Most people would be happy to turn up to an evening with Ricky Gervais or Bill Bailey or Terry Christian (well, maybe not the latter), but at this year’s excellent Big Chip Awards, we got all three.

I remember being very tired that day and really not in the mood to get into a tux or be polite to strangers, but it turned out to be one of the best award presentation evenings I’ve ever been to. Sitting down at the table was slightly strange because I was certain I’d seen Ricky Gervais on the next table with our friend, Ian Guiver, MD at axon garside. It became clear later (when things are usually getting hazy…) that Ricky Gervais’ look-a-like starred in the brilliant “Factory” series for K3. He accepted the well-deserved commendation and fooled everyone in the audience that Ricky Gervais himself was gracing us with his presence. Nice move, Ian.

For me, Terry Christianson was a game of two halves. As a fellow Macc lad and Mancunian, it was great to hear the many tributes to Tony Wilson who did so much to put the musical and creative side of Manchester on the map. The urban-style poem read by its author was a fitting touch. What wasn’t so fitting was the recurring vision I kept having of a game involving trapping Terry in a small cupboard and slapping him repeatedly with a wet fish.

Thanksfully, that soon passed, and as fish do, we headed for the bar where we had the pleasure of running into Bill Bailey on his way out (we’d already run into him on the way in). He’d hopped across the road to do a bit of charity-raising stand-up for the Sumatran Orangutan Society (£1,200 a hour for my favourite charity would be nice too) and we got to buy him a pint of cider and have a chat. About games. Bill – if you’re reading this, give us a call and we’ll pick up where we left off – or maybe you prefer the Terry Christianson one?!

Major thanks to the Big Chip Awards for an impressive and thoroughly enjoyable, star-studded evening. And from the sublime, I headed for the ridiculous, camping on the North Yorkshire Coast in a Romany caravan park called La Rosa (but like no caravan park you’ve ever seen) run by an eccentric and wonderful lesbian couple. We had one of the dozen totally over-the-top Kitch caravans and ours was in Burlesque style, no less. Whether it’s sublime or ridiculous, I hope to be back at the Burlesque van and the Big Chips – to carry off a trophy next time. It would be the only way to top the occasion. Thanks guys, Jeff.

If you regularly use the worldwide Viral Chart to track advergames, please read this. There have been some changes that you need to be aware of.

In our last issue, we spoke about using the first two ‘w’s in ‘www’ to make sure you get the best of a digital campaign by planning and managing it on a worldwide basis. So it’s ironic that the worldwide Viral Chart most used by our industry has changed to tracking by country.

Yes, the old chart did have its faults and it wasn’t particularly well supported, but it tracked campaigns on a global basis. Most of the brands Matmi works with are international if not global, so the new version of the Viral Chart has been a step backwards for us, I’m afraid. Fortunately we’re not the only ones who think this way and changes are underway so that you can get stats on a country, continental and worldwide basis. It’ll be better in the end.

Meanwhile, make sure you know what you’re looking at and if you want any additional information on a particular campaign, my advice is to contact the developer.

Unfortunately Matmi has had a serious casualty in the transfer process; we’ve lost tracking for a couple of our games including Santa FartyPants and our world famous Comic Relief game, “Let It Flow”. Even worse because it’s a charity client and because the game was the only one carried forward from the 2007 Red Nose Day event to 2009′s. We’ll never know just how successful it is now, but hopefully Cancer Research’s “Rooftop Runner” will pick up where “Let It Flow” left off.

Hurry up and get the new chart sorted, Chris! Thanks everyone for your patience.

Our latest charity fund-raising advergame is for Cancer Research UK to promote the 40 “Run 10K” events around the UK which start in September. Aptly named “Rooftop Runner”, it’s off to a runaway start with over a million plays in the first two weeks.

The game is a dash for cash but it’s based on the free running phenomenon – where the athletic runners use jumps, vaults and flips across the urban landscape to reach their destination over the rooftops rather than by road. We’re counting on the game’s viral potential to help Cancer Research promote the “Run 10K” events, and drive traffic to the Run 10K website where you can register for a run or make a donation.

We all know someone affected by cancer. Cancer Research is a world-class researcher and offers unwavering support to patients, their friends and family so please help spread the word and send this game to as many people as you can.

And talking of doing great things, I’d like to congratulate one of our newest team members, Juan, who’s put blood, sweat and tears into the “Rooftop Runner” game. He graduates in July from Salford University where he’s officially the best post-grad student in Art & Design. (That’s very humbling for me because I want to make sure Juan’s got enough interesting work at Matmi to make it worth staying around!). Keep up the great work, Juan; it’s OK by me if you want to do algebra in your lunch break. (And even more humbling, he’s a really nice guy).

Our 1st iPhone game, Monster Pinball, is making monster waves in the Apple Store. Since 1st June, it got into the Top 100 Games and Apps charts, then it went on the Staff Picks list and today I’ve heard that it’s Apple’s App Store Pick of the Week! Even I think that’s pretty impressive in just 18 days.

Apple’s review says:

Awesome — it’s a word you hear a lot from fans of Monster Pinball. Designed specifically for iPhone and iPod touch, Monster Pinball offers stunning graphics, zany sound effects, automatic table switching, high scoring, fast action, and hours of fun. Ready to become a pinball wizard?

But don’t take our word for it or even theirs – have a look and see for yourself. There’s a demo vid here and if you decide to make a purchase, click here. We love making online games and of course, they’re free to play. But there’s something intensely satisfying about producing a game which people will actually pay for. Forget about the dosh; that’s hugely motivational to the whole Matmi team. Major thanks to everyone out there who’s made a purchase (or is going to… ). You have very good taste J. Enjoy, Jeff.

You know the saying – there’s a fine line between genius and madness? It’s true.

We’ve had a brilliant time finding that out to bring the Seriously Mixed Up Fruit of Vimto’s £5m rebrand to life on the new website (www.vimto.co.uk). Never mind mixed up fruit – these guys are fruit loops! You’ll find the Blackcurrant, Raspberry and Grape characters from the TV ad getting mushed most mightily on the new site and making a huge mess all over the place. You can even upload your own fruit mushing mayhem onto the site to win Apple iPhones, Nintendo Wiis and stacks of Vimto goodies in a competition running to 31st December 2009.

Visit now

What I love about this site is that it’s not a website – it’s a web experience. You get a real sense of the brand – its quirky, fun-loving personality with an amazing history and global reach. You don’t just look at stuff; right from the start, Vimto’s web experience begs you to interact and get involved. It’s easy to get around, but nothing’s normal. Products are pleasures. Company history is Time Travel – and how many companies would let you put a section in called “Silly Stuff”?!

Take a look. I think you’ll be impressed with the sheer amount of thought, creativity and attention to detail that’s gone into Vimto’s new web experience. Big thanks to the guys at Driven and Vimto for all your help. Couldn’t have done it without you (which means you’re either mad or genius too…. !) Enjoy, Jeff.