GAME OF THRONES and ICE & FIRE news round-up

HBO have released four high-res images of locations in the series: one of King's Landing (see below), one of the Wall and two of Winterfell. These are pretty smart and worth a look.

King's Landing, with the Red Keep prominently displayed. The Great Sept of Baelor can be seen on the far right.

Still with the TV series, HBO has released a new trailer, this one entitled 'Power'. This trailer seems slightly more aimed at people who haven't read the books.

On the computer game front, Cyanide have released the first screenshot from the second game, the RPG, due in summer 2012 on PC and console. They've also spoken about it a little for the first time, revealing that the game will alternate between two characters, Mors Westford (a member of the Night's Watch and skinchanger) and Alester Sarwyck, a noble heir returning to Westeros after years travelling the east, during which time he became a priest of the red god. The game takes place close to the time period of the novels, and some characters from the books like Varys will make an appearance.

"You appear concerned, Lord Commander."
"Indeed. Are we actually in the GoT RPG, The Witcher 2 or Dragon Age? It's hard to tell."

In addition they have released two new screenshots from the real-time strategy game, Genesis, which is due later this year.



I have to say these screenshots are very unimpressive. Early fears that they are aiming more for an Age of Empires-style, stylised approach to the game appear to have been realised, with out-of-scale units and buildings and seriously unambitious ideas for the Wall and the Eyrie (which in the game appears to sit on a rather mild hill rather than on a shoulder of a 17,000-foot-tall sheer mountain).

On the book front, the new editions of the first four novels should now be readily available in the USA, along with the TV tie-in edition of A Game of Thrones (this edition should hit the UK in the middle of next week, and may already be on sale in some areas). On the Dance with Dragons front, George R.R. Martin's editor has published a picture of the manuscript for the novel (or the 95% of it submitted so far):

The manuscript is so huge it generates its own gravitational field, and has consumed the books it formerly shared the shelf with.

HarperCollins Voyager are also now listing their estimated hardcover page count as 1,040 pages, whilst Bantam in the USA are still only predicting 1,008. A final page count is waiting for the delivery of the last couple of chapters, but these estimates confirm the book is expected to be gargantuan. Unfortunately, some further controversy has been caused amongst UK purchasers by the news that Voyager is publishing the hardcover at a recommended retail price of £25.00, or about £5 more than the price of a standard hardcover (both The Way of Kings and The Wise Man's Fear, which are not far off ADWD's length, were £20 in hardcover). However, the novel will still be heavily discounted before release and during the first few weeks on sale.

Cyanide unveil more info on GAME OF THRONES: GENESIS

French-based developers Cyanide have been working away quietly on their two Song of Ice and Fire-related games for a while now. Two titles are planned: an RPG and a real-time strategy game. The strategy game was given a name, Game of Throes: Genesis, a little while ago but no further information was revealed.

Expect complaints about Targaryen balance issues.

Today, via GDN, Cyanide unveiled their first in-game screenshots of the title, as well as some of the box art (by noted ASoIaF artist Marc Simonetti). The strategy game allows different paths to victory, by making political alliances, by starving them through economical warfare or through direct military action. The game also allows different eras in the history of Westeros to be explored, including Aegon the Conqueror's invasion and the War of the Five Kings that the books cover (though presumably playing as Aegon might be a bit dull: send in your dragons every time and wait for the screaming to die down).

The RTS is due for release in 'summer 2011'. The RPG is apparently a lot further off.

Interesting news, if it pans out. The screenshots look unremarkable, however, with the game apparently treading the Age of Empires III/Battle for Middle-earth path of good-but-not-outstanding RTS titles. However, the notion that you can use politics and economical warfare as well as out-and-out conflict sounds good. Whether a small French company can succeed where a major developer like the Creative Assembly (creators of the Total War series) have constantly struggled for a dozen years remains to be seen.

Press release:

"A Game of Thrones - Genesis is the video game adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s best-seller series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire.

In this real time strategy game developed by Cyanide Studio (Blood Bowl), your political prowess will be as important as your strategic and military skills! A Game of Thrones - Genesis immerses you into the heart of the battles and intrigues between the Houses that shaped the Kingdom of Westeros. From Nymeria’s arrival in the Kingdom of Dorne to the awakening of the Others beyond the Wall, you’ll live the origins of the A Song of Ice and Fire saga through more than 1000 years of history. Take part in Westeros’ founding events and largest battles such as Aegon the Conqueror’s invasion on the continent or the War of the Usurper. In this great strategy game, victory does not necessarily result from brute force. You can choose to use a military approach and besiege your opponents, strangle them in an economical war, or even use dirty tricks and diplomacy to politically crush them. Treachery and deception are everywhere, so watch your back and prepare for battle! Thanks to a well-developed single player campaign written under supervision of the author George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones - Genesis is also a great multiplayer game. Up to 8 players confront each others to claim the Iron Throne in intense games where alliances, betrayals, cheap shots, and pitched battles take place."

EDIT: Coverage on the excellent Rock-Paper-Shotgun blog.