Flappy Bird Creator Reveals Why He Pulled the App, 'Considering' Returning Flappy Bird to App Store

[phillipduran]

Of course. Because everything is that simple.

Do you know every app, every person, every single thing your child does on a weekly, daily, hourly, and by minute basis?

Pretty much yes. It's called good parenting in the information age.

Logs on my modem show all visited sites.

No cellular access only WiFi.

Shared iTunes account with auto download setup.

Random checks on iDevices.

Talk to kids to make sure they know what is expected of them.

More spot checks.

No social, anonymous sharing apps.

So far. All is clean. Been checking at random unexpected times when they had no idea I would find them. Grab device, check all histories etc.

They are getting older now and have had an excellent track record. Now I'm starting to transition the responsibility over to them and loosening the controls.

They know they are accountable and they act accordingly.

It has been a lot of work, but what is more important than being a parent that is there and actively parenting? What's more important than taking the time to talk to your kids and understand what they are doing and to let them know what you expect of them.

 

[LagunaSol]

Pretty much yes. It's called good parenting in the information age.

You forgot one of my favorite Internet parenting tools of all: OpenDNS. Priceless. (And free.)

 

[bradl]

This guy is an attention whore and a buffoon. If he did this out of fear of people getting addicted, where people have to take care of themselves, plus the void added tons of flappy bird clones. If he did this to get media attention, well he dropped his ability to earn 50,000 a day, as well as created a void THAT HAS BEEN FILLED WITH FLAPPY BIRD CLONES, which makes his comeback useless.

Either way it goes, he sacrificed $50,000 a day, as well as created a void for other developers to fill, so his return wouldn't have much meaning to anyone.

Thank you for proving my point. I could say more, but you can refer to my first post in this thread for that.

I will say this; with his explanation, he walks away with respect and his character intact. You walk away with negativity, capitalist-inspired cynicism. I would take his former over your latter any day.

The cynicism in this thread just shows the type of jerks this guy had to deal with constantly after just making a hit game. Of course he misses the money and of course all the negative attention freaked him out.

I think a person's reaction to this story is a good litmus test of being a sociopath. If you can't empathize with this guy's story – even if you would have handled it differently – there is something wrong with you emotionally.

Not every game should be built this way, of course, but there are lessons to be learned. It would also go a long way to show humanity... sometimes you're not being a discerning skeptic. Sometimes you're just being a dick.

This, and then some.

BL.

 

[rhett7660]

The article says that he is still making money from the app, even though it is no longer for sale? How? Merchandising?

Ad money...

Whoops someone else beat me to it....

 

[koban4max]

hell no fool! don't come back. I got money to make!!

 

[Kenrik]

There's no money in clones, even free ones. Source: I made FB a clone. http://appstore.com/floppydodoflappyfree

 

[Nunyabinez]

We all know (or know of) people who were ruined by wealth. It doesn't require a master's thesis to point out.

Perchik: Money is the world's curse.
Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover.

 

[Pakaku]

It is a simple game, but, very original. It make me think that those fancy stuff in other games may not be necessary.

Original idea is hard to get.

The thing is that it's not so original. It's really just Helicopter with a bird avatar.

 

[amaximapps]

Who wants it now, when so many clones are in the App Store now! And many of them are better than the FB.

 

[Zellio]

Thank you for proving my point. I could say more, but you can refer to my first post in this thread for that.

I will say this; with his explanation, he walks away with respect and his character intact. You walk away with negativity, capitalist-inspired cynicism. I would take his former over your latter any day.



This, and then some.

BL.

You have no point, except to make excuses for somebody who made a bad decision and wants to come back. And if he does, what respect and character does he have?

If it's so difficult, how come all of the other guys who made millions off of games on iOS just up and quit?

If he was just quitting, why announce it to the world? Why not just quit? You call this character? This is called 'attention whore'. You have a very delusional view of the world.

 

[subsonix]

The cynicism in this thread just shows the type of jerks this guy had to deal with constantly after just making a hit game. Of course he misses the money and of course all the negative attention freaked him out.

I think a person's reaction to this story is a good litmus test of being a sociopath. If you can't empathize with this guy's story – even if you would have handled it differently – there is something wrong with you emotionally.

