The wonderful people at Tate liked one of our ideas a lot, namely turning the history of modern art into a (slightly bonkers) platform game, and as of RIGHT NOW we’re delighted to announce that Race Against Time is available in iOS App Stores worldwide. Hurrah!

You play as a wily chameleon, travelling through the history of modern art in order to defeat evil Dr Greyscale’s plan to remove all the colour from the world. As you race through time from 1890 back to the present day, the background, platforms and enemies change to reflect major art movements and works from the last 121 years of modern art. And if you play the game AT the Tate you can activate ‘turbo mode’, supercharging your jump and unlocking a mighty tongue-attack for zapping baddies.

Our unfairly talented in-house post-production team have also created a bespoke soundtrack for the game, giving each decade a stylistic variant of a main theme using instruments and processing appropriate to the particular era. Phew.

It’s also free, so you don’t have to spend any monet (sorry). It will work beautifully on all iDevices running up-to-date software, but particularly shines on 4th gen iPhone and iPod Touch (retina display).

If you’re in the UK, download Race Against Time here.

Good luck!

Here’s the trailer with that mesmerising Benedict Cumberbatch voice again:

And in the last seven days we’ve won three Sony Radio Academy Awards, been nominated for a Develop award, a Broadcast Digital award and now …

… we’ve been shortlisted for “Creative Agency of the Year” in the annual New Media Age Awards.

Wow.

Congratulations to everyone who works with us in any capacity: in-house, collaborator or client — this is because of you.

The winners are revealed on June 23rd 2011.

More information on NMA’s website: http://www.nmaawards.co.uk/

Somethin’ Else is giddy to announce our new iOS game, “The Nightjar,” is going to become officially available on April 26, 2011 in the UK and Ireland.

It’s a unique project, and we are incredibly proud of it — not just the game itself but the nature of how it came to market. We wanted to share some information about both sides of the game before release.

So: what’s it all about? If you’ve been following @VoiceOfNightjar and her sister ships on Twitter, you’ll know we’re in space. You’re going to find yourself on a dying spaceship, circling a black hole, in all kinds of trouble. The game features the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s terrifying. And it’s our second “video game with no video,” the entire experience rendered in binaural 3D sound.

Producing high-quality games is enormous fun, and it’s also risky and costly. People expect great games, but in the world of iOS, expect to pay very little for them. There was some criticism of Papa Sangre’s launch cost of $5.99 — less than a sandwich, cinema ticket or paperback book — but it took a small and independent team over a year to create an entirely new mode of gameplay, and the technology to drive it. We are dedicated to producing truly beautiful games based on ideas that only an idiot would attempt, because … well, just because, and something had to give or it would never have been made.

So we’re delighted to have worked with AMV BBDO, who enabled The Nightjar to be made by exploring an innovative funding model — effectively really smart collaboration and sponsorship. We had total freedom to make the game we wanted to make, with no artistic compromises whatsoever beyond a terrifyingly short production cycle (10 weeks!), and best of all, the game will be free to download. In return, the game is part of Wrigley’s “The 5 Experience”, which is all about sensory experiences and an obvious match for how our audiogames work.

AMV were more than just a financial partner though. They have been collaborators: the guys who first suggested setting the game in space, and responsible for the stunning graphic identity for the project too, which also fits the 5 Experience look and feel (actually, helped define it).

They also enabled Benedict Cumberbatch to board The Nightjar.

Now, we learned a huge amount about telling stories inside the Papa Platform in our first game. For this new game we wanted not just to knock that particular ball out of the mythical park, but smack the sucker into orbit (sorry). Being able to call on the talent of someone who is surely one of the UK’s best actors has brought something very rare to The Nightjar.

“Dead Space with the lights off” it is not.

It has the presence and intimacy of the very best audiobook or radio play, only the main guy is talking to you. Not to your avatar in a game. You. The pace, the depth, the relationship between story and gameplay — the performance itself — we were able to explore all these things because we knew we had a totally bad-ass actor on the team.

It’s a unique project, and we are incredibly proud of it — not just the game itself but the nature of how it came to market. We wanted to share some information about both sides of the game before release.

