Seemingly out of nowhere, Flappy Bird flew down and overtook the smartphone gaming scene, besting app records across the marketplace. Then, just as quickly, left.
It’s challenging to walk around campus and meet someone who hasn’t heard of the seriously addictive, albeit mind-numbing, game that has captivated PSU students along with the greater population.
Flappy Bird takes a page out of the “endless runner” genre that the smartphone era has ushered in; most will remember games like Doodle Jump and Tiny Wings, which offer hours of simple, fast-paced gameplay with little reward. Flappy Bird is a ‘side-scroller’ of sorts with no end in sight, as players work to avoid warp pipe obstacles guiding the iconic ‘Flappy Bird’ through a winding maze.
The challenge is simply not hitting the warp pipes, which is easier said than done. Players need to tap at just the right time to avoid crashing, and thus having to restart the game from the very beginning.
“I think there is a great competitive element to the game. It’s enjoyable to play with others and see who can rack up the highest score,” said Benjamin Higman, a PSU student. That has been the question everyone has been asking since the game first struck gold, earning the first-place ranking for games in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play store.
Controversy has been surrounding the game for quite some time, as many critics claim the developer, Dong “Gears” Nguyen, ripped most, if not all, of the graphics in Flappy Bird from Nintendo games. While the game is challenging, computer science student Mark Lambert described that “It wouldn’t be challenging at all to program. Think of the simplicity of Pong. Now just add some 8-bit graphics and you have Flappy Bird.”
Nguyen was earning about $50,000 a day in revenue thanks to in-game advertisements. Flappy Bird borrows much of its graphical style from classical Nintendo games, such as the warp pipes, the backdrops for the night and day scenes, and even the Flappy Bird itself.
A number of developments have transpired in recent days surrounding the game. On Fri., Feb. 14, Nguyen remarked via Twitter that “[in] 22 hours from now, I will take Flappy Bird down. I cannot take this anymore”. Again, many speculate the reasoning for this is simply Nguyen’s fear of legal action being taken. Others believe the shutdown is temporary, and a stunt just to get more downloads and capitalize on ad revenue.
The following Tuesday, Nguyen had this to say about his reasoning during an interview with Forbes: “… it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.” While Nguyen’s words might appear quite noble, it is worthwhile to mention he is still collecting money from those playing the game.
Smartphones of every variety have been appearing on eBay this week at an unusual price tag of $1000 and more. The primary selling point: they come installed with a copy of Flappy Bird. At printing, the highest smartphone for sale containing Flappy Bird was $11,000 with 46 total bids. eBay will not authorize the sale of these Flappy Bird preloaded smartphones, however, stating all electronics must be reset to their factory default settings.
With smartphone games having short time in the spotlight (i.e. Words with Friends, Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga), Flappy Bird looks to be the first to go out on its own terms. Flapping off into the sunset, one screen-tap at a time.