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Apple Removes Fake Pokemon App From App Store

Apple has removed an unauthorized Pokemon app from the App Store.

February 21, 2012

Apple has removed a scam Pokemon app from the App Store.

Called Pokemon Yellow, the game was developed by House of Anime, rather than Nintendo, and appeared in the App Store over the weekend. Priced at $0.99, it quickly rose as high as number two on the App Store's paid apps chart. However, the game is not licensed by Nintendo, and House of Anime did not have the rights to use the Pokemon brand.

Ars Technica brought the fake game to light, and Apple has since removed it from the App Store, Ars said.

Neither Apple nor Nintendo immediately responded to a request for comment on the matter.

The developer claimed in the app's description that the game was "just like the original," however user reviews revealed that the app was a scam that crashed after the home screen. House of Anime even apologized for the performance issues, but it has not responded to the fact that the game is a fake.

After some sniffing around, Ars also found that the app was actually an aggregation of Pokemon news feeds and YouTube videos, rather than an actual game.

Apple has dealt with several App Store controversies in the past. Last fall, after objections from various activist groups in France, Apple that identified whether or not French celebrities and politicians are Jewish.

That wasn't the only app Apple removed last year. The company also nixed an app that was and another so-called .

For more, see the slideshow below of some of the more controversial iPhone apps.