Puff Puff

August 2, 2010 – Los Angeles – Puff Puff, the first iPhone game released by independent developer 6th Mega, is now available for $0.99 on the Apple App Store. Players use the awesome superpower of diodon holocanthus, the spiny puffer, to navigate a deadly coral reef and escape the jaws of tiger sharks, requiring skill and precision to master the art of buoyancy control and stay alive! 10% of proceeds will go towards ecosystem restoration and remixes of the game are encouraged, with the hope that other developers will follow in the footsteps of 6th Mega and incorporate a social mission with their releases.

Proceeds from Puff Puff will help support organizations that protect coral reefs. “Coral reefs provide important ecosystem services that support human life, and they are disappearing right before our eyes,” says 6th Mega. “If the present rate of destruction continues, 70% of the world's coral reefs will be destroyed by the year 2050. Puff Puff offers gamers a chance to experience fun and innovative gameplay while also helping support organizations working to protecting our planet’s marine habitats and species. Imagine what the world would look like if every action we took had a positive and restorative reaction – that’s our vision.”

The official trailer is now available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wURLFmMGSvg, and offers viewers a look at gameplay footage and unique multi-touch and accelerometer control.

Puff Puff features:

Rather than seeking traditional financing, independent developer 6th Mega tapped into peer-to-peer lender Prosper.com to secure start-up money. In less than 24 hours, 95 people pooled together small increments of money that together provided funding for the iPhone game development.

“Like the philosophy that drives 6th Mega, Prosper.com sees tremendous power in micro transactions to create value. We’ve experienced a terrific response to our peer-to-peer lending and Puff Puff is an exciting example of how this type of marketplace enables forward-thinking leaders to achieve their visions,” said Chris Larsen CEO of Prosper.com.

Puff Puff is being released as “goodware”. The source code is being distributed freely to other developers via the company’s website http:6thmega.com. 6th Mega encourages remixes of Puff Puff and suggests that other developers allocate some proceeds of their games to help address social and environmental problems.

“6th Mega is driven by a burning desire to make the world a better place. Our experiment: can technology increase human well-being while addressing the sixth mega extinction?” asks the team at 6th Mega. “When we add a power-up to the game, such as temporary invincibility, we challenge – will this help increase sales and consequentially help restore the ecosystem?”

Links:

“According to scientists, the sixth mega extinction is happening today, right now – scientists estimate we lose an animal species every 20 minutes. This rate of extinction has not been seen since the dinosaurs went extinct. If we continue at this rate, 50% of all living species will be gone by the end of this century,” says the team at 6th Mega. “Our hope is that Puff Puff can help take mobile gaming to an entirely new level, making an everyday activity a source of nourishment for the planet and future generations.”

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About Prosper

Prosper is the world's largest peer-to-peer lending marketplace with approximately one million members and over $200 million in loans. Prosper pioneered peer-to-peer lending, which allows people to invest in each other in a way that is socially and financially rewarding. Prosper's auction model provides an open and transparent way to get a personal loan or invest in loans on terms that are favorable to everyone involved in the transaction.

People and institutions list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform. Borrowers can list loan requests between $1,000 and $25,000 on Prosper and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay an investor for the loan, and tell their story. People and institutional investors register on Prosper as lenders, then set their minimum interest rates, and bid in increments of $25 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers' personal stories, endorsements from friends, and community affiliations.

Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them to facilitate the funding of one simple loan to the borrower, and then issues what are called "Notes" to all the winning bidders. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and investors. Prosper members are then able to trade Notes with other members on the Folio Investing Note Trader platform, provided by Foliofn Investments, Inc. Follow Prosper on twitter @prosperloans

About 6th Mega

6th Mega (online at http://www.6thMega.com) is a new independent developer of goodware. The company has been established and fully funded by peer-to-peer lending on the Prosper.com platform. 6th Mega is committed to increasing awareness of the sixth mega extinction and helping save the humans. 10% of proceeds of the company's flagship product, Puff Puff, a casual game for the iPhone, will be donated to help support ecosystem restoration by supporting organizations that provide protection to the world’s coral reefs.