LotR: The White Council And PS3 Coded Arms Ca...

LotR: The White Council And PS3 Coded Arms Cancelled?

Barely has 2007 begun, and a couple of cancellation rumours are already flying high and low. The first one was picked up by QJ.net via the German website GameFront, and it predicts that Konami's first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, Coded Arms: Assault, will be shipping no more. The game was supposed to come out in Spring or Summer of this year, but rumour has it that Japanese magazine Famitsu fears for the worst.

No reason, apparently, or even the slightest speculation as to why would Konami cancel it. But the Coded Arms: Assault page is apparently gone, and a quick search on Konami's website reveals no trace of any Coded Arms title on the PlayStation 3. Then again, the website only lists Hellboy as the sole PS3 title (no Metal Gear Solid either), so we might as well disregard that altogether. Could it be that the publisher caved in under the criticism received by Coded Arms: Assault, after the game's showing at TGS 2006?

Whatever the reason, I'm sure we'll find out sooner than later what the project's official status really is. So let's move on to EA's ambitious - yet secretive - role-playing game set in Tolkien's ubiquitous fantasy universe.

Initially unveiled as "Project Gray Company" in April 2006 (story), and later nailed down as The Lord of the Rings: The White Council, this was supposed to be an epic next-gen RPG for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, developed by EA's Redwood Shores studio under Steve Gray's supervision. But according to 1UP, it might never happen. When questioned for details, Electronic Arts gave them a "no comment" reply, and other publications were equally unsuccessful in finding out what's going on behind the curtains.

It's true that the game's dev-team went through some changes recently, so the most optimistic scenario would be for The White Council to be delayed until 2008. Unless there really is no hope of ever seeing it in action... We shall see.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)