Maybe Apple accidentally missed something in the review process. This happens from time to time, you know. Or maybe they are giving Squeenix special treatment? (Just theorizing here people, I don't know if this is true.)
Actually, I'm an idiot. I'm looking at the iPad version so of course it doesn't require a camera flash. The iPhone version probably does. I'm way tired and a little head-colded over here, so please excuse me. To check, someone copy their .ipa file, give it a .zip extension, and unzip it. It'll be in a file called iTunesMetadata.plist at the top of the directory. It's XML, and you'll see a section called UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities. It'll probably say cameraflash=true or similar. See more info here: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#DOCUMENTATION/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/App-RelatedResources/App-RelatedResources.html
Shero, they don't run the game to completion. If Squeenix told them it needed a flash, they probably believed them. I also have no idea if they even test iPhone apps on iPad.
I can accept the restrictions on older devices maybe due to hardware issues but if iPod touch 4th gen can run The Walking Dead (Crappy performance though) I think it can run this game without a problem, what I don't accept is restricting the iPhone version from working on iPad 2 and new iPad since the two versions are the same
The iPhone 3GS hardware is fairly outdated which may result in sluggish performance, crashes and more whining from consumers
I also doubt they test iPhone apps on iPad, why would you play an iPhone optimized game on iPad with doubled pixel size but that's not the case with this game, until now I truly can't find a difference between the iPhone and iPad version that justifies Square Enix for doing this except for profit purposes
Apple just checks the iTunesMetadata file for what the app requirements are. Also, I want someone to report on this with their iPhone ipa file.
Someone just replied to me on Twitter that the current license agreement leaves out the paragraph I quoted re: must maintain iPad compatibility. Since I don't have a dev program sub, I can't check the current version myself. I don't want to ask a dev to do so because I think there's an NDA on the contents (I linked to a leaked one on scribd, but it's almost a year old now). Obviously, though, a lot of whether this is "ok" per the rules or not hinges on whether that requirement is still there. I have a hard time believing this sort of thing would be sanctioned by Apple. There's also wording elsewhere that says essentially you can only use SDK stuff for the purpose it was designed, which this obviously is not.
Considering how Square-Enix used to allow their iPhone apps to run on an iPad, I'd say that this was intentional. Also, look at the other developers on the App Store. 99% of them (including the ones who say that app x won't run on a iPod Touch 4G, such as Kids vs. Goblins) allow for the app to be installed still. Maybe Square-Enix is tired of all the fan hate about unsupported devices?
My Twitter friend keeps saying "App Store Review Guidelines" also, which makes me think he's looked at a different doc than the License Agreement I posted. The Review Guidelines don't mentioned compatibility at all (never have). re: unsupported devices, for 3GS, sure. But my iPad 3 will run the iPhone game as well as or better than a 4S will, and at roughly the same visual quality as the iPad version too. I hate to attribute malice, but that seems like the most compelling reason to block the game from running on tablet. I wouldn't be shocked to find out that blocking on the 4th gen Touch was collateral damage from using the hinky camera flash flag to block tablet.
Just wanted to confirm that the plist file of the iPhone version does indeed have a camera flash requirement
And I can confirm the latest dev agreement still has the "don't do that" paragraph. The excerpt is pastebinned here (nothing special, though--reads the same as what I posted before). http://pastebin.com/SCEvkdXa
Actually nope, I got the game running on my jailbroken iPod Touch 4G and it crashes every few minutes, making the game pretty much unplayable.
Played until Day 4 atm, this "port" (remake seems a better term as graphics where redone) is just fantastic ! With those retina updated graphics, i'm enjoying the game a lot more than before on DS. The "new" battle system is very well done and music/songs are still amazing For those who ask , yes , TWEWY is a game with an incredible level of gameplay depth, because you are not only collecting pins (hours and hours of gaming if you want all the pins mastered) , but there's clothing for stats (hey it's Shibuya dude!) , and a nice food system too (for boosting stats). 10/5 Stars for this game :b But i agree on a bad thing here : the fact this game is not universal and the iphone version cannot be played on ipad (for the sake of throwing your money again on ipad version) is just scandalous and intolerable.
I don't mind that it's not universal. I mean, yeah, doesn't thrill me on a cost/value basis, but Squeenix stuff is never universal. That they seem to have intentionally and arbitrarily broken iPad compatibility in 2x mode by misusing the compatibility mechanism, though, that seriously bugs me.
despite being kicked out of the game after playing x minutes, is it kinda laggy or smooth ? if it' only 10-15 mins its playable, but referring to what you said, seems that's totally unplayable on itouch at the moment :/
Yeah that was a dick move. The iPhone version would be perfect for me since it's the same game and I have the RetinaPad tweak on my iPad 2 (jailbroken) so iPhone retina games actually look great on it.
