Why aren't there any decent WHO games?

[Mr. Sin]

All we have really is an NDS game based on the card game and some flash games, really. Classic WHO had some old-style games, a 3D game and text adventures, but nothing has ever been made that's been particuarly very good.


Is it because the UK, where WHO is really popular, doesn't develop a lot of games as oppossed to the United States and Japan?


I think the ideal format for a WHO game would've been an adventure game (Like Sierra and Lucasart's old stuff as well as those 25th anniversary Trek games), but that's really a long-gone genre (Although attempts have been made to revive it with Wallace & Gromit + the recent Monkey Island revival).

 

[Kelthaz]

Because Doctor Who is only big in England, and that makes for a very small potential audience for the game. Also, most developers are either Japanese or American, and Doctor Who is a very British thing so you would need a British developer. I can't imagine Microsoft letting Rare make a Who game for the 360.

I remember someone on this board telling me about a Doctor Who fan game in the style of Monkey Island, but I don't know if it was any good.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Because in most video games, the main character kills hundreds of people in a non-stop action extravaganza. The Doctor talks a lot and opens door with his magic wand. As was said, the only traditional video game genre that would fit the character would be adventure games, but no one is buying them.

That being said, I think it would be fairly easy to market a Nintendo DS Doctor Who game with all kinds of puzzles and mini-games and things like that.

 

[captcalhoun]

a UNIT based FPS would be all kinds of awesome though...

 

[23skidoo]

A few weeks back it was announced that some company had cut a deal to produce games for the Wii and other platforms, so I'm sure we'll see something soon.

There was an attempt at doing a FPS-style game back in the late 90s. It was called Destiny of the Doctors and it featured the first 7 Doctors (possibly 8). They got Anthony Ainley to play the Master for some live-action segments and I think they got some of the actors to do voices. I think they sold about 10 copies in the UK and it vanished (though Ainley's segments were included on the DVD for Survival).

I think the rationale about Doctor Who having a limited market isn't really applicable. I've seen far more "obscure" franchises get games. Maybe it has something to do with licensing fees or creator complications. Or the fact the BBC simply never has paid too much attention to videogames (this is the company that didn't even start making Doctor Who in color until 1970).

The point that the FPS format doesn't really work for Doctor Who is well said - you can't be true to DW and have him mowing down enemies with a BFG. But the success of "sneaking" games like the Thief series show you don't need to be going Postal2 on everything to make a good game.

Alex

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Hard to make a game out of running down corridors, screaming, and then at the end pointing the sonic screwdriver and pushing on to resolve the plot.








I kid, I kid...

 

[Lindley]

Something along the lines of DS9: Harbinger would work.

Or just do it from a companion's POV.

 

[Count Zero]

Or the fact the BBC simply never has paid too much attention to videogames (this is the company that didn't even start making Doctor Who in color until 1970).

Black-and-white TV was longer lived in Europe than in the US, most stations switched to colour TV toward the end of the 60s, BBC One did so in November 1969. So, until that date, they didn't make anything in colour, I guess.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Because in most video games, the main character kills hundreds of people in a non-stop action extravaganza. The Doctor talks a lot and opens door with his magic wand. As was said, the only traditional video game genre that would fit the character would be adventure games, but no one is buying them.

That being said, I think it would be fairly easy to market a Nintendo DS Doctor Who game with all kinds of puzzles and mini-games and things like that.

I've always said that people who think DW doesn't fit with action gaming - or who insist a DW game must be peaceful - are overlooking the fact that the DW-verse could support all manner of games.

FPS? You're a UNIT soldier, or Jack Harkness, or a Dalek...
RTS? Time War.
Racing? Just about doable with Bessie, the Whomobile, the Torchwood Range Rover, etc
Point-and-click? Sure
Survival Horror? Base under siege, man...

Imagine the Doctor/companion in something like Eternal Darkness...

 

[wamdue]

Lonemagpie touches on what I was going to say, just make a Dalek game, with you playing a generic military character protecting your planet against a Dalek invasion.

 

[Count Zero]

I think the wii also offers a lot of possibilities. You can use the wii controller for a lot of different game actions like running, fighting, doing something with the sonic screwdriver.
Many wii games consist of several smaller games that represent stages of an overall game or are connected by a theme. In each smaller game you have to do something different. It shouldn't be too hard to build a Doctor Who game around that, like following around an adversary or fleeing from one.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Lonemagpie touches on what I was going to say, just make a Dalek game, with you playing a generic military character protecting your planet against a Dalek invasion.

Abslom Daak. With a big fucking Chainsword. 'Nuff said.

There was a Quake mod I played twelve years ago now that was almost exactly that. A TARDIS interior, a fuckton of Daleks, and a number of weapons, including swords and a sonic screwdriver.

An RTS or turn-based strategy game would be cool. Too bad Microsoft had to disband Ensemble; they could have done something awesome.

Hmm. Now I wonder if there are any Doctor Who mods for Civ.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Lonemagpie touches on what I was going to say, just make a Dalek game, with you playing a generic military character protecting your planet against a Dalek invasion.

There's such a wealth of characters to spin off from, its a shame nothing more was produced than IIRC an Amiga platform game and a top trumps card game.

The BBC has only very recently decided to reign itself in and stop expanding into other media, they could have branched off into video games some time ago and cashed in on their characters.

I don't think the supposed limited fanbase for the franchise would kill the idea stone dead either (certainly the Beeb don't think so). If the right games are designed, they wouldn't need Who to carry them.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Lonemagpie touches on what I was going to say, just make a Dalek game, with you playing a generic military character protecting your planet against a Dalek invasion.

Sure it's possible, but I'd say most of the appeal of a Doctor Who game would be that players would expect to play the Doctor, not "a generic military character".

 

[wamdue]

but as has been suggested, the character of the Doctor is not best suited to video games, I was suggesting more of a Dalek game, than a Doctor Who game.

 

[Shazam!]

An old fashioned point and click RPG would work really well.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I don't think the supposed limited fanbase for the franchise would kill the idea stone dead either (certainly the Beeb don't think so). If the right games are designed, they wouldn't need Who to carry them.

There are games based upon limited fanbases- Rogue Trooper, W40K Dawn Of War, and so on...

The trick would be to create a good game, that doesn't depend on the player being a DW fan (this being the mistake the makers of Destiny Of The Doctors and the Top Trumps game made)

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Rogue Trooper was one I thought of, Judge Dredd too really. I didn't have a chance to pick the latter up, but it seemed to fall down on game mechanics more than atmosphere.

A few reviews seemed to praise the Rogue Trooper game for making familiar game play seem a little newer.