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EA gets Chillingo, but not Angry Birds
Electronic Arts' purchase of publisher Chillingo doesn't include the IP rights to Angry Birds. Speaking with TechCrunch, developer Rovio Mobile's Peter Vesterbacka said that its relationship with Chillingo never went past the iOS versions of the game. Vesterbacka explained, "We will not use Chillingo again." It would seem the company's need for a publisher has diminished since striking gold with Angry Birds, which has sold 6.5 million copies on the App Store. Rovio has self-published Android and Nokia versions of Angry Birds, as well as its latest iOS title: Angry Birds Halloween. Chillingo's rights to each of its published games would be on a per contract basis, but what EA definitely got for its ducats was the company's Crystal gaming network platform and all its data gathering potential.
Scare up some fun with Angry Birds Halloween
Just like Doodle Jump, another big-name App Store game is getting in the Halloween spirit. Angry Birds Halloween is now available on the App Store. It's a US$0.99 "special edition" of Angry Birds with 45 Halloween-themed levels, which are complete with "scary" backgrounds and pumpkins for you to smash. Unlike the Doodle Jump "Doodlestein" update, Angry Birds Halloween is a totally separate app from Angry Birds, so even if you own the original Angry Birds, you'll still have to pay $0.99 for Angry Birds Halloween. But considering how much fun Angry Birds is, another buck for 45 new levels isn't a whole lot to ask.
Angry Birds Halloween edition spooks iPad, iPhone
Just when you thought you were well clear of your hideous Angry Birds addiction, they pull you back in. Rovio has announced the Angry Birds Halloween Special Edition, which packs 45 levels, spooky new music and graphics and plenty of pumpkins. The game runs for $0.99 on the iPhone, with an HD version on iPad for $1.99. Both versions will hit the App Store beginning October 21. Bad news for Android users -- or good news, depending on your level of addiction -- as the Halloween edition is exclusive to iOS. Maybe next Halloween. %Gallery-105586%
Angry Birds publisher Chillingo acquired for $20 million
In the wake of such huge news from Apple today, it's hard to concentrate on anything else. Here's one story you won't want to miss, though: Chillingo, the publisher behind the wildly popular game Angry Birds, was acquired by EA Games for a cool $20 million in cash. Not to worry, though, because Angry Birds isn't going anywhere. The rights to the game are actually owned by the developer, Rovio, who updated his Twitter profile earlier today to clarify that Angry Birds was not part of the sale and will not be controlled development-wise by EA. Even so, it's no secret that the App Store's most popular game of all time certainly helped to sway EA towards this acquisition. With many successful apps available, Chillingo probably looked pretty delicious to all of the big fish in the game industry who were hoping to cash in on the mobile market. Now, it's time to fire up Angry Birds and do some additional research on the story. What? Why are you giving me that look? Yes, I'm working!
Android users download Angry Birds two million times in three days
Android users must really, really hate those green pigs -- Rovio Mobile, developer of the iOS über-hit Angry Birds, has tweeted that two million Android users have downloaded the app on that platform since it was released just three short days ago. The app has reached 6.5 million sales on the iPhone's App Store, but the Android version is a free download, supported with in-app advertising. The free "lite" version on iPhone has seen 11 million downloads so far. Rovio has reiterated that a paid version of the app (with advertising removed) is still on the way, and its Twitter account also states they're working on QVGA support and support for other Android devices as well. No matter what they add in the future, two million downloads is a great way to start off on any platform.
Determining Game Center's current popularity
The always insightful Stuart Dredge over at MobileEntertainment has crunched some numbers on Game Center's actual popularity. Since Apple's own gaming social network on the iPhone launched, I've heard lots of different things from developers in terms of how they're implementing and using it. Some developers jumped in head-first, bringing all of their apps on board quickly, while others have only brought one or two apps on board at a time, opting instead to wait and see what their users are into. And some developers haven't even started on it yet, instead waiting to see how adoption works. So, in order to get something resembling hard numbers, Dredge took the reported sales of a few popular App Store apps, and then he compared those to the number of players listed as playing them in Game Center. You can see the top few examples above -- keep in mind that this is a picture painted with a roller rather than a fine brush; it was just created to give an idea of what's happening rather than exact figures. But there are some conclusions to draw -- a title like Angry Birds, with over 6 million players, is only seeing about a quarter of those users using the Game Center integration. At the same time, a newer title like Cut the Rope has a majority of its players using Game Center. In other words, Game Center is still in the early adopter stage -- the mass market of iPhone users hasn't yet jumped on board. But users who seek out and find the latest and greatest apps (and Cut the Rope is a hit that's only a few weeks old) are signed up and playing on Game Center already.
