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Tag: Angry Birds

  • Rovio Partners With Hasbro For Even More Angry Birds Toys

    Anyone who has casually perused a toy store lately can attest that the Angry Birds brand has grown to become one of the largest current toy brands. The birds and their pig nemeses can be found on everything from plush toys to lunch boxes – and there is even an Angry Birds-branded soda.

    This wildly successful merchandising didn’t come about by chance, however. In the three years since the release of Angry Birds, Rovio has strategically partnered with companies to put their brand in the hands children in both Europe and the U.S. – and they won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

    Rovio announced this week that it has expanded its licensing agreement with Hasbro. The toy company will continue to manufacture Angry Birds toys, including ones related to the lucrative Angry Birds Star Wars property.

    “Angry Birds is one of the most recognizable entertainment franchises in the world and we’re thrilled Rovio has chosen Hasbro as its premier toy and game licensee,” said John Frascotti, CMO at Hasbro.

    In addition to the Hasbro deal, Rovio also announced that it intends to expand its merchandising reach with even more partnerships. The Finnish company has partnered with Power A to provide mobile and video game accessories, with Thermos to create Angry Birds storage containers, and with Pez to create new Pez dispensers. In addition, Gemmy Industries will be creating inflatable toys and Halloween costumes, while Natrol will create Angry Birds multivitamins for kids.

    “We are thrilled to have these companies onboard with us,” said Naz Cuevas, SVP of Global Consumer Products Licensing at Rovio. “We are committed to developing great products for our fans with our dedicated partners, resulting in even deeper retail integrations.”

  • Angry Birds Star Wars Adds Lando Bird, New Cloud City Levels

    It’s finally happened. Over six months after Angry Birds Star Wars first topped mobile gaming charts, Rovio has finally released an update that includes a Lando Calrissian bird.

    The new character comes as part of the Cloud City episode released back in March. The “Lando Bird” appears to shoot out triple blaster fire.

    In addition to the new levels, new “power-ups” have been added to the game, and will be scored separately. Rovio also promises an “epic boss fight” – and who could that be other than the porcine Darth Vader himself?

  • Angry Birds Star Wars Travels To Cloud City

    Back in January, Rovio released a new expansion for Angry Birds Star Wars called “Escape from Hoth.” The level pack covered the first half of The Empire Strikes Back, and now a new expansion finishes the story.

    Rovio announced today that the Cloud City level pack is now available for Angry Birds Star Wars. Players can look forward to new levels, new gameplay features, and even a new character from this level pack:

  • Explore Cloud City in an all new episode!
  • Battle your way through 20 new Bespin levels!
  • Introducing steam gameplay mechanics.
  • Unlock the new Boba Fett Missions by collecting all 5 hidden rocket packs, via promotion code, or via in-app purchase!
  • Brag about your trophies using the new Twitter integration!

    • The Boba Fett pig sounds awesome, but I feel like there’s a missed opportunity here for a Lando Calrissian bird. It would be even better if the bird was voiced by Billy Dee Williams. I can dream, right?

    Putting my unattainable dreams aside, you can grab Angry Birds Star Wars from Google Play and the Apple Appstore today.

  • Angry Birds Star Wars About To Get Cloud City Episode

    Angry Birds Star Wars will soon get a Cloud City episode. Rovio teased the episode on YouTube:

    No release date for the episode is given, but Rovio says to stay tuned for the official Cloud City gameplay trailer, coming to MTV and GameTrailers on Monday.

    Fans recently saw the release of 22 “Escape From Hoth” levels.

  • Angry Birds Creators to Release The Croods Game

    Rovio and DreamWorks Animation today announced that they have teamed up to create a new game for mobile platforms. Rovio is best known as the creator of the Angry Birds games. The new game will be base on DreamWorks’ upcoming movie The Croods and will be released to Android and iOS platforms on March 14.

    “Rovio set the industry standard in mobile gaming with Angry Birds, and we believe their massive community of active users will go wild for The Croods,” said Chris Hewish, head of Global Interactive at DreamWorks. “We’ve developed a close and collaborative relationship with Rovio in which our world class filmmakers created an incredible piece of custom animation on the home screen that introduces players to the game’s beautifully rich aesthetics.”

    Judging from the previews of the movie, The Croods doesn’t appear to be the next Shrek or Kung Fu Panda, but Rovio’s skill at developing mobile games and marketing products based on them is unparalleled. The last time Rovio created a movie tie-in game was with Fox in 2011. Angry Birds Rio went on to become a mobile hit and eventually a part of the Angry Birds Trilogy.

