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Doctor Who: Legacy arrives November 27
Following the recent BBC debut of "The Day of the Doctor," and continuing the 50th anniversary celebration of all things Doctor Who, comes the November 27 launch of the free-to-play Doctor Who: Legacy. Available exclusively on iOS and Android, Legacy allows players to build a team of their favorite companions and allies from the extensive history of Doctor Who. You'll use this team to battle the series' most famous enemies and relive the Doctor's greatest moments. While that premise sounds like the sort of thing a Who fan would adore, keep in mind that not all of the game's content will be available at launch. On debut, the game will cover the most recent two seasons of Doctor Who. From there the development team will work backwards in time to add more content to Doctor Who: Legacy. Today's announcement mentions that content from season five of the modern Doctor Who series will be available for free at some point near the beginning of 2014. It's currently unknown what price points will be attached to further content releases.
Doctor Who and gaming have been companions for nearly 30 years
BBC science-fiction show Doctor Who turned 50 this weekend, much to the delight of fans across the globe. Some of these fans, it turns out, have also been designing the video games we play for nearly 30 years. Did You Know Gaming has released a video on YouTube collecting tons of Doctor Who references and Easter Eggs from 1984's Robot Odyssey to 2012's Borderlands 2. You can watch it above. There are plenty more references to be found throughout other video games, as the comments are happy to point out. So enjoy this trip through the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey history of Doctor Who and video games, and see if you notice any others.
Make time for Doctor Who's birthday Google Doodle puzzler
Today's Google Doodle is of the wibbly-wobbly variety, namely a Doctor Who-themed game celebrating the British TV show's 50th anniversary tomorrow. It's an isometric puzzler reminiscent of 80s Atari classic Crystal Castles, and in it you guide a pixelated Doctor past traps and obstacles as you hunt for letters that spell out, funnily enough, Google. For a five-minute distraction, there are plenty of references to the cult sci-fi show's half-century of history, from the terrifying statues of "Blink" to the eleven different Time Lords you can play as - each time you die, you of course regenerate as another Doctor. Don't be fooled by the timer in the image above; The game really does take just a few minutes or so to complete, but it adds a minute to that clock each time you die, as a penalty. Suffice to say, the final of the five levels is not the easiest; more Time Lords died in my playthrough than in the Last Great Time War. To play the game, head over to Google's UK front page.
Doctor Who: Legacy free-to-play game travels to iOS, Android soon
The two Doctor Who sequels from Supermassive aren't ever going to materialize, but BBC is launching Doctor Who: Legacy, a free-to-play iOS and Android game to celebrate the series' fiftieth anniversary. It comes from Tiny Rebel Studios and Seed Studio, and it's expected to drop "soon." The Doctor Who fiftieth anniversary TV special – which stars tenth Doctor David Tennant, eleventh Doctor Matt Smith, a mysterious incarnation of the Doctor played by John Hurt and features the return of Billie Piper as Rose – airs on November 23. That seems pretty "soon" to us, but we're no Time Lords.
BBC releases rediscovered Doctor Who episodes as iTunes exclusives (video)
There are a few things that make Doctor Who fans wince in pain, none more so than mentioning the BBC's policy of deleting its archives of early '60s episodes. However, enterprising fans have scoured the globe looking for film canisters, and all but 106 had been found -- until now. Nine new episodes, including parts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of The Enemy Of The World as well as episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6 of The Web of Fear were discovered in Nigeria earlier this year. After being brought up to broadcast standard by the BBC's peerless Restoration Team, both serials are now available exclusively on iTunes, until their DVD release, that is, for $9.99/£9.99 each. That should keep us amused until November 23rd, at least.
Two lost Doctor Who serials released as iTunes exclusives
The BBC has discovered 11 Doctor Who episodes from the late 1960s in Nigeria. Nine of those episodes were originally lost after the BBC junked the original tapes in the '60s. The newly discovered episodes have been released as iTunes exclusives as part of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. The episodes make up two Second Doctor serials: "The Enemy of the World" and "The Web of Fear," which originally aired during the series' original fifth season in 1967 and 1968. The Doctor during this time was Patrick Troughton, with Frasier Himes and Deborah Watling playing companions Jamie and Victoria. One episode of "The Web of Fear" is still missing, but was reconstructed using episode stills. "The Enemy of the World" and "The Web of Fear" are available for US$9.99 on iTunes.
Mini TARDIS really is bigger on the inside, thanks to augmented reality (video)
Once in a while we'd come across some cool DIY projects inspired by Doctor Who, the world's longest-running sci-fi TV show, but nothing beats this little TARDIS that would actually make you gasp out the classic line: "It's bigger on the inside!" Greg Kumparak, a former writer of sister site TechCrunch, initially built nothing more than just a convincing model of the iconic blue police box (with a functioning light at the top) by hand, but soon afterwards he wanted to somehow give it an interior as well. By utilizing the Blender 3D creation suite (which was a first for Kumparak), Unity 3D engine and Qualcomm's Vuforia AR SDK, the result is an Android app that renders the 3D interior atop the random wave-like pattern -- visible once the door's removed -- on the TARDIS in real time (no pun intended). Once you've seen the demo video after the break, you'd probably agree that Kumparak's only one sonic screwdriver away from becoming an honorary Time Lord. For more detail on how and why this project was put together, head over to Kumparak's blog post.
