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The first Angry Birds VR game puts the slingshot in your hand
In the ten years since the game's original release in 2009, Angry Birds has become both a pop icon and marketing juggernaut, spawning countless sequels, spinoffs, merchandising tie-ins and even feature-length movies. Now, the feathered flock of pig-popping fliers is coming to the Vive and Oculus Rift in Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs.
'Angry Birds' makes its Magic Leap debut
Magic Leap's long-awaited augmented reality headset finally debuted over a month ago, even if its $2,300 price tag makes it much too extravagant for most of us. Still, it's a pretty big step forward for consumer-grade AR, and the company is betting big on developers to create the content library it needs. One such developer is Rovio, which announced it's bringing its most popular game franchise -- Angry Birds -- to the platform.
'Angry Birds Champions' lets players fling pheasants for real money
Angry Birds Champions is now available on iOS devices and through the developer's website, allowing players to fling their feathered friends against precarious piles of pigs in a bid to win real money for the first time. The game is accessible through the WorldWinner iOS app or on WorldWinner.com, joining the studio's other real-money tournament games like Wheel of Fortune, Solitaire, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. "It's really the original Angry Birds physics game -- and obviously Rovio's done a number of different derivatives using the iconography -- but this is the core physics game of shooting birds and killing pigs," WorldWinner boss Jeremy Shea told Engadget.
'Angry Birds' goes full NFL ahead of Super Bowl LII
Fans of both Angry Birds and the NFL can get excited together with new Super Bowl LII content in the popular free-to-play mobile game from Rovio. Angry Birds 2 players can now outfit their avian characters with any of the 32 official NFL jerseys and helmets while competing in new levels and in-game competitions. Angry Birds Evolution now includes NFL characters to defeat in the strategy game, and you will find a new bird called the "Quarterback." Evolution's player vs. player mode (The Oinktagon) has also been transformed into a football field in celebration.
'Angry Birds' will celebrate its 10th anniversary with another movie
How will you celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of Finland's biggest exports? No, I'm not talking about electrical machinery or oil -- I mean Angry Birds. Well, Columbia Pictures and Sony are doing so with a sequel to the furious fowl's silver screen debut, aptly titled The Angry Birds Movie 2. A Rovio blog post details that the film will be released September 20th, 2019 and that Thurop Van Orman and John Rice will serve as director and co-director, respectively. Maybe the production team can come up with a better title in two years' time.
Yes, 'The Angry Birds Movie' will have a sequel
Rovio has had trouble recreating the success of the first Angry Birds with each successive sequel, but that isn't stopping the Finnish developer from trying the same with the movie based on its biggest franchise. The first film made $346,917,138 worldwide according to Box Office Mojo, and Wall Street Journal writes that its budget was only $73 million. So, of course, optioning a sequel makes a lot of sense. There aren't any details beyond Rovio CEO Katie Levoranta saying that pre-production is under way, though. Will Jason Sudekis and Peter Dinklage reprise their roles? That's up in the air, but last we saw him, he was busy helping a certain Mother of Dragons.
'The Angry Birds Movie' credits will unlock game content
Rovio has a lot riding on its new animated movie. Earlier this month, the Finnish company reported a €13 million ($14.8 million) operating loss for 2015, blaming "heavy investments" in future projects. The popularity of Angry Birds is waning, but a commercially succesful film could be its salvation. As such, it's developed a new app called Angry Birds Action!, which rewards players for seeing the movie on opening weekend. Players that open the app during the end credits will be treated to an "exclusive movie clip" and a new area of the game to explore. The feature is triggered by an "inaudible digital watermark" that plays in the background.
Google adds more Chromecast games for the holidays
If you're giving someone a shiny new Chromecast this holiday season, it turns out you'd be giving them a healthy dose of family-friendly games as well. Today, Google has announced that it's rolling out several new games made just for its tiny TV streamer. They include Angry Birds Friends (which lets you compete in weekly tournaments), Driver Speedboat Paradise plus a whole host of Hasbro board games designed to be played on the TV. Examples of the latter include Monopoly Here & Now, Yahtzee Blitz, The Game of Life, Scrabble Blitz 2.0 and Risk. Sorry, no Settlers of Catan just yet.
Watch the first trailer for 'The Angry Birds Movie'
Yes, folks, it's all happening. The first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie has arrived. Directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly (both first timers), and written by Jon Vitty (The Simpsons), the animated film seems to focus on the origin story of why these famous birds are, well, angry. Red, perhaps the most popular character, is voiced by Jason Sudeikis, while Danny McBride does the honors for Bomb -- you know, the black bird who likes to blow up. The rest of the cast is made up by other well-known stars, including Bill Hader, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph and Peter Dinklage. Interestingly enough, The Angry Birds Movie is now slated to hit theaters in May 2016, a couple of months earlier than originally announced.
