

"You can include characters such as Tom Bombadil and things that are alluded to by Tolkien. "By using the book as a base you have a lot more freedom," claims Alan Patmore, president of Surreal. Piping HotĪs far as Surreal Software, the developers of Vivendi’s game, is concerned, a game based on the book, the whole book, and nothing but the book far outweighs any game based on a bastardised version of Tolkien's original work.

First up, Vivendi and its book-based effort. These two publishing giants are about to stand toe to toe in a battle that's likely to be unrivalled in the annals of marketing misinformation and propaganda. In the blue corner we have Vivendi and its game of Tolkien’s literary masterpiece. In the red corner we have Electronic Arts and numerous games based on Peter Jackson’s senes of films, although according to our information they may never see the light of day on the PC.
