2/13/07 - Latest News

Lord of the Rings Online Impressions
Xoanon @ 5:30 pm EST

The Non-Disclosure Agreement for the Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) beta test has been lifted, and with the game set for release soon it may be useful to you to peruse some hands-on previews of the title. Hexus.net offers A Day in the Life of a Hobbit, and Tobold's MMORPG blog has similar hobbit-related impressions. Tobold also has a comparison between LORTRO and World of Warcraft for those who might be thinking about making the jump. More hands-on info is available from Warcry, Kill Ten Rats, and Gamers With Jobs. [More]

2/08/07 - Latest News

Exploring Middle-earth: The House of Elrond
Xoanon @ 12:20 pm EST

Lorien "Ramen" Carney, Community Relations Specialist for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: Journey to the hidden valley of Rivendell and discover the Last Homely House, dwelling of Elrond. We’ve included both concept art and a screenshot for your viewing pleasure. [More]

2/07/07 - Latest News

Gameloft Gets LOST!
Xoanon @ 2:12 pm EST

Gameloft Gets LOST™ and Finds A Way Into Cell Phone Users’ Hands

ABC/Touchstone Television’s Hit TV Series Paves the Way for Mobile Game Industry

New York - Gameloft®, a leading publisher and developer of video games for mobile phones, is announcing today the launch of LOST™, the official mobile game of ABC/Touchstone Television’s award-winning television series. Developed in close collaboration with the show’s producers, the game is sure to pick up instant success by connecting with its massive amount of loyal fans.

"Adapting the world of LOST into a mobile game is a key franchise priority," said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president, business development, ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television. "Working together with Gameloft and the LOST producers, we have created a game full of action and entertainment that will appeal to fans of the show, as well as casual and hard core gamers."

“LOST is a phenomenon and comes with a passionate fan base,” said Gonzague de Vallois, Gameloft’s Vice President of Publishing. “We are confident this game will pave the way for future mobile games with high-production values. It has real mass market appeal and even people who haven’t yet discovered the show will enjoy this gameplay.”

In time for the show’s highly-anticipated February 7th return, Gameloft has created a diverse action/adventure game aimed at bringing drama and suspense to anyone with access to a cell phone. Gamers will play Jack and relive the show’s most pivotal moments: experience the plane crash, open the hatch and meet the notorious Others. Gameplay includes various challenges such as hunting for food, tending to the wounded and searching for dynamite. Players can also interact with the rest of the show’s ensemble cast including Kate, Locke, Sayid and Sawyer. With genuine character likenesses and authentic locations replicated from the show’s set, gamers will feel as though they are deep in the belly of the island.

"We are thrilled that Gameloft is bringing our show to the mobile game market,” said Carlton Cuse, Executive Producer of the show. “The game offers drama, suspense and pure fun. Gameloft managed to reconstruct all the key locations from our show -- from the crash site to the hatch, to our jungle…all with realistic, high-quality graphics. It would be easy to get LOST for a lot of hours playing this game."

The LOST mobile game is available through 170 telecom operators, 150 partners, in 75 countries. It has been adapted to 800 different cell phone models.

About Lost

Awarded the 2005 Emmy and 2006 Golden Globe for Best Drama Series, “Lost” returns for the second act of its third season of action-packed mystery and adventure -- that will continue to bring out the very best and the very worst in the people who are lost.

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet, Dominic Monaghan as Charlie and Terry O’Quinn as Locke.

“Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jeff Pinkner and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. “Lost,” which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii, is from Touchstone Television.

About Gameloft

Gameloft is a leading international publisher and developer of video games for mobile phones. Founded in 1999, it has emerged as one of the top innovators in its field. The company creates games for mobile handsets equipped with Java, Brew, or Symbian technology. The total number of mobile handsets with this technology is expected to exceed two billion units in 2008 (ARC GROUP).

Thanks to partnership agreements with leading licensors and personalities such as Ubisoft Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Touchstone Television, Viacom, Sony Pictures, FifPro, Paris Hilton Ent., Lamborghini, Derek Jeter, Reggie Bush, Vijay Singh, Andrei Schevchenko, and Djibril Cissé, Gameloft has formed strong relationships with international brands. In addition to the partnerships, Gameloft owns and operates such brands as Block Breaker Deluxe, Asphalt: Urban GT and New York Nights.

As a result of agreements with telecom carriers, handset manufacturers, specialized distributors and its online store, Gameloft now boasts a distribution network covering 75 countries.

Gameloft has worldwide offices in New York, San Francisco, Montreal, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Paris, London, Düsseldorf, Milan, Madrid, New Delhi, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo. Gameloft is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN: FR0000079600, Bloomberg: GFT FP, Reuters: GLFT.PA)

For more information, visit www.gameloft.com.

2/06/07 - Latest News

LOTR Online - Allan Maki – Welcome to the Ettenmoors!
Xoanon @ 1:53 pm EST

Lorien "Ramen" Carney, Community Relations Specialist for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: Welcome to the first of many Developer Diary installments discussing monster play. We’ve kept the wraps on this aspect of the production for long enough, so here’s your first look behind the curtain at the geography of your monster playground! [More]

2/03/07 - Latest News

Lord of the Rings RPG "on hold"
Xoanon @ 12:41 pm EST

The year began with unconfirmed rumors that The Lord of the Rings: The White Council had been canceled. The open-world role-playing game, which had been unveiled last summer, was slated for a holiday 2007 release on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It was to be the latest game from Electronic Arts based on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, which was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's best-selling fantasy novels. Today, during a postearnings call, EA CFO Warren Jenson confirmed that The White Council is not canceled--but that work on it has been indefinitely suspended. "The Lord of the Rings product is back in development in terms of being on hold," he cryptically told an analyst who asked whether or not the game had been canceled outright. [More]

1/31/07 - Latest News

LOTRO Hands on Preview
Xoanon @ 4:55 pm EST

Dave Taylor from gamerzines.com writes: I thought you guys at The One Ring might be interested in the hands on preview we've got in the new issue of PCGZine. We're a free PC games magazine written by professional games journalists in the UK. The magazine is made available in PDF format for free download. All you need is Adobe Reader (we recommend updating to version 8 to avoid issues if you have Internet Explorer 7 installed). The magazine includes video and multimedia on top of the editorial.

We were fortunate enough to be shown around Middle Earth by one of the developers so our preview is well informed and there's lots of screens and even some amusing dancing videos in the magazine. And for those who know it all, there is even a mini interactive quiz where people can test their Tolkien knowledge. [More]

1/25/07 - Latest News

Tolkien's Middle-earth expands in online game
Xoanon @ 8:20 pm EST

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters Life!) - From Middle-earth, the creatures of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" will rise into a new digital world in April with the launch of an online game which has raised the hackles of among some die-hard fans. Game publishers Turbine Inc. and Midway Games Inc. will on Thursday unveil details of the highly-anticipated massively multiplayer online game, "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar" with a launch date of April 24. The game's creators are assuring fans of Tolkien's epic fantasy adventure that the game recreates the vast world of Middle-earth with dedication to the books and players able to create thousands of virtual characters. [More]