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CBS bringing Diagnosis Murder, some other stuff to gaming platforms
CBS announced today that it's bringing a wide array of its TV programming to the video game world, mainly via the PC, Wii and DS. As you can see after the break, the company revealed equally insipid-sounding game versions of Survivor, Hollywood Squares, The Amazing Race, and Criminal Minds, but we don't see how we're supposed to care about any of it when it was also revealed that a Diagnosis Murder game is in the works. We're assuming it's a Visceral-developed "dark" take on the DM mythos, with a Gothic Dr. Mark Sloan walking a demonic version of Los Angeles, solving murder mysteries with a caduceus-shaped staff dipped in angel blood. We assume this because we laid out the design doc pretty clearly in our letters, and we can't fathom why CBS would want to disappoint us.
The Tudors coming to a 'casual adventure/hidden object game' near you
In collaboration with Merscom, Showtime's The Tudors will be the channel's second property to get the video game treatment in the form of a "casual adventure/hidden object game," IGN reports. Joystiq asks: Why?Seriously, the game is going to parallel the events of the show, and how does that make for a good casual game? Henry VIII was one of the most scandalous men in history, and the show features plenty of adult themes (including naked adults), so how can the show be made into a mass-appeal casual game? Lloyd Melnick, CCO of Merscom, says The Tudors' story not only appeals to the casual gamer, but that "the rich and beautiful graphical environment lends itself to an adventure game." We guess that environment won't include the king's chambers ...No platforms have been announced yet, but we're placing our bets on at least the iPhone and PC.
Lifetime and Merscom team up on new iPhone, PC games
As far as we're concerned, Lifetime really only has one thing going for it, and that's reruns of The Golden Girls. Apparently, the channel is much more than that, commanding quite the legion of followers. It's this popularity that has caused Merscom and Lifetime Networks to team up to produce two hidden-object PC games, a downloadable PC simulation game, and an iPhone game, for a total of 4 games based on Lifetime properties. Merscom and Lifetime aren't strangers, as the two collaborated on a previous title, Blood Ties, based on a Liftime series of the same name. It was successful enough, selling nearly 100,000 units in 2008. While many ladies that enjoy the network's site and programming will be delighted by this news, we know of a few men who won't be cheering for Lifetime.
X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Warlords and Buku Sudoku
XBLA in Brief takes a look at Warlords and Buku Sudoku this week. On the one hand we've got yet another Atari "classic" and on the other we have ... Sudoku. It turns out that Warlords is actually surprisingly fun, though we're not sure we'd be willing to plop down our 500 MS Points for it. Buku Sudoku is ... Sudoku. It does its job well enough, and if you really need some Sudoku that doesn't fit on your lap, then Buku Sudoku might be just the ticket.[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon).[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[M4V] Download the M4V directly.
This Wednesday: Warlords and Buku Sudoku on XBLA
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that six months from now Warlords will be plenty eligible for delisting. Let's just say that deathmatches have come along way since 1980. But if you choose to respectfully disagree, you can pledge your feeble support to give this Atari classic a permanent home in the XBLA catalog by plunking down a five-spot (400 Microsoft Points). Just remember, some games are better left to memory -- and paddle controllers!As for Buku Sudoku? Well, there's a reason this is the "first and only" Sudoku game on XBLA. Leave the number crunching to the pencil and paper, and go shoot some more hookers. %Gallery-23776%%Gallery-23777%
XBLA Wednesday: Buku Sudoku and Warlords
Microsoft just announced tomorrow's Xbox Live Arcade releases and finally, after a mild drought, we are getting an XBLA twofer with both Buku Sudoku and Warlords seeing a release on Wednesday.Available for purchase off the XBLA for 800 Microsoft points is Merscom's Buku Sudoku, a puzzle word game featuring over 1,200 puzzles, online multiplayer, co-op and well ... lots of Sudoku puzzles. Over fifteen Sudoku books of puzzles ... or so we're told. The other half of this week's XBLA twofer is Stainless Games' 400 MS point Warlords, a remake of the classic Warlords but in prettified HD and four player Xbox Live support. Though, if you want to be all old-school, they've generously added a pixel-perfect remake of the classic. Browse the screenshots below and ponder an XBLA purchase.%Gallery-23773%%Gallery-23772%
Merscom to bring sudoku puzzles to XBLA
Sudoku is one of those cultural phenomena we just don't pretend to get. The seemingly innocuous brain teasers seemed to crop up overnight, reducing commuters the world over into savoring number crunchers. The casual puzzles have found a welcome home in books, newspapers, and even in video games, and publisher Merscom has now announced plans to bring the logic challenges to XBLA as well with Buku Sudoku.The game, a conversion of Merscom's PC title of the same name, will boast such enhancements as "a very fast entry method" using the Xbox 360's thumb sticks, as well as support for multiplayer over Xbox Live. Buku Sudoku will also sport HD resolution, which to be honest seems wasted on a game about filling out numbers on a grid. That said, if Xbox Live Arcade can manage to make hardcore gamers fall in love with UNO, don't be surprised if your Halo buddies have to cut out early in order to throw down with some serious number counting when Buku Sudoku is eventually released.
German board game creator having his works recreated on DS
We have a secret obsession with board games. Whether it be Arkham Horror, Settlers of Catan or Crimson Skies, we love getting the crew together and throwing down. And, with this latest news, our day just keeps getting better.German board game creator Dr. Reiner Knizia will be bringing some of his games to the DS, thanks to publisher Merscom. Having never played any of the fellow's games, we still find ourselves interested. But, that's probably because the man has won more accolades than we have fingers and toes.