Angry Birds launches on Android for free [update: on Android Market now]
Those Angry Birds, who have taken out their aggression on an inexplicable number of iPhones and iPads, have flown to Android. Rovio released the full Angry Birds app for Android today (following the availability of a beta release demo). The full game is ad-supported -- and therefore free -- but you'll have the option to pay for an ad-free version (which is only $1 for iPhone) via in-app purchase in the future. The launch seems to be getting a lot of attention -- so much so that Rovio had to take its site down. Likewise, the download location is also currently slammed, and GetJar suggests you try to download the game from its mobile site, directly from your Android device. In case you've never experienced Angry Birds, it's sort of like Boom Blox turned sideways. You use a slingshot to launch birds at a series of structures, with the goal of bringing those structures down around the evil, egg-stealing pigs that inhabit them. Update: Reader Marcus reports that the game is avaiable on the Android Market. Well, that makes things a bit easier. [Thanks, Mike]
Angry Birds officially lands on Android, made free for all
This game needs no introduction -- if you're using iOS, webOS or Symbian, chances are you would've already come across the endless hours of puzzle entertainment that is Angry Birds. Where's the Android version, you ask? Well, today's the day: not only has it now come out of beta, but it's also made free for all! The only small catch is that it's ad-supported, although we're pretty sure this isn't gonna stop you from grabbing it -- at the time of writing this, GetJar's website's taking a serious hit from avian fanatics around the world, so we suggest you go put on the kettle and try later. Enjoy! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
More info about the physics of Angry Birds than you need to know
If there's anything I love to read, it's analysis of the commonplace items in our lives by physicists, engineers, and mathematicians. That's why I was attracted to a recent Wired Dot Physics post by physicist Rhett Allain in which he did a Tracker video analysis of the most important characters in Angry Birds -- the birds. By using the official Angry Birds walkthrough videos on YouTube with Tracker, Allain was able to determine several important factors -- that the birds exist in a drag-free world (no air resistance), that the sling shot is huge (5 meters -- 16 feet) tall, and the birds are good-sized as well. Y'know that little red bird? He's about 70 cm (27.6 inches) tall. That's a big bird! To see how Allain used Tracker to plot the horizontal and vertical motion of the birds in flight, follow his analysis, and review his assumptions, be sure check out the original post.
148Apps creates an App Hall of Fame
Jeff Scott of 148Apps has finally revealed his App Hall of Fame project -- he started it up about a month ago, and asked a number of personalities around the iPhone/iPad app scene (including yours truly) to nominate and then vote on a few App Store apps, with the eventual goal of inducting them into a Hall of Fame. We made our nominations and voted a little while ago, and the first inductees into the store are now listed on the site: Angry Birds, Flight Control, Doodle Jump, Shazam, Evernote, Plants vs. Zombies, Pandora, Simplenote, the official Twitter app, Instapaper, Homerun Battle 3D, and Fieldrunners. You've probably heard of all of those already, but that's the point: the Hall of Fame aims to honor "the very best mobile applications and games." There will be 12 inductees honored every month going forward, so the collection should grow bigger pretty fast. The nomination process is all done by the selection committee (not the public), but if you want to follow along, you can sign up on the mailing list (and have a chance to win some of the nominees for free every month). It's a fun project -- the App Store has been around long enough now that some super popular apps have risen to the top, and this is a good way to keep track of the absolute cream of the crop over the App Store's whole life. At the same time, I'm sure we'll see some interesting decisions in the months to come, so stay tuned for that.
Angry Birds developer claims Microsoft jumped the gun, Rovio 'not committed' to Windows Phone 7
Software developers make or break a platform, as Microsoft's Steve Ballmer once famously stressed, but that shiny new Windows Phone 7 site has angered a mildly important one. Rovio Mobile, developer of the wildly popular Angry Birds game, tweets that it's presently 'not committed' to bring the game to Windows Phone, and that the above icon is being used in Microsoft marketing completely without permission. While it's possible this is just some sort of mix-up and Rovio just wanted to make its own announcement ("nothing to do with if we do or don't, it's just that we decide that ourselves," the company added in a later tweet), it wouldn't be the first time Microsoft's engaged in shady business to inflate its new app store. Update: Microsoft sent TechFlash the following statement: "It appears information was mistakenly posted to Microsoft's website, and has been removed." Sure enough, the offending logo is gone now. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
TUAW's Daily App: Cut the Rope
At every one of these gaming shows (it's GDC Online this week, which I'm at for TUAW), there's usually a "game of the show" that emerges. It's something, either on the show floor or demoing behind closed doors, that everyone starts to talk about. The buzz starts at parties and in the hallways, and then it carries over into panels and starts to crop up in those casual discussions about "what you've seen this week." But so far, the game everyone's talking about this week isn't even on display at the show. Epic's Mark Rein even recommended Chillingo's newest title, Cut the Rope, to me. It's a brand new game that's already making a huge splash this week (as of this writing, it was number two on the App Store paid list), and it's all the rage among app developers and journalists here at GDC. The phrase being passed around is "Angry Birds meets Fruit Ninja," and those comparisons are apt. The idea is that you guide a little piece of candy, by cutting ropes and manipulating other items in the environment, to a cute little monster that's hungrily trying to eat it. Cut the Rope has the cute characters of Angry Birds and the fun, tactile interaction of Fruit Ninja all wrapped up into one extremely polished and shiny package. For only US$0.99, you get four stages full of levels, three stars to collect in each level (to add replayability), and to top it all off, Game Center integration for achievements and leaderboards. The iPad version is $1.99, but there's also a lite version on that device to check out. I'm not even that big of an Angry Birds fan, but I found myself giggling as I pulled off Cut the Rope's little puzzles. I was very charmed by Om Nom, the little monster who just wants that hanging candy. Cut the Rope has just barely gone live, and this is an app that is already getting into people's heads.
