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Eternity Clock named one of 12 games to watch by Sony

2

23skidoo

Admiral
Admiral
Sony's official PlayStation blog has listed Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock as one of 12 games to watch for PS3 in 2012, alongside high-profile releases like Mass Effect 3:

http://uk.playstation.com/home/news...2-PS3-games-to-watch-out-for/?WT.mc_id=PDC_fb

Apparently the game focuses on the Eleventh Doctor with River Song as his companion - interesting choice that (I think I read earlier that Matt Smith and Alex Kingston had recorded dialogue too, but correct me if I'm wrong). The question remains - noting the UK web address - is whether the game will be released outside the UK. Or if it'll actually be released for PS3 outside the UK (still annoyed by the decision not to release the Mac version of the Adventure Games outside Britain). My luck it'll end up coming out on Xbox or something over here after I just got a PS3 for Christmas! ;) The fact the game is being made for BBC Worldwide (unlike the Adventure Games) increases the confidence we might see this thing at Best Buy.

A screen capture from the game has been posted on the Doctor Who News Page.

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2012/01/dwn180112120008-eternity-clock.html

Here's hoping it's more successful than the Wii game (which, from what I hear, just as well it never got released in North America).

Alex
 
OmahaStar said:
So Wii still gets screwed? Hmph.
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Not every game is multi-platform. This one is for PS3, something called the Vita (not sure what that is - I'm not a bigtime gamer) and Windows. Wii got its game last year but it tanked.

Question is whether North America "still gets screwed" because these games tend to only be released in the UK. If Eternity Clock shows up in North American stores it'll be a first.

Alex
 
Pindar said:
Vita is the new Sony handeld which will replace the PSP
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Ahh - thanks for clearing that up. So that also gives some backing to the idea of the game being Sony-exclusive if they want to make it part of the ground-floor for the new system.

If it's really popular, though, I'm sure they might look at doing a Wii version down the line. There seem to be relatively few big games these days that don't crossover at some point. That said, my parents have a Wii and I can't stand playing "adventure" or RPG games on it because of its control architecture. For me the Wii has always been more for playing "activity" games like bowling.

Alex
 
I thought I read that this game would be downloadable via the PSN store only, not available on disc.
 
Well it's coming to the PC so i assume there will be some form of retail version, unless they go with something like steam.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE0QV8HpEZ0&feature=player_embedded[/yt]
 
Mitty said:
I thought I read that this game would be downloadable via the PSN store only, not available on disc.
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No, it was announced for PS3 too. You might be thinking of BBC's The Adventure Games series, which are download only.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/09/doctor-who-the-eternity-clock-winding-up-on-ps3-vita-and-pc/

Note the website above specifies "initially" PS3, Vita and PC so that might mean release on other platforms like Xbox, etc might still be in the cards.

Alex
 
Ok, I couldn't hear a word of the dialouge in the preview.
I'm a big gamer and a huge DW fan, so I'm excited for this.
I'm pretty sure they were advertising this on the BBCA DW page, and I doubt they would do that if this wasn't coming out in the US.
 
Just seen the trailer - another fucking worthless rush-job, whoop de fucking do. The BBC really have no clue about the videogame medium, do they? And it's incredibly frustrating, considering how obviously made for it the DW fanchise is.

I mean, FFS, at least *trying* for a Lego DW dev is a total no-brainer... Just about the only type of game you wouldn't easily get away with as a DW tie-in is a racing game, but whatever sort you went for, you'd have to actually put in the dev time to make the graphics and gameplay look good in whatever style you're aiming for, and the Beeb seem incapable of that- just look at the Cybermen in that clip, and how badly they're loosely dropped into the background. Urgh,
 
^^^Yeah, i was not expecting a side scrolling platform game to be honust.....it's possible that it's been develped for that vita thing and will then just be ported to the PSN and PC.

But it's my own fault really, i had it in my mind that becuase it was announced for the PC and PS3 that we might at last be getting that big Dr who gaming outting.

Oh well....Dalek Attack II:Bow ties are cool, it is then. LOL
 
Lonemagpie said:
Just seen the trailer - another fucking worthless rush-job, whoop de fucking do. The BBC really have no clue about the videogame medium, do they? And it's incredibly frustrating, considering how obviously made for it the DW fanchise is.
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Well to be fair given how long it takes to make these games they would have had to start making it while Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor for it to, say, be Grand Theft TARDIS or something.

And most of the people buying this are interested in the cutscenes anyway and hearing Matt Smith and Alex Kingston. We haven't heard whether the storyline is going to be considered canon like the Adventure Games - but if that's the case then there's that as well.

You might also be running into that old saw that the BBC still considers Doctor Who a children's franchise, despite close to 50 years of evidence proving that it is not. Therefore the games aren't going to be "Mass Effect Time Lord" but something more like this, or the Wii game last year - or a video version of the card game Top Trumps which was all console players got during Tennant's era. I'll be very surprised if this game is rated any higher than E.

