Angry Birds: Jobcentre Edition?

In news that wasn’t very surprising, Angry Birds developer Rovio recently confirmed reports that 110 staff members have been let go as they attempt to downsize following a period of stagnation within the company.

Eurogamer reported that the job cuts “amounted to around 16% of [Rovio’s) total workforce” which is sad news for the staff considering the proximity to the New Year, but it still raises a number of questions about how the company is being run – as well as their sustainability in the future.

First of all, why does a mobile developer need a workforce of over 1000?

Let’s be honest. Rovio basically have one game, (Angry Birds) that was (and still is) hugely successful, with over 200m active users as of September 2014, but numbers have been falling since its 263m peak in 2012.

They’ve continued to release numerous versions of Angry Birds over the past years, with an incredible twelve available at the last count with the addition of Angry Birds Stella. In the face of an obvious decline in their user-base, the job cuts make sense - but have Rovio already overworked the golden goose?

Rovio have attempted to expand their portfolio of games, but the results have been reasonably mixed. Retry scored highly, but critics decided The Croods was decidedly average. Either way, none of the new offerings have matched the commercial success of Angry Birds, although of course that would have been near-impossible.

Secondly, I can see why player numbers are dropping. It’s nearly 2015 and the best they have to offer is the same game with a pink bird. Ironically, I haven’t played Angry Birds since 2012 - so I checked a review on YouTube just to make sure I wasn’t missing out. As far as I could see, it was more of the same, with a few extra gimmicks bolted on to the same base game.

Angry Birds will probably be remembered as a cultural icon of the early 2010’s, and it’ll always have a loyal fan-base who will happily download every iteration they churn out, but they've over-saturated the market with their product.

Even Call of Duty can't get away with releasing reskinned games repeatedly. Sales of Advanced Warfare are reportedly down 27% in the US when compared to Ghosts, despite their latest gimmick: mech suits. Last time it was 'realistic dogs'. Do they seriously not understand why people get bored of the same old thing?

Thirdly, Rovio helped to popularise the rise of 'free' apps, and there have been issues with the pricing of console versions of their games. Angry Birds: Star Wars is a 99p iPhone app, currently available for download on the European PS Store for an astonishing £29.99.

The reviews speak for themselves:

"Angry Birds Star Wars is a shameless 50 dollar repackaging of a 99 cent iPhone game. There’s little to nothing added in the console release." GamingTrend 

"Stick with the mobile version and feel sorry for all the poor kids on Christmas morning who’s parents were fooled into thinking this was the must-have PS4 launch title." Hardcore Gamer

Source: Metacritic

Given this shameless milking, it's hard to feel too much sympathy for the company itself. They still have a valuable brand and I'll never forget the first time I saw someone walking around with an AB rucksack a few years ago. I couldn't believe how far they had come in such a short space of time. Unfortunately, you can't take success for granted - and eventually the audience will have enough.

That being said, Rovio still have the opportunity to enjoy more success, but this should serve as both a reality check for now and a reminder for the future. It's great to think big, but never take the audience for granted. 

TNA Wrestling: British Boot Camp II: Finale Review and Roundup

Despite moaning about near enough every episode of BBC, (damn filler) I couldn't help but feel proud as the season drew to a close. The show highlighted some of the best that British wrestling has to offer – and ended with a deserved winner in Mark Andrews.

There was just one match left for the last three contestants to prove their worth, and each brought their A-game as they stepped into the ring for the final time before Dixie Carter’s decision.

Rampage stepped up first, looking comfortable throughout his match against Bram. (Rampage lost, but of course every contestant had to ‘pay their dues’.) Perhaps more importantly, he was solid in the post-match interview, which was a key factor after his dismal promo attempts in the qualifying round.

Rampage has put in consistent, quality performances at every opportunity in the ring during his time on BBC. So much so, maybe I came to expect it from him, which took some of the sheen away during his bouts. In hindsight, he probably hasn't made a mistake in-ring during the process, but he was haunted by his stuttering promo with Samoa Joe.

Mark Andrews was next, facing off against DJ Z. At times, Andrews is simply amazing and his bout raised the roof compared to the first match. He was sloppy in places, but when you consider his age, (22) and his potential he was slowly becoming the obvious choice as winner.

