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.

It could only happen to me. A few blog posts ago, I regaled you with the tale of getting locking in the office after an awards ceremony until 5 in the morning. The ‘Lock In Pixie’ obviously has it in for me because this time it was the toilet of a Virgin West Coast main line train (how glamorous) and after 15 minutes of indecision, I finally had to hit the red button to get out. Sorry to all my fellow passengers but….

… my day got worse (or maybe better, depending on your mood). My 4 back-to-back meetings in the four corners of London (don’t argue with me…) included ITV and as I’m waiting in the corridor I see a familiar face but can’t place it. This happens a lot, so I take my time and after 10 minutes decide I have to deploy Plan B: “Hi, I’m Jeff, Your face is familiar – do I know you from somewhere?” “Hi, I’m Johnny,” the familiar face replies. “Sorry?” I say. “Johnny Depp,” says he.

For once, I’m completely lost for words. And for those of you who know me, this may be a first. Losing my cool completely (and hoping that he thinks I’m a screwed up rock star of some kind (I have the right hair), rather than the nerd that I feel) I shake his hand and saunter back to my pitch in the corridor to go into my meeting with as much nonchalance as I can muster.

Describing the incident to my client, Denise (who’s worked for ITV for years), she waves her hand and says “Yeah, we have celebs in here all the time.” I guess being known as one of digital’s most brilliant minds doesn’t stop a humble lad from Macc getting star struck. Sorry Johnny. How about an advergame for that new film of yours? On the house?!*! Then again, it’s not the first time Matmi’s got to Hollywood, so it’s not all bad.

Cringe with me (please), 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 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.

Here’s one of our major tips and it’s free (which is good): think global and save money.

To us, this major tip is stating the obvious; the first “w” in www is for “world”, right? Obtusely, small businesses understand this far more than the multinationals who deliberately trip themselves up by assigning budgets geographically.

This short-sighted, small-minded, territorial approach makes me weep for the waste of so much hard-earned money (which is bad, but could be good). Wake up, people! Online is global; they’re the same thing. Join up your budgets, share content, create better campaigns and save yourself a shed load of money. It ain’t rocket science!

This is when I still ask “Is it me?” but now I have the confidence to know it’s you. (Thanks, Lily). If you need help convincing the powers that be to think global and save your company from the gap, we can provide the evidence, examples and experience for you to ride the wave. Very successfully. Indeed.

That’s a major tip bursting with Matmi goodness – and very good news! Enjoy, Jeff.