Print 63 comment(s) - last by shortylickens.. on Mar 17 at 8:03 PM

Peter Vesterbacka says console games are too expensive at $40 or $50 per game, and take too long and too much work to upgrade

Angry Birds is easily one of the most popular games on the mobile market today, but the game's popularity isn't the only thing swelling these days. The maker of Angry Birds has recently announced that console games are "dying" in favor of mobile games. 

Angry Birds has been wildly successful since its release in December 2009 for Apple's iOS. With over 200 levels, special holiday editions and a low price of only 99 cents, consumers have been receptive to the game's witty and addictive themes. In fact, the game has just passed 100 million downloads, and Rovio Mobile, the computer game developer that created Angry Birds, recently announced $42 million in new funding. 

With all this success, Peter Vesterbacka, CEO of Rovio Mobile, predicted the end times of console gaming at a panel at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin. According to Vesterbacka, traditional console games are much too expensive at $40 or $50 per game, and are "difficult to upgrade" while mobile games are easier to develop and release. 

But some have argued that mobile games are more casual while console games provide a more substantial gaming experience with cutting-edge technology and extensive plots. Even Tero Ojanpera, the panel member from Nokia, said console's still had a place in the gaming industry.
In response, Vesterbacka says he is tired of people calling mobile games "casual games," and that gamers can be just as addicted and involved in Angry Birds as any console game. He even mentioned a time when he saw an Angry Birds player throw their phone across the room in frustration when they could not complete a level. 

While Vesterbacka has admitted that no one has really figured out the mobile gaming business model quite yet, he believes Angry Birds has proved that there is plenty of potential opportunity in the business, and Rovio's secret to success is to experiment. It is important, says Vesterbacka, that Rovio does not get too comfortable with any specific business model in order to stay fresh and on top of its game. 

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RE: sorry
By TSS on 3/14/2011 12:30:57 PM , Rating: 3
It's not attention span. It's the games. I'm a hardcore gamer, i've spent countless hours in games. Last thing i did was beeing 36 of the world on the leaderboards in bullitstorm on skillshots.

But even so i have only completed 1 full run in multiplayer. Because the game has a completly random and automated matchmaking system. Even though you can set preferences and have a level, i get matched up with lvl 1's and 3's and so on. Rarely do i see another 40+ (and i'm 60).

"so go play with friends" people say. OK. my 3 real life friends don't like chaotic FPS games like bullitstorm, i do. So i'd play with online friends right? But because of the random match making system, i don't actually meet other hardcore gamers to add to my friends list.

There are no dedicated servers, so players host. And even when you host, you cannot kick or admin anything. So if there's somebody deliberatly shooting the team challanges and you can't complete a round, you can't do anything about it.

I had so much fun in Q3, UT and CS. Just boot up the game, look in the list for a low ping, high player count server, double click and 10 seconds later you'd be playing with likeminded people and admins who'd watch over the server. As long as you obeyed the rules you had a blast. And, if you made it to the top of the scoreboard you where the bomb.

going by the Bad Company 2 example i boot up the game, server browser glitches, have to patch, browser works but doesn't display ping (so we'll work on names then), connect to server, loading ages, spawn, parachute spawn bug, die, respawn, move to a ledge for sniping (and i actually can snipe in games), kick off the other 7 snipers who aren't actually hitting anything but shooting alot of bullits, watch as the others refuse to run up to the point unless it means in a straight into enemy fire, zoom in on a target only to watch it duck as mortars rain on my head. Upon respawn i get headshotted by a cheater, with no admin in sight.

I'll stop here because i can honestly keep typing for 3 whole days explaning exactly what's wrong with games. This entire post has been retyped 3 times from much longer versions, all equally correct. It's the games, 1000% sure.

The only thing i wonder now is how big the tragedy needs to before people will get it.

RE: sorry
By kleinma on 3/14/2011 2:30:58 PM , Rating: 2
It is also a matter of community. Back when I used to play endless hours of Counter Strike (and CS source when it came out) we had our own server and a strong community of at least 50-60 people who were always playing (plus the dozens of randoms). So much that we used to have people waiting like an hour for a spot to open up to get into the server (lucky for us admins we had slot reservations). We enojoyed playing so much because of the people we were playing with. I didn't even ever know any of them personally, just cool people who were into the same game.

Even with the improvements to xbox with the party system, it is still cumbersome to try to have that same experience. So when I play COD black ops, I have to hope and pray I get decent people on my team who try to play the game as a team, and not a bunch of numb nut idiot kids who are just trying to rack up stupid points and rewards. I play for the enjoyment of playing, not for the end game.

I think the xbox live player matching system needs try to group people of similar ages somehow, that would likely improve the online experience.

RE: sorry
By Breakfast Susej on 3/14/2011 3:26:05 PM , Rating: 3
Well you know, I'd like to think it's the games too, I mean I used to be just as into it as you. I still remember playing quake 1 death-match alpha test for the first time on my 486 over a 14.4 modem with a friend.

I played all the FPS's of the day, Quake, Quake2, Quake3, UT, was pretty good at them too. I remember that feeling when you got on a roll and all was right with the world and it felt like you were on fire, you just couldn't be stopped and you topped the scoreboard and it felt awesome. There was always the casual good hearted trash talk among the lan buddies.

Man so many good memories from the lan days. Gaming till 3, 4, 5am. Downing cases of caffeine, pigging out on pizza, taking breaks to head over to the living room and watch whatever movie was on and joke around... Good times.

But now it just isn't the same. First off I game till like 9pm and feel like a whiny old man and want to go to bed. And well, who LAN's anymore?

I had a talk with a friend from high-school the other day and I came to the realization we had become those crusty old gamers we used to laugh at, when we were death-matching it up in quake and they were talking about their atari.

I'd like to think it's the games, but man, I don't know for sure.

