12-11-06 Latest News

Royd Tolkien Weighs in on THE HOBBIT!
Xoanon @ 10:23 am EST

From Royd Tolkien:

I've had a bunch of people asking my opinion on the recent New Line / Peter Jackson / Hobbit news. These are my thoughts...

Before Peter made Lord Of The Rings all I knew of his work was that I really enjoyed his films. That all changed a few years ago. He's not only a filmmaker, he's someone that I now trust and respect.

Before the films were made I held massive reservations and fears that JRRT and LOTR would be used as merely a tool for producing revenue and would result ultimately in a substandard film. But it's different now, and it's different because of Peter.

3 weeks ago those feelings returned. Without him, The Hobbit will become what I had earlier feared LOTR was to become.

To find a new director after the time and dedication Peter and all his people put in would not just be wrong, it would also be a bad decision.

Now I know and understand that some purists would disagree with me, and whilst I again understand and agree with their right to have an opinion, just imagine how bad it could have been without Peter at the helm. Peter didn't just direct a film, he brought together a highly impressive team.

Think about the different elements of his team; first there was the thoughtfulness and professionalism of Richard Taylor and everyone at Weta who realised the complex detail needed to make it believable; secondly the way Howard Shore's beautiful music compliments and binds the film. In addition to this there is the wonderfully detailed concepts of Alan Lee and John Howe, both of whose insights helped craft the feel of the film. The fabulous costumes of Ngila Dickson, the photography and vision of Andrew Lesnie, and New Zealand, a country that lends itself perfectly to Middle Earth with its breathtaking and varied landscapes. All of these elements and many more were brought together by Peter.

How could a different director do what Peter has done? How would they find a similar team of people who have the knowledge, passion and understanding of a world they helped create?

Surely that doesn't make any sense when Peter already holds the key.
I do understand and agree with Peter's position, although I only know on the surface what must be a very difficult and frustrating decision for him.

I know it's not simply a matter of saying yes. There's a mountain of issues that lie between New Line and Peter, but there must be some way to resolve this.

I imagine there's been an awful lot of letters and conversations between both camps, heels have been dug in and hair pulled out. If only there was some way to sort out the stalemate between them and find that common ground and resolution which is needed to do justice to such an important book.

Whilst I don't know the inner relationship between New Line and Peter, what i do know is that they backed him, all those years ago, to produce LOTR. For that part and many more they played, I'm forever grateful.

When I saw the end result on screen, knowing that everyone had played a part in putting it there, and were all united in putting it there, it made me smile. I'm sorry but has everyone forgot those simple smiles? Isn't that what making films is all about?

If Peter hadn't made LOTR with the respect he showed to my Great Grandfather, I'd not have felt compelled to voice my opinion.

104 chatters make LOTR-EE Marathon a huge success!
maegwen @ 6:24 pm EST

By the time it was all over, the 55+ people who made it to the final seconds of "Return of the King" could hardly contain their giddiness. For 14.5 hours they had inhabited TORn's chatroom where they laughed together, cheered together, and cried, together, while watching the entire "Lord of the Rings" Extended Editions trilogy from start to finish.

They began gathering at 10 a.m. EST, impatient and eager. Tar_Gathalion arrived first, a newcomer to the chat room, and was one of the last to leave. Coriaelleth was wide awake and chipper at the start of "Fellowship of the Ring," despite it being 2 a.m. in Brisbane, Australia, where she was chatting from. She, too, was still going strong at the end, taking energy from the amazing fellowship that had sprung up amongst the chatters.

And what a fellowship it was. Amidst the appreciation and groaning over the films, these people -- of all ages and nationalities -- shared how they discovered Middle Earth and their love of Tolkien. In doing so, we learned about each other. Teenagers listened as us old-timers recalled seeing Bakshi's film in the movie theaters. The older chatters smiled as teens spoke of discovering Tolkien through video games and these movies that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema gave to us.

