Monday, February 10, 2014

Flappy Bird

Flappy Bird

Flappy Bird

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 12:08 PM PST



If you haven't heard of the ridiculously popular game Flappy Bird, then you probably don't own a smartphone or tablet. The game has exploded online in the past week and shot to top spot in both iOS and Android app stores, putting even Facebook's Paper app to shame. The app is reported to have earned USD50,000 per day from advertisements alone. This is more than 200 times the average monthly salary in Vietnam. Flappy Bird was making that much every day. Nguyen basically won the lottery. That kind of unexpected wealth can drive all kinds of people not into prosperity but ruin.

One would think that the developer, Dong Nguyen, would be ecstatic about his sudden windfall, but nope, the situation is quite the opposite. He has been shunning the media and is supposedly very unhappy with his accidental fame to the point of taking down Flappy Bird..

This is probably in response to some very crazy passionate Flappy Bird players who tweeted death threats, suicide threats and all sorts of curses under the sun. This obviously resulted in even more death threats and cries for Dong not to take down the app: The creator of one of the most surprisingly popular games of the last year has revealed that its huge popularity has ruined his simple life and as a result he will be making the game unavailable from Sunday, 9 February.
Yet, despite this huge success - or rather because of it - the game would be unavailable from around 7pm on Sunday, 9 February.

Nguyen first revealed problems that Flappy Bird was causing him early on Saturday, 8 February when he tweeted: "I can call 'Flappy Bird' is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it."

Nine hours later, and having replied to a lot of people commenting on the original tweet, Nguyen made the shocking revelation that he was planning on removing the game from Apple'sand the Google Play store.

Nguyen said: "I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore."

He added that the reason he was removing the game had nothing to do with legal problems. Nguyen has faced accusations that he copied his graphics from other developers such as Nintendo.

The aim of the game is as simple as the graphics are basic - to fly a yellow bird through a series of pipes. If the bird hits the ground or touches a pipe, it's game over.

Nguyen added on Twitter that he wouldn't be selling the game to anyone else so people shouldn't even ask. His final tweet said that Nguyen would continue to make games.

Indeed Nguyen already has other hit games on his hands, with his Super Ball Juggling and Shuriken Block both in the Apple App top ten for free downloads.

And therefore, being unable to keep up with the pressure, Dong Nguyen killed himself with a gun, 'as confirmed by Authorities'.

Not.

An entertainment site, Huzlers, 'reported' that Dong Nguyen was 'found dead in his home' in San Francisco. But Dong Nguyen lives in Hanoi, Vietnam. Their claims of 'confirmed by Authorities' has no proof whatsoever – and note that they used the word 'Authorities' as a special noun (with a capital 'A'), which means that they "meant to say" that a "person called Mr. Authorities" confirmed it, not the actual authorities.
Also, Huzlers added a disclaimer at the bottom of their website:
Huzlers.com is a combination of real shocking news and satire news to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief.

So keep calm, folks. Dong isn't dead, and will continue to make games.

The sudden popularity of mobile hit Flappy Bird isn't the only thing soaring. Now some listings for the smartphones feature bids reaching hundreds and thousands of dollars for phone with pre-installed Flappy Bird app.
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