A few weeks ago I wrote an open letter to Rovio asking and pleading for them to do up a version of Angry Birds for BlackBerry. They did reply with some half good, half bad news... that Angry Birds wouldn't be hitting BlackBerry Smartphones on the existing BlackBerry OS (no plans), but that Angry Birds on the PlayBook was a definite possibility. That being the case, I was obviously very excited to see the folks at Smarter Apps release Angry Farm for BlackBerry Smartphones, a game that has a LOT of similiarities to Angry Birds...
I held off doing up a video of Angry Farm version 1.0 as I had a feeling an update would be just around the corner, and that was the case and now Angry Farm version 1.1 is out which brings with it some bug fixes, performance enhancements and extra levels. With 1.1 released, I installed fresh copies onto my BlackBerry Bold 9780 and Torch 9800 and fired up the video camera. Above you can find a bit of a demo and review of Angry Farm for BlackBerry, and I go the extra step to compare the game play and performance to Angry Birds running on Apple iOS via an iPhone 4 and iPad.
We've seen quite the mix of reviews on Angry Farm so far - those who have played Angry Birds before are used to it being smooth and fluid, and Angry Farm in comparison can be a bit slow and choppy on a BlackBerry. From what I can tell this is more on the fault of the BlackBerry OS and current generation of hardware vs. the app itself (I bet it will run quite a bit smoother on an upcoming 2011 BlackBerry Smartphone and be simply awesome the BlackBerry PlayBook) and also helps to explain why Rovio hasn't wanted to build Angry Birds for BlackBerry to date. On the other hand, a lot of people who have picked up Angry Farm for BlackBerry have been loving it - if you haven't played Angry Birds on another platform and don't have it as a reference, Angry Farm is pretty awesome for a BlackBerry game, despite a little bit of lag and choppiness. A lot of work definitely went into the app and it's nice to see a developer work to address a need in the community, even if it's not quite perfect just yet.
Check out the video above for a better look and more thoughts on it, and from there you can make some decisions... if you haven't picked up Angry Farm yet and decide you want to, you can grab it from App World, or better yet, our CrackBerry App Store at the link below.
Reader comments
Angry Farm for BlackBerry Video Review (with Comparison to Angry Birds on iPhone/iPad)
reminds me of my friend attempting to play cod5 on his old (crap) computer. lets hope for qnx on smartphones as well as tablets.
Have to agree I've never seen angry birds before but the video really showed the difference, farm is clunky in comparisson. Hopefully it improves with os 6.1 and/qnix.
On a side note I Am stuck on level 8 on angry farm,lol
After watching the video I had to have a go. Downloaded the free trial from App World. Works great on my 9700 (OS5) and yes for such a simple concept of a game its very addictive and I think the SFX are great too. They add to the fun of the game. I recommend it to anyone even to kill a few minutes on your lunch break in the office or something.
I didn't know it would be this horrible. Thx cb!
Never played angry birds. Now I see why.
Sound is slow on Bold 9650 (like playing a 45 rpm record at 33 rpm, does that date me?
Help page says to shut off sound for CDMA phones. Fail.
Am I the only one who has never played Angry Birds (at all)?
this video is great and i have finally:
- now seen angry birds on the iphone/ipad. yeah it's 'nice' i guess.
- seen the poor man's angry birds aka angry farm and it makes me wonder how long it will take before they get their asssses litigated.
- seen mrs crackberry. kev, you lucky dawg.
piece,
the brutha
Never played Angry Birds, but I really enjoyed all three demo levels in this one. This type of game isn't really worth 5 dollars to me even though it runs well on my curve. Definitely will be picking this up the first time it goes on sale though. All of the bugs should be worked out by then.
ok for the 4,324,438,349,093th time A F*CKIN BB is not designed for GAMING!!!! When will you idiots realize this! The game isnt half bad for a blackberry game and Rim never claimed their devices would be gaming devices. Of course Apple has better games for the IPHONE. its a toy. Its not a business tool. Each platform does things better and for example email on an Iphone is "laughable" compared to a BB. Im not sure about you but I would rather have the upper hand on things like email then have it on a game about birds. I have a 360 and a ps3 for games.
Sound like the baby need his bottle. If bb is not for gaming why are there games made for it? Why is bb trying to get android games to work on there platform? The games suck point blank. As for email there is no difference. You must be happy that you have an xbox and a ps3 because that's not the topic of discussion but for some strange reason you brought it up. BIG BABY
I played angry birds & was going to get this too, its just too exepensive too pay for, my friend has too androids & has angry birds too. He has been trying to get me to get one too but I don't think I'm ready too do it yet, too expensive for me.
3 years ago this would have been an acceptable, great game as it is right now. But come on...this is downright laughable. Take a good hard look at Infinity Blade on the iPhone 4 and then look at Angry Farm. Tell me BlackBerry is in the same level as iPhone without bursting into tears or laughter...
Where did infinity blade come from? Talking about angry bird and angry farm
The update REALLY helped this game. It was nearly unusable prior to that.
The lag isn't to bad, on the torch that is i play the game.