So we made our way through the films, remembering anew how much we loved the opening sequence and the amazing Sauron, debating whether the Black Riders were scarier than the winged Nazgul, if the film suffered from lack of Tom Bombadil or Glorfindel, marveling at the horses in the flood at the Ford of Bruinen, discussing how the film's depiction of Boromir rendered him so much more sympathetic than Tolkien's. So many things to remark upon: The balrog, is he winged? Why is Lorien blue? Why does Celeborn .......... talk .......... like .......... this? The gifts! Just too much.

And that was only the first movie!

I honestly can't even begin to recount all the people who contributed to the fun of this day from start to finish. There were Alatariel and justine's witty comments, Lancelot (aka Sir_Capsalot) and CaptainOfGondor's infectious enthusiasm. Beth and eRIC's excitement was equally contagious. EcossElf and Ainulaire, omeron and stavros and nicktheoden. Susanita who hung on despite many computer problems. OBSERVER who was able to join us mid-way through. And Adrian, who thought she'd miss the whole thing, but managed to get home from work in time to see the end of "Return of the King." I just know I'm leaving out so many more.

Movie Chat seems a simple concept -- everyone puts a disc in, it plays, you chat -- but in reality it takes a lot of orchestration. PAL and NTSC formats run at different speeds, so breaks are required throughout the evening in order to allow people to synch back up. Managing those pauses, wrangling everyone to press "play" at the same time, informing late-comers on how to catch up with everyone else, and generally making sure that everyone has a great time -- these things take great moderators, and the night wouldn't have happened without the many people who pitched in: starlady and caoil, who managed the countdowns and time-keeping for films 2 & 3; Wingfoot and FayWraith who shepherded the mid-film arrivals; Figgy and Elenya who played backstop by greeting people and pointing them in the right direction, plus making sure that everyone chatted nicely. Bravo and thank you!

By the time "Return of the King" launched, the enthusiasm level was at a fever pitch. Quiddler was shouting, Brandalf85 was hooting blowing up Saurons tower, Goblin was eating all the cookies, and Lancelot's capslock key WAS PERMANENTLY STUCK!!!

And the conversation continued: Bingo_Bolger_Baggins finding Smeagol and Deagol disturbing; Elerwen and Eureka sniffling over Frodo and Sam's heart wrenching journey; Elanor G, Will, and Spe debating the merits of Saruman's expanded appearance; everyone complaining about Gimli the comedian; Figgy and all the ladies sighing over Faramir and the Houses of Healing; and myself -- joined by Murazor -- complaining all along about Denethor, Eowyn vs. the Witch King, "go home Sam," and our utter disgust with the green Scrubbing Bubble Army of the Dead. (Hey, someone has to nitpick!)

But the best moment of all came with the Ride of the Rohirrim:

