The game was first released for the iOS platform back in December 2009, and now Rovio has released version 2.0 of the game. According to Digital Trends there is a bunch of new levels, and existing ones have now been unlocked. Angry Birds has been downloaded a staggering 500 million times since it first made an appearance, with sales of accessories and toys giving the company a value of over $1 billion.

Available now on the App Store as a free update to existing users the new version has fifteen special birthday themed levels, and the 300 levels that already exist have been unlocked. So now if you get stuck on a certain level you can progress to a different one if you desire.

There are also a number of retailers in the US that are marking the event as well by putting on special events and promotions. Toys R Us are to offer 25% off the Angry Birds plush toys, while in the UK Forbidden Planet are offering Angry Birds products not seen in the country before.

The developer has revealed that 266 billion levels of the game have been played around the world since its launch. It has also been revealed that there will be several new games during 2012 as well. Are you still playing Angry Birds?

The Angry Birds Seasons edition of the game is the version that varies the most. It features themed scenarios depending on the time of year. These themes include St. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas. With the end of the year approaching Rovio has decided to launch a new festive edition of the game for 2011, Angry Birds 12 Days of Christmas, which is likely to be released 12 days before Santa comes to town.

As T3 explains it is uncertain whether the new Angry Birds app will be the latest edition to the Angry Birds Seasons app or an app on its own right. What is certain, however, is that the first day of Christmas is likely to begin with an Angry Bird in a pear tree. Other details that have been revealed about the game so far are three golden eggs, a fifth magic level and six bonus balls. With what we know about the game so far we can already tell its going to be a popular choice this Christmas.

The official release date is yet to be announced and the price is will depend on whether the game is an update to the Angry Birds Seasons app or an app of its own right. Will you be getting the Angry Birds 12 Days of Christmas app? What are you expecting some of the other days in the game to feature?

This is possibly up there with one of the greatest carrier promos to date, and you’ll probably agree with us after watching it. The video shows a busy center square in Barcelona packed with people, all watching this Angry Birds game unfold..it’s even got a live band playing the theme music as well.

What happens, is unsuspecting members of the public are enticed by a ‘life like’ start menu of the game, and as they continue to play, real-angry bird toys are launched into the sky behind to the waiting Angry Birds-esque debris, it really is fantastic stuff.

The various different birds are all in attendance, even the small blue birds that launch into a cluster bomb on the game. Check out the video below for yourself as our description doesn’t really do it justice. Hats off to T-Mobile on this one, they win the ‘best smartphone ad of 2011′ award so far, we doubt anything will top that.

What are your thoughts on their Angry Birds promo?

Rovio has brought a new world to Rio called Carnival Upheaval with this update, this consist of 15 new levels and there are now more achievements to unlock. Whilst playing the new game you will notice that there is a new bird type to use and a new hidden fruit to earn in the awards section.

We have embedded a video below which introduces you to the new update and gives us a glimpse of Blu, the Macaw and some of the new levels. According to Rovio this update was originally scheduled for July, but the new app version is already available at Apple’s App Store and the Amazon App Store.

Feedback so far suggests that the game’s moving backgrounds annoy some people, one person goes as far as saying that this feature alone will stop them from playing as it gives them a headache.

Check out the new game update for yourself and then tell us what you think about the moving backgrounds in the comments section, do the backgrounds annoy you / make you dizzy?

At the conference Rovio introduced the world to a new Angry Birds game called Angry Birds Magic, this game boasts a pretty unique feature which allows you to tap two smartphones together whilst running the game to unlock new levels.

We have embedded a video at the end of this post which tells us that Rovio has been working with Nokia to bring NFC features to future Angry Birds titles, in the video you see two Nokia C7 smartphones side-by-side running Angry Birds, when you touch the two smartphones together you unlock an additional 5 levels, pretty neat, eh?

For the Nokia C7 to be able to do this it needs to have received the Anna update for Symbian (which enables NFC), the exciting thing about this is not the fact that you get 5 new levels, its more the fact that NFC is being used for tasks other than contactless payments.