Scan's official TARDIS PC Case lets you roam time and space, hatstand optional
Its target audience may be cranky men who wish the show hadn't been brutally murdered back in '89, but this TARDIS case should impress even the most casual of Doctor Who fan. British desktop company Scan has teamed up with the BBC to produce this faithful PC case, complete with broken chameleon circuit. The base model comes with a 3.1GHz Pentium G2120, but you can swap that out for anything up to a 3.1GHz Core i7 if you need more power, after all, you won't be able to jettison Romana's room to crank a few more frames out of Crysis. Prices start from £936 ($1,508) and run all the way to £1,933 ($3,114) for the fully tricked-out version. At the moment, Scan only ship its products within the EU, but we can't imagine it'll be long before rioting fans in the States demand to get their hands on the gear, or, just start building their own.
BBC Worldwide announces first four Blu-ray / DVDs with UltraViolet digital copies
Coming nearly on the anniversary of its US launch, the UltraViolet digital locker system is getting a boost in the UK from BBC Worldwide. The BBC's commercial wing is releasing four Blu-ray / DVD titles that are UltraViolet-enabled and is partnering with Warner-owned Flixster to allow users to redeem their copies. The digital versions are available via streaming and downloading for viewing on or offline, and the first four titles queued up consist of Doctor Who Series 7 Part One, Rollercoaster, a new Top Gear special and Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild. UltraViolet was already live in the UK, and recently announced it's spreading to cover Canada, Ireland and Australia. We'll see how users like the signup process with its multiple logins, but a quick check of previous Blu-ray releases didn't show any iTunes or Windows Media digital copies at all so at least they'll appreciate the option.
BBC now allowing iPlayer downloads to tablets, phones
The Guardian reports that the BBC is now allowing free mobile iPlayer downloads, which means the latest episodes of series such as Doctor Who and Top Gear can be downloaded to tablets and mobile phones. Unlike other streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, BBC iPlayer users will be able to download episodes for offline viewing. The downloading capability will be rolled out to the iOS version of iPlayer first and should happen today. The BBC said an Android update will follow. The episodes can be kept on the device for 30 days. If an episode is watched, it'll remain on the device for seven days. The download will be available to be watched abroad, so you can load up your iPad or iPhone with TV to watch while on holiday, even if you venture to another country.
Must See HDTV (August 27th - September 2nd)
This is it, the crossover where summer and fall programming mix. College football is back in action, and we say good bye to some of our favorite summer TV shows like Breaking Bad. TV fans should also keep an eye out on the disc releases, as many shows boxed sets are hitting shelves before the new season begin airing soon. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. Breaking Bad This weekend the first half of the fifth and final season of AMC's Breaking Bad comes to a close, before viewers wait for the second half to air in summer 2013. You won't find any spoilers here, but the path Walter White has taken has certainly arrived at places few would have predicted when the show began. The only question now is how many surprises are left before it all comes to an end. (September 2, AMC, 10PM) Doctor Who Also fresh this weekend is a new series of Doctor Who episodes, kicking off with Asylum of the Daleks. The better news as of late has been BBC America closing the gap in airing new episodes and that DirecTV is carrying the channel in HD at last. If you can't wait for new shows, check out the Pond Life preview clip embedded after the break. (September 1, BBC America, 9PM) College Football While preseason week four of the NFL season is skippable pigskin action, the return of college football this weekend will have us planted firmly in front of our HDTVs. The Hawaii/USC and Michigan/Alabama matchups Saturday night should start the season off with a bang and we can't wait. Looking for your favorite team in the listings? We've got many of the nationwide broadcasts covered, but reader Jose Perez reminds us of this comprehensive TV schedule at LSUFootball.net that should let you know who is playing where all season long. (August 30th - September 1st)
ThinkGeek's Mark VII Sonic Screwdriver universal remote pleases Whovians in time for Comic-Con
Ever wished you too could make use of the awesome powers that lie within Dr. Matt Smith's Mark VII Sonic Screwdriver? Well, it's still not exactly a reality in the way of the space-bred handyman's gadget seen on Doctor Who, but ThinkGeek and The Wand Company have you covered if an IR-packing replica universal remote sounds good enough. This BBC-licensed Mark VII remote handles up to 39 commands that are all controlled using 13 different motion gestures. Of course, if controlling the likes of TV and AV devices in an extraterrestrial fashion just isn't your thing, there's always ThinkGeek's Sonic Screwdriver flashlight, right? There's no word on price just yet, but San Diego Comic-Con attendees can try it out first-hand at the BBC America Booth (#3629) starting July 12. The Mark VII remote is set to go sale for $99 at ThinkGeek's website on August 31st, so for now we'll direct you to the press release after the break. Update: Video demo added after the break. [Thanks, Alan]
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.
One Shots: City of who?
