Lightning Round #8

Game Over for Flappy Bird!

Game maker Dong Nguyen warned that he was going to remove the ad-based tapping game from app stores on Saturday.  

Flappy Bird was removed from app stores on Sunday, just hours after its creator warned that the popular game's demise was nigh.

The free smartphone game for iOS and Android took the mobile market by storm, reportedly earning $50,000 in ad revenue each day. Flappy Bird had been download upwards of 50 million times and earned 47,000 reviews on the App Store.

After Flappy Bird secured the No. 1 spot on the App Store and Google Play Store late last month, several media outlets attempted to explain our fascination with the ad-based tapping game, which sported a pixelated art style inspired by Super Mario Bros. However, all that attention proved too much for Dong Nguyen, the app's creator.

Nguyen tweeted Saturday that he would remove the game from the app stores on Sunday, saying that he was overwhelmed by the game's success:  

Nguyen went on to tweet that he would continue to make games but that Flappy Bird was not for sale. The Hanoi-based game maker is reportedly working on a simple take of the jetpack endless runner, made popular by games like Jetpack Joyride.

Confessions Of A Flappy Bird Addict

Just a quick game. It only takes a second. I, I need to beat my high score. That stupid bird. DAMMIT! Ok this time I’ll do better. DAMMIT! Alright the ad distracted me. F*CKKKK! I was doing so good. NOOOooo!

I don’t know why I want to play FlappyBird. Why it’s the first thing that pops into my mind during the cracks between day-to-day life, whenever something is hard or I have a moment to wait. But I just need to hear the sweet sound of those coins racking up, like playing Mario as a kid. Nothing else matters as long as I stay between the pipes.

I mean, I’ve played others before. Yet after so many smooth difficulty curves there’s something so seductive about Flappy Bird. It humiliates me, but I like it. It’s the dominatrix of mobile games.

The beauty is there’s no commitment. I don’t have to wait to see if I succeed. No investment lost if I fail. The reinforcement so utterly immediate, I crave the constant judgement. There’s no months of worry about a performance review like at work. There’s no necessary consideration about whether I saved enough lives to beat the boss like in other games.

Each pipe passed washes away all the sins before it.

Each time I start over, there’s no baggage to carry, no permanent record to weigh me down. Just that score, and the lust to exceed it. To beat my friends. To beat myself. To conquer something frustrating the rest of the world.

But to what end? Where am I flapping to? Will I one day float out past the sea of pipes and arrive at that distant city in the clouds? My Bespin paradise?

No. There is no congratulations. No secret ending. No cute victory animation to watch when it’s over. The pipes are infinite. There was no puzzle. No narrative. No point. It was designed to occupy our attention in the name of entertainment. For some, it delivered that escape. But there is no satisfaction. A new high score begets desire for a new high score. All we get is anotherdopamine hit.

Perhaps that’s why Flappy Bird’s creatorDong Nguyen tweeted “I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.” The only way to win is not to play, and he knows we can’t quit on our own.  

Story by Josh Constine (@joshconstine)

Your Guardian Angel Cover

Lightning Round #6

Xbox Box shipped early for some through Target

 

UPDATE: And both the ebay listing and the unboxing video have been taken down.  The YouTube unboxing video has been taken down following a "copyright claim by Microsoft Corporation." However, the twitter account for @R3TR0_G4M3R_69 has a link to YouTube video (http://youtu.be/6yVBaJwl8gk) is still active.  

A shipping error may have turned out to be very beneficial for a few lucky people who ordered their Xbox One through Target.  

 

One person, who goes by the twitter handleMoonLightSwami posted the YouTube unboxing video below. He claims that he ordered the Xbox One through Target, and they shipped it today, a full two weeks before the system's official launch.

Although the system is purported to require aday one patch to function, Swami's twitter account says the patch is currently available and he is able to get online

Another enterprising recipient of an Xbox One is selling the unit on eBay for the less-than-reasonable buy-it-now price of $10,000, as reported by Kotaku. However, the listing is currently inactive, with the message: "This listing was ended by the seller because there was an error in the listing."  

