Last Friday, we reported on the current state of Windows Phone app development: specifically, that Rovio’s hesitation to port Angry Birds Space to the platform was a massive blow for Microsoft.
Reuters has even dubbed the situation a “Catch-22”: no one wants to make apps because there are no apps on the Marketplace. But Microsoft is hoping to cut that Gordian knot with a new initiative: it’s clubbed together with Nokia to create a new “AppCampus” at a Finnish university.
Angry Birds Space, the fourth game in Rovio’s hit franchise, launched on iPhone, Android, PC and Mac yesterday, but another platform was conspicuously missing from the list: Windows Phone.
That doesn’t look likely to change either with Rovio boss Peter Vetserbacka telling Bloomberg that it has no plans to port Angry Birds Space to Windows Phone.
“We want to be on all screens, but we have to consider the cost of supplying the smaller platforms. With Windows Phone it’s a lot of work to technically support it.”
The company has since retracted that statement, and announced plans for a port, but regardless, that’s an unfortunate message for a giant of mobile gaming to send out – especially when Rovio is one of the few companies making large sums of money from the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Microsoft is gearing up for a Windows 8 event in April that’ll showcase the finished product to manufacturing partners, signposting a launch in October – that’s according to sources close to Microsoft. Are the next generation of Ultrabooks being built right now? Read more
Finally. While the Wii and the PS3 have had the BBC iPlayer nestled inside their firmware for some time now, getting it into Microsoft’s flagship console has been a lengthy battle. Thankfully, that’s a battle that’s just been won: The BBC iPlayer has landed on the Xbox 360. Full, free and in HD. Read on for the full details. Read more
Sonic Episode 2, the second part in the Sonic 4 series, is coming soon to consoles and mobiles, but the Windows Phone and Xbox versions have a special trick up their sleeve. Microsoft is mkaing good on its promise of seamless gaming across screens, with Sega’s blue hedgehog now able to hop save files between both platforms.
Google consistently ranks as one of the world’s best companies to work for. The benefits of working for the company are many and well documented, so why would you want to leave? Because it’s not the company it once was, according to ex-employee James Whittaker. Read more
