Troy Abut
Staff Writer
With over 50,000,000 downloads, the popular game known as Flappy Bird has become an instant fad this year.
Even though this game was made in May of last year, the game has risen to prominence because of the rage and frustration it causes, despite its simplicity. You may have become familiar with the game from friends, relatives and the many videos online of people playing the game; trying to show off their skill or lack thereof. The object of the game is to make a bird flap its way through a series of pipes simply by tapping the screen to keep the bird “flapping” in the air. Sophomore Katherine-Anne Christy says “It’s literally Angry Birds and Mario World combined,” and that best describes the way the game looks because of its graphics.
There seems to be no end to the game, and the fun of it comes from trying to get a high score. But once you get the hang of the game,which means getting past the first pair of pipes and so on it becomes progressively harder to maintain rhythm and concentration. It becomes addictive because you want to keep beating your previous score. What starts out as a few tries may turn out to be an hour or more of playing the game because of how it attracts your attention and inevitably causes you to waste time trying to beat a high score. Although getting a high score will allow you to show off and boast about your tapping ability, the game can become frustrating and stressful. As easy as it is to get through the pipes, it’s just as easy to lose at the game. Even though many players may recommend the game, it’s best played in moderation to prevent stress, anger, profane outbursts and broken mobile devices.
“I think it’s frustratingly addictive and the more you fail, the more it makes you play” says sophomore Robert Sutton.
But if you’re willing to give it a try, all it takes to get the score you want is a lot of patience, focus, and concentration.
Despite its popularity, on February 8, 2014, “Flappy Bird” was removed from stores by its creator Dong Nguyen. Nguyen took down the game because of all the bad press that surrounded his game as well as accusations surrounding the game’s success. Because of how famous the game became, many believe that Nguyen may have used Internet bots to promote his game and also help boost the game’s ranking in the stores. Allegedly, he didn’t think using bots was wrong. Another issue raised surrounding the game was that some of its graphics resemble those from a Super Mario World game; like the green pipes and the bird, who looks an enemy from this game. With this in mind, it’s easy to assume that the creator may have ripped off Nintendo, even though there have been no legal charges filed against him.
Although the game was free to download on the Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store, the game was raking in $50,000 a day (and will now continue to do so even after the game was taken down from the stores) from ads alone, which worked perfectly for advertising companies since the game reached a large number of people. But most people think the biggest reason that Nguyen took the game down may be that he was overwhelmed by all the fame and hate he received from having made such a successful game. He made it so simple and different, that people praised it because of how difficult it was and how it allows the player to keep playing for a higher score, either for self-pride or for showing off scores against friends.
If you happen to be one of the many fortunate people who were able to download the game, then keep playing and sharing your scores. You happen to have a piece of gaming history that will continue to haunt avid players and confused gaming companies alike.
Students on campus have tried their hardest to master the game, and this is a small list of some varied scores recorded.
Senior Nikki Cuthbert 213
Sophomore Dakota Grizzle 117
Junior Tim Pepper 56
Sophomore Robert Sutton 14
Senior Michelle van Patten 16
Sophomore Glen Johnson 19
Freshman Mitchell Wilson 21
Freshman Kiki Decruise 25
Freshman Nicolette Burns 4
