I neither get the hype nor the "outrage" surrounding this game
Whenever i see games like this or stuff like candy crush become popular all i can seem to think is that it`s a pity that people are investing time in something purposeless created with little love. But then again it isn't up to me to decide what others should play.
It basically went viral and that's why it's everywhere I sit here working on a high end game and he makes a simple mobile game that earns lots of money...
It's a disaster, the guy made a little game and then a few unscrupulous "game journalist" reported that it used ripped assets when it didn't. It just turned out the reporter didn't actually know the meaning of ripped assets, he thought ripped=looks similar.
My summation: If you try to trademark Candy, the community rips your head off BUT NINTENDO OWNS ALL GREEN PIPES EVERYWHERE IN PERPETUITY!!!
Robert Yang has an interesting blog post about it.
"This harassment was also completely baseless, because (a) the game is rather well-made, if you like these sorts of insta-death reflex games, (b) Flappy Bird lets you restart quickly, which is usually a huge monetization point -- why would a supposedly-greedy mobile game developer monetize their game so inefficiently?, (c) if you look at the actual pixels, Nguyen clearly did not rip any art, and who cares if he wanted to put green pipes in his game?"
It basically went viral and that's why it's everywhere I sit here working on a high end game and he makes a simple mobile game that earns lots of money...
I think its fair to say a Hat in time is more anticipated than Flappy bird
Sometimes simple is all it takes. I think the game is great for what it is. People give it shit because it got big and made a ton of money, but it was just one of thousands of simple free games, only difference is this one was a hit. I can see why. It's enjoyable and addicting for a few minutes, and it takes literally seconds to understand the entire premise. That's all people have time for on a phone.
It's a shame the dev caved to the hate and took it down IMO. Oh well.
It make me want to make a knock off game called flippy birds..a hand flying through orange pipes that flip you off every time you tap it..you smell that..that's cash, mountains of it
Really, I think the whole thing boils down to the "why didn't I think of that" hate. Did he copy the mechanics of The Helicopter Game? Sure, I think he fact that Helicopter Game had shitty Atari graphics was why it wasn't a success. I haven't played either so I can't compare gameplay.
Are any of you working on a game that is 100% original? If you strip away the stories and art most games are just the same 2 or 3 games being made over and over again.
sorry if this post is a bit disjointed and ranty, this is just another one of those events that makes me disillusioned with game development, or at least main stream game development.
I think its fair to say a Hat in time is more anticipated than Flappy bird
Hah, we'll see Flappy, despite the negative press, has done well for itself. I imagine the guy got a lot of hate mail and I wonder if it was that, that has forced him to shut it down or whether he's cashing in before it gets worse. That's the trouble with the net, it's toxic and one slip up means people will remember your name and you'll get negativity wherever your future projects are shared.
Which is why I keep to the shadows now. I don't care for the random people of the net besides my fellow Polycounters and another forum ;P
It's a game undeserving of the press it's received, largely because it's a poor copy of the helicopter game which is only difficult because of it's purposely terrible controls. As for the Mario ripoff claim it's clear he's not super original, but it's not a rip-off, so meh?
Really, I think the whole thing boils down to the "why didn't I think of that" hate. Did he copy the mechanics of The Helicopter Game? Sure, I think he fact that Helicopter Game had shitty Atari graphics was why it wasn't a success. I haven't played either so I can't compare gameplay.
Are any of you working on a game that is 100% original? If you strip away the stories and art most games are just the same 2 or 3 games being made over and over again.
Wasn't a success? It was one of the most popular flash games played amongst my age group in high school.
There's a difference between being the same story when you strip away the art, and being virtually the exact same game, art and gameplay, as something else and copy of multiple similar (and far better made) ones.
I'm more concerned about how the internet/media have such an invasive influence recently, don't get the internet mad at you, it will ruin your career. As it has for some more notable developers... o_0;
I am not sure what to think of this guy. He removed the game but there are still adds on the games already downloaded that he makes money from. So basically he has all of the benefits without any of the backlash. For him that is great but I think he could have handled the fame a bit better.
I am sure that removing the game didn't even improve anything. If he had left the game online people might have forgotten it sooner. Also who's to say he wouldn't remove a game in the future if this happens again? Still it is his choice and we shouldn't be telling him what to do.
I feel really bad for the guy, especially if you look at the App Store now. There's 5 clones of it in the top 11 already. He really hasn't handled it well, I blame pewdiepie haha,
I see this game as being another fad. There are plenty of games with identical gameplay and many even have similar art styles to this that go unnoticed. It's seems like this is what the mobile market has boiled down to.
