The Angry Birds Game | Riding the Wave of Success
The Angry Birds game is one of the most famous and highly successful video games ever written, that has taken the world by storm. From a little video game app that was first released in December 2009 on the Apple App Store for just 99 cents, this game that was developed by Finnish game company Rovio Mobile has sold over 12 million copies, and still counting as you’re reading this. Due to its immense success, Angry Birds has now been released on practically every other platform besides the Apple iOS, including the Android Marketplace, Symbian on the Nokia Ovi Store, Blackberry Tablet OS, and even into PCs under both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X , as well as gaming platforms PSP, PS3, and Nintendo 3DS, amongst many others.
The Angry Birds game is probably one of the most successful mobile apps ever written, and owes its success from the way it is designed to keep practically everyone addicted, young and old alike. Featuring a simple gameplay based on the physics of catapulting multi-colored “angry” birds with different special powers to destroy green pigs hiding in various structures of wood, ice, and stone, this puzzle game is cute and comical, yet deceptively simple, as the game progresses from the simple introductory levels to the more fiendishly difficult ones later on.
Costing over an estimated 100,000 euros to release initially in 2009, Rovio partnered with game app distributor Chillingo in publishing Angry Birds to the App Store. Initially conceptualized from artwork of angry-looking birds without any legs or wings, it was the swine flu epidemic at that time that inspired the green pigs to be the enemies of the angry birds. Initially released on iOS as a single episode titled “Poached Eggs”, this was the first set of 3 themed chapters featuring 21 levels each. Over time, there were new free upgrades released which added on new content, new levels, and new birds to boot. The 1st update arrived in February 2010, adding on the 2nd“Mighty Hoax” episode for 2 more chapters with 21 levels each. Just 2 months later in April 2010, we saw the bonus “Golden Eggs” feature, which has hidden golden eggs that would unlock new bonus content if you’re lucky enough to find them. At this time, the 3rd episode “Danger Above” was released with 3 chapters of 15 levels each.
Another 2 months down the road in June 2010 saw the release of the 4th episode “The Big Setup”, with another 3 chapters of 15 levels each plus new Golden Egg levels. The 5th episode “Ham ‘Em High” was launched in December 2010 on the 1st anniversary of Angry Birds, with further updates bringing a total of 3 chapters of 15 levels each. At this time, the “Mighty Eagle” feature was introduced, which was an additional one-time paid feature that could be used once per hour to help the player clear levels that they are still stuck on. Following that, the 6th episode “Mine and Dine” was released in June 2011, with updates in August bringing it to a total 3 sets of 15 levels each. Finally, the 7th and most current episode “Birthday Party” was just released on December 11, 2011 with the same 3 sets of 15 levels each, which marks the 2nd anniversary of this beloved game.
In addition to the core Angry Birds game, Rovio has also released special editions, such as Angry Birds Seasons in October 2010. This was first released as an Angry Birds Halloween episode, with appropriately themed graphics and music for the seasonal moods. In December 2010, the Christmas theme was aptly added in, followed by Valentine’s Day in February 2011. There were even links to Facebook added in for sending Valentine messages. This colorful edition then saw the release of a St. Patrick’s Day update “Go Green, Get Lucky” in March 2011, “Easter Eggs” in April 2011, followed by “Summer Picnic” in June 2011 and even Mooncake Festival in September 2011. Having completed a full year cycle, Rovio has now released a new Halloween edition “Ham’O’Ween” in October 2011, plus a new Christmas-themed “Wreck the Halls” in December 2011.
In addition to Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio was also launched in March 2011, which was based on the animated film Rio by 20th Century Fox. This edition features characters from the film, and basically is the same game redesigned as angry birds freeing up some birds in cages instead of destroying green pigs directly.
The Angry Birds game is definitely one hot game that is going to continue to evolve in many ways. There would be many new levels and versions of the game, with upcoming Angry Birds Magic to be featured on Nokia’s NFC-enabled Symbian phones. In addition to being released on practically every smartphone OS and gaming platform, this game has in fact gone right into our pop culture itself. From being featured in TV shows and advertisements, we now see even Angry Birds plush toys, iPhone covers, and practically any imaginable merchandise being released. It would not be long before we could even be seeing a full-length feature film on Angry Birds itself. In fact, Rovio is already in the process of producing short cartoons on Nickelodeon, debuting “Wreck the Halls” in December 2011. There might even be a sequel to the game along the lines of ‘revenge’ from the green pigs.
Besides being a fun game for all, the Angry Birds game is definitely a great inspiration as one of the most successful mobile games ever written, and would become a driving force that also inspires games and app writing, in addition to becoming part of our daily lives, whether on the iPhone screen or as the plush toy hanging right in your car.
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