The saddest part from all this is that people aren't taking lessons from this game's success. It's not a "fluke" or a crap game. He had a very simple game with a perfect touch mechanic that could be consumed in bite size pieces, that was just the right difficulty to keep people wanting to get further... no huge budget... no gimmicks... no convoluted gameplay... no "social hooks" (built-in for social networks anyway). This is a very well executed twitch game that was built the way games should be built – on the back of a fun prototype.

Not every game should be built this way, of course, but there are lessons to be learned. It would also go a long way to show humanity... sometimes you're not being a discerning skeptic. Sometimes you're just being a dick.

So if someone doesn't agree with your particular point of view here they are, jerks, sociopaths, lack humanity and are dicks. Good job!

I don't see any examples of people calling the game crap here, just perhaps questioning if the guy's completely honest about his motive. I mean it IS completely contradictory to claim that you want to get a way from media exposure, then do a Rolling Stone interview. I hope you can see that. With that in mind, it's not strange that a discussion about it erupts where people speculate about the ins and outs of the story. Perhaps the guy's motives are completely noble, I don't know him, but then again, neither do you I think.

 

[Zellio]

So if someone doesn't agree with your particular point of view here they are, jerks, sociopaths, lack humanity and are dicks. Good job!

I don't see any examples of people calling the game crap here, just perhaps questioning if the guy's completely honest about his motive. I mean it IS completely contradictory to claim that you want to get a way from media exposure, then do a Rolling Stone interview. I hope you can see that. With that in mind, it's not strange that a discussion about it erupts where people speculate about the ins and outs of the story. Perhaps the guy's motives are completely noble, I don't know him, but then again, neither do you I think.

No, apparently to these people rushing to defend this guy, 'character' is leaving due to not wanting press, all while announcing it to the world, then announcing that he may be returning in Rolling Stone.

If this guy had true character he would've quietly left.

 

[bradl]

You have no point, except to make excuses for somebody who made a bad decision and wants to come back. And if he does, what respect and character does he have?

He thought about the addictiveness of the game, and how it would affect people's lives, and for the worse; causing familial issues, ignoring of their children, and an addiction to a game not really seen since Tetris. He at least had the empathy and respect for the people who were getting addicted to his game to stop it so others won't fall into the same trap. He showed sincerity and caring for them, while what you've concerned yourself with is only the money that comes along with it.

Again, thank you for proving my point about the cynicism, negativity, and capitalism shown by people in this thread.

If it's so difficult, how come all of the other guys who made millions off of games on iOS just up and quit?

Perhaps money was their only driven goal; they got theirs, so why should they worry about the consequences that others are having because of it?

"It's all about me."

He realized that there is more to it and life, than "it's all about me". Some people, including those in this thread, find that hard to believe.

If he was just quitting, why announce it to the world? Why not just quit? You call this character? This is called 'attention whore'. You have a very delusional view of the world.

See the above about character. As for announcing it, given the popularity, do you honestly believe that with that many people downloading it, there wouldn't be calls for a sequel, or an entire line of Flappy Bird games? If anything, the mass of clones that hit the App store should tell you that answer.

You call it "attention whore" because you don't understand the fact that there is more to this life than just money, fame, and fortune. Even the richest man in Babylon was poor; it surely wasn't money that made him rich.

BL.

 

[Zellio]

You honestly believe that from a guy who says he hates the press and goes and announces to everyone what he does? You are naive beyond recovery.

And as far as what people say, ever heard of cojones? If you cannot function as a person doing what you enjoy doing because somebody said something on a web forum, then how exactly are you going to be capable of doing anything?

Spare us the BS about what somebody in a web forum says. And also, spare me your judgement and assumptions on me because you are too naive to understand an attention whore from a person who actually works for the fun of it.

Ever heard of a guy named Nikola Tesla? That is a guy who was actually somebody who did things because he enjoyed them and not for money.

 

[garylapointe]

Couldn't he have just said this back then...?

How hard would it have been to have given this explanation a few months ago?

Gary

 

[kerrikins]

Honestly, can people stop crapping on him for this? You'd think that he owed us a lifelong dedication to the app or something.

It's a game, it doesn't matter whether he pulled it because he felt that it was too addictive or whether he stubbed his toe and had a tantrum. People calling him names is ridiculous and he doesn't OWE us an explanation. People who downloaded the game still have it. I must have missed the part where in the App store it stated 'developers must give ongoing explanations as to every move they make and any decision to take down an app'.

Considering how much attention the app was getting - and still gets - I'm not surprised that he gave an interview. The amount of ongoing negative emotion directed at this guy over a stupid game is ridiculous.

