Vietnamese game makes gamers’ world feverish
The Flappy Bird mobile app has topped the App Store and Google Store charts (Photo mashable.com)
Flappy Bird is very special because it has been created by a Vietnamese independent game developer who lives in Hanoi - not the big guys like Rovio or Zynga.
The latest news on international newspapers said Flappy Bird may turn the developer, a young Vietnamese man, into a USD millionaire.
Tech Crunch wrote that Nguyen Ha Dong, the developer, has three apps listed in the top ten free apps on App Store, in which Flappy Bird has always been on the top position, while it does not need any ad campaign to become popular.
Experts commented that the game uses simple graphics, bringing gamers back to the 8-bit game era of 1980s, but it is the most difficult game that gamers have been facing so far.
Gamers have to touch the screen to prevent the hovering birds from dropping into the pipes like in the familiar Mario game. However, Flappy Bird can bring a completely new experience.
No one could imagine before that there would be so many comments about Flappy Bird. Gamers and well-known technology experts have said on games and technology journals that gamers need to be very patient when playing Flappy Bird, or they would throw their mobile phones into the wall.
With Flappy Bird, gamers can share their scores through Facebook or Twitter or easily invite friends to join the games. All these things have helped create a “Flappy Bird wave”.
The Vietnamese game has raised the curiosity all over the world, especially when the game developer remains “hidden”.
Local newspapers have found that Dong, 29, is now running a private studio, GEARS, headquartered in Vietnam. Dong said he has been working in the field for four years.
To date, he has been focusing on developing simple games which takes only several minutes to play on mobile phones or tablets. However, there is a principle Dong has to follow that the games must be both difficult and funny.
Some global technology websites have tried to contact Dong through Twitter, while Forbes and Tech Crunch say that Zynga is considering buying Flappy Bird from the developer, willing to pay multi-million dollars.
Meanwhile, Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon has quoted its US sources as saying that Flappy Bird brings 50,000 USD everyday to its owner from ad revenues. Flappy Bird is a free game. There is a small space on the screen reserved for ads, which is the main source of income for Dong.
However, no Vietnamese newspaper can contact Dong to confirm the information. Dong only revealed the high figure of revenue, about 1 billion VND (48,000 USD) every day at an interview given to The Verge.
Also according to The Verge, there has been 50 million downloads and 47,000 comments on App Store, the same figures as the other well known software pieces like Evernote or Gmail.
Besides Flappy Bird, the other two games by Dong have also been a favorite, including Super Ball Juggling and Shuriken Block.
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