EA announces new Xbox 360 Lord of the Rings
by Blake Snow 
{ Jan 13th 2006 at 10:45AM }
Electronic Arts announced today that the highly anticipated PC game, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II will also make its way exclusively to the Xbox 360 console. The high-definition title will be the first game in the series that will be playable over Xbox LIVE. Gamers can challenge friends online and engage in real-time battles.
From the release: "The game boasts a new and intuitive console-specific control scheme that will allow novice players to enjoy the game's signature strategy gameplay while giving expert players the flexibility needed to engage in a deeply complex strategy experience. Players will directly control hundreds of units in an attempt to defeat enemy armies, conquer new lands, and seal the fate of Middle-earth."
LOTR The Battle for Middle-earth II ships Summer 2006.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ryan @ Jan 13th 2006 10:55AM
Another game for Peter Jackson to loath! Excellent. :|
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Jan 13th 2006 11:06AM
Is it gonna support cooperative play?
Frexy @ Jan 13th 2006 11:29AM
Ok, that's just plain dumb...
It takes some intelligence to row a boat, and I bet a Cave Troll doesn't have the intelligence to steer one...
Heh...Even in fantasy you need to stay realistic :)
Modano @ Jan 13th 2006 11:30AM
That boat engine seems really impractical.
Anonymous Man @ Jan 13th 2006 11:38AM
Finally, a game worth looking forward too!
Daniel D @ Jan 13th 2006 11:39AM
YES NOW I DONT HAVE TO BE HAPPY WITH WITH FINAL FANTASY XI
Thryon @ Jan 13th 2006 11:39AM
Sorry if I missed something...but is this excusive to the Xbox 360, indicating the PC version will be cancelled?
Thryon @ Jan 13th 2006 11:52AM
OK..I answered my own question. The exclusive is to consoles. PC version still safe. I feared another Halo (well I know it did finaly made it to the PC, but only after no one cared anymore).
>_> @ Jan 13th 2006 12:53PM
Will "aslo" makes it way exclusively onto to the 360? :P
Baker @ Jan 13th 2006 12:56PM
Well, I'll be interested to see how they change around the control scheme...I haven't played a console RTS yet that I enjoyed over it's PC counterpart, simply because of ease of control.
recklessgemini @ Jan 13th 2006 1:44PM
Sounds cool, looking forward to it.
swoosh bnd @ Jan 13th 2006 2:10PM
Very much looking forward to it, I guess I have to add another to my wanted list.
Chris Remo @ Jan 13th 2006 2:19PM
That's not really exclusive if it's on two platforms is it? I mean they're not going to have an "Only on Xbox 360" sticker on the box.
SlanAux @ Jan 13th 2006 2:20PM
No usb mouse and keyboard support?Using a contoller with a RTS is stupid.
BigKountry @ Jan 13th 2006 2:21PM
I think it's pointless to play an RTS on a console. PC all the way for this one.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jan 13th 2006 2:47PM
The difference is that the PC that can run this would have cost around $1000 or more (video card, system total) while the 360 will have faster framerates and costs less than half as much. It will also work on EVERY 360, as opposed to a PC version of anything which may or may not run fine on any given computer.
And why is it pointless to play a RTS on a console? What's the bloody difference if they both have the exact same controls and graphical quality? No mouse? We have a wireless controller with analog sticks and twelve buttons, plus the control cross (which is more than likely treated as another four buttons in most games). Show me an RTS that requires more than 16 buttons and two analog controls!
And I'm willing to bet this game will look incredible on my large HDTV. I'd much rather watch the armies of Middle Earth clash in widescreen than on a 4:3 monitor that's six inches from my face.
I just can't see how the PC version could be any better. We all know that the PC Call of Duty 2 is actually not equal to the 360 version (framerates are lower on the PC, and most of the particle effects and antialiasing are turned off on all but the most expensive gaming rigs). I see a trend starting here. We've hit the point where console gaming can be superior to PC gaming, and the PC weenies are going to whine about it for the next two years because they feel ripped off. They'll think it's unfair that for $400 we have a system that can play games as good (or better) than their $1500 gaming PC.
No, I can't do spreadsheets on my 360. But I can do those on a cheap computer without a high-end video card, so don't pretend you're using those gaming-specific components on your PC for productivity. It's horsecrap and you know it.
