Our latest game “Escape to Plastic Beach” for the Gorillaz crosses the divide into reality – along with several other divides that we know of!

2D to 3D. Flash to Unity. Free-to-play to free MP3 download. Bruce Willis got his own virtual double as the bounty hunter. And the game crosses from virtual to reality and back again – several times – given that Gorillaz is a virtual band (which makes your brain hurts if you think about it too hard….).

But don’t do that! Play the game and let us know what you think. Here’s what lead singer Murdoc has to say on the subject:

“Hey! This is fan-tastic. Some top-notch gonk gaming company have made a Gorillaz game that you can play free online. It’s all based on Plastic Beach, and it features me, 2D and my cyborg Noodle! What’s even better is that if you pay the £1.50 for the last part, you get our new single “Superfast Jellyfish”, and that’s got ‘Super Furry’ Gruff and the De La Soul boys on it! El Caminos, Boogiemen, ghostly pirate ships, underwater chases, mines, fat cops and gun battles all wrapped up in some snazzy new gaming technology and a great new Gorillaz track too…I mean, what more could you want? Come n’ play with me and Gorillaz on Plastic Beach and see how far that gets you…”
He’s right – we think it’s pretty darned good too. There are months of our lives, a lot of our brain cells and an awful lot of Matmi magic in “Escape to Plastic Beach“.

And there’s still more to come. Prepare yourself to cross another chasm Matmi style in a few weeks time…. Enjoy, Jeff.

Facebook is taking steps to remove so-called ‘Stalker Apps’ – applications that purport to allow you to see who has been looking at your profile – from its service, after making it clear that the apps don’t work and are potentially harmful to your computer. I’m sure we’ve all seen these apps, maybe even tried them for ourselves, whether out of idle curiosity, or the worry of something more sinister. (more…)

There’s always a lots going on here at Matmi HQ, so even something as recent as the release of Monster Pinball, which only came out last summer, seems like an age ago. That’s not the case for the rest of the world however, and with so many apps on the App Store, it’s easy for people to miss even the good stuff, like say, Monster Pinball. (more…)

We love pinball here at Matmi; as game makers, pinball is about as pure an expression of gameplay as you’re ever going to get and its impressive longevity as a pastime is a testament to the carefully crafted system of rewards and incentives that the game provides.

Oh, and it’s a boatload of fun too, let’s not forget that. (more…)