(Figgy) this is the BEST SCENE in this movie
(Figgy) ERE THE SUN RISES
(Eureka) DEATH!!!
(Elanor_G) Death!!
(Brandalf85) DEathhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) Shields shall be splintered
(CaptainofGondor) ere the sun rises!
(Beth) love this!
(Brandalf85) ~music~
(EcossElf) ruinnnn and the worlds ending
(Elanor_G) DEATH!!!
(CaptainofGondor) Stay with me
(maegwen) DEATH
(Figgy) RIDE NOW
(Stavros) ride now!
(Edendil) death!!!
(Quiddler1) Ride now!
(Brandalf85) Forth EorlingTORNS
(EcossElf) deathhhhhh
(Figgy) RIDE!
(Figgy) FOR RUIN!
(Quiddler1) Ridenow!
(Lancelot) Ride for ruin!
(Figgy) AND THE WORLD'S ENDING
(Spe) death!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Adrian) death!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(Spe) death!
(omeron) Death! Death! Death!
(ZeeWarthog) DDDEEEAAATTTHHH
(Lancelot) And the worlds ending!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(CaptainofGondor) ride for ruin!!!!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Brandalf85) ~gets on horse~
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(Spe) death!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(Adrian) DEATH!!!
(Bingo_Bolger_Baggins) Death!!
(CaptainofGondor) DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Eureka) DEATH!!!
(Elanor_G) DEATH!!!
(ZeeWarthog) death
(Quiddler1) DEEEEEEEEEATH!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Spe) death!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(EcossElf) daethhhhh
(Elanor_G) DEATH!!!
(Spe) death!
(Stavros) DEATH
(CaptainofGondor) Death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!S
(Adrian) Death!!!
(Pk) death!
(Eureka) Theres that violin again
(Spe) death!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Figgy) DEAAAATH!!!!!!!!!
(Quiddler1) Death!
(omeron) Death!
(CaptainofGondor) Death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(ZeeWarthog) dddddddeeeeath
(Lancelot) DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Adrian) death!!
(Guest) Death!!!!!
(CaptainofGondor) DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
(Figgy) CHILLS
(Stavros) DFAETH
(Lancelot) DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH
(Beth) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
(Bingo_Bolger_Baggins) What's happening
(Figgy) FORTH EORLINGAS!
(Gondhir) WOO, HORNS
(Beth) death!!!!!!!!!!
(CaptainofGondor) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTHHHH!!!!!
(Brandalf85) DEATHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) FOR EORLIGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Spe) yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh
(Beth) death!!
(CaptainofGondor) .Forth Eorlingas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(FayWraith) *horns*
(Adrian) Death!
(Stavros) DEAF!!!
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Beth) deaaaaaaaaaath!
(Brandalf85) lol
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHD
(CaptainofGondor) Rohan music!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Figgy) YEAAAAAAAAH
(Gondhir) the Rohirrim are the best part of the movie

You just can't do that in a movie theater ;)

As we reached the Grey Havens, we too sensed the enormity of the 14.5-hour road we'd travelled. And, like our beloved Hobbits, the chatters were reluctant to part. But, all good things must come to an end -- for a time. I'm sure we'll all meet again for another LoTR Movie Chat some time in the near future!

If you would like to know the next time we plan a LoTR chat, please e-mail me to be added to the mailing list.

I'd like to thank all of the chatters who made the Marathon such an enjoyable experience:

Adrian
AinuLaire
Alatariel
Alatriel
Arwen_Legolas
Aurelia
Beth
Bingo_Bolger_Baggins
Brandalf85
Brian_Blessed
Bruce_Wayne
caoil
CaptainofGondor
coinpurse
Coriaelleth
Dalener
Dekota
Demosthenes
Denise
Dillen
Dunedain
EcossElf
Edendil
eeviac
Elanor_G
Elendilking
Elenya
Elerwen
Elfriend
elleth
Elrohir
Elvish-Rose
Emily_M
eowyn
eRiC
Eureka
FayWraith
Fenway
Figgy
George_Clooney
Goblin
Gondhir
Graham
Gwahir_Saves_The_Day
Halduina
James_Bond_of_the_Round_Table
jincey
JK
JPB
justine
Karamia
Karl
King_Elendil
Lancelot
LeekANeet
Lucrecia
Maegnarval
maegwen
middleearthguy
MightyDiggler
MouthOfSauron
MrCere
MrNobody
Murazor
Namadriel
Naz
Nephellim
nicktheoden
OBSERVER
omeron
One_Day
ORDESKY
Pk
Prof_Hojo
Quiddler
Rimbecano
Rob
Rox
samsbestfriend
scott
Shar
Spartacus
Spe
Spide
starlady
stavros
surfy_hobbit
Susanita
Tar_Gathalion
Thas
that_guy
Theodwyn
thewraithling
TolkienRider
Tookish
tree_girl
usef
voodoo
Will
Wingfoot
Wraithlette
Xelloss
Zaakistan
ZeeWarthog

Celebrities design baubles for Barnardo’s e-Bay auction
Xoanon @ 7:09 pm EST

Celebrity sparkle will help to raise money for less fortunate children this Christmas. Between the 11th- 18th December, Christmas tree baubles customised by stars such as Andy Serkis, Dame Shirley Bassey, Lemar and Jacqueline Wilson will be auctioned on e-Bay to raise funds for the children’s charity Barnardo’s.

