I’m somewhat mixed by these LoTR plushies. Sometimes they seem cute – sometimes not!

I think it’s Legolas’ fault. He lets the side down. What do you think?

Legolas Plush

Orc Boi Plush

Gandalf Plush

Frodo Plush

However, Mr Nazgûl here and a certain Mr Witch King just happen to say “Hellboy meets Lord of the Rings” to me. I think it’s the colouring. I think it’s the boiling undertones of evil.

I think it rocks.

Francavilla’s Nazgûl

Francavilla’s Witch King

Credit, of course, to Francavilla and you should read the blog.

When it comes to LOTRO it isn’t just the Turbine players who’ll benefit. Players in North America and Europe get to play for free as Codemasters will also be moving to the new pricing stucture.

Massively has an interview with Turbine in which the company hints at possible content for the game. There will be content packs; players will be able to by able to buy the Rune-keeper and Warden additions (which came with the Moria bundle) seperarely, for example.

The freebie content areas include Bree, the Shire and Ered Luin; those represent some 800 quests and enough adventure up to level 50.

Players will also be bale to buy cosmetic features, horses and even XP boosts.

The game isn’t free to play yet. Turbine suggest “the fall” as the target launch date.

The widespread use of the sound effect is creditted to picture sound designer Ben Burtt who added it to Star Wars: A New Hope.

The following is a YouTube clip of many Wilhelm Screams. We feature everything from superheroes, to King Kong and even Family Guy.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc – part of the giant Time Warner Inc – is believed to be paying up to as much as $160 million for the Boston based company. The final figure will depend on Turbine’s financial success.

Turbine, which until today was privately-held and venture-backed, has a strong card with the prestigious Lord of the Rings franchise – keep in mind that Time Warner also own New Line Cinema who produced the Lord of the Rings movies.

D&D Online has also been something of a success for the company. The Wizards of the Coast license famously shot to strength after Turbine removed membership fees for the MMORG.

Warner has been on a bit of a computer game developer buying rush. Just a few months ago they bought UK based Rocksteady Studios; the heroes behind the fantastic Batman: Arkham Asylum game.

Industry analysts suggest that these aren’t just tactical buys for Warner. The company isn’t just looking to wrap up names like Lord of the Rings – it’s looking to bring on board programmers and game designers with the skills to make great games in today’s hugely competitive market.

Let there be no doubt; games are as big as movies.

Too bad. Thanks to Vodka and Shame here’s another Lord of the Rings joke to share.

Also; Walken!

Is Lord of the Ring the Holy Grail of fantasy RPGs? Sure; it’s been done before but it seems certain it can be done again.

The new RPG comes to us via a Sophisticated Games deal with Cubicle 7.

It’s actually Sophisticated Games that has the RPG license for LOTR. They got it when they won the rights to do Lord of the Rings book board games. They sought Cubicle 7 out to help make the traditional RPG the success it will need to be.

The third name of note is Franceso Nepitello. He’s the lead writer and designer on The One Ring: Lord of the Rings RPG project.

Nepitello is a games biz vet and has already had great success with the War of the Ring strategy board game; something he designed alongside The One Ring co-designer Marco Maggi and Roberto di Meglio.

In a press release, Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Cubicle 7 Director, said;

“We’re tremendously excited about The One Ring,

“Our aim is to give our audience an authentic Middle-earth gaming experience, one that really captures the feel of Tolkien’s world.”

Robert Hyde, head of Cambridge (UK) based Sophisticated Games said,

“When we first acquired the rights from Tolkien Enterprises to publish this RPG – as part of our wider LOTR book based board game license- we had no hesitation in approaching Francesco to conceive a completely fresh LOTR and The Hobbit RPG, and for him to be the writer. We knew that he possessed both these skills and that the game would be in very safe hands. His presentation of Middle-earth, along with stunning artwork from John Howe and others, brings this incredibly evocative and exciting world to life.

“We also approached Cubicle 7 to be our publishing partners on the new The One Ring RPG because we loved the quality of their previous publications and felt that Dominic and Angus (Abranson) had both the experience, and with the creation of Cubicle 7, the role playing game resources, to bring LOTR and The Hobbit to a very wide audience.”

It is expected that The One Ring: The Lord of the Rings RPG will be published in the second half of 2010.

Games Workshop has more than 340 retail branches (a similar number to, say, Woolworths, er, ex-Woolworths and far more than Borders). They’re saying that demand for Lord of the Rings figures have been the primary success story here.

Just how much is the good news? We’re talking about profits £5 million pounds higher than expected. That should easily beat last year’s pre-tax profits of £7.5 million.

While this is great news for Games Workshop I imagine fans might also think about sums in the region of over £10 million in profit the next time they have to pay over the odds for a small tub of paint. Anyway; here’s hoping the Blood Bowl computer game works out for them too.

• RPG Industry News
• Adkison’s Open GenCon Indy Letter
• New D&D setting: Eberron
• D20: Expanded Psionics Handbook
• Steve Jackson Games abandons minatures
• Lord of the Rings minature game
• The Dark Eye RPG

“At the end of this month, SJ Games will close down its miniatures operation. During that time, we plan to cast enough metal to allow for expected sales through the end of 2003; after that, the lines will probably go out of print.

I say “probably,” because we would certainly discuss licensing the figures to another company. We will welcome inquiries. (Or if somebody out there has been wanting to set up a small casting operation near Austin, that could be very interesting!)

The reason for the shutdown is simple: the division has been, ever since it was set up, the least profitable of our endeavors. Costs are high, and while some miniatures sets have been modest hits . . . overall, we would be far better off if we put the time, space, thought, and money into our other projects. It really seems that metal casting should be left either to companies which concentrate on that one thing, or which are big enough to create a minis division that is essentially its own independent operation.

I’m personally very proud of the work that we did here. It’s been a great privilege to have Richard Kerr as a sculptor, and the whole team, headed by Paul Chapman, has worked hard to release some really quality stuff. But it’s time to call it quits. Our thanks to those of you who have supported us by buying our figures and telling us you liked them. Ah, if only there had been more of you!

Over the next month we’ll release the last of the figures and vehicles Richard has already sculpted, including:

• Doppelsoldner
• Ogre Vulcan
• Ogre Vulcan Heavy Drone
• Ogre Ninja
• Ogrethulhu Swimmer
• Munchkin Maul Rat
• Munchkin Troll
• and a great number of Off The Wall Armies figures.

If you represent an established miniatures company, or have a credible startup plan, and you would like to discuss some or all of our figures, please contact Paul Chapman (at paul@sjgames.com)”

– Steve Jackson”

• Visit the Steve Jackson Games website

The Games Workshop subsidiary company, Sabretooth Games, has issued this press-let about their forthcoming Lord of the Rings minatures game.

“This exciting, easy-to-learn game set in The Lord of the Rings world of Middle-earth is played with exquisitely sculpted 40mm pre-painted plastic miniatures, designed with a base that contains all

the information you need to play the game. Boasting over 120 unique model variations featuring characters from The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, and implementing the innovative Combat Hex game system, The Lord of the Rings TMG is introduced in two-player starter packs containing a set of eight figures, including unique versions of Aragorn, Frodo, Lurtz, and a Ringwraith exclusive with these starters, plus a full-color hex map, four dice, and a rules book complete with reference card. Booster packs are packed with four random figures and a special Battle Die.”

• Visit the Games Workshop website
• Go shopping for the Lord of the Rings models online.
• GameWyrd sources many RPG Industry stories from our media partner Gaming Report

• Topics
• Info on the revised d20 core rules.
• New Marvel Roleplaying Game
• The next version of Chainmail
• Lord of The Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game

New Marvel RPG

Marvel Enterprises is releasing a New Marvel RPG. The hardback is due out in May and is expected to retail for about $24.99. The diceless system has been designed by some of the West End Games Paranoia designers.

“Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, Daredevil, Elektra, and the rest of the Marvel Universe come to life in this revolutionary new role-playing game! This 128-page guide contains everything you need to learn and play, including full game system rules, character profiles, briefings and background for the Marvel Universe, a pull-out Character Action Display, and a beginning adventure complete with maps.”

More on this story at GamingReport

Chainmail

Wizards of the Coast’s ill fated Chainmail game is back. The metal miniatures are gone and in their place will be packs of randomly sorted pre-painted plastic minis. The figures will have their game stats on their stands. Reports suggest that the Sundered Empire won’t be used and settings like Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms will be used instead.

GamingReport carries their story of this news here and Wizard’s Chainmail site is here.

The Lord of The Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game

(TUKWILA, WA and Nottingham U.K.) —Sabertooth Games Inc. (a subsidiary of Games Workshop Group PLC) is proud to announce the Christmas 2003 release of The Lord of the Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game!

The game will feature expertly pre-painted three-dimensional versions of characters from New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy—such as Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, and Legolas. The fast, intuitive Combat-Hex rules system used by The Lord of the Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game allows players to recreate the action and adventure of the films—experiencing the exciting battles of Moria, Helm’s Deep, The Pelennor Fields, and much more—in just a half hour or less.

“The Lord of the Rings is the dominant fantasy universe in the world. The opportunity to produce a collectible and tradeable product utilizing Games Workshop’s expertise and experience is a dream come true,” says Robert Watts, CEO of Sabertooth Games, Inc. “This product is a perfect match for gaming fans, as well as fans of The Lord of the Rings universe.”

The Lord of the Rings Tradeable Miniatures Game will ship in time for the 2003 Christmas season, around the time of New Line Cinema’s release of The Return of the King. Samples of this exciting new product will be available to see during the Nuremberg Toy Fair in January, New York Toy Fair in February, and the GAMA Trade Show in March.

GamingReport’s copy of the press release is here.