Zynga CEO and founder Mark Pincus just took the stage here at D10, and in a wide-ranging interview with Kara Swisher, he sidestepped conversation about Words With Friends and Farmville long enough to touch on the murky world of console gaming. In a bid to quell any potential surprises at E3 next month, Mark said outrightly that his company is not interested in getting into the console world. “We’re aiming for you,” he said while pointing at Swisher. “We’re going after the mainstream market. There’s too much friction [in the console world].”

He also made clear that he tries to not look too far ahead of where the world really is. When talking about the undeniable shift to mobile, he made clear that there’s still a huge amount of desktop traffic on Zynga’s games — “lots of people play while bored on conference calls at work,” he quipped. It’s an interesting viewpoint in a world where PSN and Xbox Live Arcade has given independent developers all new distribution platforms to reach users, but it also highlights the outfit’s intrinsic attachment to Facebook in particular.

Continue reading Zynga CEO Mark Pincus says ‘no thanks’ to console gaming, isn’t worried about a life detached from Facebook

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus says ‘no thanks’ to console gaming, isn’t worried about a life detached from Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Putting the squeeze on those hardware specifications has lead to several more app casualties on Microsoft’s ever-growing mobile platform. Unfortunately, it includes one of mobile gaming’s biggest hitters: Angry Birds. We gave installation a go on our own Lumia 610 and were met with the unfortunate message seen above. According to WindowsPhoneApps Spanish, it’s not the only one affected by the reduction in RAM on these lower-priced smartphones. PES 2012 won’t run on the lower-specced smartphone, while videocall app Tango also joins its rival Skype on the no-go list.

Update: Nokia’s confirmed that Rovio is, indeed, working on an optimized version of Angry Birds for the Lumia 610, though an exact release date is still up in the air.

Angry Birds and PES 2012 join Skype: won’t work on Windows Phones with 256MB RAM (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yeah, yeah, we all knew that Rovio was doing gangbusters with Angry Birds series, but here’s a little number to put it all into perspective: one billion. That’s how many times the slingshotting birds have been downloaded, when you add up all of the titles and all of the platforms. Naturally, the company made a video to celebrate the accomplishment. You can find it after the break.

[Image credit (McDonald's Sign): Alexis Bea / Flickr]

Continue reading Rovio marks one billion downloads, untold pig casualties across Angry Birds games

Rovio marks one billion downloads, untold pig casualties across Angry Birds games originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rovio has announced that in 2011, it made a huge $106.3 million turnover and a whopping $67.6 million in profit (before tax), showing that flinging feathery fowl is a very serious business. Fueled by the success of Angry Birds, Seasons and Rio, the company grew by a factor of eight in the last year, from 28 employees all the way to 224. The company adds that the three games were downloaded 648 million times and are now used by 200 million daily users, while sales of merchandise contributed to around 30 percent of the total revenue. The report adds that the only barrier to future profits is if people stop buying new smartphones, but we’re not sure that’s likely to be the case for a while.

Continue reading Rovio makes a Mighty Eagle’s $68 million in profit in financial squawk

Rovio makes a Mighty Eagle’s $68 million in profit in financial squawk originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 15:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It helps to be free on the fastest-growing mobile platform, but that shouldn’t draw all the attention away from Rovio’s latest announcement. It’s space-based reinvention of Angry Birds has now topped 50 million downloads in under 35 days, breaking its (and presumably everyone else’s) record for mobile game downloads. In Rovios’s own way, it recently thanked eager gamers for their consistent downloading support by slathering ten additional levels on both the iOS and Android version last week.

Angry Birds Space hits 50 million milestone, smashes it, crushes pigs in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To the surprise of no one, Angry Birds Space has ballooned into a casual gaming phenomenon — a feat that Rovio has somehow managed without the aid of a BlackBerry PlayBook audience. RIM announced today, however, that fans of its deeply discounted tablet can now hop on board the train to space pig payback, for the low, low price of $3, that is, unless you’re saving up for that 4G version we’ve been hearing about…

BlackBerry Playbook joins the Angry Birds Space bandwagon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mario and Zelda (amongst others) creator Shigeru Miyamoto was in Paris to promote the launch of the Nintendo 3DS as a guide in the Louvre. While company executives have previously dismissed and decried smartphone gaming, Miyamoto was asked about his favorite non-Nintendo game and for the first time, admitted that Angry Birds is his favorite. He said that he can tell Rovio is “having fun developing the game” and that it has a “very creative side,” that was “inspiring us to try even harder, and create even more unexpected new things.” Except for those moments when he steps into the hallway for a spot of pig-smashing, as you do.

Shigeru Miyamoto admits he’s a fan of Angry Birds, just like the rest of us originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If your smartphone Sunday lacks the holiday flair you were hoping for, Microsoft is serving up a basket full of economically priced Easter eggs. Seven Xbox Live Windows Phone games have shed their premium pricing for the weekend, letting patient gamers pick up titles like Angry Birds and Max and the Magic Marker for the standard 99 cents. Other titles in the hitherto unannounced sale include Burn the Rope, Doodle God, Toy Soldiers: Boot Camp, IonBallEX and De Blob. Just in time for folks who need more than bunny-shaped GPS routes to celebrate Easter.

Microsoft discounts Xbox Live for Windows Phone games for Easter, offers iOS / Android prices originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh no! The evil pigs of purchase inhibition taken the valuable eggs of smartphone desire and captured them within a complex structure. Fortunately, there are a number of powerful birds that can be slung through the air, space or various sets of children’s movies to smash down the structure. Why can’t they just fly through the air since they’re birds, you may ask? Gee, you sure ask a lot of questions. Just plunk down your $0.99 and gear up for in-app purchases for these valuable premiums.

Continue reading Switched On: Angry Nerds

Switched On: Angry Nerds originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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