Nintendo Not Responsible for 'Flappy Bird' Removal

Flappy Bird fans upset the game has been pulled from the App Store by its developer should not blame Nintendo for the removal, despite similarities to Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. game. Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the game maker had not complained about the title.

In an email to The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa on Monday reiterated previous company statements that the Japanese videogame giant hasn’t complained at all about Flappy Bird's similarities to Nintendo’s original "Super Mario Bros."

"While we usually do not comment on the rumors and speculations, we have already denied the speculation" last week, he [Yasuhiro Minagawa] said.

Reports suggest Nguyen could face a copyright lawsuit and other legal issues in his home country of Vietnam, but the developer has denied those claims. He instead expressed frustration at the attention his game has brought him, pleading on Twitter for the media to "Please give me peace."

Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 4, 2014

Flappy Bird no longer appears in the App Store and is only available to those who downloaded the app before it was removed. Nguyen said he is not interested in selling the game, so it won't return unless he changes his mind. Before it was removed, Flappy Bird was generating $50,000 a day in ad revenue and had been downloaded over 50 million times, according to The Verge.

Top Rated Comments

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nepalisherpa

66 months ago

I'm tired of hearing about Flappy Bird!

Rating: 14 Votes

TwinCities Dan

66 months ago

Ever think maybe MacRumors and their constant coverage and attention to this non-story may have some responsibility in this whole nonsense? Me too.

Rating: 10 Votes

ck2875

66 months ago

Can we get a 'Flappy Bird Blog' tab up at the top if these articles are going to be a regular thing?

Rating: 6 Votes

futbalguy

66 months ago

I am normally a pretty compassionate person, but I almost feel like organizing a campaign to continually spam this guy's social media accounts.

How many people are working their butts off trying to enjoy some level of success financially and this guy pisses it away because it interrupts his quiet life.

And the reality is that he fumbled into success. It was not his programming genius that caused this game to succeed. It was its difficulty on top of simplistic graphics and game play coupled with some social media viral bizarreness.

He's as bad as the movie stars that complain about paparazzi.

I know my insensitivity will anger some, but I did say that I "almost' feel like doing something.

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I think you have some issues. Who cares what somebody else does with their money? Lots of people get a little lucky on their way to success. Lots of people make millions of dollars a year. Lots of people stop working when they are making millions. Money is just a resource. Not to mention, there are downsides to money. Have you seen how a lot of rich famous people end up so ****ed up? You think that is a coincidence? We don't have any idea about his personal life or what is going on with him. We shouldnt need to know. Its his choice what to do with his app.

Rating: 6 Votes

0098386

66 months ago

I am normally a pretty compassionate person, but I almost feel like organizing a campaign to continually spam this guy's social media accounts.

I don't think so :).
The guy's clearly an introvert and just wants to make games without fame. Not everyone is after lots of money and fame. He probably made enough to live a comfortable life for a few years and to have the financial freedom to make whatever he wanted, it's what I'd do.

Rating: 5 Votes

futbalguy

66 months ago

More like Flappy Mouth with this guy... I thought the best way to avoid the spotlight is to get out of it... not keep on talking and stepping back into it.

As far as I know hes only released like 4 tweets and its been a couple of days since his last. He has hardly done anything to stir up the attention. He simply announced he was taking a game down, gave people a day to download it, and then did as he said.

Rating: 3 Votes

Nunyabinez

66 months ago

Read this

You know that is a joke right?

Rating: 3 Votes

phillipduran

66 months ago

You're thinking he should think like you do. He doesn't.

Maybe, he enjoys making games. He does not like the spotlight or the attention and even though he could make money, he values peace and quiet more than he values money. I think I like that trait in a person more than I would like someone who hungers for money.

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What? Why would you be mad that the guy wants a quiet life, even it means he'll have to give up his financial success?

And really, guys, do you seriously think Nintendo will sue him over the pipes? LOL

Seriously, it would be like suing someone for having candy in the title, or saga.

Rating: 2 Votes

shandyman

66 months ago

However, you failed to highlight "normally." I said that I am normally compassionate to contrast with the fact that in this case I am not being compassionate and don't believe this situation deserves compassion.

It appears we disagree, but the fact that I don't think that this guy deserves our sympathy doesn't mean that I go around kicking dogs.;)

If you are that much of an introvert, don't make a product for public consumption.

Was he unaware that people post reviews about apps?

You guys act like this guy was just minding his own business and suddenly everyone attacked him.

I felt bad for Star Wars kid, but I don't feel bad for this guy.

Nor do I feel bad for movie stars who make millions and then are frustrated that someone asks for an autograph when they go out to dinner. It comes with the territory.

This guy should have never made an app if he was too fragile to handle a little feedback.

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Then he should have made an app and shared it with his friends not published it where it would be potentially downloaded by millions and subject to scrutiny.

And then he shouldn't have monetized it if he wasn't looking to make money.

Well flappy bird was released back in May last year, didn't hit big until recently, not his first game either. He seemed ok with that tiny success, but then after the google play store launch it skyrocketed, that's a massive load of unexpected attention. Additionally there was the death threats on twitter, can you blame him for wanting to hide away? Getting death threats is no small or laughing matter and you want to further harass him?!?!

Therefore I don't believe you are 'normally' compassionate, that you're just using that as a facade.....

Rating: 2 Votes

theluggage

66 months ago

Read this {fake article about suicide}

I am normally a pretty compassionate person, but I almost feel like organizing a campaign to continually spam this guy's social media accounts.

Neither do I... But the man that walked away from 50k a day in revenue to sit on his ass takes away his money maker.... Smells like marketing

This guy gamed his rankings with a botnet service and it got out of control. That's why he took it down. He wants the attention off him but it's too late. He's a scammer.

Stupid developer who makes stupid games makes a stupid mistake.

Got removed becouse the creator is a lazy bum

Y'know, maybe - just maybe - this was exactly the sort of 'attention' that drove the guy to take down his game, take the money he'd made so far and walk away.

Rating: 2 Votes

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