by John Carle, Aug 23 2010 // 7:00 AM
At Comic Con, the folks at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gave us a walk through of their new family friendly Lord of the Rings title, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest. Rated E10+, Aragorn’s Quest takes a drastically different tone and gameplay style from the recently revealed The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.
Shown on the Wii, Aragorn’s Quest has players listen to the tales of Samwise Gamgee as he explains to his children the events of The Lord of the Rings, focusing on the tale of the current king Aragorn. Over the course of eight chapters, players are then given the opportunity to take the role of Aragorn on a series of quest that follow the events of the three films. Each quest contains smaller side quests players can embark on.
Having Samwise voiced by Sean Astin and Gimlee voiced by John Rhys-Davies is meant to keep an older audience into the game as they help younger players through it. Unfortunately during our walk through, the noise of the convention prevented us from experiencing the voice acting.
The game has a simple visual style that strays away from the dark overtones of the film and previous game titles. There is no blood or any other effects that would go against the game’s family friendly image. Using the WiiMote, players hack and slash their way through hordes of goblins, orcs, spiders and trolls in an effort to escort Frodo to the peak of Mount Doom to destroy the one ring. Different motions result in different strikes. During combat, directional prompts will appear to perform specific actions and finishing blows. Players will also have a chance to switch between ranged and melee combat as well.
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Posted in: Comic-Con · Games · News · Nintendo · Playstation 3 · Video Games · Warner Bros · Wii
Tagged: First Impressions, Gimlee, John Rhys-Davies, Nintendo DS, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Samwise Gamgee, San Diego Comic Con 2010, SDCC, SDCC 10, SDCC 2010, SDCC10, Sean Astin, The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, Video Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, WBIE, Wii
by Cortney Zamm, Mar 11 2010 // 9:00 AM
Move over, Wii. You’re no longer the only motion-controlled gaming system in town. While Playstation 3′s Sixaxis controller had some motion-sensing capabilities, it wasn’t much to write home about. But yesterday, at Sony’s GDC press conference, the company officially revealed their new motion-controller, simply called “The Move.”
Looking curiously similar to the Wii-mote, the Move will feature True 3D rotation, buttons similar to the regular Sixaxis, and an analog trigger. The Move also has rechargeable batteries, and plugs into the same USB port as the Sixaxis. The device seems to have two controllers, like the Wii-mote and nunchuck combination seen on the Wii.
The difference is that the Move’s two devices are connected wirelessly. The Move is said to be far more sensitive and responsive than its predecessor, because it uses the Playstation Eye to detect movement as opposed to a sensor bar like the Wii.
Games like LittleBigPlanet and EyeToy were demoed with the Move, and third party publishers like Square Enix, Konami, EA, Ubi, Disney, Sega, WBI, Crave, and Activision are all behind this new technology. It also looks like the Playstation 3 will start getting ports of games originally slated for the Wii, the first one being The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.
The Move will be released on its own, bundled with the Playstation Eye, and in a Playstation 3 bundle. No idea how much the controller will cost on its own, but bundled with the Eye it’ll set you back about $99. You’ll be able to get your hands on the Move this fall.
Posted in: Games · Gear · Geek · News · Playstation 3 · Sony · Tech · Video Games
Tagged: LIttle BigPlanet, Move, Playstation 3, PS3, Sony, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, Video Games