Have you ever been completely stuck on a level in a videogame, ready to smash your controller against the wall in a fit of frustration? Sure, we all have. But what if you could just buy your way past that roadblock?

That's exactly what Rovio, the creator of the iPhone smash Angry Birds, is proposing. Very soon, Angry Birds will be updated with an all-new In App Purchase called the Mighty Eagle. The Mighty Eagle is essentially a win button. You purchase the bird (the price has not yet been revealed, but expect it not to be very much) and then place a can of sardines on the troublesome house of pigs. The Mighty Eagle swoops down and shatters the entire house, ending the stage in success.

Wait. Won't this screw up Angry Birds' popular leaderboards? No. Deploying the Mighty Eagle prevents you from placing your score for that stage on the leaderboards, so don't lose any sleep over getting your high score knocked off the charts by somebody with some spare iTunes credit.

On its surface, I think the Mighty Eagle is kind of tacky. But I understand why Rovio is doing it. Angry Birds has hovered at 99 cents since it debuted on the App Store. All of the extra stages have been released for free. This is a key reason Angry Birds remains at the top of the sales charts in the App Store. Not only is it a lot of fun, but it remains one of its best values. It keeps on giving. And if Rovio is totally committed to continuing these free stage updates, then should I grouse too much about them seeking an alternate revenue stream? After all, I don't have to use the Mighty Eagle, just as I don't have to use the purchasable power-ups in Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins games.

What do you think about a purchasable win? Is this something you'd happily see in iPhone/iPad games as a part of an ecosystem that keeps prices down? Or is this a bridge too far?
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