I'm looking forward to this one. It should stir up a lot of controversy with the PC gamers.
Sanitarium @ Jan 13th 2006 3:18PM
Alright, I'm gonna go ahead and bring it up, REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Revolution, as all of you already have probably guessed, will be great for RTS games. Now, EA did say it will come exclusively to the 360, and they're not Capcom, but I hope to god they pull a Capcom and renounce the exclusivity and release it for Revolution.
Just wanted to throw that out there.
TK00 @ Jan 13th 2006 3:39PM
For the life of me I can't imagine how they'll set up a control scheme for a console RTS. Seriouly, can anyone fathom playing Warcraft 3 with an XBOX controller? They're going to have to dumb it waaaaaaay down to make it playable.
I'm sure the HD graphics will be great.
TK00 @ Jan 13th 2006 3:44PM
"We've hit the point where console gaming can be superior to PC gaming, and the PC weenies are going to whine about it for the next two years because they feel ripped off. They'll think it's unfair that for $400 we have a system that can play games as good (or better) than their $1500 gaming PC."
Dude, seriously, do you think the 360 will have the same or better graphics then PCs in 2 years? So Intel, AMD, ATI et al are just going to give up and stop innovating? Granted I'm sure in 2 years the 360 will only cost around $200, but consoles have always been cheaper then PCs. The PC, however, will always have the cutting edge tech.
Thryon @ Jan 13th 2006 4:09PM
I just got my copy of this months edition of OXM, and in it, there is a beta of Final Fantasy XI. The reason why I bring this up, is that the game will allow for keyboard play (any USB keyboard that is). Not only does it allow a keyboard, but appears to prefer a keyboard being used. Now if a keyboard can be used for Final Fantasy XI, there is no reason why other games, like this one, will not allow for a keyboard also.
A good point about the PC needing more juice (read more $$$) to perform at the same level as the Xbox 360. My PC is connected to my HDTV. My graphic cards (2 running SLI) cost more than the Xbox 360 (each card that is), and still CoD2 and King Kong run nicer and smoother on the Xbox 360. I will keep comparing platforms when I get the chance, but so far, the X360 wins hands down.
LordDead @ Jan 13th 2006 4:25PM
Wow this game is going to be so dumbed down its not even funny.
It will probably end up just being a select units>attack move affair.
They are probably banking on stupid people who own a 360 buying it so they can say "we have an rts, haha pc people lose"
gamer1 @ Jan 13th 2006 11:19PM
Have you guys seen the screenshots for this game? They're amazing! Check them out, they're on IGN's site.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/681/681164p1.html
I haven't played an RTS for years, but after looking at these shots, it makes me want to go back and try them again. It looks like a fun game that I would definitely like to try.
gamer1 @ Jan 13th 2006 11:23PM
Hm... that link didn't work. Try one of these!
http://xbox360.ign.com/
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/794/794413/imgs_1.html
Definitely worth a look at least. The screenshots are hot!
gamer1 @ Jan 13th 2006 11:28PM
Stupid Joystiq comment forums... the reason why they're not working is because the comment forums add a break line to the URL click link.
You need to copy and paste the URL into the address field of your web browser to access the site. Someone needs to fix that thing.
Twist @ Jan 14th 2006 12:57AM
As a Mac user by choice and profession and a console gamer all I have to say to this is "w00t!!!!!!!" If they would have at least ported it to Mac that would have made me happy but this is cool too (as long as they do a decent job). For everyone who whines that RTS's don't work well on consoles I would like to point out that Warcraft 2 on the PSone was pretty decent (except for its save file which used half of a memory card while a 10 character password could do the same thing).
Now they just need to bring Age Of Empires 3 to the 360 and I will be a happy gamer.
Jeremy Wright @ Jan 14th 2006 11:54AM
Yowza @ those screenshots... All I can say is please please please release a demo on Live!
oncnawan @ Jan 16th 2006 6:09PM
Not knowing much of anything about the user interface, all we can do is speculate. However, it was once said that FPS games would never work on a console, and since the success of Goldeneye and Halo (and their heirs), there is at least a colorable argument that such is not the case.
I agree that an RTS game on the 360 which is merely a port of the PC version would not be a compelling title. However, I am intrigued by the comments of the developers regarding user interface. If anyone is qualified to recreate the RTS genre for consoles it is them.