Dr Who
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'Doctor Who' is coming to 'Minecraft' on Xbox 360 next month
Simply put, Doctor Who and Minecraft are two worldwide sensations, each extremely popular in their own entertainment category. Thus, it just kind of makes sense to bring the two together. Thankfully for those of you who are into both, Microsoft and the BBC have partnered up to do exactly that, by way of digital downloadable content for Minecraft on the Xbox 360. Starting next month, players will have access to character packs from Doctor Who, including skins of The Doctor himself, his companions and his mad enemies -- all from throughout the show's entire history, not only from most recent seasons. No word yet on if this also applies to the upcoming Xbox One edition of Minecraft, but it wouldn't surprise us if that was the case.
PSN Tuesday: Dishonored, Sherlock Holmes, Retro City Rampage, tons more
Today's PS Store dump includes a barrage of full games as part of Sony's Day 1 Digital promotion and its ongoing indie focus. For full games, we have Dishonored, Birds of Steel, Devil May Cry HD Collection and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.PSN gets Retro City Rampage, The Walking Dead Episode Four: Around Every Corner, Derrick the Deathfin, Machinarium, Worms Revolution and more. Retro City Rampage is also hitting Vita, alongside Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock, Spy Hunter and Sunflowers.Vita is getting three new PSOne Classics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 4, Destrega and Saiyuki: Journey West. There's also a free demo for this week's big release (that isn't Dishonored), XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and the Mechromancer DLC for Borderlands 2. Check out the complete lineup here.
Rise and Shiny: Doctor Who: Worlds in Time
Somehow, a new title by Three Rings, the maker of some of my favorite MMOs like Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights, slipped through the cracks. I pride myself on knowing about every new MMO that is coming out, even if I don't play them much. For some reason, though, Doctor Who: Worlds in Time slipped under my radar. Hey, nobody's perfect. Needless to say I was excited to check out the title even though I'm not a fan of the current Doctor. (Tom Baker fan, all the way. After that they all seemed too goofy. The theme song is still the coolest ones in sci-fi, though.) Doctor Who is like prog rock: tolerable only in small amounts, unless it's Rush. Once I logged in, I found a clever little game that utilizes many of the same mechanics of Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights. It's got familiar, puzzle-based, real-time group gameplay that I wish other games would implement. Star Trek Online could solve its ridiculous problem of having only single-player ships by giving players unique "jobs." Those crew members could sit at individual stations and solve puzzle in real time to help do their part. It works in Puzzle Pirates beautifully. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time uses the same instant group mechanic that Spiral Knights does, but it has other problems. In the end, I was a bit confused and often bored by the title.
1TB hard drive thrown into a toy TARDIS, gives us a proper Time Machine
It's common knowledge that the Doctor's time- and space-bending TARDIS is a lot roomier on the inside than its external dimensions let on, and now we can put a definite number to just how much space there is in there: a terabyte. Yup, that's how much storage Max Shanly managed to cram inside his "toy" TARDIS. It took a bit of elbow grease (plus a screwdriver) to get it all to fit, but most of the credit here is for sheer ingenuity -- who doesn't want to back up his data onto a freaking Time Lord's intertemporal transportation device? Max is currently working on hooking up the flashing light up top to represent hard drive activity and we're calling up our favorite KIRF suppliers to get them cranking these out. [Thanks, Max]%Gallery-101940%
Visualized: literally
This eyeball, currently under construction in Chicago's Loop district, is an art project appropriately named "Atraxi" "Eye." Getting into a staring contest could be a deadly affair.
BBC America HD launch July 20 brings plenty of science fiction starting with Torchwood & Dr. Who
After (in our opinion) a too long delay, BBC America is ready to launch its HD simulcast July 20, getting things kicked off with a load of science fiction programming for the summer. Torchwood: Children of Earth is scheduled as the first HD offering, with five consecutive nights of the new season to get things going before the season finale of Primeval shows its stuff in high definition along with the U.S. premiere of Being Human. That's all just a tease until the Sunday, July 26 U.S. premiere of Dr. Who: Planet of the Dead. Of course, in this day and age more than a few may have turned to the internet to catch quality UK television long before the programmes air here, but until iPlayer HD comes across the pond everyone else can look forward to getting their BBC re-airs in the quality they were intended - here's hoping for Top Gear HD next.Full press release and details are after the break.
iPlayer HD now available
Missed the Dr. Who holiday special? It, and other BBC programmes will be available as previously rumoured in high definition via BBC's iPlayer, now featuring new adaptive bitrate technology plus a new BBC iPlayer Desktop and a cross platform download manager for access under Windows, OS X and Linux. The only bad news? All that HD doesn't seem to extend to set-top boxes or the PS3 just yet, you'll have to try it out for yourself under boxee to find out if that works.
WoW Moviewatch: Dude, Where's My Mount? Episode 7
The Dude, Where's My Mount? series is one that has regrettably not been on Moviewatch often enough. Any kind of episodic series that puts this level of effort and consistency into its work should definitely be noted. We've covered one episode before, but hopefully we'll do a better job keeping up in the future. Episode 7 of DWMM has a kind of classic fantasy vs. real-life trope, wherein the authors of the series get confronted by their characters. I think it works for the laughs, though it'd probably help your appreciation if you were familiar with the series. The production values are spot on for this episode -- anything less would leave the interaction feeling like a waste of time, while more special effects would make the scenes feel forced and overworked. Also? The episode features a Dalek. That means it wins. If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
BBC optimizes iPlayer for Wii
Over at the BBC blog, they've let loose images and info on their new version of the iPlayer for Wii. Further optimized to take advantage of the large Wii audience, they've added some polish to what used to be a barebones interface, increasing the resolution and taking down the clutter with big, friendly buttons. Basically, it's what you see above.While we'd like to check out the new and improved iPlayer (and maybe watch an episode of Dr. Who or something), it's for UK residents only. Supposedly, they're working on worldwide acccess, but we've no idea when that will happen.[Via Digital Spy]
Eidos confirms a Dr. Who game for the DS
Back in July, we heard word of a Dr. Who game, but were given no information other then, "It is thought it will be available on PC, PS2, DS and Mobile." The game was also supposed to hit stores last year before Christmas, but obviously that didn't happen.Now, details on the game are slightly more clear -- at least, we know for a fact that the game is in development for the PC, PS2, and DS (with no mention of a mobile version). Otherwise, Eidos is keeping pretty tight-lipped on the project for whatever reason, merely stating that the release date is "not too far away." Eidos did promise that more details would hit the press soon, though, so if you're actually interested in this game, just hang tight.[Via GoNintendo]
WoW Moviewatch: Chronicle of the Annoying Quest, Episode 21
I'm pretty sure that Chronicle of the Annoying Quest, by Bakasavant Productions, had a plot at one point. However, every episode I watch seems to veer further away from it. With 21 episodes, over two seasons, in the can, you'd think it would be getting somewhere by now.Episode 21 is a Dr. Who tribute, where a time mage sends them on an adventure after the villains. They geek out while discussing their favorite actors from the TV show. Once again, I'm left bewildered as to what will happen next and how it wraps up. It's a decent series, though![Via Warcraftmovies.com]Previously on Moviewatch ...
