Something is a brewin' for the Angry Birds this Halloween [Video]Something is a brewin' for the Angry Birds this Halloween [Video]

These days, the Angry Birds are almost always up to something. Coming hot off of their tour on the big screen (not that big screen), Rovio has released a teaser trailer for an upcoming update to its mega popular casual game. While we're given no gameplay footage or even a hint as to what version this update will arrive at, we can certainly deduce a lot from this trailer.

The clip sees three tiny blue birds dressed up to trick-or-treat (likely the largely useless cluster birds) come across a spooky camp ground and a bucket with, well, something inside of it. Since the update is undoubtedly Halloween-themed, we're going to guess that this is an update to Angry Birds Seasons. And it almost seems as if a new bird or enemy will join the peeved off little birds.

Remember, this would mark the first anniversary of the Seasons spin-off game, which almost randomly launched as Angry Birds Halloween in 2010. Considering how close we are to the joyous day of gorging on candy and dressing up like idiots, expect Rovio to release more details on this new Angry Birds content shortly.


[Via Pocket Gamer]

Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.

What do you think of the teaser trailer for this Angry Birds update? What type of new feature or hook do you think/hope this Halloween content will bring?

Scam Alert: Sate the urge for Angry Birds on the Android Market wisely

Well, with 500 million downloads it was only a matter of time, right? The Gadgets reports that the Android Market has fallen victim to a scam sullying the good Angry Birds maker's name: Rovio.

The website reports that fake apps and games using the company's name have appeared on the Market, including Angry Birds 3D, which doesn't exist. Shop today with caution.

Luckily, that isn't terribly difficult, as the scammers in question weren't terribly thorough. For instance, a number of the fake games, which will charge your account if purchased, sold by "Rovio" were never developed nor published by the company. Take a look at this list and tell us if Rovio created or published any of the following games:

    Alive 4 Ever
    Call of Duty Zombies
    Angry Birds 3D
    Zombieville
    Zombie Highway
    Tiny Wings
    Catch the Candy
    Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift
    Rat on a Skateboard
    Zombie Gunship
    Resident Evil 4
    Siege Hero

Rovio Mobile Ltd.
Nope, not a single one of these "games" were created by Rovio. Here's the second dead giveaway that this is, in fact, a scam. Check the developer's name attached to each of these games: It simply reads "ROVIO". The official developer name for Rovio on the Android Market is "ROVIO MOBILE LTD." Unfortunately, players who fell for the scam report that they're stuck with broken apps and the so-called developer will not refund them.

The above image shows what games made by Rovio will look like--notice the company name. Regardless, we'd avoid buying the above games at all until Google sorts out the situation. As a general rule of thumb, we'd recommend vetting an app before buying it from the Android Market through--what else?--Google, silly.

[Via and Image Credit: TechCrunch]

Have you ever been scammed through the Android Market? Where do you prefer to purchase your Android games?

Angry Birds maker Rovio looking at $1 billion IPO next year

Thanks to those irate, wingless birds, Rovio is worth lots and lots of money, apparently. Speaking with Bloomberg, the Angry Birds creator's CMO Peter Vesterbacka said, "We're not ready to file for an IPO tomorrow. Maybe a year from now." And speaking to the recent estimations that Rovio is worth around $1 billion, Vesterbacka all but confirmed the guesswork.

Buying a console a few years into it's "lifecycle"

Have you ever bought a console years after it was first released? What are the very first things you do?

Well, for me I have done this numerous times. My Wii and PS3 were late purchases, only my PSP and 360 were day 1(ish).

The first processes into owning a new console are extremely daunting. You start by researching exactly what you'll need, and then you set it up. Those first steps are fine but afterwards? It's hard.

Day one of my PS3 I was overwhelmed by what to buy and what to do. I'm one who can spend up to and over an hour playing around with settings, and the PS3 is very in-depth. From it's wifi to HDMI connectivity, to PlayStation Home and PSN.

Even transfering from Xbox to PS3 was odd, because PSN did things differently, you don't buy anything for a starters and you go through what I deemed to be a primitive sign-up process.