So: what’s it all about? If you’ve been following @VoiceOfNightjar and her sister ships on Twitter, you’ll know we’re in space. You’re going to find yourself on a dying spaceship, circling a black hole, in all kinds of trouble. The game features the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s terrifying. And it’s our second “video game with no video,” the entire experience rendered in binaural 3D sound.

Producing high-quality games is enormous fun, and it’s also risky and costly. People expect great games, but in the world of iOS, expect to pay very little for them. There was some criticism of Papa Sangre’s launch cost of $5.99 — less than a sandwich, cinema ticket or paperback book — but it took a small and independent team over a year to create an entirely new mode of gameplay, and the technology to drive it. We are dedicated to producing truly beautiful games based on ideas that only an idiot would attempt, because … well, just because, and something had to give or it would never have been made.

So we’re delighted to have worked with AMV BBDO, who enabled The Nightjar to be made by exploring an innovative funding model — effectively really smart collaboration and sponsorship. We had total freedom to make the game we wanted to make, with no artistic compromises whatsoever beyond a terrifyingly short production cycle (10 weeks!), and best of all, the game will be free to download. In return, the game is part of Wrigley’s “The 5 Experience”, which is all about sensory experiences and an obvious match for how our audiogames work.

AMV were more than just a financial partner though. They have been collaborators: the guys who first suggested setting the game in space, and responsible for the stunning graphic identity for the project too, which also fits the 5 Experience look and feel (actually, helped define it).

They also enabled Benedict Cumberbatch to board The Nightjar.

Now, we learned a huge amount about telling stories inside the Papa Platform in our first game. For this new game we wanted not just to knock that particular ball out of the mythical park, but smack the sucker into orbit (sorry). Being able to call on the talent of someone who is surely one of the UK’s best actors has brought something very rare to The Nightjar.

“Dead Space with the lights off” it is not.

It has the presence and intimacy of the very best audiobook or radio play, only the main guy is talking to you. Not to your avatar in a game. You. The pace, the depth, the relationship between story and gameplay — the performance itself — we were able to explore all these things because we knew we had a totally bad-ass actor on the team.

So why is this only available in the UK and Ireland for now? Well, primarily because this kind of true collaborative engagement between a game design studio and brand is very new. Somethin’ Else is doing everything we can to get the game in the hands of our international supporters (who have been pestering us for more Papa Sangre!) as soon as we can. We would like to thank all our international fans for their patience — we truly value your support and positivity, and the excitement many have shown over The Nightjar!

Behind the Hit was a remix competition run by Nissan UK to promote the launch of the new Juke car model. The winning track, which was judged by and used samples of La Roux’s music, will be played for the first time at the gig in a DJ set by the band’s Elly Jackson. She is joined on the bill by Pony Pony Run Run, The Naked and Famous and Delphic. Host for the night is our very own Goldierocks.

You can watch the stream live from 8pm on your Spotify player or at the Behind The Hit site.

The stunning singer performed four hits (‘Poison’, ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’, ‘StickWitU’ and ‘I Hate This Part’) exclusively, which we filmed for Orange’s various music sites across web and wap. The story didn’t end there however, as after the videos hit the web they were picked up on by sites such as PCD World, The Grape Juice, We Are Pop Slags and most notably, Perez Hilton.

While we’re not talking Rebecca Black levels of internet views, the four videos chalked up tens of thousands of views in less than a week of being online. We were later thanked by Nicole herself after ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ hit No.1 in the UK, referring to us as her ‘sexy army’. She knows us well.

We were responsible for all the video content, commissioned by OMD, and tailored to specific European markets.

The campaign features a competition for up-and-coming music acts. Each act was presented with a car for a week and given a series of challenges to complete, such as making a music video, performing at fans’ houses and organising a flashmob gig.

Bands involved include French pop group Pony Pony Run Run, Spain’s The Pinker Tones, Bakkushan from Germany, and Italian DJ duo The Visitors Attak. Viewers will vote for the winning act, which will stage a special gig in their home town.

Read about our involvement in this campaign at Campaign, Brand Republic and New Media Age.