Lord of the Rings goes on-line

Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Journalist)

Fans looking for another way to experience the magic and wonder of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth will be able to do so starting today with the release of “The Lord of the Rings On-Line: The Shadow of Angmar.”

The new game, which hits stores today, is an on-line role playing game similiar to Blizzard’s popular “World of Warcraft.”

“The market is looking for a story or adventure they haven’t yet been able to explore,” says Jeff Anderson, president and CEO of Angmar publisher Turbine, which also developed online world Asheron’s Call.

About 19 million peole world wide play “World of Warcraft” and there are other popular communities such as Second Life.

“The vast majority of games in this genre are derivative of the Tolkien world,” says Celia Pearce, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech University and contributing editor to the Virtual Cultures blog (virtual cultures.typepad.com).

“The fact that there is finally going to be a game based on the source material is interesting and exciting to those of us who follow this world.”
The “Lord of the Rings” world already has about a million gamers who served as beta testers.

In the coming months, Disney will release an on-line game version of the popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.