'Angry Birds' studio cuts another 260 jobs
The firm behind Angry Birds has announced that it's laying off a further 260 employees as it attempts to become a smaller and more profitable company. CEO Pekka Rantala admits that Rovio was too eager to "explore new business opportunities," which it did by doing "too many things." Unfortunately, with profits tumbling, the outfit is going to have to go back to being a stripped-down games maker. The lay-offs will come from all areas of the business except those working on the Sony-backed Angry Birds Movie in the US and Canada. It's not much of a surprise since it looked as if the company's day in the sun had ended a while ago. After all, Angry Birds 2 is the thirteenth title in the series, so it's clearly been flogging a seriously-injured horse for quite some time.
The thirteenth 'Angry Birds' game is 'Angry Birds 2'
It might have the number two in its name, but don't be fooled: the new Angry Birds game is just the latest in a seemingly endless trickle of apps featuring Rovio's feathered friends. We've seen Angry Birds interpretations of Star Wars, Transformers and even Mario Kart -- but today the company is back with "the first sequel" to the original. You're still flinging colorful birds at pigs, but the gameplay has been tweaked with new multi-stage levels, spells and boss piggie battles. Rovio has been having a tough time of late, so it's no doubt hoping that this app is the one to recapture the first game's runaway success.
Surely someone cares about the official 'Angry Birds' sequel
Angry Birds revolutionized the mobile gaming market after its launch in 2009, and developer Rovio has since released numerous off-shoots, follow-up games and bits of retail merchandise, plus it's working on an animated film due in theaters next April, starring Peter Dinklage and Maya Rudolph. Now, six years and 3 billion series downloads later, Angry Birds 2 is officially on its way. The sequel is due to hit app stores worldwide on July 30th and, yes, it seems the game will still feature exploding crates, a bunch of pigs and some deeply upset birds.
'Angry Birds VR' puts the infamous fowl on your face
In case you felt T-shirts, the silver screen, lunch buckets, go-karts or your smart device weren't enough places to ogle Angry Birds, now there's one more: virtual reality. A demo for the ubiquitous game about an avian-fueled, porcine genocide made its way to Samsung's Gear VR recently, but from the sounds of it the formula's changed quite a bit. Because the series-typical 2D side-scrolling affair likely wouldn't translate well to a head-mounted display, the perspective's shifted to behind the birds. What's more, based on the screenshot above it looks like you're coasting through rings rather than destroying fortresses. As Road to VR suggests, one might guide the crestfallen fowl through these loops by moving your head. Seems plausible. There are still a number of questions remaining, but perhaps the biggest is how do the pigs feel about possibly getting spared this time out?
Kids with disabilities can teach this robot how to play 'Angry Birds'
As a way to help children dealing with cognitive and motor-skill disabilities, researchers from Georgia Tech have developed a rehabilitation tool that pairs a robot and an Android tablet. To demonstrate this system in action, the research team used Angry Birds to let kids teach the humanoid how to play Rovio's popular game. Essentially, the robot is smart enough to learn by simply watching each move the child makes while flinging those birds toward the iconic green pigs. "The robot is able to learn by watching because it knows how interaction with a tablet app is supposed to work," writes project leader Ayanna Howard, a professor at Georgia Tech. "It recognizes that a person touched here and ended there, then deciphers the information that is important and relevant to its progress."
Forging weapons upstages fowl flinging in the new Angry Birds Epic RPG
If you're a fan of flinging Angry Birds across the screen or racing them in go-carts on your favorite mobile device, Rovio's next installment looks to offer a new challenge. Angry Birds Epic is said to be a turn-based RPG with all the battle and armor building players can handle. Kotaku reports that making weapons, potions and other provisions with funds acquired during conquests or via in-app purchases will be a key part in the storyline. Details are scarce for now, but an in-progress version is said to hit iTunes in Australia and Canada this week with a global launch across iOS, Android and Windows Phone sometime in 2014.
Angry Birds Star Wars 2 gets more levels, characters
Fans of Angry Birds, Star Wars or both will be happy to know Rovio introduced its first major update to Angry Bird Star Wars 2 (US$0.99) today, adding more levels, characters and rewards. The massively popular iOS game based on the blockbuster sci-fi series now offers an additional eight secret levels and another four characters, bringing the total number of characters now available in the game to a whopping 34. The new characters include Hologram Darth Sidious, Silver C-3PO, Red Battle Droid and Shadowtrooper. Rovio has also added in a number of new reward levels. From the release notes: What's New in Version 1.1.0 Get the latest Angry Birds Star Wars II update with 8 secret levels, 4 extra characters and all-new reward levels! NEW SECRET LEVELS! Find the hidden maps to unlock 8 all-new secret levels! NEW CHARACTERS! Introducing Hologram Darth Sidious, Silver C3PO, Red Battle Droid and Shadowtrooper – yours to earn or purchase! NEW REWARD LEVELS! Each new character brings some awesome new reward levels! Try and master them all! We also used Jedi mind tricks to fix some minor issues and give you an even better game experience! Thanks for playing! Angry Birds Star Wars 2 is a universal app compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad running iOS 4.3 or later.
