In 1982, Beam Software and publisher Melbourne House brought Tolkien’s world to computers with a text adventure based on The Hobbit. (An emulator of the ZX Spectrum version is available to play online.)
Back then, the original licensor — in this case the Tolkien Estate itself, or Tolkien Enterprises (now Middle-earth Enterprises) — would allow licensees to sometimes resell the license. It appears that at this time the animated films shared a license with the first round of video games.
Enthusiasm for Tolkien adaptations ramped up in the wake of the 1980 animated film The Return of the King, based on the final book in Tolkien’s trilogy. Following Beam’s text adventure, developer Interplay Productions turned over an in-production fantasy role-playing game, changing the theme to a Lord of the Rings adaptation. Writer Jennell Jaquays, now the owner of Dragongirl Studios, said she was hired by Interplay to write background and some “adventuring” for the RPG.
All of this is according to author Alexa Ray Corriea for Polygon.com. You can read the entire article right here. Continue reading “A complete history of Tolkien and video games”
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If you were at Comic-Con 2014, you would have had a chance to see this wonderful handmade Middle-earth collectible.
The awesome folks at Badali Jewelry have a brand new collectible now up for sale on their website. The Elessar the Elfstone brooch that Aragorn was given by Galadriel as a gift from Arwen while in Lothlorien can now be yours. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Badali Jewlery’s Elessar the Elfstone”
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New York Comic-Con starts tomorrow and we’ve teamed up with our friends at Weta Workshop to do a pretty awesome giveaway. The prize for this give away is Weta’s amazing The Art of Film Magic – 20 Years of Weta!
The winner’s copy of this amazing book (easily the coolest art book in my own collection) will come signed by Richard Taylor and several other of the super cool folks who work for Weta Workshop as well as Weta Digital.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Enter our 20 Years of Weta Contest”
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New York ComicCon is almost upon us, and as you know, TheOneRing.net will be there, at booth 3040, at our panel Saturday at 9pm, and at our party with Weta Workshop on Thursday evening. (More details here – two more tickets just became available for the party, so snap ’em up before they’re gone!)
One of our generous sponsors for New York ComicCon is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – publishers of Tolkien in the United States. They have given us some wonderful items for the party goody bags, as well as some lovely prizes for giveaways. One such item is a SNEAK PREVIEW – this beautiful ‘pocket boxed set’ of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will not be available to buy until October 21st, but we have two sets to give away to some lucky folks at ComicCon!
Here’s what Houghton Mifflin Harcourt say about this new set:
‘This four-volume, deluxe pocket boxed set contains J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic masterworks The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King). Each book features a leatherette cover with stamped title and all four books are held in a leatherette bound box with gold foil stamping.’
The books are roughly 7 inches tall, and are therefore an ideal size to take with you whenever you want to have the Professor’s words to hand! If you aren’t lucky enough to win a set from us at New York ComicCon, you can order from HMH here. Our thanks to them for their continued support of TheOneRing.net!
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Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) and Monolith Productions released the Shadow of Mordor – Season Pass Trailer, highlighting the line-up of great content included. Players who purchase Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s Season Pass will gain all-new story missions, challenge modes, runes and more for their journey through Mordor. The Season Pass is priced at $24.99.
Continue reading “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Season Pass Trailer”
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As convention season draws to a close, there’s still time for one last hurrah in the Big Apple! New York ComicCon will be here in two weeks’ time, and TORn will be there with bells on. (Maybe literally – you’ll have to come and see us to find out…)
If you’re coming to the convention, you can find us at Booth 3040, where we’ll have t-shirts, buttons, lanyards and more for sale, as well as lots of cool giveaways and fun stuff. We’ll also be giving a panel on Saturday night, 9pm, in room 1A21: ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – An Unofficial Look’. Find out inside scoop on the third and final film – be ready for spoilers!
Continue reading “New York ComicCon – party with TheOneRing.net and WETA!”
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In 1982, Beam Software and publisher Melbourne House brought Tolkien’s world to computers with a text adventure based on The Hobbit. (An emulator of the ZX Spectrum version is available to play online.)