I didn’t actually remember him properly from the first auditions, (even though I took notes) but he forced himself into the limelight with his high-flying antics – and proved me wrong with his winning personality. Andrews said afterwards that he’s had many doubters along the way, (myself included) but I saw the error of my ways after his match, which would easily have passed for a professional bout.

Kay Lee Ray was the last to enter for her contest against Gail Kim. The pressure must have been immense considering the calibre of her opposition, and the first few minutes of the match were pretty flat, which was made worse after the atmosphere during the Andrews fight.

Thankfully, it soon picked up, as Kay Lee showed her bravery and agility numerous times during the match. She even dived through the ropes and landed on her feet in an eye-catching move, and the crowd finally got going after a great technical display at the end that included some nice pinfall transitions. I just don’t understand why they started so slowly.

After the final bout, Andrews had impressed me the most, but the decision was down to Dixie Carter.

She started off by inviting the last six back, to announce that they would all feature at 2015’s Maximum Impact events, including the much hyped (by TNA at least) Al Snow vs Grado match.

Each of the last three were invited to speak with Carter one to one in a last attempt to sway her decision. Sadly, Rampage reverted to type, as nerves caused him to stumble over his words once again, which probably destroyed his chances at the final hurdle.

Whilst the others are relatively inexperienced, they handled the pressure well in comparison - though neither particularly stood out for me.

In the end, she plumped for Andrews, but not before ‘addressing concerns’ or ‘unnecessarily insulting’ all three. She was ‘concerned’ about Andrews’ physical conditioning, but with the right training he could really step up to a new level in the X Division.

Overall, the season has been a great success for both TNA and British wrestling, shining a spotlight on British talent that doesn’t always have the biggest audience, whilst TNA gain another great athlete. Mark Andrews has what it takes to do well in the future, but I could’ve said that about any of the final six.

Hopefully another season will be commissioned, but for now you could spare a thought for the people who showcased their talents during the process. If you live in Britain, there’s a good chance they’ll be putting on quality performances in a venue near you. If you liked the show, it might be worth checking out.

TNA Wrestling: British Boot Camp II: Episode 7 Review

Six contestants, and only three places in the final up for grabs. To help decide their fate, Al Snow and Angelina Love stepped into the ring with the hopefuls to compete in a mixed eight-person tag team match, which was a final chance to show what they had to offer.

As the old adage goes, you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

For the last few weeks I’ve been sure there was a conspiracy to keep Grado in the competition, but as he angrily shuffled off towards the end after being unceremoniously dumped out by Al Snow, I felt nothing but sadness.

Sure, it might’ve been a worked shoot, but Grado, (and to a lesser extent Dave Mastiff) have been my personal highlights of the series. With both sent home along with Noam Dar, I’m not sure if they made the right choice. Then again, I’m not the one handing out a professional contract.

Instead, I’ll just repeat some of the questions and issues that arose (solely in my mind) when I found out the final three of Rampage Brown, Kay Lee Ray and Mark Andrews.

1.        They picked Mark Andrews over Noam? Seriously? Did they actually watch the (painfully boring) eight man match? Yes, he can do backflips, but he oversells every single time. He wasn’t up against Brock Lesnar.

2.        Rampage Brown doesn’t seem to have a single defining feature.

3.       Dave Mastiff was probably always fighting a losing battle to prove himself.

4.       Kay Lee has a really good chance to win this, she’s the real deal.

5.       When all is said and done, Grado will be the one I remember. 

The match itself seems inconsequential in hindsight considering the shock of the eliminations, but it still ended strongly following a powerbomb/sitdown powerbomb combo by Rampage on Andrews that was pretty explosive. Other than that, referee Earl Hebner danced with Grado. It wasn’t a highlight.

(Andrews also pulled off another crazy flip to perfection during the match, so perhaps he can work on his timing, hand placement and selling if he does win the contract. He does have great potential.)

Rampage and Andrews are obviously great athletes, but I wonder if their characters are as well defined as Mastiff and Grado. I can see why they were picked, and either would be a deserving winner, but are they really so different to what TNA already has to offer?

As for Kay Lee, she has a great chance, and she does stand out from the crowd. This time next week, she could be the first female to win TNA’s British Boot Camp. For now, it’s too close to call.