2011/03/04

Angry Birds

From Newsweek Magazine

Angry Birds is the first mobile game to have real mainstream success. So what’s next for the game that pits fowl against swine?

Any time in history when two dominant forces have had to share space—such as the PC and Mac, Google and every other search engine—someone tends to get mad. According to Peter Vesterbacka, marketing and branding manager for Rovio Mobile, that’s what happened on a remote island where birds and pigs were the primary species. The gluttonous pigs would eat the birds’ eggs. The birds sought vengeance by launching themselves in a slingshot at the pigs in hopes of killing them and destroying their forts. This battle, by the way, rages on in the form of the Angry Birds mobile game played on millions of smart phones every day.

 And while pitting fowl against swine is a whole lot of fun, what makes the game particularly special is that it’s managed to move beyond traditional gamers and strike a cultural chord. Since its creation in 2009, Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 80 million times. There are plush toys—a million sold since they debuted in October—a board game coming soon, a partnership with Twentieth Century Fox, and videogame versions in the works. In the midst of a mobile-app boom, Angry Birds is, in effect, the first of its kind to go mainstream, ingraining itself in everyone from tweens to Al Gore. “Our vision is to build this into a massive entertainment franchise, along the lines of Mario Brothers or SpongeBob [SquarePants],” says Vesterbacka, also known as “Mighty Eagle.”

Read more here

7 comments:

  1. Mr. Cluver, I haven't ever played angry birds before, so I don't really get what all the fuss is about. (please don't attack me...) But from what I've seen on television, the birds DO look cute....so is this a war game or something? Angry Birds is just another thing that caught on fire. Most likely it's one of those that will die when another hot game replaces it. (i'm playing the devil's advocate here ppls...really i know nothing about the game, so i'm inclined to criticize it.)

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  2. I think this article is really interesting, because I never thought that a simple app on my iPod that I play would be such great success. It's hard to imagine people making so much out of something like "angry bird" or "doodle jump." Yes, I know a lot of people who play these games, but I never knew they were so good that plush dolls and movies were going to be made!
    Another reason of why I really like this article was it was relates to my life really well, because people around me all pretty much know this game and its not one of those boring news that's weird to share with friends and family.

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  3. Angry Birds is fun. It's addictive. But I think the reason why it's so addictive is because it's like any other classic "break the level and you win" game, only with a modern twist of cute suicidal birds and green pigs :)
    The game play is indeed easy, but must be interesting enough if they are truly going to make a movie out of it. I believe the money Angry Birds is making will only become greater and greater, because practically every single person in the 21st century knows about Apple and its apps.

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  4. Serious?
    coz i tried out the game today, and i thought it was ooba lame. Maybe its because i dont exactly get the rules of the game, but i personally didnt get drawn in or attracted to Angry Birds. but then again, im not a game fan

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  5. HURRAY CIVIA HIGH FIVE

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  6. Angry Birds is so cute :") I love it. Even my dad loves it. I think the reason that it's really popular is because it's really easy to get and the pigs and birds are so cute so even little kids can play it.

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  7. It's a game, but come on, its a crappy one compared to COD and Assasin's Creed. Angry brids is too simple, bad graphics, and essentially a game for ppl under the age of 12. If you wanna play games, play something with awesome graphics and a realstoryline. Angry birds is a game for casual gamers, not for vetern ones ==

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