The Telegraph presents: The first (proper) Interactive Mobile Motion Comic for the iPhone & iPod touch.
To celebrate the first anniversary of the Credit Crunch, ALEX, the investment banker we all love to hate, is brought to new life on the iPhone and iPod touch, with Tapisodesâ„¢ patent pending blend of comics, animation and tap interaction.
20 beautifully animated and interactive ALEX strips, each themed around the market crisis, will be brought to you daily and downloaded straight into the ALEX app.
“We are excited to bring a new way of experiencing comic books and animation to the world’s most trendsetting mobile platform. We hope to please the legions of ALEX fans and introduce thousands more,”” said Jörg Tittel of Tapisodesâ„¢.
ALEX – Credit Crunch Special will offer a new episode every business day from today for a month, with each episode downloaded straight into the application at no additional cost. You can choose to receive a “push notification”” each time a new episode is available, or browse intuitive thumbnails for downloaded, available and upcoming episodes.
Hand drawn animations take you from punch line to punch line. Watch each story unfold by tapping on the right side of the screen to go forward, and the left side to go back. Tap anywhere else to see how far you’ve progressed in each episode, or to return to the archive where all ALEX Tapisodesâ„¢ are stored.
ALEX also comes with social networking integration, so you can do what bankers do best: Facebook and Twitter. Tell friends about your favourite Tapisodesâ„¢, all in the safety of your iPhone and out of the nosy IT department’s reach.
ALEX is only the first of a series of Tapisodesâ„¢ mobile comics. With a patent pending on the technology, the producers have been working with other high profile brands and franchises to create new content.
Paul Farley, CEO of mobile game developer Tag Games said, “We have always embraced other entertainment mediums and therefore are very excited about the opportunities for games companies in interactive storytelling and film. To be able to work with the talented team at Tapisodes on the Alex project was too good an opportunity to miss. We trust this initial collaboration will spawn many more successful titles in the future.””
Tapisodesâ„¢ and Tag Games were brought together through the Play Together program Creative Industry Switch created by TIGA (the trade body which represents the UK videogames industry) and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). Creative Industry Switch is designed to foster communication and collaboration between the videogames industry and other UK creative industries such as film, TV, radio and animation.
Lorna Evans, Project Manager of Play Together for TIGA and NESTA stated: “The Play Together initiatives were created to provide a forum for the UK’s creative minds to meet, exchange ideas and get commercial projects off the ground. We believe this is fundamental to the continued success of the UK’s creative industries.””
Jackie McKenzie of NESTA said: “This is exactly the sort of commercial collaboration between video games developers and other complementary media providers that we had hoped the Play Together initiative would achieve.””
The ALEX iPhone application is available for download from the Apple iTunes App Store at a cost of £0.59, with 20 animated, interactive tapisodes gradually made available for download – straight into the app and at no extra cost. Recession proof.
Ends
EDITOR’S NOTES
Trailer available at: www.tapisodes.com
App available now at: www.itunes.com/apps/alex/
ABOUT TAPISODES:
Tapisodes creates episodic entertainment for people on the move, using a unique combination of animation, technology and user interaction.
From the greatest comic book heroes, to movies, stars and literary masterpieces, Tapisodes are a brand new way to read, watch and interact with the best in visual storytelling.
Tapisodes was formed in 2009 by Charles Peattie, creator (with Russell Taylor) of ALEX, as well as Hugh Welchman and Simon Olswang, whose production company BreakThru Films won an Oscar for the animated film PETER & THE WOLF in 2008. www.tapisodes.com
ABOUT TAG GAMES:
Tag Games is an independent game development studio and publisher based in Dundee, Scotland. Formed in 2006 Tag has quickly established itself as a leader in the creation of games for mobile platforms.
After earning critical acclaim with their launch title DEAD WATER, Tag have since successfully released a large number of mobile games across a variety of genres and supporting a wide number of mobile technologies including iPhone, J2ME, BREW and Blackberry. The studio is now working on their first titles for Nintendo DSi and PSP.
Tag’s reputation for flexibility, innovation and delivery is second to none, successfully balancing the creation of original IP alongside development of licensed and commission titles. Tag Games partners include Connect2Media, Endemol, I-play, Tapisodes, Big Fish Games, GlobalFun, Tern Television and Sandlot Games.
ABOUT ALEX:
Alex (b. Alex Masterley) is the eponymous star of the well-known and widely appreciated comic strip which started life in 1987 and is known to readers of the business pages of the Telegraph and a wide overseas fanbase. The strip’s creators, Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor, have portrayed Alex as a wealthy, debauched, arrogant, frivolous yet lovable banker in the City, who typifies the individual at the heart of corporate London; he has proved a tenacious survivor through several economic cycles and in the subsequent years the strip has followed his activities as a thirty-something ‘New Dad’, through executive crack-up, boom, bust, unemployment, brief stints in ‘real’ jobs (outside The City), and up to the present day, where he manages to cling on to his job and continue to give us a look into the back ropes behind the current international financial crisis.
Alex has also recently made his name in theatre, with a sold out Stage Show featuring Robert Bathurst touring the UK, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai in 2007 and 2008.
About TIGA
TIGA is the national trade association that represents the UK video games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA’s vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. For more information on the Play Together initiatives or TIGA visit www.tiga.org.
About NESTA
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, a unique and independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. NESTA’s Creative Economy Programme works with over 300 businesses across the creative industries and tests the best way for them to grow. Together with our internationally acclaimed research, NESTA’s body of work on innovation constitutes a strong evidence base on how to drive growth in the creative sector. www.nesta.org.uk