Rovio Hits Back at Nintendo: Angry Birds "Not Disposable"

Angry Birds developer Rovio has come out swinging against Nintendo as executive Peter Vesterbacka denied that cheap apps are "dangerous and disposable."

In an address at this week's Game Developers Conference, Vesterbacka said that Angry Birds, despite costing only 59p, will be a constantly-updated title that will continue to offer new content as part of a "service," rather than a "static" product.

"There were some comments by Nintendo, that $0.99 apps are destroying the industry, and making games disposable," Vesterbacka said, referring to a statement made by Nintendo US president Reggie Fils-Aime in February.

"We don’t regard Angry Birds as disposable content. That’s why every few weeks we update the game. More levels, more content. Though games publishers and studios say that social media is a really important element to its business, at Rovio we really mean it.

"When you look at the pricing, there’s no point denying it, $0.99 is the App Store price. But true value comes from updating. Games today are more about turning something static into a service. Websites that never get updated aren’t usually very popular. Ones that always shift are."

The ironic thing, is that Angry Birds is set to appear on Nintendo's 3DS handheld. We wonder, following the rather strange price hike PlayStation Mini users are experiencing with their port, whether Rovio will be able to provide constant updates or maintain its compelling price point for those 3DS users.

Source: Develop