SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - May 15, 2008) - Mochi Media and Gaia Online announced
today the winners of their "Become a Rock Star" Flash game contest. The
contest was launched in January and received more than 200 game entries
from Flash game developers during the four-month contest period. The
contest challenged developers to create innovative, high-quality games with
the goal of identifying up-and-coming Flash game developers. Five winners
were selected by a panel of industry judges, while an additional ten
winners were selected by Gaia Online's virtual community. Contest
participants were given a chance to win more than $25,000 worth of cash and
prizes, as well as the opportunity to secure a game development contract
with Gaia.
For the judged portion of the contest, the 1st place prizewinner was
"Captain Skyro" created by Daniel Adijans. "Captain Skyro" follows a daring
pirate captain as he slingshots his way through the clouds with the aid of
his green parrot. The 2nd place award went to "Earth Defense," a retro
shooter created by Philip Maxey. "Amberial: Nebulosa Realms," a
space-themed platformer created by Jesùs Cuauhtèmoc, rounds out the top
three winners.
In the second portion of the contest, Gaia community members voted on
contest entries during the month of April. More than 800,000 votes were
cast by the Gaia audience. Receiving the 1st place prize was "BoomsticK,"
an action shooter game by Zach Young of Abduction Studios. The 2nd place
prize went to "CannonMan" by Philip Maxey, an entertaining action game with
the objective of shooting a man as far as possible out of a cannon.
"Blockarelli" by Tony Paldra, an addictive block puzzle game, took 3rd
place.
"The quality of the contest entries was excellent. This contest truly
highlights the amazing talent that exists in the Flash games development
community," said Mochi Media CEO Jameson Hsu. "We're excited to support
this community of Flash developers by recognizing them for their creations,
as well as helping them succeed with our products and services."
"Our audience really enjoys casual games and this contest was a unique
opportunity to give our active community a voice in selecting the new game
content they want added to the site," said Craig Sherman, CEO of Gaia
Online.
The contest showcased the latest services provided by MochiAds, including a
custom API allowing developers to create games with custom leader boards
and the ability to communicate with publisher sites. As the sponsor for the
contest, Gaia Online is the first to use this enhanced functionality to
integrate games into their chat and avatar system.
All winners selected by a panel of industry judges:
1st place -- "Captain Skyro" by Daniel Adijans
2nd place -- "Earth Defense" by Philip Maxey
3rd place -- "Amberial: Nebulosa Realms" by Jesùs Cuauhtèmoc
4th place -- "Gride" by Jussi Kari
5th place -- "BoomsticK" by Zach Young
All winners nominated by the Gaia community:
1st place -- "BoomsticK" by Zach Young
2nd place -- "Cannon Man" by Philip Maxey
3rd place -- "Blockarelli"by Tony Paldra
4th place -- "ColorSmash" by Dwayne Bull
5th place -- "GaiaGuessWho" by Ernesto Quezada
6th place -- "Bubble Pop" by Brandon Flynn
7th place -- "Ultimate Online Checkers" by Edgar Miranda
8th place -- "Amberial: Nebulosa Realms" by Jesùs Cuauhtèmoc
9th place -- "Pickies" by Ira Willey
10th place -- "Crumbs!" by David Durham
All contest entries can be viewed on the Gaia site at
www.gaiaonline.com/mochi/final.
About Mochi Media
Mochi Media is dedicated to fueling the creativity of the gaming community.
The core product, MochiAds, is the largest online games advertising network
for developers, advertisers and publishers. The network provides game
developers with monetization, distribution and analytics while providing
advertisers with turnkey opportunities to reach the one in three Internet
users playing games online. The thousands of online games available in the
game catalog provide publishers with engaging content to attract, entertain
and retain their users. Mochi Media is headquartered in downtown San
Francisco and funded by Accel Partners.
About Gaia Online
Founded in 2003, Gaia Online is the leading teen hangout on the web. More
than five million visitors come to Gaia every month to make friends, play
games, watch movies in Gaia Cinemas, Gaia's virtual theaters, and
participate in the world's most active online community. Gaia provides a
fun, social environment that inspires individuality and creativity. With
everything from art contests to discussion forums on poetry, politics,
celebrities and more, to fully customizable profiles, digital characters
and cars, Gaia is a place where teens can create their own space and
express their individual style. For more information, visit
www.gaiaonline.com.
Contact Information: PRESS CONTACT:
Melissa Rische
Gaia Online
Mrische (at) gaiaonline.com
Mochi Media:
Jason Throckmorton or Corey Lewis
Mochimedia (at) launchsquad.com
415-625-8555