Massively reader Torch Light has a theory that someone at Paragon Studios is a Doctor Who fan, and I think he might be right -- and not just because the game boasts a Time Manipulation power set. Torch Light sent in today's featured image from City of Heroes' VIP testing servers along with this explanation: The beta for Issue 23 of CoH has just gone live with a new parallel world of spookiness. While exploring around, I saw a familiar (yet strangely colored) police box. Looks like Paragon called in an expert to help fix those wibbly wobbly timey wimey problems. The image isn't bigger on the inside, but it is after the cut alongside two more reader pics!
Take a look at Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock
This image (bigger on the inside version here) is our first glimpse at Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, a new downloadable title "initially" coming to PC, PS3 and Vita sometime this year. For those of you unfamiliar with the Time Lord and his escapades across the fabric of reality, the above image shows the Doctor (technically the 11th Doctor, portrayed by Matt Smith) at the control panel of his time machine the TARDIS (which is an acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space"). One screenshot isn't much to go on, but it looks like Supermassive Games has Matt Smith's trademark look down about as well as one could hope. We wait with baited breath for a look at River Song, or any information about this game.
The MMO Report: It's bigger on the inside edition
This week on The MMO Report ("where everyone is legally obligated to be filled with Yuletide"), Casey and the crew interview two of the minds behind the inbound Doctor Who-flavored MMO. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time's Robert Nashak and Max Engel sat down to discuss the game, which is a platform-independent, Flash-based browser MMO with a unique 2-D graphic-novel style that aims to appeal to fans of both the franchise and sci-fi games in general. Nashak and Engel promise iconic locations and enemies along with a Matt Smith-inspired Doctor and a customizable gadget (sonic screwdriver, anyone?) to reflect each character's abilities. The game will be F2P; ideally, players can wade through the game "without spending a penny," although naturally you can purchase faster mission completion and customization of your "home-space on the Tardis." Yes, it's bigger on the inside. The game launches in March of 2012, but for now, you can check out the entirety of The MMO Report's interview just past the break.
The MMO Report: This is why we can't have nice things edition
This week on The MMO Report, Casey explains that the leaked Guild Wars 2 Mesmer reveal is exactly why we can't have nice things. He highlights Lord of the Rings Online's first major update since the Rise of Isengard expansion, discusses the newly revealed Egyptian-themed zone in Funcom's upcoming The Secret World, and suggests that fan feedback -- "very loud fan feedback" -- is responsible for the fan-pandering of EVE Online's recent Crucible expansion. He also pokes a bit of fun at Q Entertainment's on-the-nose Ninety-Nine Nights Online, a "2-D PC action mmo [that] will most likely play exactly how you expect it to, with lots of clicks and clacks and plenty of hacks and slashes." Finally, Casey dips into Uncle Casey's Mailbag to read an email from a fan who believes Casey is a dead-ringer for Christopher Eccleston (of Doctor Who fame), which gave The Beard an opportunity to plug next week's special edition MMO Report, in which the crew will dish out some insider info on the inbound Doctor Who MMO. The full video is tucked behind the break.
Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock winding up on PS3, Vita and PC
Though it exists in every video game with save files or checkpoints, time travel isn't regularly acknowledged -- but when your story revolves around a temporally insulated phone booth piloted by an immortal doctor, it would just be weird not to. Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, a new downloadable game derived from the popular BBC show, is bringing narratively justified time travel to us early next year, "initially" on PC, PlayStation 3 and Vita. This first entry in a series of three new BBC timelord games is being developed by Supermassive Games, the folks behind PSN's Tumble. Both Doctor Who and companion River Song will be playable, and furnished with the voices and likenesses of show stars Matt Smith and Alex Kingston, respectively. They'll be "challenged to master the complexities of time travel," it says here, with puzzles that can interact with each other across centuries. The BBC hasn't announced a precise release date, but a note on Supermassive's website suggests Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock is being prepared for the PlayStation Vita's launch in late February.
Sega snaps up Spiral Knights dev Three Rings
If you've played ... well, any Sega games, you're probably aware of the company's unhealthy fixation on rings. Sonic can't get enough of the things. Ecco the Dolphin will defy the laws of gravity to pierce them. Today, the publisher further developed its addiction: Sega has announced via a press release that it has acquired San Francisco-based Spiral Knights developer Three Rings. The company's got plenty of street cred, thanks to its well-received pseudo MMO Puzzle Pirates, and its upcoming online game set in the storied Doctor Who universe. Still, that's probably not why Sega bought them. It's because they have rings, you guys. Three of them. If there were a company called Five Rings, or Ten Thousand Rings, Sega probably would have bought them instead.
Doctor Who author Oli Smith joins Mediatonic as Creative Writer/Producer
The Doctor is in, or at least, one of his writers is. Mediatonic, the London-based developer that gave us Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess, announced today that author Oli Smith has joined their ranks as a Creative Writer and Producer. Smith, who has penned two Doctor Who novels and four Doctor Who games, will be filling a "key position in the studio's design process" by creating characters and storylines for the company's proprietary IPs, as well as overseeing creative direction for licensed titles. When asked for a comment, Smith entered a large blue box which promptly disappeared before our very eyes.
