Chime » News http://www.chimegame.com Place blocks, build quads, get coverage, make music. Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:54:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Review Round-up http://www.chimegame.com/review-round-up/ http://www.chimegame.com/review-round-up/#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:27:55 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=667

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/review-round-up/feed/ 0 Second wave of world class musical talent revealed for Chime Super Deluxe http://www.chimegame.com/second-wave-of-world-class-musical-talent-revealed-for-chime-super-deluxe/ http://www.chimegame.com/second-wave-of-world-class-musical-talent-revealed-for-chime-super-deluxe/#comments Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:25:14 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=647 BRIGHTON, UK – 23rd February 2011 – Zoë Mode Entertainment, an independent multi-format game developer, are excited to reveal the remaining line-up of brand new artists and their never-before-heard tracks for Chime Super Deluxe, releasing exclusively on PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system this Spring.

For Chime Super Deluxe Zoë Mode were keen to work closely with some of today’s most relevant artists to create music designed with the game in mind, perfectly illustrated by the collaborations with Shlomo and Plaid.

“The Looping Song” was created exclusively for Chime Super Deluxe at Zoë Mode’s Brighton recording studio by Shlomo, one of the world’s finest human beatboxers who, as well as being the first ever World Loopstation Champion, has provided his vocal talents for the likes of Jarvis Cocker, DJ Yoda, Mad Professor and Bjork.

Talking about how “The Looping Song” came about, Shlomo said, “I’m a beatboxer but also a keen looper, so we plugged in my loopstation and started jamming. It’s actually kind of like a two part song – the first section is super chilled and then it gets more hyper. We had a lot of fun making the song and I’m really stoked it’s going to be in the game.”

Completing the track line-up for Chime Super Deluxe is “Tender Hooks” by British electronic music duo Plaid comprised of long-time friends Andy Turner and Ed Handley. Now on Warp Records and with an extensive and highly regarded body of work to their name, Plaid has a devoted clan of worldwide followers.

Plaid have spent much of the last few years making film soundtracks to compliment their catalogue, including the award winning Japanese animated feature ‘TekkonKinkreet’ and the Japanese live action film ‘Heaven’s Door’, but once they knew about Chime Super Deluxe they jumped at the chance to be involved in creating music for a video game.

Andy Turner of Plaid describes how their track, composed specifically for Chime Super Deluxe came to life. “We were keen to push the Chime engine for this composition. “Tender Hooks” is based around loops written in 5/4 and 2/4 time allowing the track to switch between these time signatures to emphasize the gamers’ progress through the level.

“We chose a musical key that we hope feels driving and has a sense of urgency. We wanted the players input to be the biggest part of the track and so we made the ‘block’ sound the dominant lead; having it triggering randomly to emulate game play whilst we wrote the interchangeable loops that should provide a rich texture underneath. Hopefully this will focus the player on their game rather than distracting them and we hope they enjoy their part in writing “Tender Hooks” as much as we have ours.”

The brand new Chime Super Deluxe trailer can be downloaded from http://vimeo.com/20283491

For more information and updates on Chime Super Deluxe keep checking back here at www.chimegame.com or follow @zoemode on twitter or sign up on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chime/168579188020

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/second-wave-of-world-class-musical-talent-revealed-for-chime-super-deluxe/feed/ 0 The first wave of brand new artists and tracks revealed for Chime Super Deluxe! http://www.chimegame.com/the-first-wave-of-brand-new-artists-and-tracks-revealed-for-chime-super-deluxe/ http://www.chimegame.com/the-first-wave-of-brand-new-artists-and-tracks-revealed-for-chime-super-deluxe/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:17:44 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=637

Zoë Mode Entertainment, an independent multi-format game developer, are excited to announce the initial line-up of brand new artists and their never-before-heard tracks for Chime Super Deluxe, releasing exclusively on PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system this Spring.

“Play With You” is written, produced and mixed by Sabrepulse, aka Ashley Charles, a London based musician who creates Drum ‘n’ Bass, Electro and Electronic Dance music. Ashley is an influential figure in the increasingly popular 8-Bit and “Chip Tune” musical movements and uses a 1989 Nintendo Game Boy and a laptop to make his unique blend of sounds and compositions.