Alex
 
23skidoo said:
Well to be fair given how long it takes to make these games they would have had to start making it while Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor for it to, say, be Grand Theft TARDIS or something.
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There are a number of licensable game engines available to fit whichever style of gameplay was designed, from first- or third-person shooters to sandbox gameplay to real-time strategy. Not that Doctor Who would ever fit the RTS genre, but there you have it. :)

And the example of the James Bond games show that while a game might be in development with one version of Bond, when the game releases the assets are often changed to fit the current. From Russia With Love was developed with Brosnan assets, even though it released as a Connery game.

If the BBC (or rather, the studio they worked with to develop the game) had to build the game from scratch, then, yes, the timescale you're suggesting would be reasonable (if extremely excessive). Even with licensed and placeholder assets, though, it shouldn't take more than about two years to create something A- or B-level. Instead, we have something that looks like shovelware-quality.
 
23skidoo said:
Well to be fair given how long it takes to make these games they would have had to start making it while Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor for it to, say, be Grand Theft TARDIS or something.
Click to expand...

licencable engines

And most of the people buying this are interested in the cutscenes anyway and hearing Matt Smith and Alex Kingston.
Click to expand...

phoning it in, going by the trailer


You might also be running into that old saw that the BBC still considers Doctor Who a children's franchise, despite close to 50 years of evidence proving that it is not. Therefore the games aren't going to be "Mass Effect Time Lord" but something more like this, or the Wii game last year - or a video version of the card game Top Trumps which was all console players got during Tennant's era. I'll be very surprised if this game is rated any higher than E.
Click to expand...

What has that to do with it? Not every game has to be 18-rated to be any good. There are plenty of good family/children's games out there, that have been made with proper care and attention - which the BBC are obviously unwilling or unable to bother with.

Like I said - Lego Doctor Who is a complete no-brainer (though there's no guarantee the two companies would come to an agreement over such a thing, but you'd think they'd at least investigate the possibility before just rushing into what looks like a Vita game ported to PC.)
 
The BBC would have to come to a agreement with the Lego developer though wouldn't they - Travellers Tales isn't it? I guess the worry is that global sales won't be enough to make a major investment into it. UK sales certainly won't be enough to sustain a game of any reasonable size these days.
 
VDCNI said:
The BBC would have to come to a agreement with the Lego developer though wouldn't they - Travellers Tales isn't it? I guess the worry is that global sales won't be enough to make a major investment into it. UK sales certainly won't be enough to sustain a game of any reasonable size these days.
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The BBC shouldn't need to come to an agreement with LEGO, if that's the kind of game they want. Work with WBIE and Traveler's Tales, and use the LEGO Star Wars engine, replacing the LEGO assets with Character Building assets. One of the Doctor Who Character Building toy commercials has a very LEGO Star Wars video game-esque feel, after all. :)
 
Allyn Gibson said:
VDCNI said:
The BBC would have to come to a agreement with the Lego developer though wouldn't they - Travellers Tales isn't it? I guess the worry is that global sales won't be enough to make a major investment into it. UK sales certainly won't be enough to sustain a game of any reasonable size these days.
Click to expand...
The BBC shouldn't need to come to an agreement with LEGO, if that's the kind of game they want. Work with WBIE and Traveler's Tales, and use the LEGO Star Wars engine, replacing the LEGO assets with Character Building assets. One of the Doctor Who Character Building toy commercials has a very LEGO Star Wars video game-esque feel, after all. :)
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Yeah but then they'd be accused of ripping off LEGO and LEGO would probably claim "intellectual property" rights. Especially since we're now entering an era where things like copyright are going to be given some serious reexamination and the result could end up being even more restrictive than before. If it even remotely looks like one of the LEGO games, then they'd need to clear it with LEGO and probably pay a hefty fee.

That said a Doctor Who LEGO game would rock, make no doubt. I wasn't sure what to make of the LEGO games at first until we got my dad the Harry Potter 1-4 LEGO game for Wii at Christmas and he had a blast with it.

Alex
 
The patent on the LEGO brick has expired, which is why everyone and their mother is making knock-off LEGO toys these days. :)

As for the style of gameplay, again, there's nothing unique about a three-dimensional platformer. LEGO Star Wars isn't that far from Jak & Daxter which isn't that far from Tomb Raider, when you get down to the actual mechanics of the gameplay.

LEGO could try and claim that their rights have been infringed, but 1) prior art, and 2) lack of patent protections on their IP.
 
Lonemagpie said:
Lego Star Wars is great, Lego Indiana Jones is good, Lego Batman sucks ass.
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Only the first LEGO Star Wars is great, and then only the original Xbox/PS2 version. LEGO Star Wars II is just good, because they made it overly complicated with the cooperative modes. (And retrospectively adding them in LEGO Star Wars: The Original Saga to the first game, plus the bonus levels, was like urinating in soup.) And LEGO Star Wars III is not fun.

Lonemagpie said:
I've only tried the demo of the first Harry Potter one - it seemed OK.
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Much closer to the first LEGO Star Wars than any of the subsequent games.
 
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