    The companies have released a trailer for the new game, which unfortunately contains no gameplay or even a hint at what type of game The Croods will be.

  • The Angry Birds Visa Card Is Now A Reality

    Back in November, news came out that Rovio had partnered with Kaiku on Angry Birds prepaid Visa cards. Today, Kaiku announced the launch of the cards, which come in four designs.

    The cards are available in: Red Bird, Yellow Bird, Bomb Bird and Bad Piggies – the basic designs you would want.

    Angry Birds Credit Card

    “We’re excited to be working with Kaiku on this fun new way to bring Angry Birds into the physical world and fans’ everyday lives,” said Rovio CMO Peter Vesterbacka.

    Kaiku CEO Jon Round added, “Kaiku’s partnership with Rovio allows us to continue taking our prepaid Card to a broader audience by empowering consumers with differing needs to maximize their financial future. The collection of Kaiku Angry Birds Cards will not only resonate with the vast number of Angry Birds’ gaming fans, but also consumers who are looking for a smart and affordable financial option in a dynamic and colorful prepaid card.”

    I’m not sure at exactly what point Angry Birds became a true pop culture phenomenon. It was certainly quite some time ago, but between this and the upcoming cartoon series, it looks like it won’t be going away anytime soon. Oh yeah, there’s also a movie coming out.

  • Bad Piggies Hit The Road On Wednesday

    Bad Piggies, Rovio’s fantastic Angry Birds spinoff, hasn’t been getting as much love as its Star Wars inspired cousin recently. That’s all going to change tomorrow, however, as Rovio has a beefy updated planned for the game.

    Rovio announced today that Bad Piggies will be getting an update called Road Hogs tomorrow. The update adds 30 new levels and new time attack modes to the game. Beyond that, it’s still the same wonderful game from last year that proved Rovio is more than just a one-trick pony.

    By the time you complete all the new levels in Road Hogs, the new Angry Birds animated series might be airing. I’m not entirely sure what the cartoon could possibly do with such bizarre characters, but at least there’s a precedent for bizarre video game cartoons.

  • Angry Birds Cartoon Series Premieres March 16

    Today Rovio, the creators of the Angry Birds and Bad Piggies games, announced that a new animated cartoon Angry Birds series is coming soon to computers everywhere. From the Rovio announcement:

    What makes Bomb Bird so angry? Why is the King Pig the King Pig? And are those mischievous piggies ever going to get hold of the eggs?

    It’s time to find out!

    The cartoon, which evidently takes place on “Piggy Island” and stars both the pigs and angry birds, will premiere on the Angry Birds Toons website on March 16 and 17. New episodes in the series will be coming weekly.

    A trailer for the series was also released by Rovio today. It shows that, thankfully, neither the pigs nor the birds will be speaking in the cartoon. Also, breakdancing piggies.

  • Angry Birds Harlem Shake Video Proves This Meme Needs to Die

    Following on the heels of Groupon, Google, Facebook, and even Nintendo, Angry Birds developer Rovio has released its own “Harlem Shake” video. Not only has Rovio released a Harlem Shake video, but it appears to take place outside during the Finnish winter, where the temperature was almost certainly well below freezing when the video was shot.

    If there could be possibly be a clearer demonstration that the Harlem Shake meme needs to die, this writer can’t think of one. There are already tens of thousands of such videos up on YouTube, which is far more than enough. Of course, as we learned earlier this week from actual residents of Harlem, none of these videos even represent the real Harlem Shake.

    Rovio claims that the video is a celebration of 1 billion views on its YouTube channel. The truth is, though, that the company is simply following the new unspoken rule that every office with a YouTube channel has to release a Harlem Shake video.

  • Angry Birds Trilogy Sells Over one Million Copies, is Coming to Wii U

    Angry Birds is popular. How popular? Well, what if I told you that Rovio has managed to take its first three mobile games, package them for consoles, price them at $20, and sell over one million copies?

    That’s precisely what Activision and Rovio have announced today. Angry Birds Trilogy for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo 3DS has sold over one million copies worldwide.

    The game, released last fall, combines Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio. DLC for the title that provides over 100 new levels has already been released for the title.

    Since the title has seen such success on consoles, Rovio has now decided to put Angry Birds Trilogy on all modern consoles. The developer has announced that the game will be coming to Nintendo’s Wii and Wii U consoles sometime during 2013.

