An intimate chat with Futuremark about the Rovio acquisiton

primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
edited March 2012 in Gaming
An intimate chat with Futuremark about the Rovio acquisiton

Comments

  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    Rovio is to 2012 what Namco was to the early 80's. I'm old enough to remember Pac Fever, I'm telling you Angry Birds is the biggest gaming pop culture phenomenon since Pac Man, it's that big. Everyone knows Angry Birds, everyone at least kinda likes it to some level, many are obsessed with it, it's bridges age, sex, creed. It does not matter where you are from, eating dots and flinging birds means the same thing. It's a hit the world over. It's bigger than a game, it's a huge franchise, T-Shirts, stuffed toys, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, you name it.

    The difference between Namco and Rovio is huge though. Namco was/is a state of the art technology company. Their hardware designs have done so much to drive gaming forward, they had multiple hits beyond Pac Man. So much so if you look at the Playstation, it probably had more to do with Namco than Sony. Namco arcade technology was the basis for much of what they were able to do to keep their company in the forefront. This is why the FGS purchase makes so much sense for Rovio. Rovio needs the guys at Futuremark, guys with real technical chops and know how to extend their ideas into the future. Angry Birds is a phenomenon, but it won't last forever. FGS gives Rovio something they need to continue to build their brand beyond Angry Birds.

    Will Rovio have thier Dig Dug, Galaga, Pole Position, Tekken? Time will tell.
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    I just have to say that I don't like Angry Birds, granted I have never played it. Simply looking at it I have no desire to even touch the app. Then when I think of all of the older games that I enjoyed that Angry Birds is based off of I get excited........and go spend hours playing them again.

    I do not feel sad seeing FGS bought out. I started playing SH again a few weeks ago. I was rather distressed because there were only 3 servers up, and 1 would crash after several matches. This fact is slowly wearing on me and I am almost back to hosting a SH server simply so there is more choice and a more stable server. I used to go to LANs and host a server even if I knew no one else had the game simply to put it out there. Hosting at QuakeCon and only having 5 people play on it at random times during a week was more about the laughs than supporting the community. When people like Amped21 and JR stopped playing SH is when it was really apparent the game was having death throws.

    Rovio right now is a one trick pony, Angry Birds in space...............nice business plan.

    I love SH. There is no question that the game won my heart. Having that first year of sponsorship from FGS was cool, and the surprise on Prime's face.
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    @_k_ - You can't ignore the fact that Angry Birds is a huge commercial success where Shattered Horizon as wonderful as it is, it's a flop that nobody plays.

    Just imagine, if you take that Rovio think tank and marketing muscle and get the guys from FGS that actually know how to build a technically satisfying game. The only thing better than a Shattered Horizon type of experience, is a Shattered Horizon experience people will actually know about and want to play. My bet is these two will put their heads together to make an amazing product.
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    @Cliff_Forster Yup I know SH is a flop. The community knew it and was more focused on staying together and tight, we felt like there was some directions that were a negative to the life of the game.

    The SH team at FGS can work quickly and they have a sense of humor. They had a new hire that screwed up some code and caused a serious bug but when they found out what was changed and who did they posted an News Alert about not trusting the new coders and how so-and-so was going to be buying a few rounds that night at the pub.

    But I diverged. These guys take an idea and execute to make something new but not necessarily popular. I don't really see this being a great fit unless these guys are reined in.
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