For this exclusive PlayStation®Network project Ashley worked alongside Jorden Milnes, a writer/producer and previous winner of the Billboard Songwriter Of The Year Award. Milnes explains how the collaboration on Chime Super Deluxe came about;

“My publisher asked if I wanted to collaborate with Ash (aka Sabrepulse) and after hearing some of his work I thought we could come up with some magic together! The track ‘Play With You’ started off as an idea that Ash sent over to me. I took the parts and created the lyric and melody and a song structure. The vocals seemed to work well so we kept them and then Ash added some extra production ideas to create the song as it sounds today”.

“Machine Dream” is the second new track in Chime Super Deluxe from Nathan McCree, the composer and sound designer behind Tomb Raider 1, 2 and 3 among many other video game classics.

Written specifically for Chime, and having worked on the project in the early phases of development, McCree commented on the creation of “Machine Dream” and his time working on Chime Super Deluxe, “It was a real joy working on the project. We spent a lot of time experimenting with and refining the engine until we had something that was not only great to listen to but produced different results every time you played.”

The third new track is “Sympathy”, a cinematic orchestral tune originally used in a prototype level during Chime’s early development and totally updated for its inclusion in Chime Super Deluxe. Written by Joe Hogan, a videogame and film composer and key figure in the development of Chime’s unique music systems, “Sympathy” is unlike any other track in the game providing an altogether different mood and atmosphere for the player.

Other artists from the game will be revealed soon so for more information and updates on Chime Super Deluxe.

On playing Chime Super Deluxe for the first time Sabrepulse responded, “it’s created an infinite amount of new remixes of this song, which is brilliant. It would take hours and hours to do that on regular computer software. The fact that gamers can go in there and mess around with the track and create completely new variations of this song, I think is amazing.”

For more information about the artists featured in all version of Chime, check out our artists page.

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/the-first-wave-of-brand-new-artists-and-tracks-revealed-for-chime-super-deluxe/feed/ 0 Chime PC : Bit Tech Puzzle Game of 2010 http://www.chimegame.com/chime-pc-bit-tech-puzzle-game-of-2010/ http://www.chimegame.com/chime-pc-bit-tech-puzzle-game-of-2010/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:02:16 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=619

We are delighted to learn that Bit Tech have declared the Steam PC version of Chime the best puzzle game of 2010, Bit Tech says:

Strip everything else away and Chime is little more than a shape matching game with clever audio design. Randomly delivered blocks must be placed on a grid into 3×3 or larger quadrangles, at which point they disappear. Meanwhile, a wave passes over the board every few seconds and adds a sample to the soundtrack for every block it hits. Simple, but surprisingly addictive and fun!

Read the full review here.

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/chime-pc-bit-tech-puzzle-game-of-2010/feed/ 0 Press Release: Chime Super Deluxe, Spring 2011 http://www.chimegame.com/press-release-chime-super-deluxe-spring-2011/ http://www.chimegame.com/press-release-chime-super-deluxe-spring-2011/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:32:53 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=612 PRESS RELEASE

The definitive version of the acclaimed musical block puzzle game with brand new multiplayer modes, coming exclusively to PlayStation®Network this Spring

BRIGHTON, UK – 27th January 2011 – Zoë Mode Entertainment, an independent multi-format game developer, are excited to announce that Chime Super Deluxe will be released exclusively on PlayStation ®Network for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system this Spring.

Superseding the previously released Chime on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC, Chime Super Deluxe features new music from a variety of artists in addition to those already included (Moby, Markus Schulz, Philip Glass, Paul Hartnoll from Orbital and Fred Deakin from Lemon Jelly). The line-up includes tracks created exclusively for Chime and provides the largest roster of music so far for players to enjoy.

Also new to Chime Super Deluxe are brand new multiplayer game modes, an increase in the number of game grids, along with a complete graphical and gameplay overhaul which will make this the most visually attractive and refined iteration of the game.

Easy to play but hard to master, Chime Super Deluxe is a unique and addictive block puzzle game featuring an innovative music creation element. Players must cover a number of different grids with irregular shapes to form rectangular blocks called quads. Every shape and quad generates musical notes and phrases. As the grid is gradually covered, the song builds up in the background. Working their way towards that elusive 100% coverage, players create a unique remix every time.

About Zoë Mode

Zoë Mode makes accessible, simple, social games that are effortlessly fun but don’t take themselves too seriously. Based in Brighton, 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.