    “It was certainly satisfying to see Angry Birds gameplay adapt so well to other platforms in 2012,” said Petri Järvilehto, EVP of Games at Rovio. “The features specific to the Wii U are very intriguing to us, so we’re excited to release this version to fans.”

    No doubt the Wii U’s touchscreen GamePad controller will be better suited to the Angry Birds game design than more standard console controllers. Also, off-TV GamePad play would provide an experience similar to the one people can get on smartphones. For Free.

  • Angry Birds Star Wars Gets 22 New “Escape From Hoth” Levels

    Rovio today added the new “Escape from Hoth” levels to Angry Birds Star Wars. The new levels follow the events of The Empire Strikes Back after Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and C-3P0 narrowly escape Darth Vader on the surface of Hoth.

    The new content features 20 new levels inside the “Hoth” planet that was unlocked back at the end of November. There are also 2 bonus levels to unlock. Players will be facing flying Mynock pigs and Rovio even teased “an epic moving boss fight.”

    The game has also been updated with a “Coming Soon” tease for the upcoming Cloud City levels. Those levels can’t come fast enough, as far as I’m concerned, as the two things Angry Birds Star Wars is missing is a Lando Calrissian bird and a Boba Fett pig.

  • Angry Birds Space Update Brings Watery Complications

    One of the best things about Rovio and the Angry Birds franchise is that even though there are now a handful of Angry Birds games, the developer doesn’t neglect older titles in the series. New levels and features are almost constantly added without the extra charge often associated with add-on content for other games.

    Today, Rovio released an update to Angry Birds Space, which some players may have forgotten about in the wake of Angry Birds Star Wars. The new levels are part of the “Pig Dipper” episode (get it?). Water has been added to the planetoids, throwing another complication onto the gravity-well puzzles already seen in the game. From Rovio’s announcement:

    Welcome to the Pig Dipper in Angry Birds Space! This bizarre galaxy is filled with water planets, strange aquatic life and worst of all — Bad Piggies in boats! Use the unique physics of these water planets to set up some fun trick shots and send the birds careening through water. And get ready for the ultimate underwater boss level! We’ve also got three brand-new power-ups with their own leaderboards.

    Thirty new levels come in the Pig Dipper pack. Some of the new power-ups can be seen in the trailer for the update. They include a Terence (the largest bird) that splits into a flying v of five birds and the ability to make pigs buoyant.

  • 8 Million Angry Birds Games Were Downloaded on Christmas

    The popularity of the Angry Birds Franchise was understandable when the original game debuted just over two years ago. It’s a simple game that offers a perfect, bite-sized progression for bus rides or toilet trips.

    Now that the game has inspired a theme park attraction, a Star Wars tie-in, a feature-length movie, however, it’s beginning to seem as if Angry Birds wasn’t simply a trend in mobile gaming. In fact, it seems that the Angry Birds franchise is becoming more popular than ever.

    This week, Rovio announced that over eight million copies of Angry Birds games were downloaded on Christmas day alone. As they point out in the handy infographic below, that’s nearly one game for every other new mobile device activated on Christmas. Throughout the week of Christmas 30 million Angry Birds games were downloaded.

    It appears that Rovio is counting downloads of Bad Piggies, which is an Angry Birds spin-off. It’s also unclear whether downloads of Amazing Alex were counted, though that number wouldn’t make up much of the 30 million downloads.

    Assuming Rovio makes at least a dollar for each download (through the app price or through advertising), it’s clear that mobile gaming has become serious business. Gaming companies such as Nintendo will soon have to come to grips with the new reality of gaming and offer their classic titles on mobile platforms other than their own.

    Angry Birds infographic

  • Angry Birds Rio Gets Power-Ups in New Update

    What started as a movie tie-in has become a full-fledged member of the Angry Birds game line-up. Angry Birds Rio may have been released almost two years ago, but Rovio isn’t a developer that leaves their customers wanting for updates.

    Soon, Angry Birds Rio will getting its latest update. In the past Angry Birds updates have usually only meant new levels to conquer, but the developers have been experimenting with a different playstyle lately, putting power-ups into the Facebook release of Angry Birds Star Wars. Similar new power-ups will now be available in Angry Birds Rio, giving players’ birds all kinds of crazy South American-themed powers.

    Players can have their birds don a fruit hat and shake things up with “Samba Burst” confetti, put explosives across the level with a “TNT Drop,” and cause general mayhem with other new power-ups.