Afterwards, there is the choice of games to buy:

The PS3 is a terrible console because of this. There is MGS, LBP, inFamous, Killzone, the early "hiddem gem" titles like Folklore, Motorstorm, etc. (I should note that I got my PS3 in 2008)

When you have these games the process of "settling in" is still odd because you don't really treat it as a gaming console just yet, it's really new. You may play for a few hours of each game but it's SO daunting, especially if you have a pile of back-purchases lined up.

Even if you "settle in" there is a tough choice if you held onto your previous console : which platform do you buy multiplatform titles for? I chose the PS3 because it was my newest console, it was a decent investment (£320) and the fact is you still need to make a small collection so you have all genres (this may be just me).

Luckily my experience with the Wii was different, for starters getting it online for the update was too simple. Then signing up was simple. There were no extras, the only odd thing was using a motion controller.

With back-catalogue buying of a Nintendo console it's much easier. You get the franchise you like the most, my first game being Metroid Prime Trilogy. Enough gaming to get along with in itself, and then after that it's a case of nitpicking.

Then the choice of buying multiplat games for it was very easy: don't. The wii version is essentially what would be the PS2 version or PSP version with motion controls added.

This is by no means slagging the Wii off, I think that the Wii is great when the game is good but otherwise I do believe my points are valid.

I wonder what your own experiences are of buying a new console are? Did you find it daunting? Exciting? Spent a lot of money? Spent as little as possible? Any problems?

Battlefield 2143 / Final Fantasy X prequel.

The first few games a gamer plays, are the games that have the greatest impact on his/her gaming career. A few years into their career, they look back and remember how they began, in comparison to where they are now. This is where I am at. Looking pretty dull for me now, what with all these shooters that are bringing nothing to the table coming out one after the other, but on a side note, to take sides, I'd have to say that Battlefield 3 is the clear winner. ;)

Anyway, the games that I grew up with didn't really differ from the norm in their day, but were great games none-the-less.

Final Fantasy X, Air Combat, and Battlefield 2142.

For this blog post im putting a focus on nostalgia, and two of those three games in particular.

Final Fantasy X, great RPG gameplay, over 100 hour’s worth, blockbuster story, and over-all a great experience. Likewise with the stand-alone experience of X-2. Anyway, my opinion is that Square Enix is doing everything wrong, FFXIII wasn't exactly the greatest game in the series, graphics don't make a game, along with the desperate upcoming release of XIII-2, and the never to be seen Versus XIII, and we can’t all forget the broken release of XIV.

Final Fantasy X still has a lot of potential. A possible HD collection bundle, and a prequel if the HD collection is successful, based around the Pilgrimage of Auron, Braska and Jecht. It's all hypothetically possible, but whether they do it or not is the question. Truth is, Square would probably earn more doing this, than wasting their money and time building upon the worst Final Fantasy release of all time. I'd frankly settle for a HD collection, and probably get all my nerdy mates to make me a classic gameplay and graphics Final Fantasy X prequel. (For teh s**ts and giggles xD)

Battlefield 2142. Who remembers the awesome Titan game mode? Yeah, I remember spending every afternoon after school playing it with my friends, owning noobs in walking tanks that we just called 'Walkers' and dropping onto enemy Titan's in pods from APC's. Intense Land and Air combat that entertains me, even to this day. A remake of 2142 is the only Battlefield we haven’t heard anything about (Vietnam in BFBC 2, 1943 etc.). Imagine if they were to implement a 2142 expansion pack in Battlefield 3, like they did with Vietnam for Bad Company 2? Fully destructible environments, great graphics, the vehicles we've all come to love, and the classic Titan mode. The thought makes me shiver in excitement...

Another nostalgic hit, that would sell s**tloads, and make gamers happy.

So yeah, I await a Battlefield 214(3) and a Final Fantasy X prequel. Complaints? Did I do something wrong? Mistakes? Wrong information? This is the first of many blog posts, there's bound to be mistakes, feel free to rip me a new one. I strive to get to industry standard eventually.