Each celebrity has included special gifts inside their bauble including limited edition Lord of The Ring and King Kong merchandise inside Andy Serkis’ signed bauble and signed tickets for Lemar’s UK tour. Proceeds from the e-bay auction will go towards Barnardo’s work with young carers looking after a sick or disabled relative, and giving them a special Christmas to remember.

Speaking on the initiative children’s author Jacqueline Wilson said: ‘I had a lot of fun customising a Christmas bauble for Barnardo’s and including one of my trademark rings. This is just a small gift from me to Barnardo’s but it is a huge contribution from whoever places the winning bid in making a young person’s Christmas wish come true’.

Lemar, a double MOBO award winner said: ‘Inside my autographed Barnardo’s Christmas bauble are tickets for my Spring 2007 tour and one of my favourite vests that I've signed especially for you! All bidders will be generously helping to raise money and awareness for young children dealing with the enormous challenge of caring for a sick family member’.

For the chance to bid for these and other celebrity baubles, log on to www.ebay.co.uk after the 11th December and search for ‘Barnardos Christmas Baubles’ (there is no apostrophe in Barnardo’s).

The Hospital, the private members’ club in Covent Garden, will be displaying the bespoke baubles on their Christmas tree for the duration of the auction.

There are around 175,000 young carers in the UK, who will be looking after a sick or disabled relative at Christmas. Barnardo’s runs 14 young carers projects to support young people at this time.
Barnardo’s believes that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children deserve a better start in life and the chance of a better future. Barnardo’s works with 110,000 children young people and their families through 383 projects. This includes work with children affected by today’s most urgent issues: poverty, homelessness, disability, bereavement and abuse. For more information about Barnardo’s visit our website at www.barnardos.org.uk.

Join us for our LOTR EE Trilogy Marathon
maegwen @ 10:37 pm EST

All the other Movie Chats we've done before were just rehearsals for this one, the big one, the one you never thought we'd have the stamina to try: Yes, the LOTR EE TRILOGY MARATHON!

That's right, we will be chatting our way through 11 hours of non-stop Tolkien action. (Don't worry, we'll take breaks!)

Join us in TORn's chat room on Saturday, December 2 at 11 a.m. EST and see if you have what it takes to chat through Peter Jackson's three-film masterpiece, "The Lord of the Rings." (See below for the approximate scheduled time of each film)

P.S. Make sure you have plenty of water, snacks and sustenance on hand! You'll need the energy!

THE DETAILS

When: Saturday, December 2

Where: On TORn's IRC server, in the #moviechat channel. After joining the server, type /join #moviechat to get there.

If you've never been to TORn's IRC server before, you can join through our java applet and type /join #moviechat once you're signed in. We recommend you visit our FAQ for some guidelines on using our IRC service. Barliman’s is a place for good conversation about JRR Tolkien’s works. We welcome you to our community and ask that you, and all guests, abide by some simple guidelines.

How:
1) Have your DVDs readily available, with the first disc of FOTR in your player and set to the main menu.
2) Sign on to the IRC server, it's easy! (see directions above)
3) It's best to arrive early, but if you're late, don't worry -- we periodically announce the time-marker that everyone should be near. Plus, we take breaks midway and at the end of each film.
4) Once everyone is ready, the Op (those people with the @ in front of their name) will start a count-down. When they type "play," we all press PLAY, and we're off! Pretty simple, eh?

Why: Because it will be fun! And exhausting! But fun!

THE SCHEDULE
(All times are approximate. We hope to stay on schedule!)

Below are the run-times for each film, our projected starting time, and links to how you can determine the time in your own time zone. The title of each film is linked to a "pause schedule" that we hope to stick to. Pauses last little more than 30 seconds, and serve as pick-up points for people experiencing DVD burps. We will take a 20-30 minute break between each film.

The Fellowship of the Ring
Total run time: 208 minutes
Start time 11 a.m. EST [When is that in my time zone?]

