Chime
Buy Chime and help charity!
San Francisco, Calif. – July 1st, 2010 – Microsoft has chosen OneBigGame’s popular music puzzler Chime a Critic’s Choice title, to be part of the special Xbox LIVE ® Arcade for the Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft Deal of the Week promotion. This week, Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers can purchase Chime along with other critically-acclaimed titles, at discounted rates. Chime is available now for 240 Microsoft Points ($3 USD), and OneBigGame will donate all net proceeds to charity partners Save the Children and Starlight Children’s Foundation.
“We are honoured to be included in the Critic’s Choice line-up of Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 games,” said Martin de Ronde, director, OneBigGame. “Chime’s commercial and critical success is the result of creative minds in the entertainment industry coming together to create an enjoyable, immersive and interactive experience.”
Developed by music game protégé Zoë Mode, Chime is the flagship title in OneBigGame’s exciting and inspiring catalog of games. OneBigGame currently has more than 15 games in development to raise money for its children’s charities.
A creative twist on both music and block puzzle games, Chime tasks players with covering the playing field with irregular shapes, each connected to a sound effect from the background music track, to form rectangular blocks, called quads. Gamers control a single shape at a time, and can move, rotate, and then place it on the grid. A beatline moves across the grid in time with the music, and sets off events when it hits placed shapes. Quads are created by placing shapes in solid blocks of 3x3 or more. When a quad is completed and the beat line hits, different musical samples are triggered dependent on its shape. The size of the quad denotes the score, and multipliers can be achieved by having several quads on the screen at once. Chime’s innovative game mechanics enables players to create a unique remix of each song every time they play a level as the building of larger quads unlock more elements of the underlying song. Working their way to 100 percent coverage of the grid, players will unlock the song in full.
World renowned artists Philip Glass, Moby, Markus Schulz, Paul Hartnoll of Orbital and Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly have donated their music tracks pro bono to Chime.
Chime is rated “E” for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board and is available on Xbox LIVE ® Arcade for Xbox 360for 240 Microsoft Points. For more information about Chime, please visit www.chimegame.com.
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About OneBigGame
OneBigGame aims to raise funds to help solve problems afflicting children around the world. The nature of these problems can be diverse, but the kind of projects OneBigGame supports will always revolve around a structural improvement in children’s lives, expanding their opportunities in life.
OneBigGame raises funds by publishing games kindly donated pro bono by established names in game development, in conjunction with support from the development community as a whole. The games will be published on the dedicated games portal OneBigGame.org, as well as through a variety of PC and console download channels.
OneBigGame always aims to donate a minimum of 80 percent of all donations to its charity partners Save the Children and Starlight Children’s foundation. To learn more about OneBigGame, please visit www.onebiggame.org.
About Zoë Mode
Zoë Mode makes games that are accessible; simple, social games that are effortlessly fun but don’t take themselves too seriously. Based in London and San Francisco, Zoë Mode’s diverse work force is unified by its attitude to gaming. Zoë Mode believes that games are powerful ways of bringing people together; that there is more to life than gaming, but that gaming can make life better; and strongly believes that there is a game for everyone. Zoë Mode is part of Kuju Entertainment Limited.
All of Zoë Mode’s services are provided at no cost to OneBigGame, and all Zoë Mode’s royalties (a minimum of 60 percent of the purchase price) are donated to OneBigGame. To learn more about Zoë Mode, please visit www.zoemode.com or contact anna.morris@zoemode.com / T: +44(0) 1273 573600.
About charity partner Save the Children
Save the Children is the world's largest independent organization for children, making a difference to children's lives in more than120 countries. From emergency relief to long-term development, Save the Children helps children to achieve a happy, healthy and secure childhood. Save the Children listens to children, involves children and ensures their views are taken into account. Save the Children secures and protects children's rights - to food, shelter, healthcare, education and freedom from violence, abuse and exploitation. Save the Children’s current relief efforts include sending emergency response teams to Haiti and organizing the distribution of tents, medicine, toiletries and earthquake relief supplies to children and families in extreme need. To learn more about Save the Children, please visit www.savethechildren.org.uk.
About charity partner Starlight Children’s Foundation
For 25 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has been dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Starlight’s programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone. Through a network of chapters and offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Starlight Children’s Foundation, please visit www.starlight.org.