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/press-release-chime-super-deluxe-spring-2011/feed/ 0 Chime has been nominated for best puzzle game of 2010! http://www.chimegame.com/chime-has-been-nominated-for-best-puzzle-game-of-2010/ http://www.chimegame.com/chime-has-been-nominated-for-best-puzzle-game-of-2010/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:54:33 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/chime-has-been-nominated-for-best-puzzle-game-of-2010/ Nominated for the Gamespot “Best Puzzle Game of 2010” is… Chime! But the battle hasn’t been won just yet; we need your vote to win the prize. Vote for us here!

http://tinyurl.com/343jdsl

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/chime-has-been-nominated-for-best-puzzle-game-of-2010/feed/ 0 Last week to buy Chime on XBLA® with 100% of developer royalties being donated to children’s charities http://www.chimegame.com/last-week-to-buy-chime-on-xbla%c2%ae-with-100-of-developer-royalties-being-donated-to-children%e2%80%99s-charities/ http://www.chimegame.com/last-week-to-buy-chime-on-xbla%c2%ae-with-100-of-developer-royalties-being-donated-to-children%e2%80%99s-charities/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:37:14 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=566 Brighton, UK – Nov. 24, 2010 – Chime, the launch title for the charity project OneBigGame, is finally reaching the end of the exclusivity period with the publisher-come-charity. Originally signed for five months, Zoë Mode doubled this exclusivity period to a total of 10 months with 100 percent of their royalties donated to OneBigGame.

After 9:00AM UTC on Dec. 1, 2010, the royalties from sales of Chime on Xbox LIVE® Arcade will fall in line with the Steam® version of the franchise, with five percent of all royalties continuing to be donated to OneBigGame.

“While 100% of our royalty is donated we feel we can freely encourage those who have not had a chance to purchase Chime to use this last opportunity to fully support the OneBigGame initiative,” said  Ed Daly, general manager, Zoe Mode. “We have very much enjoyed working with OneBigGame on this unique venture and although this marks a change for Chime it is far from the end of the relationship.”

The title update that will debrand the product and alter the statement of charitable contributions also contains a gift to the hardened Chime players on XBLA.  Players quite early on managed to defeat the game and gain extraordinarily high scores; however, the score maximum was capped resulting in what players dubbed ‘the Eight Nines’ and a leaderboard topped with identical scores.

“Now that this cap has been removed it will finally be possible to discover the best Chime players in the world,” stated Brynley Gibson, game director, Zoe Mode. “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.”

The project has clearly been a success for all involved and has proven that charity in games can work.  Very shortly Zoë Mode will hand over a check to Martin De Ronde, director of One Big Game, for the soon to be disclosed final amount.  De Ronde commented, “We could not be happier with the success of our first game at OneBigGame and once again thanks to everyone at Zoë Mode for their hard work and generosity and in particular for extending the fund raising period.  The money raised is going to make a difference and will help children around the world as we pass it on to our partners at Save the Children and Starlight Children’s Foundation.”

Due to the critical success of the title the developer, who recouped not a single development cost from the XBLA project, continues to work on further fully commercial iterations.

Further Information

5% of all royalties from Chime for Xbox LIVE® Arcade and Chime for PC on Steam® will be donated to OneBigGame. 100% of the proceeds from the Xbox LIVE® Arcade version of Chime for Xbox 360® have benefited OneBigGame since the game’s release up to 1/12/2010.

Chime is available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade at the price of 400 MS Points. For more information, please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/c/Chimexbla/

Chime is available on Steam® priced $4.99 (check Steam® for alternative currency prices). For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/app/62100/

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/last-week-to-buy-chime-on-xbla%c2%ae-with-100-of-developer-royalties-being-donated-to-children%e2%80%99s-charities/feed/ 0 Chime Community Challenge Winners http://www.chimegame.com/chime-community-challenge-winners/ http://www.chimegame.com/chime-community-challenge-winners/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:54:40 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=547 Thanks once more to all who helped smash the Chime Community Challenge. We are not only pleased with the end result (1029 fans and counting) but ecstatic that you, the Chime community rose to the task for the good of Chime.

Chimaniacs we salute you!!!

We will be getting in touch directly with the winners to collect contact details, and to find out if they want to keep or gift their prizes. If you know someone more deserving for one or all of your prizes be a Fairy Godmother and gift it.

Here are the winners and the prizes.

Grand Prize Winner

Taylor Cole Sheckler Ryan

• A one off digital print poster of Chime signed by the development team,
• Chime Ambassadorship

    o An e-certificate and unique Chime Ambassador number.
    o Your name in the credits of all future versions of Chime.
    o A free copy of every version of Chime to keep or to gift to friends.