The Two Towers
Total run time: 223 minutes
Start time 3 p.m. EST [When is that in my time zone?]

The Return of the King
Total run time: 251 minutes
Start time 7 p.m. EST [When is that in my time zone?]

Any questions? Please e-mail maegwen @ the one ring .net

We hope to see you there!

PJ's 'The Hobbit': Show Your Support!
leo @ 2:43 pm EST

Last week TheOneRing.net asked you, the fans, to show your support for a Peter Jackson-directed adaptation of 'The Hobbit' in a funny and creative way. And you responded! Take a look at the first gallery of photoshop creations and caption contest-entries by clicking on the posters below!

Not all of the entries for the caption contest came with an apropriate picture though, so be sure to check out some of these other suggestions we received!

Now it could well be that you think you have a better, edgier or funnier caption, or that your Photoshop-skills surpass anything seen before on this website. In that case, be sure to keep sending us your entries! [Show Your Support!]

EA's 'The Rise of the Witch King' Review!
Xoanon @ 11:17 pm EST

Mrcere writes: LOS ANGELES – Let me make this really easy for you: If you have played EA Game’s “Battle for Middle-earth II” and enjoyed it even moderately, the new expansion “The Rise of the Witch King” is spectacular! If you haven’t played it, you may find like I did, that crawling into Middle-earth in a game format is immensely fun and contains more of the ‘feel’ of Tolkien’s works that you thought possible.

Everybody in the Tolkien universe, or at least the pop-culture side, knows that there are Lord of the Rings games aplenty. Most of us have some, boxed on a shelf or received as presents or even board games or card games or miniature games that have received a fair share of use.

Computer games are nothing new either. Console games or games for the PC have been around as long as Tolkien has been part of mainstream pop-culture. So EA’s two “Battle for Middle-earth” games have always been in the back of my mind somewhere as something I really should try.

So when the call came from EA Games to visit its campus and try out the new “Rise of the Witch King” expansion for the “Battle for Middle-earth II” game, I had a vague idea of what to expect. In the gaming circles, which I assume doesn’t include all TORn readers, BFME2 (Battle for Middle-earth 2) is a ‘real-time strategy’ game, known as RTS to gamers. I have even played RTS games before somewhere in the “Command & Conquer” series and had a lot of fun.

THE SUMMIT

The big event EA was promoting is the expansion of “BFME2: The Rise of the Witch King,” which hits the streets on November 28th and is a major addition/expansion to the game touted as having several significant upgrades and differences in game play. Apparently, TORn along with representatives from several gaming sites were the first to actually get hands on the finished game and play it. If you already know the BFME and BFME2 games, let me make this real easy for you: Rise of the Witch King is fantastic!

For the rest, who like me, maybe don’t know the games inside and out, let’s look with a little more depth. First, I only played the game for eight hours at most and some of that time was spent teaching myself the basics. BFME2 is required to play the expansion so EA didn’t need a tutorial on the game, but as a BFME2 virgin, I had to spend some control-learning time which was fun.

In full-disclosure, I can’t ethically give a complete review of the game because I didn’t play it all or anything close to it. I can only say that I absolutely loved what I played and if the rest of the experience can match the early stages, well, it was enough to send me scrambling for a BFME2 game so I could play the expansion after I completely devour the game it expands. Again, I can’t say for sure that the game holds up over time, but my enthusiasm for it at this stage is genuine.

THE BASICS

For beginners, the concept puts a gamer as a 3rd person all-powerful controller of a race from Middle-earth. You can play Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Isengard, Men of the West, and Mordor. You will be pitted against the computer or other players who also control a group (called factions) and you square off to wipe each other off the map. Players must manage resources that are harvested by mechanisms such as mines for Dwarves, Mallorn trees for Elves, farms for Men and so on. Resources allow players to build various fighting units which can be used to take out the opponent’s army or his structures.

