'Flappy Bird' Creator: Game Was Pulled Because It Became an 'Addictive Product'

[3N16MA]

Never got into the game but I understand the simple pick up and play appeal of it. However those who are going crazy over it's removal need to realize it's just a game. There are plenty of simple pick up and play games available in the app store.

Also the game mechanics seem very similar to the profit bird in Jetpack Joyride. By the way, Jetpack Joyride is a simple pick up and play game that has been on iOS for awhile and in my opinion is a better game.

 

[indychris]

Sounds like it's time for the POTUS and Congress to institute a War on Games. I never realized that these mind altering apps were so dangerous!

 

[krewger]

Why is this news? Did we really run out of interesting games to get down to a single controller game with no interactions that claims this much media following? The game is worse than a hipster bargain bin outfit. Let it go. Let's move on.

 

[DEXTERITY]

This dude has mental issues. Games are meant to be addictive (high replay value). I highly doubt anyone was throwing their life away over the game.

I guess his other games will suck as he will purposely make them non addicting. Very odd guy.

If he was so righteous he could keep the game up and donate the profit to charity.

 

[Solomani]

>"I can't take all the attention, I'm going to remove Flappy Bird"
>Gives interview

Gives interview = craves attention

credibility down the toilet

 

[iPhD]

The other 999,999 apps available at iTunes aren't worth talking about. Tell me more about Flappy Bird.

 

[ZipZap]

The developer is full of it.

This was a strategic move. He made a good amount of money then pulled the product so he does not have to support it.

Now if he refunded all the money then I would say he was on moral ground.

 

[danysl]

Why so many haters?

Most comments here are just caused by ENVY. The rest came here manipulated by the media, which create stories out of thin air.

No one can say if its right or wrong for him to pull the app, it was his decision. Deal with it.

In the end the stories are posted as Click bait. We all fall for that...

 

[koban4max]

i didn't think it was addicting...

 

[electronics1201]

The developer is full of it.

This was a strategic move. He made a good amount of money then pulled the product so he does not have to support it.

Now if he refunded all the money then I would say he was on moral ground.

huh? why not assume positive intentions?...oh wait?...im guessing your world is money means happiness?

There are those rare gems in the world...people just makes apps because its fun...if money comes with it..great. But if I am constantly getting tweeted...every blog and talk is about my app...every review is bashing my app and how "addictive and stupid" it is......yes, I would probably get really ..really...really annoyed and pull the app

----------

Seriously. First, a story on how it will be removed. Then a story on how it was removed. Then a story about how it wasn't nintendo. Now this one. PLEASE NO MORE, if we care about the Fappy birds aftermath, we'll google it or go to a game/app blog.

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Now you feel what the developer felt

 

[nikicampos]

Whaaa? Help me understand something. How do you jump to the conclusion it's all about money? You're basing that on what fact exactly? Also you're sort of twisting facts to build your narrative: "Dong pulls FB and now his other two apps are in the top 20". Would it be more fair and accurate to say Dong had 2 other apps already in the top 20 before he decided to pull Flappy? That presents a different picture don't you think?

BTW I am in the same camp. Money isn't everything. It's something. It's a component.

Well kid, then you live in a different world, this is a material world, and yes, everything is about money, almost every company in the world their primary goal is to make money, even charities need to make money to give help, everybody wakes up in the morning and goes to work to make money, people want money so they can do the things that they love like going out, eat at good restaurants, take long vacations, to spend time with their families, to get better healthcare.

Even Dong, if he didn't want money, the app could've been add free.

Yes, believe what you want, but this is a stunt, a marketing scheme, when people don't want attention, they close their Twitter and Facebook account, they don't go around the media crying and saying to leave them alone.

Only time will tell, but you will remember me when the headline reads, "Flappy Bird sold to EA/Facebook/Google in $$$$$$$ millions", or "Flappy Bird up and running in the AppStore and Google Play after creator decided to put it up again".

Don't be so naive.

 

[electronics1201]

Well kid, then you live in a different world, this is a material world, and yes, everything is about money, almost every company in the world their primary goal is to make money, even charities need to make money to give help, everybody wakes up in the morning and goes to work to make money, people want money so they can do the things that they love like going out, eat at good restaurants, take long vacations, to spend time with their families, to get better healthcare.

Even Dong, if he didn't want money, the app could've been add free.

Yes, believe what you want, but this is a stunt, a marketing scheme, when people don't want attention, they close their Twitter and Facebook account, they don't go around the media crying and saying to leave them alone.

Only time will tell, but you will remember me when the headline reads, "Flappy Bird sold to EA/Facebook/Google in $$$$$$$ millions", or "Flappy Bird up and running in the AppStore and Google Play after creator decided to put it up again".

Don't be so naive.

Selling it is different than a "stunt act"...actually I wouldn't be surprised he doesn't sell it. He doesnt have to worry about all the headaches of trying to please everyone ..now all the bashing and "satanic" articles about that app will be on someone else's head

 

[nikicampos]

Selling it is different than a "stunt act"...actually I wouldn't be surprised he doesn't sell it. He doesnt have to worry about all the headaches of trying to please everyone ..now all the bashing and "satanic" articles about that app will be on someone else's head

Stunts like this, for some reason, increase the price, and the fact that he said that it's not for sale, well, at the right price it will be for sale, time will tell who is right.

