Wanna be a Hobbit?
Remember Lord of the Rings Online? Given that there are now more MMOs than there are Korean citizens, we'd forgive you for forgetting, but never fear - it's still on the way. Developer Turbine (Dungeons & Dragons Online) has 125,000 willing Middle-earth addicts lined up already to be beta testers, but they say there's room for more still. If you want to apply, head to theofficial websiteand let them know. Be warned of two things: You're going to need a beefy PC to run the game, and it's not all playtime. You're expected to help them find and squash bugs - the "why did my game just crash?" kind, not the "oh dear, why is Frodoswallowing his tongue?" kind.
Bully only menaces PS2
Rockstar has confirmed toour British sister sitethat Bully, the controversial game from the GTA mavens, will be a PlayStation 2 exclusive title. It's due later this year. As the title implies, it puts you in the shoes of a miserable little bastard that likes to punish the rest of the kids in the school for his own sick amusement - and yours, by extension. Almost as many people seem to be up in arms over the child-on-child violence as those who complained about Grand Theft Auto's decidedly more mature mayhem. Rockstar is, no doubt, delighted. If you'd like to catch up on details about the game, make sure to check out ourpreviewas well.
Caught in a Blizzard
Blizzard, a developer best known for world-beating PC hits like World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo (and no notable console games in more than ten years) has announced that it's "refocusing" its console developers onto other projects. Given the mysterious fate of stealth game StarCraft Ghost - which looked good, then bad, then good again and now is just plain M.I.A. - we're not too shocked. The developer is shoving its workers towards other projects, including "several unannounced games." One of those is, apparently, a new real-time strategy game, since the company is also hiring new staff to help produce it. Hit our sister siteNext Generationto find out more.
The future looks rosy for Nintendo
Spandex-clad elf wannabes aside, Nintendo's lineup for the rest of the year is looking excellent. This has promptedMSN Moneyto tell the regular people of the world what we already know - Nintendo is doing great and will, apparently, continue to do so. There's no new info here, but it's all summed up in one nice, big tasty chunk that anyone can understand, and that's worth something, right? The haters must be convinced. Pink DS Lites for all!
Nintendo stirs up Games Convention
E3 may be slumbering, but Nintendo doesn't care - it has the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany later this month. The company has already promised a speech entitled "Wii Prove Our Promise" that should deliver some of the conspicuously absent hard facts on the console's launch and lineup - including its price and release date. That's what we hope, anyway, but are not naive enough to expect.
But according toNintendo Wii Fanboy, the company will later in the day be sharing a presentation with Electronic Arts, the biggest name in gaming beside the three console-makers. While companies kissing up to EA is nothing new, EA never supports systems it doesn't expect to succeed - and its instincts are usually right. A commitment to Wii from EA is a good sign that some of the most overpaid consultants in the video game industry have decided that making games for Wii will keep the cash flowing free.
