今天有谁在玩《愤怒的小鸟》？芬兰开发商Rovio的市场营销主管Peter Vesterbacka在本月的SXSW大会上的答案是：所有人。

这款人见人爱的手机游戏在本月突破了1亿次下载量（包括iPhone和Android平台），自从2009年12月登台以来，《愤怒的小鸟》基本上稳居多个主流国家的iTunes付费应用榜首，比如美国和中国。但在一些面积极小的地区——例如澳门、马尔他和摩尔多瓦，它也同样是游戏排行冠军。

游戏邦获悉位于赫尔辛基的Rovio已通过该游戏创收7000万美元，最近还成功融资4200万美元。谁也没有想到，这家公司在两年前还曾濒临破产的绝境。现在该公司已投入制作与游戏相关的电视动画片、桌面游戏，每天都有无数人盯着angry-birds.net和angrybirdsnest.com等粉丝网站，搜索该游戏的最新情报。

总体上来看，《愤怒的小鸟》是一款易于上手，富有挑战性但又不复杂、携带方便的游戏，虽然售价低（iTunes平台售价0.99美元，Android平台免费下载），但却能提供高质量的游戏体验。这种现象看起来很奇怪，也很不可思议，但人们就是喜欢玩《愤怒的小鸟》。

27岁的小鸟粉丝Dylan Kates表示，“每个人都希望释放内心的童真，我喜欢电子游戏，但从来没有其他游戏可以像《愤怒的小鸟》这样让我如此沉迷。”这并非个例，它甚至已经成一种普遍现象。

据Vesterbacka所称，Rovio正建立一个包括周边产品、游戏、影视、漫画、卡通等在内的一体化娱乐品牌，“这就像打造一个迪士尼2.0”。

游戏邦认为如果他们还能从绿色的小猪这个方向入手，那么《愤怒的小鸟》必将成为米奇老鼠的强大竞争对手。

Angry-Birds

致命吸引力

Kates自从去年8月下载了《愤怒的小鸟》之后，玩这款游戏成了他的每日必修课，“它真的很让人上瘾，我第一次玩的时候可能花了4个多小时，你就是难以抗拒它的魅力。有一天晚上我卡在游戏的某一关时，我妻子突然跳着小鸟舞，像小鸟一样飞奔过来，她可能认为只有这样才能吸引我的注意力。”

34岁的玩家Ty Brown是经朋友推荐开始接触《愤怒的小鸟》，从此便一发不可收拾，“玩游戏是泄愤的有趣方法，我第一次玩了1个小时，第二次是一个半小时，在电视播放奥斯卡颁奖典礼的整个过程中，我一直在玩这款游戏。”

27岁的Acacia Sears也非常迷恋这只小鸟，她在去年11月将游戏下载到iPhone手机上时，几乎连续一周无时不刻地玩游戏。而另一名休闲游戏玩家Joe Sterne则表示自己尽量回避这款游戏，因为他已经听说过这款游戏具有令人成瘾的魔力。现在他仅在闲暇的时候，每次玩10分钟《愤怒的小鸟》。

Joe Sterne称他认为《愤怒的小鸟》产生了和《塞尔达传说》一样的效应，“如果一款游戏可以老少通吃，让下至6岁、上至80岁的用户同时沉迷其中，那么它就会成为一种流行文化现象。”

《愤怒的小鸟》还成了美国马里兰大学Park数字文化和创意项目副教授Jason Farman的研究案例，他认为《愤怒的小鸟》售价不高，却能让用户获得很高的回报——你可以赢得星级，在游戏进程中创建出招策略。除此之外，它还体现了两种相异的社交视角。

他表示，“一方面，它具有反社交性。人们会在公共场合旁若无人地掏出手机玩游戏，将自己裹在个人世界中，这种现象在地铁非常普遍。但另一方面，观看其他人玩游戏，也的确是一个很有趣的经历。虽然彼此之间已经无话可谈，但并不会影响继续交往。”

改变行业格局

Angry_Birds_on_PSP

玩家拥护《愤怒的小鸟》的另一个重要原因在于，它总是不断更新，该游戏原先问世时有63个关卡，现在已经增加至240关。大家爱屋及乌，也就愿意解囊购买与之相关的11.99美元毛绒玩具，或者70美元的iPad 2防护罩。

