We’ve done a podcast (direct link here and it’s also on iTunes), with Mr. Chew and I, talking stuff about the new Burn Zombie Burn patch and the upcoming DLC. We also talk a bunch about games and other stuff, specifically Chewie’s fascination with Monster Hunter as well as setting a challenge for listeners.

For those interested, Chewie will be present at the grand opening for the UK Gathering Hall for Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on Friday 3rd July. In case you want to meet up, here’s a recent picture of the cheeky scamp…

Retro Recommendations
This will be an ongoing feature where we will select a few lesser known retro games that we’ve enjoyed but didn’t necessarily get the recognition they deserved.
• Contra: Shattered Soldier - An update to the classic Konami shooter, here’s a nice video of it in action.
• Image Fight - An early Irem vertical scrolling shooter with fascinating level design and curious pod usage. Again, here is a nice video of the game.

No Fire Challenge!
This is our listener challenge and the deadline for this is the 15th July. Make sure you e-mail us your YouTube videos as proof, otherwise you won’t be entered. As for prizes, we’ll rustle something cool up for the most skilled winner.

• Start the first challenge - My Exploding Zombie Head.
• No torch or flame-thrower - meaning if the fire multiplier goes over x1 then the score is void.
• Has to be a recording from start to finish (Only exception is to start recording 10 seconds in to the level to give you an overlap to see the results screen).
• Score as high as you can!

Here’s a video of Chewie having a go at it, his score was 7,665,957. Think you can do any better?

Contact Details
Feel free to e-mail us about whatever you heard on the podcast. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter, if you want to follow the studio further.

Now that the new patch for Burn Zombie Burn supports YouTube recording and uploading straight from your PlayStation 3, 18 year old Markus Tiihonen from Finland has been the first to use it in the wild. The interesting aspect about this video is how Markus uses the chain multiplier on the Exploding Zombie Head, as he racks it up quite quickly so as to maximise his score. Anyway, the video is below and if you want to show the world your l33t skills, well now you can!

As of today Version 1.02 of Burn Zombie Burn has been made available. Amongst a few bug fixes, specifically for scoreboard problems as well as general stability issues, the patch also incorporates some new features too. Notably that of YouTube support and allowing you to play your own music in the background.

You’ll also notice that on the title screen a new “coming soon” graphic. Naturally we’ll be talking more about this in the near future…

With this patch we’re also wiping the scoreboards to clear off a bug that caused incorrect scores to be submitted. The actual scores saved locally are correct so nobody should lose their score, they just need to re-submit.

We’ve also created a doublesix fanpage on Facebook. So please feel free to join in the festivities!

Jim was interviewed a while back by Brandon Sheffield for GameSetWatch about Burn Zombie Burn! and what doublesix is up to (but the article was only posted yesterday). It’s quite a thorough piece and covers lots of ground about digital download games in general.

Gamezombie.tv recently posted their Burn Zombie Burn! video featuring our cheerful creative director, Jim Mummery, being assaulted by actual zombies. Enjoy…

This year’s Develop award nominations have been announced and in the “Best New IP” category Burn Zombie Burn has been listed. Naturally, we’re delighted that our game has been nominated. For those curious, the other games listed in this category are as follows:

• LittleBigPlanet
• Mirror’s Edge
• Pure
• Zen Bound
• You’re in the Movies

There is also a bit of blurb about the nomination featured in this month develop’s awards supplement:

“Showcasing the potential of new IP on download services with a slick shooter, Guildford’s doublesix created a unique PSN experience worthy of the critical acclaim it garnered at launch. Adorning classic coin-op gameplay with clichés of classic horror cinema, Burn Zombie Burn is one of 2009’s most enjoyable download titles.”

The awards take place on July 15th at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton (UK).

We’ve been a bit busy recently, hence the lack of updates. There are some cool things to report soon but in the meantime we’ve done some more gameplay videos for Burn Zombie Burn. These are meant to be more instructional to players who are having trouble with some of the technical aspects of the game (notably that of the Secret Lab). We hope these are helpful!

At the BAFTA Digital Distribution Panel, our studio head James Brooksby had a few things to say about how PSN allows us to have a closer relationship with gamers. It also goes into more general detail about digital distribution as a whole.

James Brooksby, our studio head, spoke recently with Develop about the whole Pub Fund setup. Burn Zombie Burn is the first game under this great initiative, that allows developers to receive backing from Sony. James goes into quite a bit of detail in the interview but it’s worth clarifying that Sony don’t necessarily “match your investment”. That’s a possible misquote or misunderstanding in the interview. The interview was also picked up on Joystiq, which is nice.

Since Burn Zombie Burn’s release the reviews have been coming thick and fast. On the whole, reviewers seem to “get” the game’s core mechanics and enjoy the game quite a bit. Naturally this is rather heart warming for us, as we all worked hard on making the game fun. Anyway, pertinent reviews that have recently surfaced are Consolemonster, Ace Games, Sixthaxis, Wonderwallweb, PS3 Attitude and Destructoid (the latter also has a video review linked below).