Now, that all sounds basic but the joy of the game comes from all the complexities inside that simple formula. To twist a phrase that only a Tolkien-geek can love, the Valar are in the details! A real feeling of the richness of Middle-earth is in the game, allowing players who manage well to produce stone-hurling Ents or a secret attack Watcher in the Water. Each faction has story-appropriate attacks and defenses and heroes. This allows favorite characters directly from the books and films to make appearances but without being silly stock units of an army.

WHAT IS NEW?

So the expansion of the game takes the player out of the familiar movie and book world of LOTR. EA has a license from both New Line Cinema but with Tolkien Enterprises, allowing them to delve deep into the lore and legend of the greater Middle-earth, not just for the War of the Ring. (Look for more details in a pod-cast interview soon!)

Game producer Amir Rahimi presented the game to the community members and journalists invited to the summit. In favor of brevity let me just spit out the leading features about the expansion:

• With 3,018 years between the loss of the ring and Frodo’s quest, EA picked the rise of Angmar and its leader, the Witch King to set its battles in
  
• Basic game play changed, enhanced, deepened by 1) improved siege 2) enhanced, better artificial intelligence 3) new units
  
• The new faction for the game is Angmar
  
• Improved game artificial intelligence
  
• Siege weapons improved, more of an emphasis in the game
  
• Every former faction has new units
  
• New weapons and armor – something for every unit
  
• Economy feature added to world map (think Risk with money!)
  
• 14 new territories, geography given emphasis
  
• 8 complete missions available plus epilogue
  
• New powers including: ghost of werewolf, soul freeze, snow blind, fell wind, avalanche (note the winter theme)
  
• Lots of heroes from legend and lore including: Khamul (second in command of the 9 ringwraiths), Morgomir (another wraith), Wormtongue, Sharku, Azog (Orc who killed Thror), Brand (of Dale), Rogash, Hwaldar, Gothmog
  
• Each faction gets a mini-hero or a hero in a unit as follows: knights of Dol Amroth, Noldor Elves, Dwarven Zerkers, Uruk Beserkers and fire drakes and black riders
  
• Angmar units are thrall-masters that recruit different units on demand in the game, a versatility that is fun
  
• Angmar sorcery units actually drain the life-force of his followers to cast spells, very cool

CONCLUSIONS

So the pleasures of the game for me come on several different levels. I love the play, just the fun and strategy of the game. It seems to me, from talking with community members who know the game inside and out and from playing it myself, that of the versions of ‘Battle fore Middle-earth’ the Witch King expansion, features the best game play. Now again, I can’t know this for certain until I play the game and previous versions a lot more but that is definitely a strong impression I left the summit with.

The solid BFME2 game has been tweaked and improved to improve imperfections in its previous issue. Of course this happens all the time with such games in the way of patches, but this seems to be another step up.

I also enjoy feeling like I am back in Middle-earth while playing. I am a Tolkien guy and clearly the books are cannon and the films are an interesting interpretation, but the game allows me to poke around in the corners of Middle-earth that haven’t been defined in too much detail. At first concerned about being a bad guy like the witch-king, I found instead that it is fantastic fun. I enjoyed playing a version of what might have been a sequence of battles that led to the fall of the kingdoms of Men in Middle-earth. Witchy, and his followers, have a great and terrible legacy in Tolkien’s writings, but the details aren’t too specific and while the game isn’t gospel, it is fun. Playing it creates an impression of depth and substance that I enjoy.

I think I enjoy it more than playing a game set more in the time of the ‘Lord of the Rings’. My mind goes wild with possibilities of possible new directions EA could take these games. Although I know what I concoct in my head wouldn’t be commercial enough, I still love the ideas. I dearly hope the expansion game comes to the Xbox 360 as I find I just have too much to do at my computer already and I prefer my couch, big-screen TV, surround sound and thoughts of Xbox live. Hopefully the new Microsoft OS that promises to link computer and console game experiences will allow even more in-depth play.

