Hacker News Reader

Comment by rm_-rf_slash | Hacker News Reader

Interesting that you mention Star Wars, because it's one of the few franchises that has been able to continually reinvent itself over the years, while raking it in from various video games, comic books, furniture etc.

Angry Birds tried to do the same. A few years ago you couldn't walk past a park or school without seeing a kid in an Angry Birds shirt or carrying one of those goody stuffed pigs. Only problem is that they milked the franchise without letting it evolve, or invest the profits in other opportunities (they tried, but how can you go from mega-hit to fresh start and hit the same lightning rod twice?). Just like that tacky wall-mounted singing fish, Angry Birds had a typical product lifetime, and Rovio should have expected their one trick pony to obey the currents of time.

View on HN

Except Star Wars is a universe and a huge story, and one which many people connect to. AB is just a dumb game for casuals. I don't think its remotely possible to turn AB into a Star Wars-like franchise. Its amazing to me they've lasted this long or got as big as they got. The casual spending of the lowest common denominator always kinda surprises me.

Who is buying all this stupid swag? Where is it now? I guess its all in landfills after wearing an AB t-shirt or a backpack a few times and getting tired of the novelty. I wish society could have a conversation about novelty and waste. I don't think future generations will judge us kindly.

Meanwhile, I have so much Star Wars stuff in my home, much of it decades old. Comics, old toys in boxes, etc. I think there's a difference between things we value and things that just have a temporary novelty. Sure, I'll die and it'll end up in a landfill also, but it lasted much longer than all the AB t-shirts I saw for sale, pretty much everywhere. Hell, there was an AB vendor outside the Colosseum in Rome a few years ago. This shit is completely out of control.

Angry Birds did not have a heroic epic to hang everything on. Here's its story: pigs steal eggs, then birds get angry and fight back. In the very short period of time that I was paying attention to it, I am not even aware of an effort to name the various birds, much less develop a backstory or personality for them.

Gaming, and particularly mobile gaming, is a hits-based industry. Angry Birds 2 is actually Angry Birds 15. They lasted 6 years, which in the mobile gaming world is a success probably comparable with one show lasting 12 years on television. It was a very good run.

Unfortunately, to achieve real staying power, you have to develop your franchise story, usually across multiple platforms. When people become bored with it, your franchise dies. You have to keep it fresh and at least recognizable in the popular culture for decades, in order to become a permanent fixture. Otherwise, you simply have to make do with the occasional nostalgic revivals.

WoW is a good example of this. It was huge, but so many of us got tired of the expansions and having to do the normal gameplay to get a new character up to a good level. I think they finally redesigned the starting areas, but i think it was a little to late.

For all the intents and purposes, I agree with you re your evaluation of Angry Birds. AB is definitely not on par with Star Wars. Heck, it's not even on equal footing with Super Mario or Pac Man but I am inclined to have a different take on AB merchandise or paraphernalia in general. I think that certain items in that may have collectible qualities and could fetch a good amount of cash some 30 - 50 years down the road from now when they will be sold for future generations who would appreciate the nostalgic appeal of these items derived from this once successful game from late 2000s.

| because it's one of the few franchises that has been able to continually reinvent itself over the years.

There are literally hundreds of such franchises. Just look at this summer's blockbuster lists. And in video games, there are plenty of examples of franchises that have lasted 15+ years (CoD, Madden, etc).

It's just very difficult to know if a franchise will have staying power. Many sequels are tried, only some succeed.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com