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launch lineups bolstered by Angry Birds Star Wars
Forget Knack and Forza 5 and the first next-generation Battlefield game -- it's all about Angry Birds Star Wars next month when the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launch. The game's headed to both consoles on their respective launch dates, November 22nd and 15th, for an undisclosed price (we're guessing $10 - $15). We'd also wager that it'll arrive digitally on both platforms, as stiff competition for the much-anticipated Peggle 2. The game is otherwise available on current-gen and handheld consoles, as well as the the Wii U, as of today. There's a trailer below for that version, and we expect to see video for that next-gen version fairly soon.
Angry Birds Go! cart racer hits iOS on December 11
With a franchise as massive as Angry Birds, no game genre is safe, and the next category of digital escapism to be graced by the adorable avians is racing. Angry Birds Go! is slated to hit your iOS device on December 11, and if the newly released trailer is any indication, it's shaping up quite fantastically. The game is very much what you'd expect if you've ever played a Mario Kart title: Iconic Angry Birds characters take the wheel of makeshift vehicles and attempt to best one another using their driving skills and destructive special powers. The game will feature customizable vehicles and, since the app is going to be free to download, we imagine microtransactions will play a large role in how well-equipped your ride becomes.
Angry Birds Go! is MarioKart with birds, arrives for free on iOS and Android December 11th
Angry Birds Go! (their emphasis, not ours) is the next big entry in the Angry Birds franchise, first teased back in June by the Finnish bird-flinging game company. The game takes the "universe" of Angry Birds and applies it to downhill cart racing; it'll even accept new karts in the form of telepods, the Skylanders-esque system first introduced in Angry Birds Star Wars 2. As the teaser shows, players employ power-ups to take their birds, pigs, and other Angry Birds characters past opponents on a variety of downhill courses. Beyond it being an entirely new genre for the Birds, the game looks dramatically prettier than other Angry Birds series entries. We'll get to see just how those fancy new graphics play out when the game arrives worldwide on December 11th for both iOS and Android devices (and we expect BB10 and WP8 too). Head below the break for the debut gameplay trailer.
Daily iPhone App: Space out with Angry Birds Star Wars II
The original Angry Birds Star Wars title was a blissful marriage of two iconic IPs, and as a dedicated Angry Birds fan, it remains one of my favorite games in the series. With Angry Birds Star Wars II, Rovio tries to recapture that same magic, and while the core mechanics remain largely unchanged, your enjoyment of the game will depend on how well you stomach in-app purchases. When the original Angry Birds Star Wars was released, its in-app purchase options were limited to a few bonus training missions. Over time, a plethora of microtransaction options were added, giving the experience a bit of a cheap feel. That same emphasis on purchasable upgrades permeates Angry Birds Star Wars II from the very start, and a pulsing shopping cart at the top of the game screen is a constant reminder that the game would love to sell you some overpowered goodies. The gameplay itself is the same time-tested Angry Birds excellence we've come to expect, with a ton of fantastic destruction puzzles, great music and ridiculously gorgeous background art. Rovio really gives the Star Wars characters and locations a ton of flair and attention to detail. If you're a Star Wars fan, there's a lot to love here. The airborne assassins at your disposal range from Jedi-themed birds that wield lightsabers to newcomers like a Yoda character that spins and bounces off of everything in sight. You can also play as the Dark Side (or "Pork Side") characters for the first time, which adds an evil angle to the mayhem. Every level is fun to play, and the boss levels can seriously test your skills, which is a pleasant change from many of the so-called "casual" hits on the App Store. You can absolutely best every level in the game without spending anything on the bonus characters -- and I'd argue that doing so is more challenging, as well as more fun. However, with the game constantly reminding you that there are purchasable bonus characters available, it can be easy to feel like you're missing out on something by not throwing down the extra cash. It's not a deal breaker, but it definitely adds an unwelcome layer of annoyance to the experience. If you love Angry Birds, this one is an easy recommendation, and with so many levels and new characters to play, Angry Birds Star Wars II offers a lot of content for just US$0.99. If you've not played an Angry Birds game before, or if you have, but you skipped the first Star Wars iteration, I'd suggest going back and checking out the original crossover title before agreeing to take on its bigger, darker brother.
