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OneBigGame assembles 17 game composers for album to benefit children's charities
Gaming charity OneBigGame has partnered with developers for such as Chime and WINtA, with a portion of the profit they've generated going to benefit children's charities. Its new project, while still game-related, is decidedly less interactive -- but nonetheless compelling. The organization has announced it's teaming with the Game Music Initiative to bring together 17 game composers to create the OneBigAlbum, featuring new works by the likes of Masaya Matsuura (above, PaRappa the Rapper) and Emmy award-winning Christopher Tin (Civilization IV). Eighty percent of the proceeds will go to Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, each receiving half. OneBigGame hasn't firmed up a release date yet, but we'd say keeping the album on your radar would be a sound move. We've got the full list of composers who are contributing just past the break.
Matsuura's WINtA and OneBigGame support Save the Children Japan
Think you've got this whole "buy a game and we'll donate money to charity" thing figured out? Try this on for size: Masaya Matsuura, designer of the legendary Parappa the Rapper, partnered with OneBigGame to release an iOS music game called WINtA last year. Proceeds from those sales went to Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation. So how could it possibly be more charitable? It's simple. For the next four weeks, "net earnings" from WINtA will "directly benefit the Save the Children charity teams active in Japan, helping children affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the country." You snag the app for free ($0) and the net amount that NanaOn-Sha receives from song purchases (that's minus Apple's 30%) will be distributed by OneBigGame to "directly support Save the Children in setting up a network of child friendly spaces for children in the worst affected areas of Japan." How is this different than the usual relationship OneBigGame has with Save the Children? While normally OBG would redirect 80% of its earnings towards both Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation, "in light of the recent events in Japan, OneBigGame are proud to make a special case by re-routing donated funds generated by WINtA to support Save the Children's relief efforts in the affected regions, with immediate effect." Go, get your philanthropy on.
Chime helps ring in $100,000 in profits for OneBigGame, 96% going to charity
The Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundations will benefit to the tune of 96% of the sum of $100,000, the majority of which was generated from sales of Chime on Xbox Live Arcade and PC. OneBigGame is a non-profit publisher, partnering with developers and charity organizations to create games whose profits directly aid those in need. The figures were divulged in a press release by OneBigGame, whose director, Martin de Ronde, thanked Chime. "Through games created by famous game developers and development studios, we can now help children in need, which we think is a fantastic mechanism. Needless to say we're grateful to Zoe Mode and their launch game Chime to help realize these results." As for the future, OneBigGame has already announced a partnership with Masaya Matsuura to publish WINTa and Zoe Mode says it looks to "continuing our relationship with OneBigGame." There is also an album in the works featuring composers from Dead Space 2, God of War, Brutal Legend and more.
New tracks and artists revealed for Chime Super Deluxe
We already know the identities of five out of ten of the songs included in the upcoming, PSN-exclusive update to Zoe Mode's innovative puzzler, Chime Super Deluxe. Today, three more songs for the title were announced -- and my, what an ecclectic mix they are: Chiptune artist Sabrepulse will contribute a song titled "Play With You," on which he collaborated with Jorden Milnes, previous winner of the Billboard Songwriter Of The Year Award. Nathan McCree, composer for Tomb Raider 1, 2 and 3, will turn in a song titled "Machine Dream." Finally, film and television composer Joe Hogan will contribute a "cinematic orchestral" tune named "Sympathy." The song was originally used in a prototype version of the original Chime, so we imagine that it's undergone quite a bit of Supering and Deluxing over the past year.
Zoe Mode finally announces Chime Super Deluxe for PSN, coming this Spring
After months of beating around the proverbial bush, Zoe Mode has confirmed that the charitable, rhythmic puzzler Chime will make its way to the PSN this Spring. Its newest iteration will actually be titled Chime Super Deluxe, which we initially believed to indicate the addition of short, super hilarious internet cartoons. No dice -- Zoe Mode explained on PlayStation Blog that the game's "Deluxeness" can be attributed to its 10-strong tracklist, as well as its two multiplayer modes, which were sadly left undetailed. We'll let you know when firmer details crop up. For now, check out the first five songs revealed from the game's soundtrack as well as an adjective-rich teaser trailer after the jump.
