The Warner Bros. legal team has shut down the development of a free Lord of the Rings mod for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The all-volunteer, unpaid team of game enthusiasts behind the mod say they repeatedly attempted to negotiate a compromise that would allow them to proceed in some form, but Warner Bros. rebuffed all of their proposals. Warner Bros. first requested that the 40-person-strong development team cease all work on the project, called MERP (Middle-earth Roleplaying Project), in July.

“Modding” is a term used to describe when users unofficially adapt or alter a game beyond its original specifications. Modders will often create new characters, character skins, plotlines and dialogue, music or even entirely new worlds for their favourite games.

Mod developer Alasdair Hurst believes MERP’s main problem could be that people need to buy Skyrim first.

“But the mod itself will be available to all the fans for free.” Continue reading “Warner Bros. shut down free Skyrim LoTR mod”

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 25, 2012 – Kabam, a leader in massively multiplayer games for connected devices, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have partnered to co-publish games for mobile devices and the Web inspired by Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM).

Under the deal, Kabam will develop and operate two multiplayer strategy games, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth for mobile devices and The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age for web browsers, both launching in fall 2012. Starting Sept. 25, players can sign up to take part in the upcoming beta for The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age at https://www.kabam.com/the-hobbit-armies.

Continue reading “Kabam and Warner Brothers bring Hobbit games to mobile devices/web”

Sneaking on the internet Monday night is a new look at the “LEGO Lord of the Rings” game in the form of a trailer. Focusing on the peril of the One Ring and introducing “The Fellowship” it doesn’t give a clue about gameplay but it has been certified adorable by a committee of astrophysicists and board certified physicians or plumbers or something. Using dialog from the films, it throws in a few sight gags and a great big — well see for yourself below. We will post a better version when one becomes available. The release date says “2012” on the trailer but October 1 has been confirmed.

A lot of people are very excited about the forthcoming Lego Lord of the Rings game.

We may have missed a couple of cool reveals about the game that emerged at E3 around the beginning of last month.

So here’s a re-cap, including an 18-minute on-stage demo that Nick Ricks gave at E3. It reveals a long in-game sequence from the Mines of Moria, including Balin’s tomb. You can also pre-order the game here.

Props to Ringer Lars for the links. Continue reading “Re-cap on the Lego Lord of the Rings game”

In January, Lord of the Rings Online an expansion to the MMO called Riders of Rohan. Launching on September 5 this year, the game expansion adds the regions of East Rohan, Amon Hen and the Eaves of Fangorn Forest, a new mounted combat system plus a new, original score by award-winning composer Chance Thomas.

Thomas’ work should be familiar to anyone who’s already played the Lord of the Rings Online Games: Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria. Writer Layton Shumway recently visited a recording studio near Thomas’ Utah home and learned just how much effort the maestro behind the music of Turbine Entertainment’s Lord of the Rings Online puts into his craft. Continue reading “Inside the music of LOTRO: The Riders of Rohan”

Award-winning composer Chance Thomas’s work should be familiar to anyone who’s played the Lord of the Rings Online Games: Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria. Those are just two examples in an impressive resume. His latest collaboration with LOTRO and Warner Bros. Entertainment is the soundtrack to the new online game Riders of Rohan, releasing September 5, 2012. Posted on Lord of The Rings Online’s YouTube site are three musical selections: “LOTRO Legacy”, “Shadow of the Argonath” and “Boromir’s Last Stand”. Be sure to click on “Show more” on the individual pages for “Shadow of the Argonath” and “Boromir’s Last Stand” to read Thomas’s insight into the composing of the music.

Additionally, the second in the series of behind the scenes videos: “Immersion through the look and sound of Rohan”, posted July 5th, has interviews with Thomas as well as Director Mitch Cohen, Director of Photography Scott Kevan and Senior World Designer Chris Pierson. The composer speaks to how he relied on painstaking research of the literature to create what he feels is “authentic” and true to Tolkien’s vision of the role of music in his stories. This video along with the first behind the scenes and various teasers and trailers for the game are available at LOTRO’s YouTube page. More musical tracks will be posted as the launch date approaches. In the meantime check out Chance Thomas’s official site to hear examples from some of the composer’s other works.