 

[bradl]

You honestly believe that from a guy who says he hates the press and goes and announces to everyone what he does? You are naive beyond recovery.

And as far as what people say, ever heard of cojones? If you cannot function as a person doing what you enjoy doing because somebody said something on a web forum, then how exactly are you going to be capable of doing anything?

Spare us the BS about what somebody in a web forum says. And also, spare me your judgement and assumptions on me because you are too naive to understand an attention whore from a person who actually works for the fun of it.

Ahem:

You have no point, except to make excuses for somebody who made a bad decision and wants to come back.

You have a very delusional view of the world.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

BL.

 

[Zellio]

Ahem:



Pot. Kettle. Black.

BL.

Is there a point to this quote?

----------

Honestly, can people stop crapping on him for this? You'd think that he owed us a lifelong dedication to the app or something.

It's a game, it doesn't matter whether he pulled it because he felt that it was too addictive or whether he stubbed his toe and had a tantrum. People calling him names is ridiculous and he doesn't OWE us an explanation. People who downloaded the game still have it. I must have missed the part where in the App store it stated 'developers must give ongoing explanations as to every move they make and any decision to take down an app'.

Considering how much attention the app was getting - and still gets - I'm not surprised that he gave an interview. The amount of ongoing negative emotion directed at this guy over a stupid game is ridiculous.

This guy is doing most of the attention considering he keeps going to the news about everything he does. How about he stop since he apparently hates the attention first?

 

[GoCubsGo]

This guy is a weirdo. Pull the app or don't. Whatever the reason or the conspiracy theory may be, there are more than enough clones to keep people occupied.

I really respect this guy.

The fact that the Macrumors community so strenuously disagrees with me is maybe a sign that I don't belong here anymore.

Does anyone really belong here? You're going to base your existence on a website on whether or not people agree with you? It makes zero sense.

I have no respect for the guy because he seemingly contradicts himself and I don't know him. It doesn't mean you don't belong here or that I, as a fellow poster, is not meeting whatever inane standard you set for members. The average age of users here is low, consider that. Visit this website or not. You've been here a long time and I've seen a number of your posts so I know you're more than smart enough to make a decision to stop visiting a site without saying it is because people do not agree with your opinion on what has become a fairly silly topic.

 

[Zellio]

This guy is a weirdo. Pull the app or don't. Whatever the reason or the conspiracy theory may be, there are more than enough clones to keep people occupied.

Does anyone really belong here? You're going to base your existence on a website on whether or not people agree with you? It makes zero sense.

I have no respect for the guy because he seemingly contradicts himself and I don't know him. It doesn't mean you don't belong here or that I, as a fellow poster, is not meeting whatever inane standard you set for members. The average age of users here is low, consider that. Visit this website or not. You've been here a long time and I've seen a number of your posts so I know you're more than smart enough to make a decision to stop visiting a site without saying it is because people do not agree with your opinion on what has become a fairly silly topic.

Actually, this guy is probably a genius. IF he is still getting AD revenue, then that would've made his final move where he announced he would take it off the app store would've made him far more then $50,000 a day considering everyone rushed to download it. And then he keeps it in the news by going to places like Rolling Stone.

Either way, he's done enough double talk that nobody who has ever heard enough double talk before could take his motives at face value.

 

[patent10021]

And so the true reason for this BS is known. Was it ever in doubt? Good job marketing Dong. I wish you even more success.

 

[SkippyThorson]

Image

F this guy and F everyone who was possibly blaming him for ruining their lives.

#1- I feel so bad for him... making $50,000 a DAY at one point.

#2- I feel so bad for him... that idiots were opening their stupid mouths complaining about the addiction level of the game.

#3- I feel so bad for him... that he possibly now realizes that he isn't making money anymore because it is not in the App Store.

/rant

This. Exactly.

Plus... A Mini Cooper? Really? How about a BMW M5?

 

[bdkennedy1]

This man is not responsible for your addictions.

 

[inpinotveritas]

What insane thinking people have

Really? Blame the creator of a fun, simple, game for the misery in your life due to your lack of self-control? What a bunch of wussies.

 

[scbn]

Haha...the whole thing is so funny and unexpected.

I still have this game (downloaded after it was mentioned here at MR), and I've never been able to pass 2. I can't imagine how people could get so addicted to it.