November 2011
HP give Santa a jetpack in aid of The Prince's
Trust
A rocket-fuelled Father Christmas is helping
to raise a million pounds for the Prince’s Trust by becoming the
must-have download this holiday season.
Developed by a team of volunteers at Hewlett
Packard in partnership with the Serious Games
Institute at Coventry University, Jetpack Santa is an
all action game which sees Santa flying off around the world trying
to deliver presents to all the children.
The game will cost 99p with all proceeds going
to the Prince’s Trusts Million
Makers campaign, a national competition that challenges
teams of employees and university students to come together and
raise £1 million for The Prince’s Trust to make a real difference
to the lives of disadvantaged young people across the UK.
“This is a 21st century approach to
fundraising and a good-news story among all the economic doom and
gloom,” says Mike Rutter at HP. “With roughly one in five young
people in the UK not in work, education or training, the Prince’s
trust plays a vital role in helping to fund projects and
initiatives that get Britain’s youth back working. We’re excited
and honoured to be playing our part...and having a little fun as
well!”
Calling themselves Whacked Prattle, the team
of five volunteers have given up a huge amount of their time to
develop the game which they hope will be on everyone’s Christmas
wish-list. The game is scheduled to be available for download on
all iPhones, iPods and iPads running iOS as well as all webOS
devices on Nov 18 Date.
The team has already set up a Facebook page for the
project, and they’re hoping to get over a 1000 fans before the day
of launch. You can also follow them on Twitter.
Mike Rutter of HP said:
In the current climate, initiatives like this
are vital in inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs. People
will love the finished game and can also feel proud in themselves
for supporting such a worthy cause.