Harry Potter
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Harry Potter and the Free Movie Tickets
Accio free tickets! GameStop and Electronics Boutique are both offering a free Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie pass with every online purchase of the film's Nintendo DS and Wii games. Due for release this June 25th, the action adventure title tracks the hocus-pocus hijinks of the lightning-scarred brit and his friends' fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though we can't reveal whether or not Hermione dies in this one, we can summon up the console-universal trailer that Electronic Arts released not too long ago. Head past the post break to Platform 9¾ for the embedded video.
Mii Spotlight: Pop culture goes Mii
The best sort of Miis seem to be made from those people who already look like walking caricatures -- the kind of people who have such distinctive features that you could guess their identity from seeing only their left eye, perhaps, or their signature grin. So it follows, of course, that iconic characters also tend to make for good Mii material, though not always, as we here at the Fanboy learned ourselves to our great chagrin ....
Today's most multiplatformtastic game video: Harry Potter Wii
An extended Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix trailer for WIi is our video pick for the day. Watch Harry and friends swing their wands around, seemingly in coordination with the Wii Remote. Or so we hope. The game is set for release on eight platforms next month, and like other multiplatform titles, the Wii version is the biggest unknown.See the video after the break.
Order of the Phoenix looking good
Three new videos of the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix have gone up on IGN. The videos demonstrate a few of Harry's spells and give us a look round Hogwarts. We'll be casting the spells with a flick of the Wiimote, and maybe even incanting them through the mic.Like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, the Harry Potter games have been a bit of a mixed bag in the past; Goblet of Fire, for instance, was very much a bogey. This one, however, is looking and sounding very promising. If EA can capture the feel of Hogwarts in the game and get that elusive sandbox gameplay working, then this could be a real treat.
New Harry Potter screens put the PS2 back in the PS3
With a new movie and a new book hitting this Summer, Harry Potter mania is in full swing. Taking advantage of that momentum, EA released 3 new screens to the muggle world today, including one from the game's climatic battle with "he who must not be named." While we were mildly excited by the trailer, our hope has been dashed by screens that look like they're from a mediocre PS2 release (at best). Of course, EA knows that they don't have to put their best foot forward here... anything with the Harry Potter label is going to sell well.[Via Gamers Hell]
Avada Kedavra! New Harry Potter screens
Harry Potter fans area dedicated bunch. They've already locked in their orders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the 7th and last book in the series. The movies and games, unfortunately, lag far behind their literary brethren thanks to very long production schedules. As such, we're just now rolling around to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- the 5th book -- on the big screen and in video game form. Still, if the early screens (courtesy of X360 Daily) are anything to go by, the game looks to be shaping up quite nicely. The character models are very detailed, and the spell effects look decent too. We also know that the game is getting a sandbox-style makeover, so fans should really get a kick out of exploring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hit the "read" link to check out more screens.[Thanks, Pete]
Grand Theft Potter
No, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not really going to feature murder and robbery. That's just a bit of fun sensationalism from your responsible journalist friends at Wii Fanboy.We're really invoking the GTA name because EA UK's new game is going to feature the sandbox-style gameplay made famous by Rockstar's series. Mission triggers will be hidden all over, and you are free to explore and take on side missions. This means that you'll potentially have more choice to explore Hogwarts and the surrounding areas than Harry Potter ever did, as he seems to get railroaded from situation to situation without any choice at all. Uh, not that we ever read ... or saw ... any Harry Potter stuff. Oh, never mind-- we're all about children's books. That's right.Also, one of the most obvious Wiimote uses ever has been implemented: Wiimote as wand. Wiimote gestures will allow you to cast spells and manipulate levitated objects. No word on any microphone stuff, though.
Rumor: Wii mic to increase wizardly immersion
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Rumor_Wii_mic_to_increase_wizardly_immersion_get_more_into_the_game'; It's all a bit hushed and secretive, but reports out of GDC say that the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix game will use the upcoming Wii microphone attachment in some fashion-- the most obvious use we've heard is incanting spells. People are under non-disclosure agreements about some aspect of this game, but not the microphone. People are getting really excited about the Wii mic, it seems. Excited enough to forget that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban covered the mic thing back on the PS2. This one will just be better anyway.We're just glad the Wii mic is getting use outside of licensed Disney karaoke games. It's covering the whole range of licensed games![Via digg]
Rumor: The Wii-mic ... and Harry Potter will use it
Although there hasn't been an official announcement yet, we expect to see the Wii-mic by Q3. Rumors have surfaced and GoNintendo confirmed that NDA was broken -- so, yeah, about that Wii-mic. The writing was on the wall earlier this week when High School Musical was announced for the Wii. The Karaoke Revolution-esque game by Disney Interactive will use a microphone. Unless the game is using the Gamecube's mic to be stuck in on top of the Wii, that means a microphone attachment will soon be officially announced by Nintendo.The real NDA breaking rumor has EA working on a Harry Potter game using the mic in conjunction with gestures to cast spells. Now that's the type of Wii title we're talking about! "Wingardium Leviosah" FTW! Sadly, those who attended the EA Wii event on Wednesday signed NDAs -- so there's a lot of people out there sitting on information they can't confirm, deny or share with their readers.Update: Statement from GoNintendo, "The NDA I am talking about has nothing to do with the mic for the Wii. I was just mentioning the mic part because we already knew it was coming according to High School Musical info. The NDA deals with something else completely. If EA talked about a mic at their party, I didn't hear anything about it. "
Order of the Phoenix going next-gen
