He looks happy

As you may already be aware, EA's ownership of the LotR movie licence has recently expired and the rights have now reverted to Warner Bros.

Given the nature of the subject matter one would naturally assume that Warner would play it safe and create an epic action adventure with lots of orc-slaying and plenty of gore; after all, this is a property based on a book which is essentially an allegory of World War II.

However, flying in the face of popular opinion, Warner Bros. has revealed that its first LotR-flavoured release will be The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, a game that is - you know, for kids - and has a strong focus on 'colourful' and 'friendly' visuals. We certainly don't recall Mordor being all that colourful or friendly, but what do we know?

Here's what Warner has to say about the upcoming game:

The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is the first Lord of the Rings videogame created specifically for kids and their families with accessible gameplay set in a friendly, colorful rendition of Middle-Earth. Players assume the role of Strider and embark on his greatest quests from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The game offers authentic, action-oriented sword fighting, lancing and archery that all ages can play together

The game is due to be shown at this year's E3, and while no formats have been confirmed as yet but if this doesn't appear on a Nintendo console then you can paint us pink and call us Susan.

[source uk.wii.ign.com]