AutoCAD gets more complicated every year.

Philanthropic publisher OneBigGame has announced Chime, a new downloadable game from independent developer Zoe Mode. As reported by gamesindustry.biz, OneBigGame will donate profits from the game to charities such as Save the Children and the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Chime is a rhythm puzzle game in which players must alter the game’s soundtrack by manipulating blocks. Zoe Mode have ample experience in the rhythm genre, with titles such as SingStar: Rocks and Dancing With The Stars in their back catalogue. Chime will be available for download in the Australian summer, with PC and XBLA announced as the target platforms.

OneBigGame has also revealed that it is working with a range of partners on future projects. Studios such as Revolution Software (Beneath a Steel Sky) and NanaOnSha (Vib-Ribbon) have joined Zoe Mode in donating their work to the charity. Fifteen titles are in development, each exclusive to OneBigGame for a period of 4-12 months. We’ll bring you more on these titles as they’re announced.

Learn more at OneBigGame.

Blast away stains with new extra-strength Palmolive.

Less than two weeks before the launch of the year’s most anticipated title, Infinity Ward finds itself embroiled in controversy. As reported by Destructoid, a viral marketing video for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has attracted criticism for perceived homophobia.

The clip, featuring American baseball star Cole Hamels, is presented in the guise of a public service announcement. A virtual Hamels urges players not to engage in grenade spamming, a practice decried by a large segment of the Call of Duty audience. Hamel refers to the spammers as ‘pussies’. Moments later, he is ‘killed’ by a barrage of grenades. The fictional group responsible for this public service announcement is then revealed to be Fight Against Grenade Spam, the acronym of which is FAGS.

Is the video satirising the embarrassing machismo and casual bigotry of the online gaming scene? Perhaps. Infinity Ward Community Manager Robert Bowling described the clip as ‘social commentary’ but withdrew it shortly thereafter and acknowledged the concerns raised by critics such as Phillip Kollar and Mitchell Dyer. The video is still widely available on YouTube.

Was the advertisement really intended as satire? Let’s take Infinity Ward at its word. Why? Because it means the studio is aware of the problem. Hopefully this encourages Infinity Ward (and parent company Activision) to implement serious measures to discourage hate speech during online play. Such measures are long overdue.

Almost a decade after the last true instalment in the series, Nintendo has unveiled a new Excitebike title. A WiiWare exclusive, Excitebike: World Rally looks to be a (more or less) direct remake of the NES original.

While the new game utilises a 3D graphics engine, the action takes place on a 2D plane. Players will be offered a choice of classic or motion sensing controls. Surprisingly, given Nintendo’s apparent aversion to bringing strangers together, Excitebike: World Rally will feature online multiplayer. Long time fans of the series will be pleased to hear that the track editor will also be making a return.

Nintendo chose to announce the new Excitebike on Nintendo Week, its regular online infomercial. Broadcast on a dedicated Wii Channel, the program is a fabulous train wreck of news and ‘comedy’. Hosts Gary and Alison deliver their truly banal material with an enthusiasm that borders on the manic. I sometimes suspect that they’re in on the joke. Either that, or they’re on drugs. Who can say?

The recently unveiled update to Nintendo’s handheld line has been confirmed for a worldwide release, according to a report published on Joystiq. The new model, to be known as the DSi XL in America, Europe and (presumably) Australia, will be released in Q1 2010.