Angry Birds developer Rovio is earning itself a reputation as a bit of an egotistical studio lately, and these latest comments from business manager Peter Vesterbacka are unlikely to change that opinion. After all, he takes a considerable dump on both Nintendo and Microsoft.
“It’s interesting to see people like Nintendo saying smartphones are destroying the games industry,” he boasted. “Of course, if I was trying to sell $49 pieces of plastic to people then yes, I’d be worried too.”
Vesterbacka’s comments toward Microsoft were in response to its complaints that Angry Birds was taking forever to come to home consoles: “Is that our fault? No, that’s their problem. There is no reason why, when you do digital distribution on console, you couldn’t do frequent updates. It’s just a legacy way of thinking. And if the consoles want to stay relevant they have to start mimicking what’s going on around them on app stores, smartphones and online.”
Harsh words indeed, though there’s some salient points made under all the dickitry. Nintendo and MS both should study the mobile market and see what they can do to match its accessibility. On the other hand, Rovio itself should probably keep the ego in check and realize that one big success (and its many ports) does not make you the messiah of the industry.