据Rovio董事长Mikael Hed所述，《愤怒的小鸟》并不只是一个强大的游戏品牌，它同时还是一个全新的娱乐品牌。

Farman副教授的看法是，Rovio的一个成功之处在于，创建了一款备受大众市场欢迎的游戏，同时深刻改变了移动领域的文化。“我们现在正以前所未有的方式手机使用方式是前所未有的，它让手机成了每日生活不可或缺的一部分。”

他表示在上个月的GDC大会上，人们最关心的一个问题就是“如何成为下一个《愤怒的小鸟》？”在iPhone面世之间，用户一般只能玩由运营商在手机上预装的扑克牌之类的简单游戏，但现在一切都不同了，整个行业格局也发生了巨变，“游戏行业虽然羡慕《愤怒的小鸟》等新兴游戏的繁荣发展，但也将它们视为一种威胁。”

Rovio并不满足于驻足手机平台，已计划在今年5月推出该游戏的Facebook版本，目前还正开发WP7版本。除此之外，还打算进军任天堂DS和Xbox360等传统掌机游戏平台（《愤怒的小鸟》已登陆PlayStation 3平台）。

Farman认为《愤怒的小鸟》开启了手机游戏的新纪元，“平板电脑和手机已经成为可行的游戏设计媒介，未来我们还将看到更多更复杂、更精良的游戏出现在这些平台。”

周边产品受热捧

angry-birds-shirt

Kates表示他的妻子发现了《愤怒的小鸟》T恤，上面有一只逼真的愤怒小鸟站在一只猪头上。

据游戏邦所知这件衣服售价20美元，上面有一只绿色猪头，而红色、蓝色和黄色小鸟正无辜地立于其上。

Kates称自己会去买这件衣服，同时也想看看该游戏的电视动画片，也想买它的毛绒玩具。

对他来说，爱玩《愤怒的小鸟》一点错也没有，甚至是手机故障迫使他删除游戏，都会成为他“再玩一次游戏的理由”。

像Kates这类用户正是Rovio所喜欢的玩家，因为他就算连续三天卡在某一关，也从来不会觉得受挫，反而屡败屡战——他就是喜欢挑战性。他是小鸟的死忠粉丝，会下载每一个更新版本，为自己成功闯过每一关而庆贺。

他可以一整天都在拿弹弓打绿猪，“只要一拿出手机我要做的第一件事除了登录Facebook，就是玩《愤怒的小鸟》。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Angry Birds invasion! A look at the crazy, random, squawkin’ awesome phenomenon

FLOCKING TO ANGRY BIRDS

Who’s playing Angry Birds these days? “Everyone,” Peter Vesterbacka, the marketing exec for Rovio, which created the game, said at this month’s South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

This month, Angry Birds reached 100 million downloads across its mobile platforms — including the iPhone and Android-powered phones. Since its debut in December 2009, Angry Birds has sat atop paid app sales on iTunes in the usual-suspect countries, such as the United States and China, but it’s also the No. 1 paid game in areas most cannot locate on a map — Macau and Malta and Moldova.

Rovio, based just outside Helsinki, has reported profits of $70 million from Angry Birds and recently secured $42 million in financial backing. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy just two years ago. An animated TV show is in the works. So is a board game. People congregate, share tips and search for game news on fan sites such as angry-birds.net and angrybirdsnest.com.

On a basic level, Angry Birds is a clever game that’s easy to play, portable and challenging without being complicated. It’s cheap (99 cents via iTunes; free for Android phones), but seen as a quality mobile gaming experience.  It’s silly and random and weird, and that’s exactly what people like about it.

“Everyone wants to unleash their inner child and break stuff,” says Dylan Kates, a 27-year-old Angry Birds addict who lives in Middle River. “I love video games, but I’ve never been sucked into a video game like I have with Angry Birds.”

It’s no longer just a game. It’s a whole world.

“We’re building an integrated entertainment franchise where merchandising, games, movies, TV, comics, cartoons and comics all come together,” Vesterbacka (at right, with Rovio CEO Mikael Hed, left) told the U.K. version of Wired. “Like Disney 2.0.”

If they can take on mean green pigs, surely Angry Birds can give a vermin like Mickey Mouse a run for his money.

