Video: pigeon learns to "play" Tap Tap Revenge

It's hard to say if the pigeon you see above actually understood what he / she was doing, but apparently these birds can be taught to at least play App Store games in a very poor manner. The creature's owner does note that Mr. Pigeon was pretty awful at racking up high scores on Tap Tap Revenge, but the important thing to realize here is that pigeon pecks do register as presses on the screen. Now that this is all out in the open, we fully expect a follow-up video next week of someone teaching their bird to dial a number on command. Vid's after the break.

[Kevin @ Aug 3rd 2008 10:58AM]

RESPECT!

[quomen @ Aug 3rd 2008 3:04PM]

For the homeless man with an iPhone?

[SFO Kevin @ Aug 3rd 2008 8:21PM]

Even here in San Francisco where we have the richest Homeless in the world - I have yet to see one who is willing to give up $2K of crack funds up to support any lame ATT addiction...

[SFO Kevin @ Aug 3rd 2008 8:22PM]

Even here in San Francisco where we have the richest Homeless in the
world - I have yet to see one who is willing to give up $2K of crack
funds up to support any lame ATT addiction...

[Kevin @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:14PM]

The owner of the pigeon is homeless?
How did he get an Iphone?

[OneLove @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:32PM]

If the bird loses he gets eaten. (Whats with the porn music at 1:07?)

[Imran @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

Haha it's the PodFeather!

[shadoe @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

AHHHHHHH THE SCREEEEEENNNNN!!!!!!!! IF that bird even touched my phone after I fought to get it, I WOUKD ROAST IT!!!!!!!

[iEye @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:21AM]

#1) it WOUKD be nice if you take it easy off the CAPS!!!!!!!! in future comments.

#2) that is a 1st gen iPhone... see the metal backing? no one fought for this iPhone as you did not have to stand in line to get hosed by a contract.

#3) metal > plastic...

[fred @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:27AM]

Where's Dick Dastardly and Mutley when you need them?

[Steffen Jobbs @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:36AM]

Roast it and eat, I'm sure. Nothing like crispy fried pigeon thighs and legs to whet one's appetite. We have millions of them in NYC. I'm thinking of going into the pigeon fast food business to reap the profit. Like Starbucks, I'll offer internet service with a smile.

[bolezhinkov @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:55AM]

@mr jobbs

its crazy how much time you spend on here writing desperate comedic throw-away statements. just read the articles, man. you will have something good to say eventually, I know it will come to you.

[Abuzar Baloach @ Aug 3rd 2008 1:10PM]

A lot of people eat Pigeon.

[giantenemycrab @ Aug 3rd 2008 3:52PM]

there's a lot more important things in life than a cell phone.

[Daniel @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:03AM]

wow

[ericjcrane @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:07AM]

that is a iPhone 2.5G. attention to detail professional blogist.

[Adam @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:10AM]

Looks just like the White 16GB 3G sitting next to me.

[Ed @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:19AM]

Your white iPhone 3G has black volume/ringer switch? Nice one...

[Adam @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:07AM]

Maybe this will be Apples answer to lack of Voice Dialing - package a trained pigeon that can dial for you on command! I wonder if a pigeon has memory good enough to be a manual substitute for copy and paste as well? I can't think of how they would be able to step in and take care of MMS though, so maybe Apple will actually have to make some software improvements.

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:55AM]

it's apple's new back to school promotion! Buy an iPhone, get a free trained pigeon!!

[Ignatius @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:42PM]

It doesn't even have voice dialing? Jeez.

My crappy Samsung M520 has voice dialing...

[Jay @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:10AM]

who has a trained pigeon anymore?

[giantenemycrab @ Aug 3rd 2008 4:04PM]

You should get out more, it's all the rage! People bring their pigeons with them everywhere. You can't even get into most dance clubs anymore with out a pigeon by your side.

[bolezhinkov @ Aug 3rd 2008 4:59PM]

ah, you have never been to a dance club in your life. I can tell.

me neither though.

[liv @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:11AM]

This is fucking news??That's it... I'm breaking up with Engadget... Gizmodo, here I come!

[catachip @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:25AM]

Yeah, because these front page stories really highlight the quality coming from Gizmodo:

Planet of the Apes: 40-Year Evolution Blu-ray Set Comes Out Nov. 4

Lifesize Scopedog Mecha Towers Over Iron and Steel Celebration

Beautiful Video of a Solar Eclipse Taken From an Airplane

New Terminator Salvation Still: Meet Marcus Wright


Gizmodo doesn't know what the hell it wants to be. Tech blog, movie blog, sci-fi blog, or just general mass market for 12-18-yo boys.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:39AM]

I'd like to say you'll be sincerely missed by all of us, but you won't. Good riddance. And don't even think about coming back. Ha.

[fred @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:41AM]

@liv

It's Sunday. Not really the day for hard tech news.

[mecharine @ Aug 3rd 2008 1:03PM]

A life-size Scopedog is a mechanical engineers' dream come true.

[giantenemycrab @ Aug 3rd 2008 3:57PM]

You wouldn't last a second over there. I used to comment over there until I got banned. Remember those fake screenshots of the iPhone 3G features that included iChat, front facing camera, and the RED iPhone? Well Gizmodo posted that and I made the mistake of pointing out that they had been proven fake, I even included a link to back me up. Well, apparently someone at Gizmodo didn't like me raining on their parade so they banned me. So much for journalistic quality, eh?