I kind of think the internet went crazy in lots of ways. People were angry at how something so simple and unoriginal could do so well and make so much money. Others were angry by being addicted to a game with overall frustrating gameplay.
But in his tweets before he took it down he made no mentioned of being troubled by hate mail yet everyone projected that as a reason why while others projected the idea that Nintendo caused the take down because of green pipes.
Everyone let their imagine go wild claiming that their idea of why it was taken down is fact and many went crazy with it.
I'm more concerned about how the internet/media have such an invasive influence recently, don't get the internet mad at you, it will ruin your career. As it has for some more notable developers... o_0;
Agreed. The blog-culture of today's internet-writers is horribly damaging. In the past, it was clear in a newspaper what was a column/opinion piece vs the actual news. Most importantly, there is a distinction between news and opinion. It seems like that concept seems almost completely gone in the up and coming journalistic generation of libel-ers.
There is such a shotgun-style approach to retelling news stories these days on news-blogs, that most of the time the authors write fast to beat other sites to the story; and then go back and make multiple edits and corrections. I'm guessing they're also upset about the story as well, and writing upset is never a good idea.
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach, from both sides of the argument, as well as observing trends in recent history regarding reaction to things read on the internet.
I neither get the hype nor the "outrage" surrounding this game
Whenever i see games like this or stuff like candy crush become popular all i can seem to think is that it`s a pity that people are investing time in something purposeless created with little love. But then again it isn't up to me to decide what others should play.
^ This
Off/Topic:
When the (NextGen) normal map bandwagon came rolling in i was like, really... i was just getting comfortable with hand painted work, even though i wasn't amazing i enjoyed it more.
I can hear people say roll with the times... or get left behind... yea it seems old school became the new school again so yea..cell phone game craze is here and seems like it might stay.
Also to be fair it is not that i don't like the results mind you.
But in his tweets before he took it down he made no mentioned of being troubled by hate mail yet everyone projected that as a reason why while others projected the idea that Nintendo caused the take down because of green pipes.
There's a difference between being the same story when you strip away the art, and being virtually the exact same game, art and gameplay, as something else and copy of multiple similar (and far better made) ones.
The Piou Piou game actually plays a lot differently, it's one of those games where the camera is constantly moving and you have to avoid the cactus to avoid the camera catching up to you I agree it looks similar but that image would have you belive it was a 1:1 copy which it isn't.
I actually like the game, and I think it's also really well designed. The game runs really smoothly, the controls are responsive and predictable, it doesn't look terrible and the difficulty is balanced perfectly - It's hit that sweet spot between being too easy and players getting bored and too difficult thereby putting players off. Yes, I'm sure lots of people can code it in a few hours.. Yes, it's massive success is very flukey but honestly there are a lot of really bad games out there and this, in my opinion, isn't one of them. Simple =/= Bad.
Most of the hate seems to be from jealousy really, which is kinda sad. It's true that the games success was extremely circumstantial but I see no reason to hate on the developer/game for being lucky.
Also I've heard speculation that wealth in Veitnam isn't necessarily desirable, both in a cultural sense but also for your safety, which may be a reason for taking the game down - just a thought The cynic in me might suspect taking the app down just added to the hype before the fad inevitably fizzled out, but after reading a few of his tweets he does sound like a humble guy who just wants to make games and doesn't want the hassle and fame that's come from the viral success of flappy bird.
Agreed. The blog-culture of today's internet-writers is horribly damaging. In the past, it was clear in a newspaper what was a column/opinion piece vs the actual news. Most importantly, there is a distinction between news and opinion. It seems like that concept seems almost completely gone in the up and coming journalistic generation of libel-ers.
There is such a shotgun-style approach to retelling news stories these days on news-blogs, that most of the time the authors write fast to beat other sites to the story; and then go back and make multiple edits and corrections. I'm guessing they're also upset about the story as well, and writing upset is never a good idea.
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach, from both sides of the argument, as well as observing trends in recent history regarding reaction to things read on the internet.
lol I played this game before, it was called ribbon and it was on my oldschool cell phone back in 2000. the whole situation sounds dumb, hope the dude made some bank off the average derping person.
lol I played this game before, it was called ribbon and it was on my oldschool cell phone back in 2000. the whole situation sounds dumb, hope the dude made some bank off the average derping person.
well angry birds is a clone of a flash game called Crush the Castle, i bet those guys are probably pretty upset.
its nothing but clones on the app-stores. but whatever, gues thats how the market works now.