HOOKED

Kates downloaded Angry Birds last August, and he’s been playing every day since then. “It’s just totally addictive,” he said. “I probably played it four hours straight the first time. You just get sucked in.”

He gets engrossed and distracted. “One night I was kind-of stuck in the game and all of a sudden my wife walked into the room, did a bird dance and dove on me like she was an Angry Bird. I think it was the only way to get my attention,” he said, laughing.

Ty Brown also became instantly hooked after being introduced by a friend who was addicted. “It’s a ridiculously fun way to relieve anger,” said Brown, 34, who lives in Bolton Hill. “The first time, I played an hour. The second time, it was an hour and a half. I think I played the entire time the Oscars were on.”

And even more casual players fall for the game. Laurel resident Acacia Sears, 27, played “non-stop” for a few weeks after her iPhone download last November. Joe Sterne resisted the game as much as he could because he heard how addictive it could be. Now when he was a free moment, 10 minutes to fill, he plays.

“I liken it to the ‘Legend of Zelda’ effect,” says the 25-year-old Federal Hill resident. “If you can get appeal through a wide variety of audiences age-wise, anywhere from a 6- to 80-year-old, that pivots over to pop-culture consciousness.”

Angry Birds has been an interesting case study in mobile gaming for Jason Farman. An assistant professor at the University of Maryland College Park’s digital cultures and creativity program, Farman studies computing culture and mobile technology. He says Angry Birds demands low time investment and yields high, personal reward — you earn stars and developing trajectory strategies as the game progresses. And there are  two divergent social aspects to it.

“On one hand, there’s an antisocial aspect. People use mobile phones to cocoon themselves in public environments, and you see people playing the game on the metro,” Farman said. “On the other hand, there’s a real pleasure in watching each other play the game. The story is thin here, but it’s enough to keep us going.”

CHANGING THE MOBILE-GAMING GAME
And it’s enough to sustain the ever-expanding Angry Birds brand. Players like Angry Birds because updates are frequent — the game launched with 63 levels and now boasts 240. People love the characters so much that they’ll buy an $11.99 plush bird or a $70 Angry Birds-themed iPad 2 cover.

“With Angry Birds we have successfully launched not only a strong brand,” said Mikael Hed, who founded Rovio with cousin Niklas Hed, “but also a whole new entertainment franchise,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“One thing that Rovio has done so well is create this mass-market appeal at a really important shift in mobile culture,” says Farman. “We’re using our phones in ways we haven’t before. It has become a common article that defines your everyday life.”

At last month’s Game Developers Conference, the big question was “How do we become the next Angry Birds?” Farman said. Prior to the iPhone, your typical cellphone came pre-loaded with standard fare (poker and more poker!). That has all changed. And now the industry is changing as well.

“The gaming community sees the popularity of games like Angry Birds and admires it but also sees it as a threat,” Farman says.

Rovio isn’t happy just keeping Angry Birds mobile. It comes to Facebook in May, and a version for Windows Phone 7 is in the works. Though Rovio’s flirting with Nintendo DS and Xbox360 (Angry Birds is already on PlayStation3), Farman says Angry Birds has helped usher in a new era of mobile gaming.

“Tablets and mobile phones are now seen as a viable medium for game design,” he says. “You’ll be seeing more and more complex and well-designed games for that media.”

‘I WOULD GET THAT SHIRT’

“There is this shirt. My wife found it,” says Kates. “It’s on Threadless. They made true-to-life Angry Birds on a pig.”

A quick search uncovers the coveted shirt. It’s $20 and depicts a green pig head on a platter. Innocent-looking red, blue and yellow birds perch on the head.

“I would get that shirt,” Kates says. “I would watch a TV show. I would get a set of plush dolls.”

To Kates, Angry Birds can do no wrong — or has done no wrong yet. Even when a phone malfunction forced the deletion of a game, Kates looked at is as “an excuse to play the game again.”

Kates is the type of player Rovio loves. He’s not frustrated when he’s stuck on some levels for three days in a row — he loves that challenge. He’s utterly devoted to this silly, random game. He holds on for every update and celebrates after every level mastered.

He could sling those damn birds all day long.

“It’s one of the first things I do when I take out my phone,” he says. “I check Facebook and then go to Angry Birds.”（source:baltimoresun）