  • Angry Birds Trilogy DLC Released Today

    Angry Birds Trilogy DLC Released Today

    Rovio, the creators of the highly popular Angry Birds franchise today released the first downloadable content (DLC) for the recently released Angry Birds Trilogy.

    The “Anger Management” pack will feature 130 new levels from mobile episodes such as Ham ‘O’ Ween, Wreck the Halls, Birdday Party, and Piglantis. The DLC is available for $5 over the PlayStation Network or 400 Microsoft Points through Xbox LIVE. No word yet on whether the new content will be released for owners of a Nintendo 3DS copy of Angry Birds Trilogy.

    The Angry Birds Trilogy was released back in September as the console version of the Angry Birds franchise, which had traditionally been only on mobile platforms, PC, and Facebook. The game combines the first three Angry Birds games – Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio – into a single package for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Nintendo 3DS.

    As usual, Rovio has launched their new offerings with a short trailer packed with previews of the “Anger Management” DLC.

  • Angry Birds Star Wars Released For Facebook

    Rovio announced today that its popular Angry Birds Star Wars game has been released as a Facebook app. The new app has been “upgraded” to take advantage of Facebook’s social networking capabilities. The game now features social leaderboards, tournaments, and new power-ups.

    “It’s all the fun of Angry Birds Star Wars taken to the next level,” said Petri Järvilehto, executive vice president of Games at Rovio. “You get the great Angry Birds Star Wars gameplay for free, plus you can compete against your friends to see who is the ultimate bird-flinger and Jedi Master.”

    The game still features all of the same Star Wars-inspired birds and levels, though only the Tatooine levels are unlocked at this time. The Death Star levels are labeled as “coming soon” and there are no signs of the Hoth levels to be found.

    Weekly tournaments will be staged with five new levels released every week. Tournament winners can receive in-game rewards, such as the new power-ups.

    The new power-ups are the blaster droid, saber sling, and thermal detonator. The blaster droid sends a small blaster orb sailing along with a bird. The saber sling greatly increases the distance birds can be flung. The thermal detonator is self-explanatory. In addition to the power-ups, a new “Clone Bird” ability gives players the chance to duplicate a bird of their choice.

  • Angry Birds Movie Coming Summer 2016

    While celebrating the third anniversary of the release of the original Angry Birds game, Rovio announced today that its popular franchise will soon become a motion picture. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters in the summer of 2016 and some big-name Hollywood execs have signed on to produce the feature.

    While the Angry Birds movie will be produced and financed by Rovio, John Cohen, the producer of Despicable Me, has also signed on to produce the flick. In addition, David Maisel, the former Chairman of Marvel Studios and the executive producer of Iron Man, has signed on to be the executive producer of the Angry Birds movie.

    “John’s an exceptionally talented producer, and we’re delighted to have him join the flock,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “With John’s hands-on producer background and David´s expertise in establishing and running his own successful studio, these two are the dream team for making a movie outside the studio system. Both professionals have the ideal skills and vision to achieve incredible things.”

    Before producing Despicable Me, Cohen was vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox Animation.

    “I’m so excited and honored to be working on this film with Mikael, David, and Rovio’s incredibly talented game developers and artists,” said Cohen. “From both an entertainment and strategic perspective, Rovio is at the forefront of game innovation and is trailblazing terrific new ways for Angry Birds fans to interact with these characters. I’ve personally spent countless hours playing the Angry Birds games over the last few years, which I can now happily justify as research for the movie.”

    Rovio is producing and financing the movie itself to make sure it stays in full creative control of the project. Though the Angry Birds brand has spawned games, books, toys, and even a Star Wars tie-in, this will be the first movie Rovio has made. Judging by the quality of nearly every movie based on a video game, the Angry Birds movie could easily be the best movie based on a video game ever made.

  • New Angry Birds Star Wars Hoth Levels Out Today

    Mobile gamers have already conquered Sand Piggies on the sands of Tatooine, stormed the Death (Pig) Star, and completed their Jedi training on Dagobah. Those eagerly waiting for new frontiers to explore and destroy in Angry Birds Star Wars will have to wait no longer.

    Today, Rovio released new levels for their Angry Birds/Star Wars crossover game. 20 new levels will let players take control of the birds during the snowy Battle of Hoth. The content will feature new piggies and pig-styled AT-AT walkers. The levels begin with the imperial invasion, so no wampa cave, unfortunately.

