The Hobbit: Tolkein's The Hobbit Company: Sierra Entertainment, Inc. Sierra Entertainment, Inc. is getting ready to release its next installment of J.R.R. Tolkein's masterpiece series. No, not Return of the King, the third part of the Lord of the Rings series, but the prequel that started it all - The Hobbit. This game, developed by Inevitable Entertainment, puts you in the hairy feet of Bilbo Baggins, a small hobbit who would like nothing more than to stay as far away from adventure as possible, but instead finds himself in the middle of it. As Bilbo, you will travel across Middle-Earth to the Lonely Mountain to face the fierce Dragon Smaug while employing skills like stealth and problem solving. Along the way, you will meet other characters from the book like Gandalf, Thorin, Elrond and Gollum. You will also take part in the Battle of the Five Races, a major event in the book. The Hobbit will take you through other memorable settings such as Rivendell, Mirkwood and Laketown, as well as some new areas inspired by the Tolkein universe such as the goblin's cavern, all the while facing more than 30 different opponents in this Zelda-esqe adventure. As The Hobbit takes you on a tour of Middle-Earth, you will be able to take part in a mini-game that allows you trade, and gather objects called Stonelords with the hopes of collecting them all. Though there hasn't been a rating set for The Hobbit, the developers are gearing the content towards players aged 10-16. The Hobbit will be released on the PlayStation 2, PC, GameCube and the Xbox. With The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers being the great successes that they were, it isn't a large leap to think that The Hobbit will make a similar impact on the market later this year. -J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer Related Links: Sierra's Website