Call of Duty creator Vince Zampella has used guns, rockets and robots fuelled with intense graphics to keep millions of people playing his video games. Dong Nguyen needed only one crudely drawn bird.
The retro-style mobile game Flappy Bird, which Mr Nguyen has said took just a few days to make and brought in as much as $50,000 a day, propelled the unknown Vietnamese developer to rock-star status. The game, which Mr Nguyen has since removed from app stores, put a spotlight on the power of simplicity. As players of the bare-bones app will attest, trying to fly a pixelated bird through a network of pipes can be as addictive as the sensory overload of a first-person shooter.
Video games are often measured by their deep storylines and eye-popping action, but smartphones are changing the game. Now, publishers are tailoring titles to a much wider audience that isn’t tethered to a sofa and is often on the go. And that has broadened what constitutes innovation in game design.
“The mobile audience is humongous, and there are so many developers out there that now you begin to see a lot of experimentation,” says David Helgason, the chief executive of Unity Technologies, which licenses tools for game developers. “Some games like Flappy Bird can be over in 10 seconds, while other games you see are much deeper.”
Mobile developers have been early adopters in data analysis, giving them another leg up on the console competition. Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds might look unsophisticated, but don’t be fooled. Behind the simplicity are special game mechanics or back-end analytics that prompt users to purchase add-on items to help them advance in a game at just the right time. Add in metrics to determine what aspects of the game aren’t resonating with players, along with the ability for developers to quickly make changes, and you have software that can be improved over time.
Mr Nguyen did not respond to an email request seeking comment. He has said Flappy Bird could return with changes based on user feedback.
“Analytics are now an essential part of the culture,” says Bertrand Schmitt, chief executive of mobile marketing company App Annie. “Optimisation is now deeply integrated into any game, letting developers know how many minutes someone plays, where they get stuck, what levels they like to play over.”
With Flappy Bird, getting stuck is kind of the point. The innocent-looking game is notoriously difficult to play – and that has hooked millions. Earlier this year, Flappy Bird rocketed to the top of the charts on Apple and Google’s app stores.
Most game critics don’t consider Flappy Bird innovative. However, if innovation is measured by the amount of disruption it causes, Flappy Bird scored high. Few games in recent memory have garnered as much fascination, suspicion, love and hate, including death threats tweeted at Nguyen. When he announced the game’s removal on Twitter, Nguyen said the attention “ruins my simple life.”
q&a the game anyone can play
Tell me more about Flappy Bird?
The game has inspired hundreds of clones. Nguyen went to great pains to distil what was so accessible yet irresistible about the games he loved as a kid, particularly those from Nintendo. He envisioned a diversion that anyone could play but few could master during the daily commute, with “one hand holding the train strap,” according to an interview in Rolling Stone.
So is there still innovation in gaming?
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is excited by the promise of virtual reality headsets, as his $2 billion deal for Oculus VR illustrates. And the popular shooter game Titanfall, developed by Call of Duty creator Zampella, has been lauded for its frenetic game play, which lets users don jetpacks and hop into robots in an ever-shifting melee.
What is the outlook for new games today?
Pachter said Titanfall will probably sell less than King Digital Entertainment’s mobile puzzle game, which logged about $1.48bn in sales last year. Nintendo has said it’s considering a new business plan after seeing poor sales of its Wii U console. Zynga’s FarmVille game ruled Facebook for a time but has struggled as gamers shift to mobile.
What’s the secret to survival then?
Zynga chief executive Don Mattrick has his 2,000-person company focused on what’s called “the Starbucks test.” All of their games should be quick enough for people to play while standing in line for coffee, yet have enough depth to occupy hours of their time on a couch at home, he said.
business@thenational.ae
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
Facebook | Our website | Instagram
Company%20Profile
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
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The five pillars of Islam
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8.15pm (UAE)
Sunday: Chelsea v Southampton, 6pm (UAE)
Matches on Bein Sports
Schedule for Asia Cup
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)