Hurrah for Entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio.
Games are something almost every computer user plays... but is Rovio's Angry Birds a social phenom? Will it have staying power? Where is the economic model to pivot and twist into a global brand... that helps to build the connected brain tissues amongst us. While we have to take hats off to Mighty Eagle, Peter Vesterbacka, the game is still a one person event. This is true of most games and while I added the story from Forbes to profile their wonderful success I question their logic when they say ''We think we can be bigger than Disney in China.'' (PV).
In the recent Forbes article below it states that "It took Rovio nearly eight years and 51 tries to lay this golden egg." You have say one thing about those overnight successes, they are sometimes hard fraught and equal to the determination of a bird trying to build a nest in a windstorm on the side of a cliff... but where is the social event? As you walk up the aisle of an airplane before take off you will not see so many Solitaire games or people playing Sudoku as you will birds being pitched at pigs... What is the social aspect of this? Do we sit around the coffee machine at Starbucks and compare scores with our Barrista? So while these phenoms will come and go they represent little in terms of opportunity for social marketing. Without the connected tissues between us to develop they will die and go on to other one trick ponies. It is this thing we crave, showing off to our friends and 7th grade girlfriends that we are cool and smart and that we know what is the next big thing that drives us onto these social stages (I think). Sure you can do product placement... OK and even make a game of your app or service to entice people to "play along". But I think these are bumps in the road to the real interest and to the staying power of building additional connected brain tissues between and will otherwise fade-away as when we all had the need to have everyone talking on a CB radio while we are driving along (hey that might come back with google+... but really). I think something like Foresquare or other adventure games are more likely to succeed over time. Is this a one trick pony? How many of you have asked Groupon to stop sending you their daily emails?
Great article:
