Corona | Coming Attractions

New games based on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy of films are coming. After several games were released by Electronic Arts for most of this decade the rights have reverted back to New Line Entertainment, and since New Line is owned by parent company Warner Bros., it makes perfect sense business wise for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to publish future Lord of the Rings titles. The first of the new generation of LotR games is already in development and it's called Aragorn's Quest.

This new third-person action adventure title is scheduled for release sometime in the fall of 2009 and will be available for owners of PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo Wii and DS. What WBIE wants to do with the next generation of Lord of the Rings games is make titles that appeal to hardcore and casual gamers, two very different markets but that are both familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it appeared in the movies.

"The Lord of the Rings franchise is world renowned for its captivating adventures, and we are creating new experiences in the game space designed to appeal to a wide array of consumer tastes from core to casual," said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is the first of many different types of games we will be developing with the film and literary rights. It is also the first game allowing kids and their families to interact in their favorite locations and stories from The Lord of the Rings with accessible gameplay."

Set after the events in The Return of the King, in Aragorn's Quest preparations are underway in Hobbiton for a great party to welcome Aragorn, King of Gondor, and honor Samwise Gamgee for his service during the War of the Ring. The children of the town are eager to learn more of this great man and so Samwise, now Mayor, embarks on a tale of the revered warrior, Strider-as Aragorn is known in his Ranger days-and his most valiant battles. Players assume the role of Aragorn and embark on his greatest quests from The Lord of the Rings trilogy as they wield his sword, bow or spear on foot and on horseback through an action-packed gameplay experience. On the Wii platform, two-player co-op gameplay featuring Gandalf will allow kids, families and friends to work together in the heart of the action

Headstrong Games is developing the two Nintendo versions of the game while the Sony-based games are being designed by TT Games. The game will be on display at the Warner Bros. booth at this year's E3.