Angry Birds tops 500 million downloads

[garyopa]

'It’s more than any game ever before!', says Rovio marketing chief Peter Vesterbacka at a conference



Unlike most mobile-game crazes, Angry Birds - in which players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the birds’ eggs - has stayed at the top of the charts since it was first launched two years ago.

Mobile gaming firm Rovio is proud to announced have reached a record-breaking 500 million downloads, with still a month to go before it's been 2 years when Angry Birds first appeared on the iPhone, and since has moved onto other platforms, even toys, dolls, and big-screen movie deal is in the works.

Vesterbacka said the company's next aim is to reach one billion fans globally, on devices including mobile phones and computers.

The gaming company is expanding the brand across traditional merchandising, to such items as toys and baby products, and is taking the birds to the big screen with film studios.

This year, Rovio raised $42 million from venture capital firms in an investment co-led by Accel Partners, which previously backed Facebook and Baidu, and Skype founder Niklas Zennstroem's venture capital firm Atomico Ventures.

Rovio was founded in 2003 after three students including Niklas Hed - CEO Mikael Hed's cousin and now Rovio's COO - won a game-development competition sponsored by Nokia Oyj and Hewlett-Packard. It changed its name from Relude in 2005.

Who would have thought birds which can't really fly, hince you need to help them with slingshot to crash into pigs would be so cool!

NEWS SOURCE: Angry Birds (via) Montreal Gazette

[billysastard]

its not cool, its a few second timewaster, like a minigame you might find in mario party or a non-game attempt at lemmings / worms.

[garyopa]

its not cool, its a few second timewaster, like a minigame you might find in mario party or a non-game attempt at lemmings / worms.

Oh'well, I was one of the "500 million downloads", I downloaded it on my Samsung Galaxy Tab, and I found it ok to play on the 7" screen, I even infact finished the game (what a timewaster, days and days of it!)

I also tried it on my iphone4 and stop playing after a 5 seconds, I think the big screen on the Android helped.

Here in DR, at times (because of no hydro-power), you got nothing to do but 'waste time', so that is main reason why I finished it.

[Xenogears V]

I play free, thanks to google chrome.