Doctor Who Nintendo game in development?
A brand new Doctor Who game is set to be released on the Nintendo Wii and DS platforms just in time for Christmas, if a report published by The Sun is to believed.
The tabloid today claims that the BBC have signed a £10million deal to create the game, which would feature the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) as well as some of his key enemies from the show, including the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Silurians!
“This has been in the pipeline for years, and we’re delighted to have finally nailed down a deal,” a source told the newspaper. ”We went with Nintendo as they have huge appeal for families and Doctor Who is very much a family brand, and the Wii console is key for us as it’s something families play together.”
The article goes on to suggest that various plans have been called off on several occasions because it’s difficult to develop a game out of the show’s format. The insider explained: “BBC Worldwide, which licenses BBC shows, has been trying to find some way of doing it, but you can’t have Doctor Who blowing things to bits with a laser gun. That would massively change the nature of the show.” Not if Captain Jack were involved…
This news may be linked to BBC Worldwide’s recent announcement that they were offering the Doctor Who branding license to any interested game partners. Stay tuned!
Hmm, if the report is true, an OK announcement but I’m hoping this is only the start. While the Wii is a fun console for what it is and has a considerable amount of fans, a lot of hardcore gamers (coming from a Gaming Network of Sites myself) only seriously consider X360 and PS3 games, with Wii games often being taken with a pinch of salt when it comes to quality and gameplay.
I agree Doctor Who is a family show, but it doesn’t need to be dumbed down for the games. As I’ve said before on this topic, a considerable amount could be done with Doctor Who, it just needs the right developers and the right console.
Lastly, it’s a shame this has taken this long to happen. If this Wii game is to feature Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor, it could suggest any others may follow that. Fair enough, you might think, he is the Doctor now, but I think they’ve waited too long. The only game David Tennant, one of the most popular Doctors there have been, had to his name is Top Trumps, it’s kind of embarrassing, and here they may be giving the new, currently untested, boy a multi-platform deal.
Saying that, I accept he’s the Doctor now, and that he’ll be proven in time so I’ll be willing to keep an eye on developments and see what happens, it just seems like they’re shooting themselves in the foot a bit going with the 11th Doctor, a Doctor with zero personal history at this point with the only thing to draw on being his previous lives.
Still, we’ll see.
@JC2006
Ooh, an expert! Tell us, how would you like to see Doctor Who in game format? I know nothing about the hardware side, so what kind of storyline are you envisaging? How would you get round the mentioned issue “you can’t have Doctor Who blowing things to bits with a laser gun”? I’m genuinely interested.
finally!!!!!!!!!! iv been waiting for this for AGES!!!!!!!! im sorry, but the top trump thing just WASN’T enough!!!
im just keepin ma fingers crossed for lego doctor who…. i know this isnt…. just in the future…. il go in the TARDIS, and find out if their is one…
@JC2006
Such a scathing attack on the 11th Doctor and he is not on screen yet. This is not the first platform game and to be honest, the last one was awful. So they choose the 11th Doctor for the game. Doctor Who is more than one person and David Tennant was an average Doctor, only made popular as a fair majority of the current viewers as family and youngster who have not really seen the classic series. Going forward, people will do what they always do and forget the last actor within a few weeks. If Matt Smith works well and so far, there has been nothing to suggest otherwise, it is the right time for the game. Lets be honest as well, they were putting DT face on some awful products and games etc, the lines still sold well. Why not Matt Smith!
No attack on Matt Smith or the 11th Doctor was intended Steve, I was just making the point that Matt Smith has no personal history at this point, even after this first series, there’ll only be that to draw on.
With the 10th Doctor, you had over four series of his own personal history to draw on, people knew who that Doctor was, how he operated and behaved, what he was and wasn’t likely to do. I’m personally willing to give Matt Smith a chance, I’m actually hoping I will like it, while obviously not apologising for enjoying David Tennant’s performance.
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert on gaming though TSG, I was a game modder for around four years and just have a lot of team-mates who are gamers and stuff, but obviously it needs a lot of planning, especially an entire storyline, but I think the way to get away from the weapons is to go down a non-combat route. Ok, have first/third person gameplay, but make it more mystery/puzzle-solving based instead of combat-based gameplay, so that you have to investigate and collect clues.
I had a long response detailing gameplay ideas and possible basic storyline ideas, but the post got too long.