TUAW's Daily App: Winta
I first covered Winta (styled WINtA on the App Store) back at GDC Online in October, and found it an enjoyable music game from the creator of Parappa the Rapper, Masaya Matsuura. It's a simple title -- different shapes appear on screen, and the player is meant to tap them in order, which ends up going along with the rhythm of the song's vocals. There's one free track included with the app (which itself is free to download), and then a number of different songs are available via in-app purchase, each with their own themes and displays. Plus, the whole project is part of the OneBigGame initiative, so 10 percent of the profits on each track purchased will go to two charities, Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, to support the lives of children around the world. OneBigGame has teamed up with both Matsuura and developers Triangle Studios to create the game, and Ngmoco has joined in to share the game (and some achievements) on its own Plus+ social network. It's definitely an interesting title -- I wouldn't say it has quite the appeal of a game like Parappa the Rapper, but it's an interesting multi-touch take on the music genre, and helping out OneBigGame and its cause is definitely an excellent idea. If nothing else, give Winta (short for "War is Not the Answer") a free download and see what you think.
Chime charity drive to end Dec. 1, with XBLA update
Sometimes lost in the rabid daze of "good" deals this Black Friday week are genuine opportunities to spend a little money on good causes. If you've been meaning to pick up "that charity game" on XBLA -- and in doing so, donate 100 percent of your 400-point purchase to charities, including Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation -- you have until December 1 to do so. Come next Wednesday, Chime's 10-month charity drive will expire, at which point the game will be updated to donate 5 percent of all $5-purchase royalties to publisher OneBigGames, which then passes the donations along to its charity partners. Additionally, the update will remove the game's high-score cap. "Now that this cap has been removed it will finally be possible to discover the best Chime players in the world," game director Brynley Gibson, of developer Zoe Mode, said in an announcement. "This fix has been a long time coming and is absolutely one made for the fans; we hope it tides them over until we can announce our plans for where we are taking Chime next."
GDC Online 2010: Hands-on and preview of WINtA
WINtA is probably the best brand new game that I've seen so far at GDC Online 2010 (this week in Austin, Texas). It's a title published by a group called OneBigGame, which is a nonprofit video game publisher. They commission and publish games, which are created for free by luminaries in the video game field, and then they sell them to customers for money that goes straight to charities around the world. Founder Martin de Ronde took the stage at GDC to allegedly talk about how to take an app from iPhone to the iPad, but what he actually did was show off this really amazing game and music platform, and he gave a road map to where the iPad version will eventually go. "WINtA" stands for "War is Not The Answer," which is what game creator Masaya Matsuura felt after September 11th, and that's what he wanted to transfer into game form. WINtA itself is actually a rhythm game -- Matsuura is well known in the gaming community for making PaRappa the Rapper, which is a highly regarded PlayStation game known for pioneering the genre that eventually launched Guitar Hero and Tap Tap Revolution. de Ronde approached Matsuura under the OneBigGame banner, asking if he would create a game to sell for charity, and with the help of Dutch developer Triangle Studios, Matsuura came up with WINtA. The app will be out on the App Store for free later this year. Check out more, including a video of the demonstration, after the break.
Chime hits Steam Sept. 6 with Portal-themed level
Zoë Mode creative director Ste Curran has tweeted some exciting news for PC-owning puzzle game buffs: Chime, the music-driven XBLA block-dropper it created for the OneBigGame charity project, is coming to Steam next month. The game will be available on the service from September 6, and will be up for pre-order there later today. Chime's a great puzzler as-is, but Zoë Mode is adding something extra-special for the PC release: a sixth level themed after Valve's modern classic, Portal, featuring Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive." As with the XBLA version, 5 percent of the Steam purchase price will go to charity. Sounds like a triumph for everyone.
Parappa creator and OneBigGame make music game for charity
For its next charity fundraiser game, nonprofit publisher OneBigGame announced that it's working with Parappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and his studio, NanaOn-Sha, along with Triangle Studios, to create WINtA, an iPhone/iPod Touch rhythm game. OneBigGame describes it as "combining elements of pattern recognition challenges with the natural tendency of humans to tap along with music and words." It appears to put pulsing dots on the screen, leaving the player to tap them in time with the music -- though not necessarily providing a clear cue when to tap. You can try to figure it out by watching early footage taken from the GameCity conference last year (via Pocket Gamer), after the break. That early footage looks nothing like the new screenshots (above), so there's still an element of mystery. Proceeds from sales of WINtA will benefit Save the Children, Starlight Children's Foundation and other charities when the game is released later this year.
