It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Middle Earth. In a special holiday promo, Turbine has announced that until January 31 they will be offering a three month subscription to The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar for only US$ 29.97 for the whole period. Doing the math, that amounts to US$ 9.99 a month for three months. Not a bad deal considering the normal rate is US$ 14.99. More on the promotion in the full article.

It's a good time to play as a Minstrel in Turbine Inc.'s MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar indeed. Why, you ask? Because this month is Minstrel Month, that special time of the year where the development team rolls out some very much-needed improvements for the main healing character class of the game. So, without further ado, let's get to the good stuff and see what's in store for the all-singing, all-dancing minstrel class of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar!

First up in Turbine Inc.'s MMORPG is the Minstrel's new solo skills, or the skills added to make a solo session with a Minstrel just a bit more easier. These are War Speech, Call to the Elder King, Call to the Second Age, and Chant of the Oathbreaker. War Speech is a toggled stance that powers up both Piercing Cry and Chant of the Oathbreaker, the chant a damaging skill that also makes your foes more susceptible to the effects of Songs and Cries.

War Speech, when enabled, also decreases your ability to heal - so if you're the only Minstrel in your fellowship, focusing on attacks might not be a good idea. Call to the Elder King and Call to the Second Age also damage your opponents while weakening their defenses and increasing your fellowship's movement rate respectively.

Next are buffs, and the new ones are: Tale of Battle, Tale of Warding, Call to the Fellowship, and Call to Greatness. The two Tales increase various stats such as Vitality, Wound Resistance, Armour, and Hope - very handy during battles. Call to the Fellowship is a fellowship-wide buff that makes your next Fellowship Manoeuvre more effective, and Call to Greatness is a buff that gives 15 seconds of goodness to a character, depending on the class.

Click on the full article link to read up on the new instruments and new heal and various other skills added to the Minstrel in Turbine Inc.'s The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

Debuting this week is Medal of Honor: Airborne, and as fate would have it, a couple of other war games - even some World War II themed ones like Hearts of Iron - are joining it on the shelves. Stranglehold is also hitting the market for the Xbox 360 and the PC, with the Sony PS3 version coming later this month.

Another game wriggling its way to the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP this week is Worms: Open Warfare 2. The worms are back with their rocket launchers and grenades ready to do some serious squishy damage.

Medal of Honor: Airborne. Step into the shoes of Boyd Travers, a soldier in the 17th Airborne Division in this first person shooter game set in World War II. You can choose from a wide and authentic range of weaponry as you sent in mission from France to Germany.

• Xbox 360, PC - September 4, 2007
• US$ 59.99 (Xbox 360), US$ 49.99 (PC)
  
• ESRB T (Teen)
• Electronic Arts and EA Los Angeles

Stranglehold. Chow Yun Fat reprises his role as Inspector "Tequila" Yuen in this third-person shooter from director John Woo. The game features an environment where you can destroy almost anything you can see (and shoot.) Battle with the Triad and the Mafia in slow motion with "Tequila Time."

• Xbox 360, PC - September 5, 2007
• US$ 59.99 (Xbox 360), US$ 49.99 (PC)
• ESRB M (Mature)
• Midway and Tiger Hill Entertainment

Worms: Open Warfare 2. The worms are back and they're coming complete with online capabilities for the DS and the PSP. Go to war with the worms in six different scenarios. The PSP version will have downloadable maps as well.

• Nintendo DS, PSP - September 4, 2007
• US$ 29.99 (DS), US$ 29.99 (PSP)
• ESRB T (Teen)
• THQ

Check out the rest of the games coming out this week in the full article!

Buy: [Medal of Honor: Airborne (360)]
Buy: [Medal of Honor: Airborne (PC)]
Buy: [Stranglehold (PC)]
Buy: [Stranglehold (360)]
Buy: [Worms: Open Warfare 2 (PSP)]
Buy: [Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS)]

With Day 1 of the E3 Business and Media Summit over, there sure are lots of major announcements, demos, and preview videos and screens to get excited over. The Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailers were finally shown, along with some other teaser and demo videos like the Gears of War PC and Rock Band live demos, among many others. Initial screenshots of highly anticipated games were also released during Day 1.

