Facebook uncages Angry Birds
Wildly popular game finally makes its debut on the social network--albeit a day earlier than was promised.
Angry Birds is now making friends on Facebook.
After more than a year in development, the wildly popular game was supposed to make its debut on the social network tomorrow but was uncaged a day early.
Although the game is has long been available on a wide variety of mobile and desktop platforms, the Finnish game maker Rovio included features unique to the Facebook version, including power-ups intended to give users a leg up on the competition.
"There are four different types of power-ups and they can be accessed via the lightning bolt button at the top of the screen," the company said. "You can use two power-ups per level. All power-ups have a different effect but ultimately make you more competitive against your friends by making your birds stronger or more accurate or even by shaking the earth itself!"
The game is free to play on the social network at apps.facebook.com/angrybirds/, but the power-ups will cost players $1 for 20 uses.
The Facebook version takes advantages of Adobe Systems' Flash Player 11 with support for 3D graphics included, offering "enhanced special effects like lighting, smoke and explosions running smoothly at 60 frames per second," Adobe said in a statement.
The game, which is reportedly played by 130 million people daily, was expected to be available on Facebook last March. But Rovio Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka said Angry Birds would not be available on the social network until May--a target launch date the game developer missed by nine months.