What started out as a self-published fantasy yarn by a teenage author has become a best-selling book series and an eagerly awaited feature film property for Twentieth Century Fox. Now video game rights for Eragon have been snatched up by Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games), which plans to release versions for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Sony PSP in November, just prior to the film’s release.
Based on Christopher Paolini’s novel about a young dragon rider, the Eragon game is being developed by Stormfront Studios for consoles and PC, while Amaze Ent. is handling the title for handheld platforms. The console game will involve a combo- and magic-based combat system and dragon flight-based action. Meanwhile, the combat RPG for Nintendo DS will offer touch-screen spell casting and a dual screen attack mode while gamers sharpen their magic and dragon-riding skills in unlockable mini-games. GameBoy Advance players can look forward to a story-driven, turn-based RPG with nine playable characters and weapon forging and potion crafting, while the PSP version delivers four-player aerial combat with 12 unlockable arena game modes.
Fox and VU Games will be at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in May to premiere exclusive footage from the game and the movie, which will star Edward Speleers, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou and Robert Carlyle. The film is slated for release on December 12. For more information on the game, go to www.eragongame.com.
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