Engadget is much better, they let you say crap like "I'm going to Gizmodo" and not ban you.

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 2:35AM]

you do realize that your goodbye, cruel world posts do nothing except destroy your credibility and call the waaahmbulance dispatch, right?

[Ender78 @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:12AM]

I call fake. Unless a birds beak is more conductive than our fingernail, the iPhone will not even register the press [try using the iPhone with just your fingernails]

[Good_Bytes @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:13AM]

The peak is not being registered. The only reason why it gets registered is that warm air gets out of the pigeon noise with the tapping (the iPhone thinks it's a tab by a finger), and you can see some segments when you have the pigeon tongue going out to reach the screen.

[Pat @ Aug 3rd 2008 12:11PM]

A breath of warm air doesn't register on a capacitive touch screen.

Contact with the bird's tongue would probably register. TTR! yum.

[jupiterthunder @ Aug 4th 2008 12:44AM]

Are you seriously analyzing this?

[emax @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:28AM]

Uh.... Who has a pigeon as a pet. And where the hell would you get one if you wanted one? Walk into central park and take your pick??

[roole @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:38AM]

Yeah, but, doesn't crap all over the place and make that sickening sound?

[Abuzar Baloach @ Aug 3rd 2008 8:59PM]

I used to. It bit me all the time. So I sold it.

They are great if you raise them from birth. The one I had was injured and I took care of it. Afterwards it was annoying and it wouldn't leave so I had to sell it.

[DooM @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:29AM]

Bird thinks that screen is covered in moving food.

[BIlly G @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:29AM]

I didn't know pigeons were such awesome pets. Way more interactive than my cat.

I'm totally gonna tame that fat pigeon in my backyard.

[Joe @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:37AM]

My hamster is a prestige lv. 10 in CoD4!

[Daniel @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:39AM]

people do race them so no surprise here

[Chip @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:43AM]

This is not as far-fetched as you might think. Pigeons were trained as rudimentary bomb guidance systems during WWII using a similar control system: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=403

[Steffen Jobbs @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:43AM]

The iPhone is so easy to use that even a flying rat can operate it with a beak, nonetheless. And you crybabies complain that a virtual keyboard is difficult to use.

[Samboini @ Aug 3rd 2008 12:27PM]

Must everyone of your comments fail?

[TheGeektoriousBIG @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:44AM]

I was wondering who had the high score name: pigeonfreak_69_4ever on the scoreboard.

[SINNN @ Aug 3rd 2008 11:47AM]

You see.... even the birds are envy of us Mac owners. That birds wants to feel the power of a xbox and psx and nintendo ds combined. WOW... iphone 3g you truly never cease to amaze me.

[Dave @ Aug 3rd 2008 6:58PM]

A DS has two screens and dedicated input controls. Even Nintendo wasn't stupid enough to make a game system without a D-pad, shoulder buttons, and the standard A/B/X/Y controls. The iPhone has none of these, and can't have them unless they compromise on screen space. And then, it would still be uncomfortable to hold and play, assuming the battery lasted past the intro screen.

The Xbox had a 733Mhz CPU with a dedicated 233Mhz GPU, compared to the iPhones sole 620Mhz ARM that's been underclocked to 412Mhz. I don't care what Carmack says, there is absolutely no way that a 412Mhz ARM could EVER outperform a P3 Celeron with an NV2A to support it.

Sure, optimize it for an ARM, then take the same game and optimize it for the XGPU and Celeron pair. I'm sure you can figure out which will look and play better.

The Playstation brought something truly innovative to the videogame market - Optical storage media. This in an age where carts still ruled, and it enabled developers to make games quickly, inexpensively, and behind a console that was able to sell over 100 million units worldwide, which only added to the amount of developers who wanted to get a piece of the action.

Give it 15 years like the PSX did, the iPhone is tied down to ATT in the USA, T-Mobile in Germany, O2 and Orange in other markets. It's not a piece of hardware that everyone can have, and just look at the numbers, it's impressive for a cellphone, (a bit over 10m), but not for anything else. The PSP has already sold (not shipped) 3 times that, at 37m, and the DS has even more.

Developers aren't going to shift their attention to a unit that has 1/3 of the current install base, and then, even less who are actually using it to play games. People buy NDS and PSP units to play games. People buy an iPhone for a cellphone. Developers have never shown interest in making games for multi-purpose devices in the past, (PDAs, smartphones, the N-Gage, anyone?), and they're not going to start now.

The iPhone is a great piece of hardware, and I'd like to get one as well, I have the finances and everything. I won't, though, because AT&T coverage is abhorrent where I live. I'll probably settle for an iPod Touch 64GB when they come out, since I'd be buying it for the Wi-Fi, and to replace my 60GB iPod Video.

- - - - -

TL;DR - The iPhone is great CELL PHONE. It is not a games machine, and thinking it will have any sort of relevance in the games industry is just plain ignorance. But no offense, SINNN, I know you put a lot of research into your post. Trust me, it shows.

[Kizorblade @ Aug 4th 2008 3:26AM]

SINNN is an idiot. Everyone knows that

[neofolklore @ Aug 4th 2008 8:32AM]

so DAVE, wait... you're saying a system that is faster than a DS and a PSX combined, as well as faster than a PSP, can never be a gaming system?

okay, just making sure.