Absolutely crazy. Checked on eBay the other day and some people sell their phones/tablets with Flappy Bird installed for about 1-5 grand (and people have bid on it already). That's just plain mental :O
lol almost every AAA game out there is a clone of another one its pretty common practice, that new LOTR game looks like a clone of batman and assasins creed, COD and BF campaigns are pretty much clones of each other. eh its just business.
Death threats are something you tend to want to take more seriously in Vietnam.
well you could take it off the south east asian app-stores and feel a bit safer again.
the shitton of money he made is porbably a larger danger to his life then the mediocre phone game itself.
Death threats are something you tend to want to take more seriously in Vietnam.
50k a day means you don't have to live in vietnam.
seriously for 50k a day I would be okay with psychopathic hitmen after me, you know the kind of security team you can put together, ex millitary guards cost about 25k a year probably even less in vietnam, 1 week and a 14 man veteran security team is put together and paid for.
Not gona lie, if I was making 50 grand a day off ad revenue from my iphone game I would be cool with death threats from cowards on the interwebz
But you don't really deal with that much harassment normally, do you? Most of us here don't, I occasionally get an angry PM but I doubt it compares. I've seen a lot of indie devs and public game figures expressing support & understanding for this guy.
50k a day means you don't have to live in vietnam.
seriously for 50k a day I would be okay with psychopathic hitmen after me, you know the kind of security team you can put together, ex millitary guards cost about 25k a year probably even less in vietnam, 1 week and a 14 man veteran security team is put together and paid for.
well...
i would say with this much attention and half the world knowing he made/makes 50k a day you will need some kind of security, because alot of scumbags in this world WILL come after you
my guess would be, that in vietnam this would happen rather sooner than later
50k a day means you don't have to live in vietnam.
You can't just choose to emigrate, the world doesn't work like that (with the notable exception of treaties like Schengen in the EU).
If you're born in Vietnam, you're more or less stuck in Vietnam. Buying citizenship in other countries usually costs into the millions, when it's possible at all.
You can't just choose to emigrate, the world doesn't work like that (with the notable exception of treaties like Schengen in the EU).
If you're born in Vietnam, you're more or less stuck in Vietnam. Buying citizenship in other countries usually costs into the millions, when it's possible at all.
for a time you could buy a cypris(EU) citizenship for 500k. you know ten days of saving money.
but he aint doin it for the money... wich is always easy to say when you already have the money
for a time you could buy a cypris(EU) citizenship for 500k. you know ten days of saving money.
but he aint doin it for the money... wich is always easy to say when you already have the money
Well to be fair, isn't game art about working for enjoyment rather than making tons of money? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that people make art solely for profit.
The same would go for game programming is well, why do a harder job with less pay when you could program other kinds of software, make more money, and have looser deadlines?
Ahh but what if you could do both? Epic is always hiring, BTW.
Just a random question about working at Epic but is it true that Fridays are designated "personal project" days? I don't remember where I heard it but I believe I heard or read somewhere that one could spend Fridays just working on whatever they want art or programming related.
Replies
Whenever i see games like this or stuff like candy crush become popular all i can seem to think is that it`s a pity that people are investing time in something purposeless created with little love. But then again it isn't up to me to decide what others should play.
My summation: If you try to trademark Candy, the community rips your head off BUT NINTENDO OWNS ALL GREEN PIPES EVERYWHERE IN PERPETUITY!!!
Robert Yang has an interesting blog post about it.
"This harassment was also completely baseless, because (a) the game is rather well-made, if you like these sorts of insta-death reflex games, (b) Flappy Bird lets you restart quickly, which is usually a huge monetization point -- why would a supposedly-greedy mobile game developer monetize their game so inefficiently?, (c) if you look at the actual pixels, Nguyen clearly did not rip any art, and who cares if he wanted to put green pipes in his game?"
I think its fair to say a Hat in time is more anticipated than Flappy bird
It's a shame the dev caved to the hate and took it down IMO. Oh well.
How do you know it has been created with little love? It's a small indie dev. Dong Nguyen posted a lot on twitter during development: 28 Days of Fame: The Strange, True Story of 'Flappy Bird'
Really, I think the whole thing boils down to the "why didn't I think of that" hate. Did he copy the mechanics of The Helicopter Game? Sure, I think he fact that Helicopter Game had shitty Atari graphics was why it wasn't a success. I haven't played either so I can't compare gameplay.
Are any of you working on a game that is 100% original? If you strip away the stories and art most games are just the same 2 or 3 games being made over and over again.
sorry if this post is a bit disjointed and ranty, this is just another one of those events that makes me disillusioned with game development, or at least main stream game development.
