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Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

polygon.com

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Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#111

Post by Reedx »

alexcroox wrote: post #65
tsunamifury wrote: post #22

This story is incredibly reductionist to the point of being false. Flappy Bird tells you nothing about what the 'People' want. Today they want a single button physics game, tomorrow they want hardcore shooters. Some people want RPGs, others want micropayment sandboxes. They problem is that everyone is trying to copy the dumb luck of developers who happen upon the right mix of categories at the right moment in time. O…

Not to mention a certain Youtuber with a bazillion subs put it in front of a lot of kids who love to share it with their friends.

Apparently it was already #1 on the App Store before that, though. Pewdiepie's video was 10 days afterwards: http://tabtimes.com/feature/tablet-game-business/2014/02/04/...

It's bizarre that the game has been out since May 2013, didn't do very well, and then suddenly went viral 8 months later. It'd be fascinating to see what exactly kicked it off.

Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#112

Post by cdcarter »

ricardobeat wrote: post #77

Badland, a very successful title [1], has the same game mechanics, along with beautiful graphics, a great physics system and well-designed puzzles. It's been around for a while, so why is 'Flappy Bird', with borrowed Super Mario graphics, overshadowing it? Free vs $3.99. [1] http://www.badlandgame.com/

Flappy Bird doesn't have any puzzles.

Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#113

Post by Mikeb85 »

codeka wrote: post #51

This is an interesting point on the rise of Flappy Bird: http://www.bluecloudsolutions.com/blog/flappy-birds-smoke-mi... "When you release games in MAY (Shuriken Block) and JUNE (Flappy Birds) that have a non-existant launch, then magically lift off 6 months later, it looks weird. Especially when your other games coincidentally all do so at the exact same time as well."

What's so strange about that? Sometimes games take a while to spread via word of mouth, and when a developer finally has a hit, people generally look for other games by the same developer.

For a similar example, look at PSY (Korean rapper/pop artist). He had an entire career and was completely anonymous to western audiences, even though he was very talented. Yet he eventually was recognized. He wasn't a brand new artist - rather an almost retired one who released a satirical song that went viral...

Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#116

Post by MPSimmons »

btbuildem wrote: post #37

Yes exactly: the game doesn't try to sell you shit, just lets you play. That is refreshing and eerily quiet. Other than that, it has some winning elements: it's difficult but not impossible. You can play it for 30 seconds or 30 minutes. It is simple. It has a goal you can endlessly pursue. It tickles the nostalgia of all those who grew up on games that this game "borrows" the visuals from.

The only reason anyone plays Flappy Bird is because you can restart instantly. If you imagine another click between dying and restarting, it suddenly becomes incredibly harder to like the game, or get that fast twitch response.

Instant gratification in this case is instantly trying again.

Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#117

Post by robmcm »

Reedx wrote: post #111
alexcroox wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention a certain Youtuber with a bazillion subs put it in front of a lot of kids who love to share it with their friends.

Apparently it was already #1 on the App Store before that, though. Pewdiepie's video was 10 days afterwards: http://tabtimes.com/feature/tablet-game-business/2014/02/04/... It's bizarre that the game has been out since May 2013, didn't do very well, and then suddenly went viral 8 months later. It'd be fascinating to see what exactly kicked it off.

Malcolm Gladwell would love to get his grubby little hands on that fact!

Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#118

Post by kosei »

fiesycal wrote: post #102
jaredklewis wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's all true, but I still think that if anyone (indie, AAA, or otherwise) knew they could have the no 1 spot in the app store simply by making Flapper (a relatively small investment to develop), they would have done it. Even if the game is free, the publicity alone is worth a huge amount. But nobody knew.

I feel like you're saying if indie, AAA knew the lottery numbers for next week they would have bought a ticket. Which of course they would have. But I don't see this game as something that is repeatable. It seems literally like winning the lottery, whether or not you can get a simple game in the app store to be such a success. So I don't see the value in saying that nobody knew. In the same way saying someone didn't…

Exactly. Just the same way that every music label would make "Gangnam Style" and "Friday".

Re: Flappy Bird is proof that no one knows what the audience wants

#119

Post by baddox »

jaredklewis wrote: post #70
jonnathanson wrote: post #66

"The big players in the AAA sector believe the people want military shooters and open-world games full of the old ultra violence." A lot of people do want those things, which is why "Call of Duty" and "Grand Theft Auto" make billions of dollars every sequel. "The indie community believes that what people really want is experimental games with heart and a unique visual sensibility. And puzzle platformers. And roguelik…

I don't disagree with most of your post, but I still think the basic message of the blog post is valid. Obviously, if developers in AAA or indie sector knew that this kind of huge success could be had with a game like this, they would have made it. But it's humbling to consider that no matter how long people make games, nobody knows the formula for the making next big hit. I don't think he's trying to say that AAA or…

There's a huge difference between AAA developers and indie developers. To say that a AAA dev would make games like Flappy Bird if they knew it would work is like saying a teacher would have chosen a career in underwater welding if he knew how lucrative underwater welding is.
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