Cryptic Studios™, a leading independent developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), announced today that it has secured the global rights to develop and publish Star Trek® Online, a massively multiplayer online game based on the legendary Star Trek franchise, from CBS Consumer Products.

Cryptic will unveil the first Star Trek Online gameplay footage as well as details about this highly anticipated MMO at the annual Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas on Sunday, August 10, 2008. Trek fans from around the globe can also view the event live via webcast at www.startrekonline.com.

Also not pictured, the Joker was confirmed as a playable character this past weekend at comic con along with Wonder Woman.

One of the franchises that’s most near and dear to me is the Lord of the Rings franchise. When I heard Pandemic Studios (of Star Wars Battle Front fame) was taking the reigns to make a similar experience around the Lord of the Rings I was genuinely excited. It would be a lot of fun to hit the famous battle grounds of Middle Earth and duke it out with hundreds of enemies and be able to take the experience online over Xbox Live.

Lord of the Rings: Conquest delivers in spades on a number of levels for not only the gamer but the LOTR fan within. I got a chance to sit down with a one level demo of the game in the good side single player campaign. It wasn’t just any ol level either, it was one of the showcase battles of the trilogy, Minas Tirith. Visually Minas Tirith is true to the design of the movies. You start out at the gates of the White City as the trolls are charging in and work your way up from there. As you get higher and higher through the levels you can see the vast battle in Pelennor Fields. Nice little visuals additions such as catapults firing away onto the city can all be seen in real time as the battle rages. The streets and walls have that classic weathered feel to them. The orc enemies look as you remember them from the movie. However, the most impressive enemies are the trolls. There is really a sense of scale in the game so naturally an attack troll is about twice a normal man’s height and much bigger around. They carry clubs and if you get hit by one you will know, they pack heavy damage.

In LOTR: Conquest, you play as a normal warrior, mage, archer, or scout for a majority of the game. However, there are sequences in which you get to play as main characters such as Aragorn. The game play is good old hack n slash. You can swing your sword with X and perform magic with Y. The combat is deep enough for this type of game. You can combo moves together and you can hold attack buttons to charge attacks. You can also block attacks with the left trigger. When you’re in trouble, the game will start to flash “You are out numbered” on screen in red. There are literally tens of enemies on your screen at any one time. If you get knocked down, when you get back up you perform a clearing attack that knocks back your enemies quickly in a cinematic style. You’ll be able to experience Middle Earth online with a friend in 2 player cooperative play over live. I played most of my play through as the warrior class however as the mage you can perform a “You shall not pass” on your enemies like Gandalf which was cool to see in action.

The game is shaping up well and geeking around Middle Earth in this hack n slash should be a lot of fun. They weren’t talking much about the multiplayer during the demo time but you know with Pandemic’s track record a good amount of modes and players will be in the final build. The game is set to hit a Shire near you later this year.

As E3 wound down I decided to take one final walk of the small show floor in search of some me time games. I bolted over to the EA booth to check out Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on the Wii. I was most interested to check out what new features were in the game and if the game play had been improved. I’m happy to report that the latest Harry Potter game on the Wii is going to be the best Potter game to date.

I was treated to three separate demos of the game: duel, potion making, and quidditch. If you’ve ever wanted to re-enact Harry vs. Draco or a host of other wizard duels you will now be able to in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The demo I was shown was Harry vs. Draco. I got to play as Harry and after the mandatory exchange of bows got into a match. The first thing you’ll notice is the wand and nunchuk controls are the most precise they’ve ever been. It’s almost 1:1 motion. To do a simple attack raise your wand up and flourish it forward. You can also charge up an attack by holding your wand up for a few seconds. The spell list for the demo included all the most common spells such as stupify, expelliarmus, and reducto. You’re able to block attacks by crossing your arms with the wand and nunchuk. You can also strafe away from attacks by pulling your arms to either side. The simple combat mechanics contain a lot of depth in terms of accuracy. If you fire too many spells in a row they won’t be accurate leaving you to attack. You must pick and choose when and which spells to fire. With some of the more powerful spells you’ll be able to stun or immobilize your opponent for a few seconds which allows you to flourish many spells for a lot of damage.

The second mini game on display was potion making. Seeing as how central potions were to the HBP story it makes sense that potions be a mini game. It’s actually pretty fun and addicting as you’re racing a timer to correctly make a potion. You’ll be given a cauldron and various bottles around you and the game will prompt you to pick up a certain container with the wand and with motion controls make a pouring motion into the cauldron. There is precision involved in HBP potion as there is in the HP world. If you pour too much or too little your potion won’t be marked as well. Remember that you are racing against a clock so the steeper you tip your container the faster the ingredient will pour. The wand will rattle when you have poured the right amount. If you pour too fast you won’t feel the rumble and cauldron will turn black indicating a mistake. If you pour too slow, you may run out of time. Be a swift and accurate wizard. Once complete you’ll receive a grade for your potion.

The last mini game in the demo was quidditch. Quidditch is making a come back in similar style as previous attempts. You will be flying as Harry attempting to catch the snitch. However, flying is on rails and isn’t free form. You’ll need to pass through gates within the pitch to gain some speed to catch the snitch. Miss too many gates and the snitch will get away. You’ll have to deal with a few obstacles along the way like flying around the hogwarts ground and Draco trying to knock you off your broom but it’s pretty standard quidditch as before. I asked why no free form and was told because the snitch is so small the snitch kept on getting lost in free form flying trials. All in all the game seems to be shaping up well for the Harry Potter franchise and if the amount of attention paid to dueling is any indication the final single player campaign should be a lot of fun. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince game hits alongside the movie later this year.