The indomitable Charlie Brooker did a one off gaming special last night in the same vein as his acerbic Screenwipe series. Naturally, it was similarly insightful and adroit as well as being refreshing to see gaming covered without it being painfully ignorant and/or hysterical. The show had some decent guests espousing their take on games too, including the chirpy chaps from Consolevania. You can watch it here (if you live in the UK).

A recent competition, over on the official PlayStation site came to a close not that long ago. The winners either nabbed a PlayStation 3 for their efforts or a t-shirt if they were the runner up (seen above). Naturally, we’ve decided to include the names of the winners below for posterity.

Winner:

• lucamig (Italy)

Runners- up:

• a_rosz (Poland)
• Caibert (France)
• Chelsea23 (United Kingdom)
• Komond_Deckard (Spain)

James was recently interviewed on GI.biz over the sales boost Burn Zombie Burn received off the recent PlayStation 3 firmware update (3.00). As it now features a “What’s New” section on startup, allowing people to see straight away what’s happening on the PSN storefront without having to load it up directly. In addition, the increase in PlayStation 3 Slim sales has obviously accentuated this new feature. In any case, it makes digitally distributed games more visible and this makes us happy.

With the success of Burn Zombie Burn, James spoke with GI.biz about how platform holders should allow greater transparency on sales figures for digitally distributed titles. As this would allow developers and publishers to make realistic plans in relation to actual sales data, something they’re already able to do with boxed games as the necessary data is widely available. Considering the skyrocketing prices of boxed games, the sooner digitally distributed titles get more accessible sales data the better it will be for the industry and the medium as a whole.

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.

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).

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.

As we mentioned previously, Geometry Wars: Galaxies (DS) was nominated for a BAFTA not that long ago. The awards were last night and whilst we didn’t win, we at doublesix feel obliged to congratulate the wondrous team at Level 5 for their victory with Professor Layton and the Curious Village. It’s a great game and one that deserves recognition.

How exciting! Yes, we’ve been included in the BAFTA nominations this year for our DS version of Geometry Wars: Galaxies.

As ever, stiff competition, up there with;

• God of War: Chains of Olympus
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Patapon
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village
• Soul Bubbles

It’s an honour to be included in such a list… good luck to everyone!

The awards take place on March 10th.