GAME OVER VIDEOGAMES TO PURCHASE ATARI CORP FOR $13 MILLION

April 1, 2013

WORK BEGINS ON NEW "ATARI LEGACY" GAME CONSOLE WHICH WILL PLAY EVERY CLASSIC ATARI GAME EVER MADE!

Austin,TX - Atari is one of the legends of the video game business having been the first blockbuster game console ever mass produced. In the beginning, this company seemed unstoppable. Sales were off the charts in the 70's, then sadly crashed back to Earth in the 80's. Atari has been in and out of bankruptcy many times since its creation, but never did things look so dire for the iconic company as their most recent bankruptcy filing a few months ago. It seemed the gaming legend was finally about to be gone for good.

Then entered GAME OVER VIDEOGAMES and its founder, retro video game super fan David Kaelin with a last-minute plan to buy them out and save Atari from bankruptcy. The offer was accepted at a closed door meeting last week, and the deal is now officially completed, and Atari is now a fully-owned subsidiary of Game Over Videogames, Inc. This Austin, TX based independent video game store chain focuses primarily on classic & retro videogames, and they have been growing and expanding rapidly across Texas over the past 7 years. For Kaelin, the timing was just "a perfect fit for us as we're looking to expand into the hardware business..."

He even contacted his close personal friend, original Atari president and founder, Nolan Bushnell, to get his blessing before moving forward with the deal. Nolan told David that he would be happy to help saying, "whatever it takes to keep Atari alive and connected with its rich history absolutely, I support 100%. I know David well, and he's a good man, and what he's done with Game Over Videogames in such a short time is amazing. With this purchase, I am confident that Atari will be in great hands now and forever." What at one time was a billion-dollar company was sold in its entirely to Game Over Videogames for a mere $13 million in cash - "not cheap, but a fantastic deal considering the historical brand value - plus, the marketing of the Atari name and logo alone is worth many times that number," says Kaelin.

Kaelin has already outlined his framework for the massive turnaround he has in store for Atari. First, all current projects will be scrapped, and Atari will begin to immediately reestablish itself by returning to its roots - retro video games. Design and engineering work is already well-underway on an amazing and ambitious new project called the "ATARI LEGACY". This dream console for any video game collector will play the original cartridge games from 9 different classic Atari systems from the original 2600 up to the final console, the Atari Jaguar CD. The full compatibility list includes: 2600, 5200, 7800, XE, 400, 800, Jaguar, Jaguar CD, and Lynx. On the software side, the new Atari will also aggressively work with indie/homebrew game designers to release BRAND NEW titles in classic cartridge formats. Already in the planning stages are Atari 2600 versions of "E.T. 2: Finally out of the Ditch" and "Joust 3: SUPER Angry Birds". WOW!

This new "ATARI LEGACY" system will also sport original controller ports for the die-hards, and it will add Bluetooth support for using any current off the shelf wireless controllers, HDMI 1080P with 3D capabilities for use with even the most advanced 3D LED TVs on the market today, plus, it will sport a classic Atari look complete with thick black ridges on top and a wood-grain panel on the front. This will truly be a beautiful console to proudly display in any retro gamer's home entertainment center. Don't have any of the classic cartridges anymore? Well, no problem - Game Over Videogames sells those too! Plus, the console will also include an Android based operating system and 100GB hard drive to download and run any current mobile apps & games (such as Angry Birds, Pandora, Netflix, etc.), indie/homebrew games, emulators, etc. as well as built-in Ethernet and wifi adapters to allow web-surfing on your TV. Major content deals are in the works with all major cable and network TV stations, and full DVR capabilities are included.

It's hard to believe that after almost 40 years, Atari is coming BACK to take over our living rooms again! GAME ON!


For more info, please contact David Kaelin at Game Over Videogames - 512-459-4263 david@gameovervideogames.com

Game Over Videogames is a classic & used retail video game store chain based in Austin,TX.
For more info about Game Over Videogames, visit:
Facebook - www.facebook.com/GameOverVideoGamesUSA
Twitter - www.twitter.com/gameovergames
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