Types!, it’s a lot more explicit with the title Go Extinct, Real Types!

Still, those were the changes Uehara Labo had to make before Apple would play ball with them. Go Extinct, Real Types! is available for download for iOS devices here, while the original version, Explode, Real Types!, is still available for Android devices here.

Source: Inside Games via Jin
Top image: Inside Games (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Inside Games (edited by RocketNews24)