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Gene Simmons confirms Angry Birds KISS incoming

KISS frontman Gene Simmons has revealed there's a KISS-themed Angry Birds game in the works. Yup.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

KISS frontman Gene Simmons is known for many things. A penchant for producing some of the most bouffant-ed hair metal ever is one. His extra-long tongue is another. But a love of Angry Birds?

Well it seems Simmons not only loves the game, he's in the process of inking a deal with Angry Birds-maker Rovio to bring a KISS-themed version to phones and tablets soon. Imagine flinging birds across a screen to this.

He was speaking to IndustryGamers, SlashGear reports, about the possibility of bringing out another KISS game. Apart from a couple of offers to develop KISS games, he said most of them "simply weren't exciting enough. So while the gaming world is waiting for the KISS games that are going to explode, we're busy taking the brand to places where no band has gone before."

And how is he going about doing this? "So Hello Kitty is one of the biggest brands on planet Earth. Now there's KISS Hello Kitty, which we've already launched in 90 countries. We're talking with Angry Birds, KISS and Angry Birds, which will become a deal."

He said the band was also diversifying into Archie comic books and golf courses in Las Vegas. "It's just endless what we can do," he said, "but we only do things when it's right. Just because there are games, and just because there's this or that out there, unless the deal is right and unless the content is exciting to our fans, we don't do it."

(As an aside, hearing rockstars say the word "content", and talk about themselves as a brand makes us hark back to the good old days of rock.)

So there you go, Angry Birds KISS is coming. It's far from the first tie-in for the Rovio game -- it's made special editions for Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Chinese New Year, as well as spinning-off a whole industry of merchandise. The game has seen over half a billion downloads since launching in 2009, so Simmons may be a shrewder businessman than the make-up would suggest. Although he's well established as rock's arch merchandiser, spawning Kiss-branded coffins, camping sets and condoms.

KISS and Angry Birds -- natural bedfellows? Let us know in the comments section below, or over on our Facebook page. And let us know your favourite KISS jam while you're at it. Ours is this.