sumo-digital posts

As expected, President's Day was a bit on the slow side for PC game news. But we think the rest of the week is going to be very busy indeed.

• The lead designer of Blur at the now shut down Bizarre Creations has a new job at Sumo Digital.
• Eurogamer buys US based business-themed web site IndustryGamers.com.
• Starting on Friday, Left 4 Dead 2 will repeat the game's original Mutantions every week.
• Fox News's web site writes yet another slated Bulletstorm story, but Rock Paper Shotgun slams it back.
• A bus simulator game. Really.
• There's a possible new Mass Effect 2 DLC in the works.
• An iPhone/iPad and Android version of Minecraft? It's coming too.
• Speaking of which, it's the latest mash-up: Minecraft meets Dead Island trailer.

While we were previously told the final chapter of "season one" for Doctor Who The Adventure Games was going to be released on Christmas Day, the BBC has decided to go ahead and release the final chapter, Shadows of the Vashta Nerada, a few days ahead of time and is now available on the BBC web site for the long running sci-fi TV show. The game, which is free to UK residents, has The Doctor and Amy dealing not just with the shadow threat of the Vashta Nerada but, as you can see above, a rather large and mutated shark.

The fourth chapter will be made available for PC owners outside the UK on the Direct2Drive web site for $4.95 sometime before Christmas.

Doctor Who The Adventure Games' final episode for "season one" finally has a release date. The episode based on the current season of the BBC sci-fi TV series will be released on Christmas Day in the UK, right after the broadcast of the show's annual Christmas special is shown.

This episode is titled Shadows of the Vashta Nerada and as it suggest it brings back the shadow-like creatures that were first introduced in the TV show a couple of years ago. As with the last three episodes, this chapter is being developed by Sumo Digital and will be released for free in the UK. The US version will be released via Direct2Drive and pre-orders are already being taken for $4.95.

You can't keep a good Time Lord down, it seems. The BBC TV network has decided to commission a second "series" of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, the downloadable PC game series based on the long running UK sci-fi TV show. The second series will once again be developed by Sumo Digital and will be linked with the TV series' 2011 season. Current Doctor and companion Matt Smith and Karen Gillan will lend their voices and likenesses again for the second series of games along with unnamed "additional members of the Doctor Who cast."

The first three episodes of the first "season" have been downloaded 1.6 million times, according to the BBC. The fourth game episode of the series is supposed to be released "later this year". While free to download for UK residents, everyone else has to purchase the titles from the Direct2Drive web site.

While the rest of the world had to wait weeks to download and play (legally) the first two episodes of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games series after they debuted for UK owners, that isn't the case with the third episode. Direct2Drive is now offering TARDIS, the third chapter in the adventure game series based on the long running BBC sci-fi TV show, on the same day it was released for UK gamers.

As with the first two episodes, folks outside the UK will have to fork over a little money to play the third chapter (in this case $4.95). Direct2Drive is also taking pre-orders for the upcoming fourth and final chapter for the series. You can purchase it by itself for $4.95 or buy it in a bundle with the third chapter for $8.95, a savings of one saw buck compared to buying both separately.

After a bit of a gap between episodes, the BBC has just announced that the third of four planned chapters for Doctor Who The Adventure Games will be released via download next Friday, August 27 for free for UK users. The third episode, based naturally on the long running TV series, is called simply TARDIS and will let players actually control the Doctor's famous bigger-on-the-inside time and space craft.

The third episode will once again be developed by Sumo Digital and current Doctor and companion Matt Smith and Karen Gillan will once again voice their TV roles in the game. Folks outside the UK will likely have to wait a little while before the third episode will (legally) be made available to them. Direct2Drive has the first two episodes available in a bundle for $4.95 for the past few weeks and until just recently the games were at the top of Direct2Drive's sales list.

US fans will soon be able to legally download the first two chapters for Doctor Who: The Adventure Games. Direct2Drive just announced that they will be the exclusive outlet in North America to purchase and download the game based on the long running sci-fi TV series. The two episodes, City of the Daleks and Blood of the Cybermen, will be made available to purchase and download beginning on Thursday for a bundle price of $6.99.

Just a recap: These two games are based on the current season of the show that stars Matt Smith as the alien Time Lord. Developed by Sumo Digital they were released for free via the BBC but only UK residents could install and play the games. Two more chapters for Doctor Who The Adventure Games have been announced but have yet to be released.

[Via email press release]

Update: Direct2Drive has apparently jumped the gun and released the Doctor Who games early. Also the game bundle price is actually $4.95.

If you live in the UK you can go ahead and download the second of four free episodes for Doctor Who: The Adventure Games for the PC (the Mac version is due out on June 30). This episode, Blood of the Cybermen, is once again based on the current season of the BBC sci-fi TV series which aired its final episode Saturday in the UK. You can check out a trailer for the episode above this post.

As with the first episode, released earlier this year, this chapter in Doctor Who The Adventure Games was developed by Sumo Digital and can only be downloaded and played by UK residents. The international version will be released at a later date and will have a price tag.

Earlier this month the BBC launched the first of four episodes for Doctor Who The Adventure Games for free for UK PC and Mac gamers. This Saturday the second episode based on the BBC sci-fi series, titled Blood of the Cybermen, will be released for free to UK gamers.

As with the first episode this second chapter will feature the likeness and voices of the current Doctor, Matt Smith, as he and his companion Amy Pond check out a research facility where one of the Doctor's oldest alien foes, the Cyberman, waits. The game will likely be made available to international audiences later for a fee.

It looks like the first episode for Doctor Who The Adventure Games was a success in the UK, at least in getting people interested in downloading the City of the Daleks chapter. The title, free for download in its native country, has now generated over 500,000 downloads since it was released just over two weeks ago, according to MCVUK.

That number apparently went way over the BBC's expectations for the game that's based on the long running sci-fi TV series. Developed by Sumo Digital it's the first of four planned chapters exploring the current Doctor (Matt Smith) and his life in the TARDIS. Reportedly the international version will launch in July but pricing and availability have not yet been revealed.