TUAW's Daily App: Saving Private Sheep
Saving Private Sheep is a fun one, especially if you like Angry Birds (and there are plenty of you out there who do). Saving Private Sheep is another physics-based puzzler. This time, instead of throwing birds at pigs, you have to save sheep from wolves by tapping various wooden objects in a scene and blowing them up to try and land the pentagonal sheep safely on the ground. It may sound confusing, but once you play the game (which you can do in a free trial), it makes much more sense. The game's 80 levels will have you exploding crates, breaking ice, dropping pulleys, tossing objects around, and trying to earn as many gold medals as you can (by exploding as few items as possible as quickly as possible). And the best part is that the game's on sale for just 99 cents right now. It's not exactly the same as Angry Birds, but the game has a very Angry Birds-style feel to it, so if you like that one, give this one a shot as well.
Foto Find: Angry Birds breakfast
This is super cute -- a breakfast styled to look just like the popular Angry Birds app. A woman had some complications during her pregnancy, and she was bedridden and restricted to only eating certain types of food during childbirth. So, her husband started making food art, using the various foods that she could eat in the morning, and he eventually came around to this little tribute to one of the most popular games on the App Store. It's wild -- those are pickles and carrots along the bottom, whole grain Eggo waffles in the middle, halved hard boiled eggs for the birds, and I'm not quite sure what the pigs are; they're probably some kind of veggies. But he even got the eyes and the eyebrows just right. Very impressive! Parenting magazine says she's due in December, and we definitely hope that everything works out all right. [via Neatorama]
Angry Birds introducing Mighty Eagle, costs real money to skip levels
If you're an Angry Birds player like me, you've hit a couple of levels you've had to play 10 or more times before finally being able to progress. Curse those speedy yellow birds! Give me more bombers! If that's you, Rovio Mobile -- creator of Angry Birds -- has the solution to your frustration, which it announced recently at the Nokia World conference. But the bad news is that it's going to cost you. Meet the new, angriest of the Angry Birds: Mighty Eagle. Via an in-app purchase (with real money) of a can of sardines, you'll be able to summon this new bird for a one-time shot at clearing an entire level. If you want to make use of Mighty Eagle again, you can try going back to the previous level where he was used and clear it without him. Then, voila -- you can use him again in a later level. Check out the video introducing Mighty Eagle in the 2nd half of the post.
Angry Birds to add microtransactions, instant-win Mighty Eagle
If you own an iOS device (and soon Android devices as well), Angry Birds is a proposition that's tough to refuse. The game is only $0.99 and has been routinely upgraded with free updates, let alone the fact that it's actually really fun. It's a good deal to be sure, but one imagines that it's a hard one for developer Rovio to maintain. Purchases have to slow at some point, and you can't keep offering free updates to a stagnant market, so what's an enterprising developer to do? Capitalize on your frustration, of course! Anyone who has played Angry Birds knows the situation: You've played the same level for hours and nothing is working. According to Multiplayer, that won't be a problem anymore, because Rovio will soon be adding the Mighty Eagle to the list of available birds. As its name implies, this eagle is very mighty, so mighty that it can clear any level ... instantly. The catch is that players have to buy a can of sardines (with real money) in order to lure the eagle out. Rovio hasn't divulged specific pricing information -- cost per can, how many sardines per can, etc. -- but we imagine many players will take the plunge. After all, you have to see that eagle at least once, right? The free updates are great and all but ... giant eagle. Check out a teaser trailer for the Mighty Eagle after the break.