If you want to have a laugh look on youtube for samsuns spica + angrybirds or htc wildfire + angry birds, they both use older arm 11 processors it is'nt playable at all.
Angry Farm while it is'nt perfect it's not to bad.
There is a free trial available via BB appworld. first 3 levels, just to see if its something you might like.
Kevin seem like a fanboy. This game suck on bb, I've played the droid and iPhone version and they both are shitting on this version. You actually need a touch screen to play it. I have the Storm2 and it ain't cutting it. $5 give me a damn break. I see why the fanboys are happy to be able to use androids games. LMFAO. The poster above said it all, like comparing a 747 to a paper plane
that is embarassing for BB.....come on now. I hope this is 100x better for the bold touch
I too was bemoaning not having an official Angry Birds for BB until I found it on the Intel AppUp Center (appup.com).
It doesn't work on Blackberry but it's $4.99, official, can install onto 4 windows-based machines, and looks and plays GREAT on a Netbook!
I have played Angry Birds on iPhone and Android and after downloading the free trial of Angry Farm onto my Tour today, I don't think it's actually half bad. I only got 3 levels for free, but I am definitely considering buying the full game (although $5 does seem a TAD steep).
It's disappointing that Rovio won't develop an Angry Birds version for BlackBerry, but you have to appreciate these guys' efforts to try to bring us a comparable game and keep BlackBerry relevant in the app space.
Its more than just the hardware thats holding it back. Look at how smotth the IOS version zooms in and out. When you launch in Agry birds your in close and as you fly you have zoomed out. The BB can only track along the same path. Its not the developer's fault, its just how the BB is coded.
Is this available on the Storm 2, which supports OpenGL? I assume that is the thing that's really holding the game back, not BB OS or the hardware.
How does Angry Birds work on the 3G and 3GS, 300+Mhz and 600+Mhz?
Kevin: at 2:10 did you say "Torch 2" or "torch too"? :)
He meant to say "Torch as well".
lol, no wonder bb keeps losing market share.....game over
It was a little laggy but not enough to make it unplayable. If you don't have iPhone or Android it is the best alternative on BB so go for it. $5 is alot to ask for the game when Angry Birds is free on Android and 99 cents on Iphone. It sounds like BB is harder to code for so maybe the developer needs the high price to recoup their investment.
These guys have released two versions (including updates) since its release - Give them a break. Angry birds is over a year old and on the HTC wildfire is just as bad if not worse than Angry Farm. For me the price is steep but wouldn't have been received so badly if they released the free trial at the same time. Free trial has since been released.
i am sorry but it is just ridicolous to spend nearly 7 minutes watching a game that is clearly just rubbish. you can inevatably see that the gameplay really suc*s, it already starts in reactions to the gestures you do, which are unbelievably slow, and the graphics aren't very pretty either. why do people even spend some little money on apps like that? i'd prefer a beer for that kind of money..
bb's will never be good in gaming, leave that to iOS..
And where was the clap at the end of your review Kevin? Come on, you're slacking off.....
Perhaps you're busy watching Sheen's Korner.....
I have to say that I'm somewhat disappointed Kevin. Typically I find your reviews are on the money, but this time I feel that you're holding back from how you really feel. You should have been harsher on this game. I was fully expecting to hear you bash it and trash it but I guess you're still too much of a hardcore BB fan to even give this game a proper review.
Comparing the Apple version to the BB version is like comparing a Boing 747 to a paper airplane - they aren't even on the same level.
I really hoped that developers would start putting better games out for BB, but the real culprit is that fact that there are no current BB phones that can play Angry Birds, therefore Angry Farm looks and plays like crap on my Torch.
you know your platform is trouble when the most popular game ever for other mobile phones won't port their game to BB.
Haha - so true...and yet so sad...
So I finally got to see what angry birds looks like. People are crazy about this game? Then I fear my kids future. Thats a bloody kids game. I mean what the hell is the world coming too. Really, adults are ranting and raving about this game? I will get it for my 4 year old to play, bet he gets to all the levels in a week. Stuuuuupes.
It's a time waster game. I got Angry Birds on the Andriod for my 6 year son. He plays it once in awhile and quits when you can't pass a level. eventually the game games boring. the same thing every level just different scenes.
What the hell has the world come to when people like you don't know the difference between the words "to" and "too"...
Whats the world coming to when self-proclaimed grammar and spelling police attempt to scour the internet of such minuscule errors. While adding no real contribution to the discussion.
+1
Yeah to the Crackberry team for doing a 6minute Rovio/Apple commercial!!!!!
Well here's a good commercial.
BerryReview http://www.berryreview.com/ is a much better blog than Crackberry, Yahooooo!!!
See ya later.... maybe..maybe not.
I bet it hurts being a blind fanboy like you are. This is the most balanced review I've seen comparing an iPhone app to a Blackberry app.
Do you think it's bad that Kevin showed that Angry Birds is clearly smoother and more polished looking than Angry Farm?
I love my Torch, but to act like that because you don't like that Kevin showed one way that iOS devices are better is asinine.
