doublesix posts

Are you ready to go ballistic? Are you ready to hear Kenny Loggins' music going off in your head all the freaking time? Then maybe the new Top Gun game is for you. The downloadable flying action game from developer doublesix is now available to purchase on Steam for $14.99.

That's right; you can feel like you are part of one of the iconic 1980's movies where you get to refer to people by their call signs like Iceman and Goose (oh, poor Goose). in addition to multiplayer, the game has a single player campaign with a new story written by the movie's screenwriter Jack Epps Jr. as you train at Top Gun before going out into actual combat. You can even buzz the tower if you want. Ah, the 80s.

Do you feel the need for speed in the danger zone? Paramount Digital Entertainment hopes so. The game publishing division of the movie studio has just announced a new flying action game based on the classic 1986 action flick Top Gun. The game is due out this summer for both the PC and Mac platforms.

The game itself, developed by Doublesix, is basically an expanded retelling of the movie's storyline as you play Tom Cruise's part of Navy fighter pilot Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell as he enters Tom Gun Academy to try to become the best pilot you ever saw (ah, that line is from The Right Stuff . . . sorry). One of the original movie's screenwriters, Jack Epps, Jr. has been brought in to expand on the film's storyline and dialogue. All of the movie's characters should be making appearances.

The game itself will come with a campaign mode, a single player Horde mode (shoot at endless waves of enemy fighters) and five multiplayer modes for up to 16 players. This is actually the second new game based on a Tom Cruise movie coming out this year. It was previously announced that a Days of Thunder racing game is also due out this summer.

Gallery: Top Gun Screenshots

Earlier today we reported that the ESRB web site had posted up a Windows PC listing for Burn Zombie Burn, the arcade action game from developer Doublesix that was released for the PS3 a year ago. Now Big Download has confirmed that Burn Zombie Burn will indeed be coming to the PC platform sometime later this year.

Big Download chatted briefly on the phone today with Doublesix's studio head James Brooksby. He told us that they hope to release the PC version of the game via Steam sometime in the next couple of months. He also told us that they hope to include both the original game and the extra downloadable content that is planned for the PS3 version in the PC port. We will hopefully learn more about the game in the near future.

It looks like one of the more interesting Playstation Network downloadable games might be finding its way to the PC. A quick check of the ESRB game database on its web site shows that Burn Zombie Burn has been rated "M" for the Windows PC platform.

Developed by DoubleSix, the arcade shooter debuted on the PS3's Playstation Network just over a year ago. It's basically a survival game where you have to stay alive as long as possible while endless zombies come after you (and yes you can burn the hordes of the undead). We will email DoubleSix to find out if they truly plan to bring the game to the PC and if so when we can expect a release.

Earlier this week IGN reported that info on the specific sales and revenue numbers of PC game digital download services are still hard to come by. Steam and Direct2Drive would only admit to year-over-year percentage increases without revealing things like specific revenue or unit sales numbers.

Now one developer of downloadable games is taking those services to task for the lack of sales info. In a press release today, James Brooksby, the studio head of UK-based doublesix said, "I do wish that all the platform owners would make their digital sales figures public. We feel this lack of transparency is hindering the development of these channels."

He added, "As a developer trying to decide which platforms to develop for, as well as what type of games to make, we're currently in the dark regarding real sales performance for digital platforms and that makes it increasingly difficult to make realistic plans. I'd like to see some kind of verified sales charts on all digital systems to encourage more developers to support these channels and to help make sensible investment decisions."

doublesix was happy to announce that their recently released PSN downloadable game Burn, Zombie, Burn has sold 70,000 units so far. That number was enough for the game to achieve doublesix's own sales target and they expect that it will ultimately reach "a significantly higher lifetime figure."