7/16/04 - Latest News

Games Workshop Announces Games Day Chicago!
Xoanon @ 3:31 pm EST

The folks from Games Workshop write: Games Day conventions are the annual gaming extravaganzas for the Games Workshop series of hobby games such as Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000, the world’s most popular tabletop battlegames. There will be gaming events ranging from beginner to expert for all the games, plus painting contests, seminars, demo games, special guests, and more! [More]

7/14/04 - Latest News

Chat with Mark Skaggs
Xoanon @ 9:34 pm EST

From gamespyarcade.com writes: On Friday, July 16th, 2004 at 4:00 p.m. PST / 7:00 PM EST, GameSpy Arcade is pleased to Welcome back VP and Executive Producer for The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle-earth Mark Skaggs into the GameSpy.com lobby for an exclusive Chat about the game and it's "A.I" features. See you there! [More]

7/11/04 - Latest News

LOTR TCG Updates and News!
Xoanon @ 11:21 am EST

Raven writes: Topps will have another set of cards released in October to coincide with the release of the the Return of the King Extended Version dvd release. It will be called the LOTR Chrome Trilogy Edition. Since I just finished making a complete new update set (all 12 cards), this was great surprise to me.

Now, as if that wasn't enough, here is the 2nd scoop: New Line Cinema will hopefully be featuring props, costumes, etc., from the LOTR on its auction site again late this fall (Nov-Dec). Once again, this will be released in time to coincide with the Return of the King extended DVD version.

7/10/04 - Latest News

Topps ROTK Collectors Update News
Xoanon @ 10:32 am EST

Laurelin writes: I'm very excited to report that my Topps ROTK Collectors' Update cards arrived in the mail today. The hobby edition has 36 packs per box, with 7 cards in each pack. The set includes 3 autograph cards and 9 costume memorabilia cards.

The auto cards are: Sala Baker (1:427), Peter Jackson (1:2202), and Mark Ordesky (1:729).

The costume swatches include: Aragorn's Coronation Shirt (1:663), Arwen's Coronation Dress (1:265), Elrond's Bronze Silk Robe (1:480), Eowyn's Coronation Dress (1:300), Eowyn's Golden Hall Party Dress (1:438), Frodo's Grey Havens Vest (1:870), Merry's Rohan Cloak (1:266), Sam's Wedding Jacket (1:257), the Witch-king's Cloak (1:243).

6/24/04 - Latest News

Sierra Closes Its Doors
Xoanon @ 3:12 pm EST

Scott writes: Sierra On-line, the company that was originally given the right to make Middle-Earth Online, is no more. Barry Smith, the webcomic artist and former Sierra employee over at www.inktank.com, posted his take, and a link to the news article he got the news from.

Sierra Gets Shutdown

The lights go out at old-school game company, Sierra, as Vivendi restructures its business.

More depressing news for the industry, Vivendi Universal Games has cut 350 staff and shut down Seattle-based Sierra. The venerable games company created some of the most popular action and adventure games in the 80's. The Sierra brand will live on in name only and projects tied to the Sierra pipeline, Half-Life 2, Ground Control II and Tribes: Vengeance are already being developed by other teams within Vivendi. Also affected by the restructuring, the Hoyle brand of card and board games have been canceled. [More]

6/17/04 - Latest News

RingCon in Seattle This Fall
Xoanon @ 8:17 pm EST

On Halloween Weekend (October 29-31st), is RingCon, the Pacific Northwest's largest LOTR/Fantasy Convention at the SeaTac DoubleTree Inn in Seattle. During this convention, I will be holding a sponsored gaming tournament over the first two days, culminating in a finals showdown on Sunday the 31st between the winners of the preliminary rounds. The ultimate champion will be crowned Grand Champion Gamer of RingCon and receive the grand prize of a custom modded computer case. Details on the games are still in the air (not committing until I see the list of games coming out this summer), but it will have a fantasy/LOTR flair to them and be a variety of FPS, RTS, RPG games, so the ultimate champion will be an overall gamer, not someone with a quick trigger finger. All systems for the competition will be provided by Wicked Machines, in the interest of fairness and an even playing field. There is a $15 entry fee (for prizes) for the competition, along with an entry fee to the three days of the convention. We now have confirmed Bruce Hopkins (Gamling) coming and have a couple more awaiting confirmation so if they aren't playing, they can enjoy the convention. [More]

6/02/04 - Latest News

EA launches 2 new websites!
Luthien @ 7:16 pm EST

EA Games has recently unveiled in their latest newsletter two new gaming websites for Battle of Middle Earth and Third Age, respectively. Check them out, as they are quite eye-opening.