    It is also debut of a new bird that was previewed before the game was even released. The Princess Leia bird is equipped with a GFD device that acts as a tractor beam to pull down the evil piggy empire’s contraptions.

    Though the content is officially released today, Rovio has stated that it will be rolling out to different platforms over the next few days.

    Hopefully Rovio will continue to support Angry Birds Star Wars so that players will be able to crash the cloud city and duel a porcine Darth Vader in the carbonite chamber. Also, a Lando bird needs to happen.

  • Forget Coke, Angry Birds Soda Is the Favorite in Finland

    In the States, you’ve probably seen your fair share of Angry Birds-themed products; maybe some Angry Birds gummy candies or Angry Birds plush toys. The game, which hit the one billion downloads mark this summer, truly is a global phenomenon.

    But if you think we love Angry Birds here in the U.S., just wait until you hear this little factoid about people living in Finland.

    According to Rovio CMO Peter Vesterbacka, Angry Birds soda is the most popular drink in Finland – more popular than Coke of Pepsi. He dropped this tidbit during a talk at the Slush conference, currently taking place in Helsinki. According to Vesterbacka, the themed soda will soon be moving to New Zealand and Australia as well.

    Angry Birds soda currently comes in four varieties: Angry Birds Tropic, a tropical fruit-flavored drink; Angry Birds Paradise, a mandarin & pineapple-flavored drink; Angry Birds Lagoon, a apple & pear-flavored drink; and Angry Birds Space Comet, a orange & cola-flavored drink.

    Of course, the popularity of Angry Birds and Angry Birds-themed merchandise in the country fo Finland shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering that the game’s makers, Rovio, are Finnish.

    [via The Next Web]

  • Angry Birds Star Wars Path of the Jedi Trailer Released

    Rovio released a new trailer today for Angry Birds Star Wars, featuring an avian Yoda. The video highlights the Path of the Jedi levels, which can be purchased in-game.

    Anyone who has already played Angry Birds Star Wars has seen the tempting Path of the Jedi levels, with the crashed slingshot-X-wing on top. After the introductory level, a message pops up, selling the levels for $2. However, Rovio stated in the trailer below that 3-starring all of the other levels in the game will also grant access to Dagobah.

    When the Path of the Jedi levels are all beaten, the Luke bird gets his lightsaber upgraded. From the video description:

    Once you’ve made it to Dagobah, beat all 40 levels to unlock the green Lightsaber – It’s more powerful than the blue one, and Luke can use it throughout the rest of the game. Yay!

    Of course, if you 3-star all of the other levels to unlock the Path of the Jedi, there won’t be much else to do in the game after obtaining the green lightsaber. Players will have to wait until the Hoth update is released for new content. Then the Wampa limb removal can begin.

  • Angry Birds Star Wars Out Today, Cinematic Trailer Released

    Today is the biggest day for Star Wars fans since the huge news last week that Lucasfilm was sold to Disney for $4 billion. Rovio has officially launched Angry Birds Star Wars. The game is now available for download for iOS, Android Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, Windows Phone, and Windows 8.

    “It’s a banner day for us,” said Peter Vesterbacka, CMO of Rovio. “This is our best Angry Birds game yet, and we’re excited for our fans to finally meet Luke, Leia, and the rest of the gang! But it’s more than just a game launch: we think fans are going to just love the new animated trailer and the Angry Birds Star Wars products, sure to be a big hit this holiday season.”

    The game pits the birds (playing “good” Star Wars characters, such as Luke, Han Solo, R2-D2, and Obi-Wan) against the evil piggy empire led by Darth Vader – the “Dark Lord of the Pigs.” Players will slingshot the birds across 80 levels, from the deserts of Tatooine to the trenches of the “Pig Star.” Players can also opt to “train” their skills on Dagobah and forge a new lightsaber for Luke on the “Path of the Jedi,” which is a $1.99 in-app purchase. In addition, the first free update to the game will feature the Battle of Hoth.

    “We can’t wait for fans around the world to experience the fun of launching the Angry Birds characters into the Star Wars universe,” said Colum Slevin, head of Studio Operations for Lucasfilm Ltd. “This is the kind of creative partnership that has helped Star Wars remain vibrant and beloved for over 35 years.”

    The companies released a cinematic trailer to accompany the launch. It shows the Mos Eisley Cantina scene as imagined in the Angry Birds universe.