 

[iSee]

>"I can't take all the attention, I'm going to remove Flappy Bird"
>Gives interview

Too bad that's not what he said.

 

[flux73]

This is an example of one of those stories that becomes famous for being famous. Flappy Bird is the Paris Hilton of mobile games.

 

[69Mustang]

Well kid, then you live in a different world, this is a material world, and yes, everything is about money, almost every company in the world their primary goal is to make money, even charities need to make money to give help, everybody wakes up in the morning and goes to work to make money, people want money so they can do the things that they love like going out, eat at good restaurants, take long vacations, to spend time with their families, to get better healthcare.

Even Dong, if he didn't want money, the app could've been add free.

Yes, believe what you want, but this is a stunt, a marketing scheme, when people don't want attention, they close their Twitter and Facebook account, they don't go around the media crying and saying to leave them alone.

Only time will tell, but you will remember me when the headline reads, "Flappy Bird sold to EA/Facebook/Google in $$$$$$$ millions", or "Flappy Bird up and running in the AppStore and Google Play after creator decided to put it up again".

Don't be so naive.

You're right. I naively thought you could engage in discourse without resorting to complete deflection to further your unsubstantiated point. You either intentionally or accidentally avoid discussing the subject of each post, again, to put forth your theory. I'll try one last time.

1. No Flappy post ever said the guy had a problem with making money. The money issued originated and keeps getting propagated in this forum. If he sells it to EA for $50Billion it means nothing. The guy never said he had a problem with the financial aspect of the app. The people in this forum said he had a problem with the money aspects.

2. No post I made ever said money was not important. I think I said just the opposite. It's important. It is just not the be-all-end-all motivator for everyone. It is a component of people's motivation.

3. Go back through your posts. Try to find one thing that wasn't completely made up. 1 thing that related to topic of the post you replied to. Even on the internet, a conversation with yourself is monologue.

 

[Pakaku]

Or...

If you DON'T CARE about Flappy Birds you can just SKIP THE STORY. Exactly how hard would that be?

The fact that there actually are so many articles lately over this one game, I think that is very troubling.

 

[Zellio]

Where does this guy get off on ruining people's fun without letting them chose to be responsible or not? Must be a liberal.

 

[MattSepeta]

Excuse me for a moment while I regress to a 13 year old:

hhaha "dong" haha

 

[carjakester]

He should have added some kind of restrictions like Candy Crush. You have only 5 lives after which you can play only after 24 hours and of-course without in app-purchase.

people (like me) would have lasted about a minute with just 5 lives!

 

[melendezest]

I don't buy his "good intentions". People that believe that humans are inherently "good" are deluding themselves.

Something else is driving him to pull the app.

Perhaps he made "enough" money, or supporting it takes so much of his time that he finds it to not be worth it.

We'll probably never know, but "good intentions", my a$$.

 

[iRockMan1]

So, according to his opinion, the problem with the game was that it was better than it should ?

Western logic or not, this guy makes less and less sense every time he tries to explain it.

As an independent game developer, I completely understand where he's coming from and respect his decision. Many indie game developers are conscious of the effect games can have on people. Addictiveness doesn't necessarily mean a game is good, and that's not necessarily the goal of a game developer. If it were, we'd all incorporate the tricks slot machines and social games use, but some of us have morals and worry about the true value of our game from a player's perspective. From my understanding, our brains evolved in a fashion to be as productive as possible while exerting as little effort as possible, and games, whether intentionally or not, tap into that by tricking our minds into thinking what we're doing is productive. In my opinion, the role of a good game designer is to use as much of that "trickery" as possible while giving the player's brain something valuable in return.

Here's a talk Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid, gave on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqFu5O-oPmU

 

[macs4nw]

The other 999,999 apps available at iTunes aren't worth talking about. Tell me more about Flappy Bird.

OK! In a nutshell ….Flap….Flip….Flop…..

 

[mrjr101]

Sorry, but I honestly don't believe this game has ruined anyone's life.

All the "Flappy Bird ruined my life!" T-shirts and other things are obviously tongue-in-cheek. I've played the game a few times myself, usually when waiting in line somewhere or when I'm otherwise unoccupied.

There's other reasons behind him pulling the game that he doesn't want to share. Remember the country which he lives in, they have a lot of regulations on the way people can make money; $50,000 a day is enough to attract a lot of attention in Vietnam, not from fans, but from the authorities.

Finally someone who gets it. First Flappy Birds would make me famous and then Flappy Bird is affecting peoples life that's why I pulled it is pure and total BULL CRAP. This guy was told by the commies to remove the game and he did.

 

[chocolaterabbit]

If he was honest instead of trying to claim otherwise, if it was never intended to play on Super Mario then it wouldn't have first been listed in the Amazon App Store under the name "Preson's Mario Bird".

It has remained on offer there and has never been pulled though the screen shots were taken out and replaced with any old screen shots and merely described as a "A very very furstrating and addicting game". It is available here on Amazon's App Store.

Release Date: Feb 2 2014
Nice try shilling your own product, but you're not going to get anywhere with this many copycats. Try harder next time.