Difference between revisions of "Angry Birds"

Revision as of 01:09, 10 December 2012

Angry Birds game play screen

Angry Birds is a video game developed for mobile devices by Rovio Mobile. The object of the game is to use a slingshot to shoot birds at pigs that are on or in structures made of wood, ice, stones, and other materials. Additional versions of Angry Birds have been released since the initial version. The game was first released on Apple's App Store for iOS enabled devices. The game was so popular among mobile phone users that Rovio later released a version for Android devices.

Gameplay

Players control birds that try to destroy green pigs. On each level, pigs are sheltered from the birds with wood, concrete, ice, stone, and grassy elevations in the field. The goal of the game is to eliminate all of the pigs in the level with as little birds as possible. The player uses a sling shot to arc and fling birds from one end of the playing field to the other end of the playing field. They can hit the pigs directly or to hit the surrounding structures to kill the pigs. There are elements within the game as it progresses that that help facilitate the player in destroying the pigs. These elements include explosives and rocks within the structures surrounding the pigs, as well as the different characteristics of the birds:

• Red: The basic red bird is the only bird used in the earliest levels of the game. As the player advances, additional types of birds become available.
• Blue: When screen is tapped, turn into three, small, fast flying birds.
• Black: When screen is tapped, Explodes like a bomb
• White: When screen is tapped, can drop explosive eggs
• Yellow: When screen is tapped, speed up

The size of the pigs also varies from level to level. Small pigs are generally weak, large pigs are generally more tough to destroy. Some pigs wear helmets as armor, making them even more difficult to destroy.

Each level has a predetermined bird and pig count. If all of the pigs are defeated by the time all of the birds have been shot, the player advances to the next level. Points are awarded based on each pig destroyed, damage to each pig and structure, and unused birds. At the end of each level, stars are awarded depending on the score received.

Levels may be played more than once.

Publicity

Image that was released by Rovio of the Finair A340 with Angry Birds decorations

Angry Bird characters have been featured in advertisements for other products. Characters began appearing advertisements for Microsoft's Bing search engine. Airlines have also decorated their aircraft as angy birds.

To the right is a video of angry birds airplanes in Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Angry Airbus

This plane will be part of a promotional flight to Singapore.

In attempts to expand the Angry Birds brand name, the official website offers plush birds and pigs, T-shirts, iPad cases, Christmas stockings, backpacks, and key chains. Over 10 million Angry Birds toys have been sold thus far. ^[1]

In May 2011, Mattel released a Angry Birds board game, entitled "Angry Birds: Knock on Wood" ^[2]

In September 2011, the Window of the World theme park in Changsha, China opened an unlicensed Angry Birds attraction. Visitors to the park use a large slingshot to launch stuffed versions of the bird characters at green balloons representing the pigs. Upon learning of the attraction, Rovio Mobile was reported to be considering working with the theme park to officially license it. ^[3]

Special Editions

Angry Birds Seasons

Updates: Halloween-includes halloween-themed music and graphics (October 2010) Seasons- introduced 25 Christmas-themed levels for each day leading to Christmas (December 2010) Valentines Day (February 2011) St. Patrick's Day (March 2011) Easter (April 2011) Summer Pignic (June 2011) Mooncake Festival (September 2011) HamO'Ween (October 2011) Wreck the Halls (December 2011) ^[4]

Angry Birds Rio

Angry Birds Rio

This version was launched in March 2011. It is a version based on the 20th Century Fox animated film Rio. The setting is Rio de Janeiro and angry birds characters interact with characters from the film.

Angry Birds Magic

Angry Birds Magic

When developed, this version will be exclusively for Nokia. It will include the function that allows people to unlock levels upon contact with another Nokia device that is running the game.

Angry Birds Chrome

Angry Birds has also been modified so people with the Chrome internet browser can play as well. This version is not the real version but a modified version that is free to play on Chrome.

Related Play

On September 27, 2012, the creators of Angry Birds released Bad Piggies ^[5]. This game mimics Angry Birds, but is from the perspective of the pigs and gives the pigs, that were the victims in Angry Birds, a chance to "fight back."

Ethical Concerns

Violence

While Angry Birds is not an extremely violent video game by any means, there are some ethical concerns with young children playing the game. The game itself is not very violent (no blood, guts, etc.). However, there is the usage of slingshots and the killing of pigs which may lead some people to say that Angry Birds promotes violence against animals. ^[6] Commonsense Media (a website for evaluating games for parents to reference when questioning the content of the games their children are playing) states that Angry Birds is appropriate for those 8+. However, kids and parents on the site rated Angry Birds as being appropriate for those children who are 6+. The violence score of the game was 2/5 and the privacy and security score was 3/5. ^[7] There is also no explicit language or sexual references in the game.

Battery Life for Advertisements

Angry Birds is at the center of a report claiming that the application take nearly twice as much battery as necessary. There is both a free version and a $.99 premium version. The free version includes ads which use 70 percent of the application's power draw to upload information and download the ads. Angry Birds app is a common example of this problem simply because of how popular it is. Other apps in the Android Market are facing the same fundamental problem that hasn't yet been solved: paid apps get better battery life but simply don't make much money in Google Play, while free-with-ads apps appear to be much more profitable but provide a much worse experience to the end user.^[8]

Video Game Addiction

Another ethical concern with Angry Birds is that it can be an extremely addicting game, which can result in being extremely time consuming and distracting from other tasks at hand. There are 5 explanations for why Angry Birds can be perceived as addicting to people: 1. Simplicity-Angry Birds is a rather simple and easy to learn game, making it addicting to keep on playing over and over again. 2. Success/Failure-There is a fine line between success and failure in Angry Birds, which leads to people wanting to correct their mistakes immediately in the game and continuing to play on and on, fixing their previous errors. 3. Progress-There is a clear progression in Angry Birds, making the game addicting as people want to continue moving on to higher and higher levels within the game. 4. Satisfaction-There is a relative sense of satisfaction when playing Angry Birds, which makes you happy, releasing endorphins into your body system making the game addicting. 5. Competition-People tend to like competition and the constant competition in Angry Birds makes the game addicting. ^[9]

References

1. ↑ Angry Birds Aim for World Domination Retrieved 2011-12-18
2. ↑ Angry Birds at C.E.S Retrieved 2011-12-18
3. ↑ China Steals "Angry Birds" for Theme Park Retrieved 2011-12-18
4. ↑ Angry Birds Wikipedia Page Retrieved on 2011-12-18.
5. ↑ [http://phys.org/news/2012-09-pigs-revenge-angry-birds-makers.html Pigs' revenge as 'Angry Birds' makers launch new game (Update) Retrieved 2012-10-21
6. ↑ http://bubbybobble.tumblr.com/post/20521551806/angry-birds-promotes-violence-against-animals
7. ↑ http://www.commonsensemedia.org/mobile-app-reviews/angry-birds
8. ↑ Mobile Ads: Angry Birds Retrieved 2012-12-09
9. ↑ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-reasons-angry-birds-damn-addictive/

External Links

• Rovio's Official Website
• Angry Birds Chrome

(back to index)