Ha Ha :D it doesn't hurt at all. Like you I use my phone for productivity not game playing.
Far from blind I've owned an iPhone. What I find ironic is that dumb stuff like this is put up here as if anyone who own's a blackberry doesn't know the phone is not good for gaming. Shocking!!!
So the point is??????? As far as I can tell just behavior and worse a chance for all to dump on the nice folks that were kind enough to try to bring this game to the balckberry platform, which is so difficult that rovio won't even try to do it.
wow its so laggy... :(
"...a game that has a LOT of similiarities to Angry Birds..."
That's a very nice way of saying "shameless rip-off"
Also, if anyone was wondering, based on the $4.99 price tag and the number of comments it has already received in App World, Angry Farm is likely generating a couple thousand dollars a day for the developer.
And thats a conservative estimate.
It's more likely close to $10,000/day
How did you come to this conclusion? I'm interested in the equation you used to get this $10k/day number. There are 355 comments in App World currently, I'm not sure what percentage of purchasers actually leave comments. Also, I;m not sure how much the developer gets for each sale after App World's cut.
Just curious how you figure it's close to $10k a day. :)
cost $4.99. developer gets 70% or $3.50 per copy sold.
in order net 10K they will have to sell roughly 2958 copies.
That is alot for a BB app. I can see this happening if the price was 99cent like on the iPhone and Android version.
So is he saying Angry Farm might of made over $100K since released?
3000 copies a day seems like a LOT to me, especially since the game has been out for a bit now. I don't doubt they're making money, but I doubt it's anywhere near that much.
Anyhow, good for them. They saw an opportunity and made the best of it. For what they have to work with, the game is good. There's no reason they shouldn't make money off of it. :)
to be #1 app in app world requires about 400 downloads per day so id guess they sold about 3000 first week and so yeah made about $10k which is pretty good going!
saying that angry birds have sold 10m copies at $1.00 so its small change to them and they arnt losing any business, probably making more as people download angry farm realise its crap and download the proper version to their iphone, ipod touch, imac, android phones, palm pre, tablets etc etc etc or play with the 1 of 2million angry birds toys they have already sold!!
Okay, $10000 is probably a bit of a stretch, but that's why I said CLOSER to $10000 ;)
I'm a developer myself, so I based my guess off my experience of the number of reviews you get compared to the number of units you sell.
300+ reviews is almost unheard of for a $5 app in a few days.
For comparison, one of my $2.99 apps was being purchased 200-300 times a day at its peak, and I'd only get maybe 1-2 reviews per day. It's been out for a couple of months, and it still only has about 60 reviews total.
So either Angry Farm is being download ALOT, or people are just more likely to review it.
Either way, they're making a TON of cash off of someone else's hard work (Rovio), and as a developer, I don't know how to feel about that..
Bb- check
Not stop droid and idevice takeover! :/
Absolute crap.
@kevin - What theme do you have on your 9780 in the video?
HAHAHA really blackberry games sucks!
thats why bb want android apps & games support
android and iphone also suck.
PSP and Nintendo DSi pwn any phone when it comes to games. And when the Nintendo 3DS comes out, gaming on phones will be even lamer.
But I agree gaming is better done o hardware made for it with controls configurations that complement it! I don't care much for gaming on my bb. But one things for sure. Mobile phone gaming has exploded because of games like angry birds with it's easy to jump into gameplay where you can waste a few minutes. Also games like this are far suited for mobile phones because of their simple controls and u don't actually have to have your big fat thumb blocking half the screen.
That's where nintendo and sony wins really. Its complexity, controls and causual and detailed games. Maybe the android game phone by sony might alleviate some of these problems, but not on large scale. Not just yet
indeed. blackberry does suck.
Your mum
I'm on the fence. I want to buy it but $5 seems a bit much for it. Perhaps I'll wait for a sale.
That looks like crap!
Hey Kevin, why don't you answer your message lol
Wasn't worth the cost but I can see potential.
BIG Difference!
Thank you for doing this video.
Anyone that's played the REAL Angry Birds will clearly see that this is a poor mans version, at 5 times the cost!!! LOL!!
I guess someone needed to do this game to finally show that the BB OS is no gaming platform and it shows why Rovio has stayed away.
I can definitely see Angry Birds coming out on the Playbook though, it will be the real deal then.
I have to agree with BerryGuy, I have played Angry Birds on iPhone, iPad, and two different Andriod phones. And not only do they have a low cost price, the game play is quick, fluid, and quite nice. While Angry Farm for BB is expensive, sluggish, and slightly frustrating waiting for it to load and change levels.
And Kevin thank you for finally showing the two side by side, not many people have seen it on different platforms to see how it compares.
I dont like how my BB torch is so slow with games, and am really hoping that you are right saying the gaming will improve on the 2011 BB phones. Mainly i hope they just try to jump ahead of the game with QNX in the phones. Which i am hoping my new BB will have QNX and be fluid and quick like the Playbook.
ya huge.
i've played angry birds on symbian os as well on the nokia n8. not quite the iOS version, but was still very good imo. if i didn't know what it was like on iOS i would have thought the symbian version was very good.