In what can be called the most unsurprising announcement this week, Warner Bros Interactive and Electronic Arts has announced that it will be making a game adaptation of the film adaptation of the book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Electronic Arts has previously made every single Harry Potter game for every single console in existence.If that wasn't enough for you, the title will launch on or around the release of the film version of Order of the Phoenix, July 2007, just to make sure it can capitalize on the massive success of the film franchise without worrying about pithy things like game quality. With the exception of Chamber of Secrets, which managed a metacritic score of 77, all of the Harry Potter game adaptations have scored in the mid-to-high 60s.The Order of the Phoenix game will come out for three Nintendo systems (DS, GBA, and Wii), three PlayStations (PS 2, 3 and P), and two Microsoft formats (Xbox 360 and Windows PC). Both the GameCube and original Xbox are now officially forgotten.A new 20-second teaser for the film can be found -- for some reason or another -- at the website for Warner Bros.' Happy Feet. [Via 1UP]
HDTV Listings for October 28, 2006
What we're watching: There's an excellent college football matchup on tonight between Tennessee and South Carolina on ESPN-HD, but many will probably take a break and catch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on ABC tonight. Kidnapped continues its lame-duck run on NBC while HDNet sees fit to bring us Deliverance.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Harry Potter fan sites geek out for new game [update 1]
In a masterful bit of marketing, Electronic Arts invited representatives from eight Harry Potter fan sites to their UK studios for a sneak preview of the upcoming game based on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. There the fans were divided into Hogwarts houses and entertained by an enthusiastic PR representative who is "known to do air-magic (as opposed to air-guitar)."Not surprisingly, the writers geeked out on the "spine-tingling and spell binding" environments in the game and new features like the ability to wander around Hogwarts and some of its surroundings. The write-up also hints at some of the new characters and mini-games that will be represented in the game, before delving into some truly trivial Harry Potter minutiae. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be available for a mind-boggling eight systems (PSP, GBA, Nintendo DS, PS2, PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and the Nintendo Wii) when it comes out, likely in time for the July 2007 movie.[Update: Picture replaced with one of our own Conrad Quilty-Harper to protect the innocent]
EA's launch lineup
Before we break out the goods, let's just clarify: these are launch window titles. Meaning they'll come out within the first few months of the Wii's release. They may or may not be taking up shelf space on launch day. That said, Electronic Arts is supporting the Wii launch window with six titles, including a few offerings from wildly popular franchises like Madden and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. These titles were already announced for the Wii, but EA confirmed all six for the launch window at in Leipzig. The full list: Godfather Harry Potter Madden NFL 2007 Need For Speed: Carbon SSX 5 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
Harry Potter coming to HD DVD this August?
Harry Potter and his friends might be joining hands with the HD DVD camp sooner then we thought. DVDTown.com has the disc listed for sale with a release date of August 29, 2006, although, Amazon still doesn't have a release date for their pre-orders. We already know that the disc is going to be loaded with 1080p goodness and Dolby TrueHD/Digital Plus 5.1, so all Potter fans need is a release date, and well, a HD DVD player would help too. With the way that Warner keeps on pushing their titles out, this wouldn't surprise us.
'Harry Potter' HD DVD to feature loads of special content
Who said there wasn't a killer HD DVD? Harry Potter might not be your all-time favorite flick but it sure is to many people. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire doesn't have a release date just yet, but we do know a good amount of what's going to be on the disc. It is going to be presented in 2.35:1 widescreen at 1080p and include both Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 tracks. Along with the normal DVD extras the HD DVD release is going to have Warner's "in-Movie Experience" that features an interactive video commentary, plus, additional making-of content, and interviews. So far Warner hasn't announced any plans to bring this title out on Blu-ray ether. We just wish we knew when it was hitting the streets.
Six from EA
Electronic Arts generally releases games for more platforms than we even knew existed. Thus, when they announce support for the Wii, we have trouble acting surprised, even for the benefit of our readers. When they announce that their tried-and-true franchises are being given unique control schemes by a dedicated team, however, we then tend to pay a bit more attention. Everyone knew, of course, that Madden 2007 was getting a specialized Wii treatment. In a press release earlier today, however, they have announced similar plans for five more games: Harry Potter, Need for Speed, Tiger Woods: PGA TOUR, SSX, and The Godfather. Whoa. Need for Speed: Carbon was indeed known to be coming to the Wii, albeit we had no idea what playing it would be like. Chances are, it will utilize a similar control scheme as Excitetruck, the Wiimote aligned horizontally. Tiger Woods will offer a more intense golf simulation over that of the Wii Sports incarnation, Harry Potter will certainly use the controller as a wand for some excellent spell-casting, and SSX will most likely revamp their trick system. And The Godfather? Is anyone else seeing an intense cigar-smoking simulation?[Thanks, John and Cabbage!]
UK scientists working on cloaking device
We've heard of these kinds of guys before. They've spent too much time engrossed in Harry Potter books or old Star Trek episodes, and dream of some sort of device that will make them invisible. Every couple of years, one of them surfaces with a new idea about a "cloaking device" that can bend light around solid objects, making them appear to be invisible. This time, two separate teams in the UK are racing to show that the concept is feasible. One group, at Imperial College in London, believes that light-bending metamaterials can be produced within the next decade. Meanwhile, two mathematicians have published a study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, which claims that a "superlens" placed close to an object could produce an "anomalous localized resonance," essentially rendering the underlying object invisible by creating a phantom light wave using the same frequency. The scientists envision building a device soon -- one that could conceivably cloak particles of dust. We'll check back with both parties in a few years. In the meantime, we'd like to present our detailed artist's rendering, prepared at great cost and with much research, which we believe truly shows what a cloaked object will look like to the naked eye. Read - MetamaterialsRead - Superlens