My biggest criticism of the game is actually the limits on live and head-to-head play. I would have loved the possibilities of expanded team play. The idea of a TORn team (or several) facing off against three other players somewhere and co-operating to bring the other team down would expand live play into something beyond its current possibilities. I can hope EA fits this in the game for “Battle for Middle-earth III” (if it happens) or some other expansion. In my opinion, in today’s gaming marketplace, this alone would launch the game to a whole level.

Playing through the scripted missions is fun, but playing head-to-head offers a whole new intensity. With options to play it live, well, I fear the amount of time this little diversion might cost me. Part of this is game play and part of it is having my own hands in Tolkien’s imagined world. I doubt Christopher Tolkien is available for on-line matches, but still the game feels respectful of the good professor and his creation.

I talked with producer Amir Rahimi one-on-one for a few moments, mostly about how they managed to translate Middle-earth. That interview should be available on a pod-cast in a day or two.

SUMMIT TOURNAMENT

At the summit at the EA campus we were given several hours to get our hands on the game. Fittingly, we then were placed in a tournament to play head-to-head. I feel no shame in admitting that had I played every single one of the approximately dozen other players I would have lost to them all. Fortunately I only had to get wiped out once. These folks, compared to me, were masters but despite the butt-kicking I had a lot of fun and to my face at least, nobody laughed. One of the players, and a new friend from Heavengames.com, allowed TORn to use screenshots of her game. My fortresses and war machines were much less impressive than hers anyway, but they still don’t quite communicate the coolness of seeing this thing live. The animations and actions and behaviors and voices of the battle-units are just plain fun.

So, as the holiday’s approach, I must say I recommend the game with the exceptionally long name, “Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch King”. Vet gamers will appreciate it, especially live and Tolkien fans, especially those with a taste for exploring more Middle-earth will find many hours of fun.

Pre-Order 'The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch King' on amazon.com today!

Show Us Your Support!
leo @ 7:35 am EST

So you signed every petition you could find and wrote lengthy letters to every New Line and MGM-adress you could find and you still feel a little frustrated over all this PJ/Hobbit-news? You still feel a little disappointed and glum? Let's try and channel that into something fun and creative! Because like Pete said; there is no positive value in bitterness and rancor.

TheOneRing.net would like to invite you to show your support for a Peter Jackson-directed The Hobbit in a positive and creative way, while we wait for new developments. Feel free to participate in one of the following contests with the added footnote that, well, you can't really win anything!

Show Us Peter Jackson's The Hobbit!

Let yourself be inspired by our hugely popular (and creative) 'Show us your DVD'-requests or the even more hilarious 7-Up in Middle-earth campaign we ran. Photoshop, cut and paste a scene, poster or screenshot based on The Hobbit or simply the current situation of the project. Let your imagination run wild!

Peter Jackson Caption Contest!

If you, like myself, can't photoshop for the life of you, then join in on this caption 'contest'. Let us know what you think Pete's thinking!

The rules

Of course there have to be some rules. First of all; don't be offensive. Though we cannot argue about taste this is not a platform for flamewars and the likes. The TORn Staff will not post entries which they deem to be offensive.

Secondly, if you are going to email us your creations please do so in a decently-sized .jpg-format (our mailserver has suffered enough the last couple of days).

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Saul Zaentz On The Hobbit
Demosthenes @ 2:12 am EST

Saul Zaentz, the owner of Tolkien Enterprises, and ultimate holder of the film rights to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings was very recently interviewed about the Hobbit and Peter Jackson's involvement.

The interview has since been posted on German Rings site Elbenwald. You can read the original article here. It's in German, so below is a translation of his comments. The translation comes from Jurgen at TheHobbit-Movie.com.

Q: What is with the long anticipated Hobbit-adaption?

A: It will definitely be shot by Peter Jackson. The question is only when. He wants to shoot another movie first. Next year the Hobbit-rights will fall back to my company. I suppose that Peter will wait because he knows that he will make the best deal with us. And he is fed up with the studios: to get his profit share on the rings trilogy he had to sue New Line. With us in contrast he knows that he will be paid fairly and artistically supported without reservation.