Flappy Bird. The Avian rage inducer!

Long time no post folks... thought I would come talk a bit about...

Yes, it's that new hit sensation: Flappy Bird, also known as: Mario Bird - probably due to all the goddamn pipes!

This little game is as simple as simple gets. The graphics are cartoony and pixelated, and remind me very much of Tiny Tower, another game that can be quite addictive. This game however has a crux... it is tough as balls!

Well, actually, it is NOT hard to play, but it requires lots of concentration and any tiny mistakes result in a bird pancake and a great big GAME OVER sign in your face. I first heard about it on the 31st of January by one person raging about the difficulty of it on Facebook. The 1st of Feb seen a half a dozen more people putting up pics of their 'epic 7 point score'! and various other rants. Yes, this game can be that tough. I myself have managed to break the 40 point barrier about 4 times, with the following snap being my highest score to date...

Yeah... I think I got this score whilst sat in a gridlocked traffic jam for 30 minutes, how many times I seen this game over screen is inconceivable!

(Click it... go on, you know you want to!!)

Anyway, this game was released almost a year ago by Vietnam based developer: Nyugen Ha Dong. You control a small bird that flaps its wings with each tap, halting any descent and propelling it in a consistent and predictable arc up into the air then back down. Your task is to Oscillate this little avian clutz through a randomly  generated sequence of Mario-Pipes. Hit one and it is game over. Supposedly there are multiple levels and difficulties, but I have not seen any way to choose to change anything, and have clearly not advanced far enough through the game to unlock anything. It is challenging, it is entertaining, frustrating and is probably one of the most Viral games I have seen.

What made this go Viral? It has been around for the best part of a year now. It may seem obvious, but with the release date on the Android Apps store of the 30th of January - I think this is what got the ball rolling, and social media (Facebook and Twitter, I'm looking at you!) done the rest. It took the podium for most downloads of January 2014, surpassing any Angry Birds or Candy Crush downloads, showing just how quickly this was picked up by the general populous.

I am left wondering how long until the apocalypse occurs, with millions of players indulging in some Flappy Bird (Or 'Fappy Bird' as one infuriated friend of mine called it), and then rage quitting when they are 2 points behind their best score from  flapping into a pipe in an anxious adrenaline fuelled mis-tap. It really is that easy to screw up, it is relentless. I think this effect us surely part of the key to its addictiveness. It is really quick to play a quick game or two, it is simple (My 5 year old son was in hysterics at watching the bird hit a pipe and dive-bomb into the ground with a splat.) and you get REALLY engrossed. Your heart races, your brow sweats, and BAM, you hit the second pipe every third game...

One last thought... I wonder just how much ad-revenue this free to play game generates from that little ad-banner at the top... People dont tend to click ads, despite how safe they are... but with so many people playing, the mis-clicks alone must be worth thousands!

Ok, enough ranting for now. Go download it if you have not already, you will likely regret it, but it will be a fun ride!

-Velk

Oh my! Angry Birds Trilogy revealed for PS3, 360 and 3DS

I'm sure die hard Angry Birds fans will like this fact... I think?

Angry Birds was one of those games that hit a couple of years ago that was an awesome time-killer game on the mobile / tab. I know I was dying to get my hands on it, and missed the free download when it first came out. When I eventually got it, it amused me for a little while, but I got bored of it pretty fast (In no small part because I had a crappy HTC Hero). I think that it was basically not my kind of game aswell. I tend to find other things to do when I want to kill a few minutes, I need to sit down with at least a half hour set aside to play a game to get into it. I did play it though. I still sometimes fire it up now if I have the wifes tab in my hands and nothing else to do.

Now, I have no doubt that this release is going to be a success... but I cant help but think who they are going to attract to spend another wad of cash on the release... That is unless they have some good new features implemented...

The new features mentioned seem to all be graphical in nature. New backgrounds, lighting and reactive backgrounds (Im going to guess that you might have some thing like an underwater level and as you launch said Chaffinch at the hunkered down piggywinks, they will leave a trail / current in the water as they fly. Funky, but no game changer.)

I think the demographic that will most likely adopt the new game are the younger generation. Those that don't have a smart phone or tab to play on, and might not be allowed on their parents PC's. Here they get a version accessible from console. Aside from that you are looking at die-hard fans, or those that had not previously been interested.

Time will tell, but it sure is not going to hit 100M+ buyers like the App version, in fact I'm betting 10M will be about its Cap. I hope I am proven wrong though, I like seeing gaming companies be successful :)

Also... I am keen to check it out, I admit :p it is still a sexy game so the new changes pique my Geektrest.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/357353/angry-birds-trilogy-revealed-for-ps3-360-and-3ds/#

Oh, and since you are here, I guess you have an  interest in Angry Birds... Did you know they are making a cartoon?

Aye, thats right. Check this out:

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/18726-angry-birds-cartoon-in-the-works-spans-52-short-episodes/

I cant help but think it is going to be awesome... or DIRE. (With very irritating high pitched voices to boot!)

-V

Computer game sales numbers...

I haz a crown. Scroink!

Im listening to episode #199 of The Instance - and their discussion of record game sales had me go googling... and I stumbled across a wikipedia page that got me thinking!!

>linky<

I as impressed by some of the numbers from the more recent consoles, then I seen the Wii... 76M sales of Wii Fit - when other consoles are topping out at like 20M...

Then I got to the mention of Angry Birds... 250M... I guess mobile phones are truly a good platform for gaming now! That is insane!

-V

Intel AppUp centre. (AKA... Free angrybirds downloader!)

I am taking a look at the Intel AppUp centre - an application for downloading applications to your PC as I understand it.

Why am I interested? Well... curious about what the program does, yes... but... FREE ANGRYBIRDS... There is no contest.

Oh dear gawd, I just heard the missus start it up across the room...

-V

Edit: Took a look at the app-store, its much the same as the Apple App-store or the Android app-store - you sign in, you can then search for and buy little programs/plugins and games. Some funky stuff Im sure, but not really my scene.