X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Chime
There's something rather unique on XBLA this week: Coming from non-profit publisher OneBigGame and developer Zoë Mode, Chime is actually a game that benefits children's charities. It's a musical puzzle game reminiscent of Lumines, featuring music from several well-known artists including Moby, Paul Hartnoll of Orbital and Philip Glass. At least 60 percent of the game's 400 ($5) price will go to charity, so you can feel good about picking it up. You can also feel good because Chime is actually a pretty good game. Check it out in the latest XBLA in Brief. Shortcut: Download the trial version of Chime [via Xbox.com] [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly. [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
This Wednesday: Chime for charity on XBLA
Today's lone Xbox Live Arcade release is Chime, the not-for-profit project from Zoe Mode and OneBigGame. 60 percent of proceeds from the 400 ($5) game will go to Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation, so consider it a surprisingly entertaining chance to stop being such a selfish jerk. If you're looking for a pre-purchase glimpse, check out the trailer above or download the demo on Xbox Live. We'd ask you to chime in with your opinions, but that joke's been done. Just now. Shortcut: Add Chime to your download queue [Xbox.com] %Gallery-77193%
Non-profit XBLA game Chime dropping Feb. 3
Between your rampant donations to Child's Play and your support with Haiti recovery efforts, you've been stretching your altruism muscles quite a bit over the past few months. We just hope you're not all charity'd out -- Zoe Mode and OneBigGame's XBLA rhythm title, Chime, is due on February 3. In case you've forgotten, 60 percent of the game's 400 ($5) price tag will go to Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. Best of all, the game actually looks pretty fun! Check out the explanation video above to see the title in action -- it's kind of like Tetris meets Lumines meets the beneficence of the human spirit.
Charity XBLA game Chime's gameplay explained in latest trailer
What's the only thing more satisfying than aligning colorful blocks on a rectangular grid while simultaneously recreating pleasant ambient tunes from musical artists such as Moby? Simple -- doing so while simultaneously donating to charity. That's the package that OneBigGame and Zoe Mode will offer on XBLA at some point this winter, when their music/puzzle game Chime lands on the XBLA. Though we've known about this non-profit puzzler for a month now, we've yet to see the title in action. Fortunately, OneBigGame dropped a gameplay demonstration video earlier today, which we've posted above. Yeah, sure, it's got a few aesthetic similarities to Lumines, but considering all the proceeds from the game go to Save the Children and Starlight Children's foundation, we're not going to raise a stink about it. We think saving children is like, the coolest thing you can possibly do.
Minesweeper adventure game in the works for OneBigGame
The neat thing about doing something as unassailable and cool as designing a game for charity is that no one can make fun of your ideas without looking like a total jackass. Take Charles Cecil, the man behind the Broken Sword series, for instance. According to G4, he's creating an adventure game based on Minesweeper. It's blogger gold, until you learn that he's making it for charity game publisher OneBigGame. So now, instead of the hilarious gag we instinctively created -- involving making a mustache out of honey and cat hair and then putting it on a mime -- we're just going to wish Cecil all the best. Dammit.
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Zoe Mode creating not-for-profit XBLA puzzler for children's charity
click to enlarge OneBigGame, a non-profit games publisher founded in 2007, announced today that its first title will come from Zoë Mode, creator of games such as Crush (PSP), You're In the Movies (360) and co-developer of the SingStar franchise (PS3) with SCEE. Called Chime, the music-based puzzle game will launch this winter on Xbox Live Arcade. The first screens, while sort of soothing in their minimalism, don't exactly explain anything about how the game's played. Thankfully, Zoë Mode goes into detail about the gameplay on its newly launched Chime site.The developer is the first of what OneBigGame says are many others currently creating 15 titles, with at least 80 percent of all revenue made from them going to two charities: Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. Zoë Mode developed Chime pro bono and has committed to giving all the royalties it receives from the XBLA game -- which it says will be around 60 percent of its purchase price -- to OneBigGame.Other developers signed on to produce games include Shiny founder David Perry, PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and prolific adventure game designer Charles Cecil (Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword). %Gallery-77193%
