Tetris Executive Says Angry Birds Is Cute, Lacks Long Term Appeal

Angry Birds might be a big hit at the moment, making developer Rovio a lot of money in the short term, but the man in charge of one of the best known franchises in the world of video games believes that it takes time to actually create a franchise that can deliver long term success.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, Henk Rogers, who is the manager of The Tetris Company, stated, “Again I like to compare it to a sport, in the beginning it's an activity, like golf was an activity, then it became a sport. I think once people have played it more than 20 or 25 years you can say it's here to stay, it's a sport, it's no longer a fad. Angry Birds is cute and everybody plays it for a while but they get burned out and move on and they will play another game.”

He added, “But Tetris is like Happy Birthday, it keeps on going. Everybody else has games that come and go, they make the hit parade, but these are all temporary. You have to work really hard to get your unknown game to be #1, but when we re-released Tetris it became #1 even though we didn't do any marketing. We have an unfair advantage, I gotta say. I'd rather have the goose that lays the golden egg.”

Angry Birds is one of the biggest franchises in mobile gaming at the moment and has managed to capture the attention of millions of gamers with its mix of simple to understand gameplay mechanics and cute art design.

Rovio has released a number of special edition for the game, from Rio to Magic and Seasons, and the game continues to pick up new players on mobile devices.

Casual games experiences have become more and more important for the gaming industry in the last few years, sometimes eclipsing bigger hardcore titles.