Among those who've revealed much to the E3 audience in their July 11 press conferences are Nintendo Company Ltd., Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft Corp., Electronic Arts (EA), Konami Corporation, Activision, and Midway Games.

One of the biggest news during Sony's press conference was delivered by Kaz Hirai himself. He announced the new and re-designed PlayStation Portable (also being coined PSPSlim) which is said to be 19% slimmer and 33% lighter than the current version being sold. Microsoft also gave the audience a treat with a Gears of War PC live demo. Nintendo on the other hand, confirmed the release dates of some of its upcoming games, and also announced its Wii Fit video game and Wii Balancing Board.

We're certain you know most of what happened in Day 1 of the E3 Media and Business Summit 2007, but if you don't, we might as well have a recap of the day. Click on the links below and read up! The Full Article link contains the complete list of our E3 coverage, so make sure to also check it out.


Breaking News:

Blasting onto PCs: Gears of War, among other things
E3 Update: Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots to be the grand finale of the series, says Kojima
E3 Updates from Sony: News on PS3 exclusives
Confirmed: Unreal Tournament 3 to be timed PS3 exclusive


Previews and first glances:

E3 update: Soul Calibur Legends E3 2007 video
Killzone 2 E3 2007 trailer
Rock Band E3 videos: trailer and live demo from Peter Moore
E3 2007 Update: Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer
E3: Gears of War PC live demo during Microsoft
E3 2007: LittleBigPlanet screenshots
E3: Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 to be "even nuttier"
Konami releases first screenshots of Silent Hill 5 for E3


That's it from us for now, but rest assured we'll be giving you the latest on the E3 Media and Business Summit's Day 2. Stay tuned.

With E3 just a couple of days from now, Midway Games, Inc. has revealed the list of titles it will be presenting at the event. The company's lineup covers a wide range of genres across all major video game platforms.

Thanks to a mix of new properties and proven brands, Midway president and CEO David F. Zucker has commented that this is the company's "most diverse and strongest line up yet". Here's a list of titles Midway has lined up for E3 along with their expected shipping dates.

• Stranglehold (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; August)
• BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; September)
• Unreal Tournament 3 (PC; Fall)
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat (DS, November)
• Cruis'n (Wii, November)
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (PS2, October)
• Game Party (Wii, November)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders (DS, November)
• The Wheelman (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; Winter)
• TNA Impact! (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360; Spring)
• The Bee Game (DS, GBA, November)
• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (PC, Available Now)
• Hour of Victory (PC, Fall)
  

Big games always start from big ideas. Lord of the Rings Online's executive producer Jeffrey Steefel shares his own big ideas with the guys at CVG in an interview about Turbine Inc. and Midway Games' LotRO: Shadows of Angmar, and tells about how multiple platforms - including mobile phones - can work together seamlessly in one MMO, enhancing the game experience.

I've got this thing called Lord of the Rings that my subscription, depending on how much money I pay, entitles me access to in different ways. Each device, each way of interacting, has a different strength and weakness.

So I can manage my inventory on a cell phone very easily, I can do crafting on a cell phone. Doing a raid on a console? That's cool. Doing more social things, chatting, maybe that's better on a PC.

Think of it that way - I built this game, now I'm going to translate it and put it on this thing, put it on that thing. It's a broader vision, it's harder, more risky, but that's where we headed.

While the plan he lays out doesn't say that what you can do with your console can be done with mobile phones, the idea that different platforms can serve different functions in one game sounds very promising indeed.

Think of it this way: You attack dungeons, carry out quests and go on guild wars with your PC, but such activities may be enhanced using the console. Conversely, organizing parties and scouting for possible allies as well as guildmates, or just plain mingling with the crowd is better done on the PC. In addition to the above choices, you can still get involved with the game when you're on the go: checking out the latest movements on your mobile, as well as updating inventory like what Steefel envisioned, maybe even trade as well.

