For the maker of Angry Birds, everyones favorite time waster, it actually took 51 tries before they created the perfect casual game. Wired UK has an excellent profile of how the company battled back from bankruptcy to become one of the hottest entertainment companies in the world. Its more inspiring than youd expect.
Ive long thought casual games are like pop songs. Everyone knows roughly what theyre supposed to sound like, but getting everything just right is stupendously unlikely. Since nearly every single casual game or pop song wont be a hit, the key skill seems to be the right ear (or fingers) to feel when something isnt good, but great. Or maybe you just have to get lucky.Alexis Madrigal is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and the host of KQEDs Forum.
They Knew He Had a Hit When the Turkey Burned
“We thought we would need to do 10 to 15 titles until we got the right one,” said Rovio cofounder Niklas Hed. Then, one afternoon in downtown Helsinki, Rovio’s 2006 hire Jaakko Iisalo, a game designer, presented a screenshot to the board of executives. In the two months prior, he had presented hundreds of ideas. This idea showed a cartoon flock of angry-looking birds. According to Niklas, “people saw this picture and it was just magical.” Thousands of changes and eight months laterafter almost giving up on the projectthey finally finished the Angry Birds game. However, Niklas had to witness a unique occasion before realizing they might have a hit. That happened one evening when Niklas saw his mother overcook Christmas turkey dinner because she was preoccupied with finishing the Angry Birds game. She doesnt play any games, said Niklas. I realized: this is it. 4.
After he had hundreds of other ideas, Iisalo had the brilliant idea to create a game where the players were angry birds. Perhaps it was a passing thought. But he drew a picture of it and presented it to the decision-makers; Niklas remarked, “It was magical.” Everyone seemed to know this was it.
As Mr. Hubbard wrote, . When resources are scarce, more creative thinking is needed to achieve efficient management. Rovio was short on resources. To get out of the muck, they needed a clever idea, and they had one. Ideas can seem airy and sometimes worthless. They are easily invalidated. It’s crucial to keep in mind that a brilliant idea has the potential to become pure gold if it is appropriately acknowledged and pursued.
For the maker of Angry Birds, everyones favorite time waster, it actually took 51 tries before they created the perfect casual game. Wired UK has an excellent profile of how the company battled back from bankruptcy to become one of the hottest entertainment companies in the world. Its more inspiring than youd expect.
Ive long thought casual games are like pop songs. Everyone is generally aware of their expected voice, but it is extremely unlikely that they will sound exactly perfect. The ability to recognize when something is excellent but not great seems to be crucial because almost any casual game or pop song won’t become a hit. Or maybe you just have to get lucky. In addition to hosting KQED’s Forum, Alexis Madrigal is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.
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