Hah, we'll see
Which is why I keep to the shadows now. I don't care for the random people of the net besides my fellow Polycounters and another forum ;P
Wasn't a success? It was one of the most popular flash games played amongst my age group in high school.
There's a difference between being the same story when you strip away the art, and being virtually the exact same game, art and gameplay, as something else and copy of multiple similar (and far better made) ones.
Well the dev made some bitter posts about how he hasn't seen a dime from helicopter game. Flash didn't exist when I was in highschool :P
I am sure that removing the game didn't even improve anything. If he had left the game online people might have forgotten it sooner. Also who's to say he wouldn't remove a game in the future if this happens again? Still it is his choice and we shouldn't be telling him what to do.
But in his tweets before he took it down he made no mentioned of being troubled by hate mail yet everyone projected that as a reason why while others projected the idea that Nintendo caused the take down because of green pipes.
Everyone let their imagine go wild claiming that their idea of why it was taken down is fact and many went crazy with it.
Agreed. The blog-culture of today's internet-writers is horribly damaging. In the past, it was clear in a newspaper what was a column/opinion piece vs the actual news. Most importantly, there is a distinction between news and opinion. It seems like that concept seems almost completely gone in the up and coming journalistic generation of libel-ers.
There is such a shotgun-style approach to retelling news stories these days on news-blogs, that most of the time the authors write fast to beat other sites to the story; and then go back and make multiple edits and corrections. I'm guessing they're also upset about the story as well, and writing upset is never a good idea.
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach, from both sides of the argument, as well as observing trends in recent history regarding reaction to things read on the internet.
^ This
Off/Topic:
I can hear people say roll with the times... or get left behind... yea it seems old school became the new school again so yea..cell phone game craze is here and seems like it might stay.
Also to be fair it is not that i don't like the results mind you.
He actually did, here and here and maybe more?
The Piou Piou game actually plays a lot differently, it's one of those games where the camera is constantly moving and you have to avoid the cactus to avoid the camera catching up to you
I actually like the game, and I think it's also really well designed. The game runs really smoothly, the controls are responsive and predictable, it doesn't look terrible and the difficulty is balanced perfectly - It's hit that sweet spot between being too easy and players getting bored and too difficult thereby putting players off. Yes, I'm sure lots of people can code it in a few hours.. Yes, it's massive success is very flukey but honestly there are a lot of really bad games out there and this, in my opinion, isn't one of them. Simple =/= Bad.
Most of the hate seems to be from jealousy really, which is kinda sad. It's true that the games success was extremely circumstantial but I see no reason to hate on the developer/game for being lucky.
Also I've heard speculation that wealth in Veitnam isn't necessarily desirable, both in a cultural sense but also for your safety, which may be a reason for taking the game down - just a thought
"Click here to read"
Blerg. Modern "journalism". It's not about telling the news, it's about generating clicks (ergo advertising revenue) any-means-possible.
well angry birds is a clone of a flash game called Crush the Castle, i bet those guys are probably pretty upset.
its nothing but clones on the app-stores. but whatever, gues thats how the market works now.
Not a pipe
Death threats are something you tend to want to take more seriously in Vietnam.
well you could take it off the south east asian app-stores and feel a bit safer again.
the shitton of money he made is porbably a larger danger to his life then the mediocre phone game itself.
50k a day means you don't have to live in vietnam.
seriously for 50k a day I would be okay with psychopathic hitmen after me, you know the kind of security team you can put together, ex millitary guards cost about 25k a year probably even less in vietnam, 1 week and a 14 man veteran security team is put together and paid for.
But you don't really deal with that much harassment normally, do you? Most of us here don't, I occasionally get an angry PM but I doubt it compares. I've seen a lot of indie devs and public game figures expressing support & understanding for this guy.
well...
i would say with this much attention and half the world knowing he made/makes 50k a day you will need some kind of security, because alot of scumbags in this world WILL come after you
my guess would be, that in vietnam this would happen rather sooner than later
You can't just choose to emigrate, the world doesn't work like that (with the notable exception of treaties like Schengen in the EU).
If you're born in Vietnam, you're more or less stuck in Vietnam. Buying citizenship in other countries usually costs into the millions, when it's possible at all.
for a time you could buy a cypris(EU) citizenship for 500k. you know ten days of saving money.
but he aint doin it for the money... wich is always easy to say when you already have the money
The same would go for game programming is well, why do a harder job with less pay when you could program other kinds of software, make more money, and have looser deadlines?