Apple has removed an app that claimed to be Pokemon Yellow after hundreds of Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users complained that it was a scam.
The app, named Pokemon Yellow, was created by House of Anime, rather than Nintendo, and priced at 69p in the Apple App Store. Its listing said that it featured "full high resolution Retina display graphics", along with "addictive gameplay and battles" featuring Pokemon characters.
The cheap price meant that the app quickly rose as high as number two on the App Store's paid-for apps chart, but users quickly started reporting that it actually just displayed one picture, and then crashed.
Apple's customer reviews page for the app was littered with angry feedback, including one user warning: "Don't buy! Doesn't work and not the game!!!!! Disappointed and would like to hunt down this guy and spit in his coffee!"
Another user calling themselves Pokemadcity added: "Total rip off got it for my son. Wish I'd bothered to read reviews as you pay for a picture that crashes... Hope you rot in hell for ripping off kids...Scum is the best name for you!!"
After the Ars Technica website flagged up that the game was fake, Apple removed it from the App Store. But question marks remain over how it was approved in the first place.
In its investigation, Ars found that the app was actually an aggregation of Pokemon news feeds and YouTube videos, rather than an actual game as had been claimed.
The app did not work as House of Anime had advertised, while the service was also not authorised by Nintendo, meaning it was in breach of copyright.
Apple and Nintendo have not yet issued a comment on the matter.
Anyone who downloaded the fake Pokemon Yellow app can request a refund via the Purchase History section of iTunes.