• Chime for PC and XBLA
• WiNTA for iPhone – All to keep or gift.

The other winners:

Chime Ambassadorship & Chime for PC and XBLA to keep or gift.
Bianca Barton
Travis Young
Shannon Kothoff
Andy Endean

Chime for PC to keep or gift.
Ashleyy Chalhoub
Tracy Biram
Jo McPherson

Chime for XBLA to keep or gift.
David Adelstein
Dan Short
Izzy Lyons

When released the new OneBigGame title; WiNTA for iPhone to keep or gift.
Emma Cella
Steve Schindler
Lolly Mann
Cheryl Hadfield

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/chime-community-challenge-winners/feed/ 0 Exclusive community competition for Facebook Fans http://www.chimegame.com/exclusive-community-competition-for-facebook-fans/ http://www.chimegame.com/exclusive-community-competition-for-facebook-fans/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:06:54 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=526 To celebrate the release of Chime on PC we’re holding a competition for all our fans in the Facebook community.

Our goal is to get 963 people to Like the Chime fan page.

Will you help us?”

When we achieve 963 likes we’ll make a pool of fans (original fans will be added twice to show our gratitude). We’ll enter the pool into a prize draw for some great Chime-related prizes.

Click on the left hand side “suggest to friends” button and write a message saying why they should Like Chime. The game-play, the music and the charity are all good. Hopefully, if you tell them why you love it they will too.

Go tell the world about this competition; tweet it, blog it, post it wherever you like. Feel free to post your message to the wall to help inspire others.

This is the facebook page.

Love The Chime Team X

]]> http://www.chimegame.com/exclusive-community-competition-for-facebook-fans/feed/ 0 Chime for PC released today on Steam® with exclusive new level! http://www.chimegame.com/chime-for-pc-released-today-on-steam%c2%ae-with-exclusive-new-level/ http://www.chimegame.com/chime-for-pc-released-today-on-steam%c2%ae-with-exclusive-new-level/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:49:11 +0000 zoemode http://www.chimegame.com/?p=522 Brighton, UK, 6th September 2010 – At 5pm GMT today, Zoë Mode Entertainment release their anticipated PC version of Chime, available exclusively through Steam®.

Chime PC contains all the levels that featured in the Xbox LIVE® Arcade version as well as an additional level using Jonathan Coulton’s cult song “Still Alive”, as featured in the hit game Portal.

The game has been refined with new controls, gameplay improvements and Steamworks integration with achievements.  Chime for PC provides a great challenge for experienced players, as well introducing new fans to the addictive block puzzle gameplay.

5% of all royalties from Chime for PC will be donated to OneBigGame. 100% of the proceeds from the Xbox LIVE® Arcade version of Chime for Xbox 360® have already benefited OneBigGame since the game’s release.

Chime is available on Steam® priced $4.99 (check Steam® for alternative currency prices). For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/app/62100/

(Chime is still available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade at the price of 400 MS Points. For more information, please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/c/chimexbla/ )

For more information about Chime, please visit www.chimegame.com

About Chime

Chime is an addictive block puzzle experience with a clever musical twist. Players must place pentomino-shaped blocks together to form quads and by doing so, cover an underlying grid.  As players work towards solving the puzzle against the clock, their actions reform and remix the music tracks. Every piece placed plays a note, every quad created triggers a musical phrase and as the coverage grows so does the backing track. The original Chime on Xbox 360® contained music from acclaimed artists; Moby, Paul Hartnoll (Orbital), Philip Glass, Fred Deakin (Lemon Jelly) and Marcus Schulz, all of whom donated their work to the charity initiative.

About Zoë Mode

Zoë Mode make games that are accessible; simple, social games that are effortlessly fun but don’t take themselves too seriously. Based in Brighton 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 a percentage of Zoë Mode’s royalties (5% of the purchase price of the PC version) 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 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 Steam®

The leading online platform for PC games and digital entertainment, Steam® delivers new releases and online services to over 20 million PC users around the world. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

About Valve

Valve is an entertainment software and technology company founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington. For more information, please visit www.valvesoftware.com

For media inquiries please contact:

Anna Morris

Zoë Mode

anna.morris@zoemode.com

Tel +44(0)1273 573600

26 Stroudley Road, Brighton, England, BN1 4BH

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