Games updated for Game Center (soon)
As you might have noticed if you've added a few friends in Apple's new Game Center service, the backbone social components are working great. But where, exactly, are all of the games? Developers have actually had access to Apple's service for quite a while now -- it was introduced to them under NDA way back at WWDC. But for some reason, Apple seems to be waiting on approving Game Center-enabled games. Fortunately, they're coming, probably as soon as Apple can approve them. Touch Arcade forum member Project-79 has been keeping track of which games have said that they'll be Game Center-enabled. As soon as updates roll out for games like Field Runners, Flight Control, Super Mega Worm and Angry Birds, you'll be able to jump in and earn achievements with them. Keep in mind that some of the best games on Game Center are still to come: Gameloft's Dungeon Hunter 2 was leaked via a Game Center screen, and of course we're all waiting to see what Epic Games' Project Sword looks like, ever since it was shown off with full GC functionality at last week's Apple event. There are games coming for Game Center, and they should be here soon. Update: Apparently Ms. PAC-MAN is the first game to get updated with Game Center support. You might want to wait, though -- we've heard it's not a very good version.
App Review: Angry Birds (Android)
What does it take to make an addictive game? Not much -- just throw in some super simple controls, cute graphics, and basic physics. Rovio Mobile's Angry Birds is one such game that includes all these elements, and today the studio's just released a public Android beta to cater those without an iOS, webOS or Maemo 5 device. In case you're not already familiar with the popular title, the backstory is that a gang of hungry pigs snatched away some eggs from the birds, forcing the feathered creatures to embark on a rescue mission for the sake of their survival. The gameplay on the Android version is just as simple as before: in each level you use a fixed slingshot to fling the birds -- one at a time -- into the forts, in order to kill all the pigs inside. As a secondary challenge, you must also attempt to get a three-star rating depending on the amount of structural material you destroy, so the key is to perfect your shooting angle. At the beginning you're only given one type of bird that does nothing more than just headbutting, but throughout the game you'll come across six more birds, each possessing one special power: multiply, explode, accelerate, dropping egg bombs, boomerang, and extra strength. Don't worry, the instructions are pretty clear when you first meet these enhanced kamikaze birds -- most involve just a single tap anywhere to trigger their special abilities mid-flight. Once you get the hang of it, you'll soon be wanting to try out all sorts of trajectories to take vengeance on those cheeky green hogs. Seriously, the pigs really do laugh at you when your birds miss them. While we're not familiar with the Maemo 5 and webOS versions of Angry Birds, we've definitely spent a fair amount of time on the iOS flavor. Sadly, since the latter's still running on a low 480 x 320 resolution, the blurred graphics on the notoriously sharp retina display does no justice to the game. On the other hand, the Android version looks a lot prettier on our Nexus One, Dell Streak and HTC Desire, as it runs on their native resolution of 800 x 480. That said, overall the Android beta didn't feel as well-oiled as its iOS counterpart -- we've noticed the occasional light hiccups while panning across the scene, so here's hoping that this will be fixed in the final release. Regardless of this minor flaw, we'd still highly recommend Android users to check out this free Angry Birds beta in the market -- go grab it while it's hot!
Angry Birds fever continues
Here's one Angry Birds fan who took things to a whole new level. An industrious fan decided to recreate one of her favorite iPhone games using balls, clay, eggs, slingshots and cardboard boxes for a sort of "live" version of the popular iPhone/iPad game. I sure hope that's not a wick on the top of the big black bird ... or do I? Meanwhile, everyone's talking about the previously-reported rumors of an Angry Birds movie. Variety recently spoke with Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, creator of Angry Birds, where he talked about the success of the game and a short word on a probable sequel. Add to all of this that Angry Birds is slated to hit the Sony PSP, PS3 and the Nintendo DS. Is it possible we'll get sick of all this Angry Birds-ness before it's allowed to become as big as Hed hopes? The title is certainly primes for moving in more directions, so long as Hed gets the ball rolling quickly.
Angry Birds dev working with Hollywood advisors for possible movie pitch
Movie adaptations of console games are no surprise. But when was the last time you heard of a movie based on an iPhone game? Angry Birds, a Boom Blox-esque 2D puzzle game, may be the first App Store title to find a Hollywood adaptation, according to a new report in Variety. At first, the idea may seem ludicrous, but developer Rovio sees opportunity to transform the title into an "evergreen" franchise. With over six million sales, the game has already generated more than $5 million in revenue for the Finnish developer. And with more than five million views of the game's animated trailer on YouTube, it's clear that there is certainly a demand for resentful winged vertebrates. Rovio has enlisted the help of various "Hollywood advisors," including Peter Levin and Russell Binder, with the hopes of an adaptation with the appearance of claymation (a la Aardman Animation). While a deal is being secured, Rovio's challenge is to bring the game to "every possible place," including consoles like the PS3, PSP and DS. With Hollywood deals taking years to complete, Rovio knows that it will be difficult "to make sure the brand is relevant when the movie comes out."