Sounds good for now, but it all comes down to sheer execution. Whether they can pull it off nicely, or bomb trying to, will be seen in the coming months.

Midway Games just released its total sales for Q1 of 2007 and despite having lower numbers than last year's, CEO David Zucker commented that they still exceeded their earlier expectations.

The official also added that their big guns will start appearing later in the year that's why sales were down to US$ 11.1 million from 2006's US$ 15.4 million. Zucker mentioned too that most sales were generated by the unique pre-order program for MMO video game The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar.

Downloadable titles also did great Zucker imparted, enumerating Gauntlet, Smash TV, Root Beer Tapper, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat III as games among those that performed well on Xbox Live.

Likewise, Championship Sprint, Mortal Kombat II, and Rampage World Tour are doing good on the PlayStation Network (PSN). Also, the CEO revealed that a demo of BlackSite: Area 51 will be available at the Marketplace to help generate curiosity and excitement among players.

For Wii, lastly, Zucker promised three more unannounced titles for 2007 in addition to the forthcoming Mortal Kombat, two of those exclusive to the console.

The special edition of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar from Turbine Inc. and Midway Games Inc. will be released this April 24th in the U.S. and Canada, along with the standard version of the game. Hardcore Tolkien fans and collectors may be pleased to know that the Special Edition of this MMORPG will be going for only US$ 59.99.

Jeff Anderson, President and CEO of Turbine Inc., spoke of the game, saying "We have experienced unbelievable anticipation and support for The Lord of the Rings Online throughout the development process." He also added, "We knew that the game had to provide a terrific experience to the millions of Tolkien fans and we wanted to enhance that experience even more with this Special Edition."

The Lord of the Rings Online Special Edition will contain:

• 30-days of free online play
• Free 10-day Buddy Key
• "Beyond the Shadows. . .The Making of The Lord of the Rings Online" DVD
• The Lord of the Rings Online Soundtrack
• Exclusive In-Game Item – "The Glass of Aglarel"
• A Full Color Special Edition Manual
• Exclusive map of Middle-earth

On top of that, there's still that offer where those who pre-order whichever version of the game are automatically considered Founders and get all the perks associated with it. If you're looking for an MMORPG to play but are finding it hard to find your niche with the current games on the market, then you might want to consider giving this title a try.

Itching to play Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (ain't that a mouthful) and didn't get a much coveted beta key? Well, fret not. You might just be able to get a sneak peek into J.R.R. Tolkien's universe before the launch via the World Tour of Middle-earth.

Turbine and Midway Games are getting ready for launch, and decided to give players a treat. They've launched the free World Tour of Middle-earth and they're inviting over one million players to participate. The Tour will begin on April 6 and will run until LotRO's official launch on April 24. The Tour is open only to residents of the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia (you'll need to download the game and get a key from Gamespot). European gamers fret not, you can scoot over the Codemasters and try to sign up for beta. And another thing, you can pre-order LotRO: Shadows of Angmar and start adventuring in Middle-earth on March 30.

What's to see there? Well, level cap would be set at level 15 and whatever places are available still remains to be seen. We'll give you more updates regarding Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Stay tuned.

  

We may have been posting quite a lot of new information on The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar lately, but the truth is the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) has recently been restricting the information flow a little bit. As of today though, you can expect a lot more information on the ins and outs of the game to be coming your way - thanks to Turbine and Midway Games finally deciding to lift the NDA from the preview agreement. The new preview agreement without the NDA will be displayed next time you log into LOTRO and can also be viewed at the official website.

This means that if you've participated in the beta version of the game, you're now free to discuss the experience with just about anyone without any legal repercussions. Patience, the community manager over at Turbine, would like to say thank you to everyone that has kept quiet during the closed beta period. With the great lands of Middle Earth to content with, it looks like World of Warcraft may finally have a challenger. Now, let the discussion commence!