So what could this mean in the future? Well, Rovio are pushing the fact that this will add a real-life social element to their games, but in the bigger picture it could become a huge marketing tool. We envision this tech being snapped up by stores and brands, imagine having to go to your local McDonald’s to tap their “NFC zone” to receive exclusive content for games, the potential is truly staggering.

In a few years time we could receive free wallpapers, apps, voucher codes and much more just by tapping your phone on NFC sensor when you are making a payment etc, do you like the sound of NFC’s huge potential?

We can now confirm the Beach Volley update is now available for download on Android and iOS. It is the first of four RIO updates that are expected. According to the article at Android Community the Beach Volley game features the same main characters, Jewel and Blu and an extra unique character.

As Tina Chubb mentions in her article the update does have some new features as well. From inner-tubes to tiny bomb boxes this beach adventure promises to be a catapulting farce. Consisting of thirty levels (not including the secret ones) Beach Volley will keep your thumbs occupied for hours.

Check out the Android Community article by clicking the link above. There you will find a full game spoiler; revealing more details about the game and also provides some nice screen shots.

Have you downloaded the Angry Birds RIO update yet? What do you think of the new game? Let us know in the comments below.

We tried it out for roughly 15 minutes and it was great, however we must confess we soon uninstalled it as it was just too tempting for us when we saw it splashed in front of us every time we opened a new blank tab.

SInce going live Angry Birds Online has become a trending term on Google and the Twitter response has been huge, however as you would expect the great game is bad news for people who were meant to be studying or working. The nature of the game makes it very addictive, therefore we give it a few days until people get caught playing the game at work and get sacked, not only is the gameplay challenging but the soundtrack seems to get people hooked.

Below we have set up a simple poll to see how the Angry Birds Online game was going down with our readers, feel free to answer the poll so we can gain some feedback as to whether this new online version will be yet another success story for Rovio.
[poll id="352"]

Five Angry Birds Rio screens were recently published on the official Angry Birds Facebook page (here), they appear to show improved graphics and more features than we have seen in previous games including “Boss Battles“.

We have embedded a couple of the screens towards the end of this post, one of which confirms that there will 60 levels and episodic updates, we’re sure that this will be another massive hit for Rovio.

If you want to play Angry Birds Rio on your Android device you will have top wait until it arrives at the Amazon App Store as it is exclusive to Amazon’s upcoming marketplace, no date has been given and we don’t know when it will arrive at the Apple App Store either.

Hopefully we will hear more regarding the game’s release soon, some rumors suggest that it may arrive tomorrow (22nd March 2011), however this has not been confirmed.

Are you impressed by the following screens?

This is probably the first solid gameplay that has been shown for Angry Birds Rio since it’s announcement, and the video also gives a glimpse of one of the brand new features of the game – boss battles.

Towards the end of the video, you’ll see the Angry Birds try to take down a flying bird, in which even Rovio’s Ville Heijari has a few problems trying to defeat it. The video also shows off the slick new cutscenes that you’ll get before each episode and the new interface changes which you can see at the end of each level – it looks pretty good on the tablet shown in the video we thought.

There are a few choppy moments during gameplay, but Heijari is keen to point out that this remains an early build of the game, and it will be much smoother by the time Rio is out later on this month. Watch the video below and let us know your thoughts on it.

Will you be picking up Angry Birds Rio or not?

As Tina reports this news came from an article at iPhoneFreak where Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka had been reported to have confirmed the release of the new edition. Today thanks to an article by Chris Davies over at Android Community we are able to give you a sneaky peek at the St. Patrick’s themed edition.

The new game levels named ‘Go Green, Get Lucky’ consist of the same gameplay features, green pigs , catapulting birds and various structures to knock down but will have a slightly Irish twist with the pigs donning Irish hats with shamrocks lying around.

Although the date when the download will be released hasn’t been announced yet, St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th so you can rest assured it’s pretty soon. It will also most likely be free for those that have already downloaded Angry Birds Seasons.

Find out more at the link above. In the meantime you can check out the video below of the Angry Birds latest edition in action. What do you think? Will you be downloading it? Let us know in the comments.