Today Warner Bros. has announced that Harry Potter is coming to the Knect for XBOX 360 this coming Fall! According to the press release,
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Eurocom will cast a spell among Harry Potter fans of all ages this fall with the Harry Potter for Kinect videogame exclusively on Kinect(TM) for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
Based on all eight Harry Potter films, Harry Potter for Kinect allows players to join Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as they embark on an unforgettable journey through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and beyond. With Kinect’s scanning technology, for the first time ever in a Harry Potter game, players will be able to scan in their own face to create a unique witch or wizard to journey through the adventures of the film.
In addition, Kinect’s hands-free and voice recognition capabilities allow gamers to cast spells using physical maneuvers and by calling out spell names, offering an extraordinary, immersive Harry Potter experience.
“Harry Potter for Kinect will engage Harry Potter fans old and new by bringing them into the wizarding world as truly active participants,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Kids and parents will enjoy recreating their favorite Harry Potter adventures, from flying a broomstick in a Quidditch match, to battling pixies and duelling other wizards.”
Harry Potter for Kinect gives players the opportunity to experience some of the films’ most memorable moments, both as the relevant characters or as their own avatars, including visiting Ollivanders, choosing a house at Hogwarts, and confronting He Who Must Not Be Named in a climactic final battle. Players who master their lessons can also take on their opponents in competitive mini-games, or join forces with family and friends in co-op gameplay.
As we posted yesterday, Bloomsbury announced that a new three-book boxed set related to the Potter series would be released this year. Today the Bloomsbury Kids Twitter account revealed that it is a box set of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Click the image below to see a larger version.
So in our prediction yesterday we were pretty close, we thought it would be books like Fantastic Beats, but in fact it IS those, just re-released.
Back in March we posted about various Harry Potter stars doodled on tambourines for Sound It Outas part of the Tamperine scheme! Sound it Out is a charity that develops and delivers music based programmes of work across a diversity of communities, ages, ethnicities and genres. They asked celebrities and artists to ‘tamper with’ our tambourines to raise funds for our charity. The tambourines are easy to hang on a wall and can be posted worldwide! 100% proceeds will go to our charity, Sound It Out Community Music. For more details about our work and further ways you can support us, please visit www.sounditout.co.uk and follow the Tamperine scheme at www.twitter.com/siotamperine.
Harry Potter Supervising Sound Editor James Mather has done a mini masterclass with the BAFTA Guru website on Sound editing! In the video he talks about what sound editing entails and also shows some clips from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II to illustrate those points.
Until the video is embeddable you may head over to the BAFTA Guru website to watch!
The Harry Potter Wizards Collection website has released a new bit of information today when fans use a new wand gesture. The gesture reveals two concept art images as well as an interview with concept artist Andrew Williamson. One of the pieces of art was already revealed on Andrew’s website but one was brand new, all may be seen in the gallery! A snippet of the interview may be read below, visit the site to see the full chat!
What was your specific role in the Harry Potter art department?
I worked as a concept artist on all the films except the first. I tended to specialize in “environments” – sets, buildings and so on, and I worked on many of the shots where a real set was extended into a virtual world.
What made your experience in the Harry Potter art department different from other jobs you’ve had previously and since?
Everything! At the start I had no idea it would be so huge. It was my first film work and I learnt and developed as the series went along. Mainly the people, though – lovely and so talented.
Over the years, what were some of your favorite designs, and why?
I enjoyed contributing to the Quidditch World Cup stadium and camp, the Ministry of Magic, and the cavern in “Half-Blood Prince”, but although I hate to say it, some of the most interesting work was on the destruction of Hogwarts.
Would you explain the techniques and materials used in creating a concept painting?
When I started I was painting the pictures in watercolour and gouache. Nowadays everything is digital. Even at an early stage I will usually build a 3D digital model to make sure the view is as accurate as possible and help with the lighting. Then it’s digital painting in Photoshop.
According to a new article on Reuters, Bloomsbury will be releasing a “new Rowling three-book box set tied into the Potter series” in the coming year. This came along with the news of increased sales in their e-books department, which can be accredited to the release of the seven Harry Potter novels in the format.
This 3 book box set could be a myriad of things, but many fans believe it could possibly be the Harry Potter Encyclopedia. This rumor, however nice it would be, conflicts with what JK Rowling recently posted on her website:
I have been enjoying sharing information about Harry’s world on Pottermore for free, and don’t have any firm plans to publish it in book form.
This could also be a set similar to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages. We won’t know for sure until Bloomsbury releases an official statement, o stay tuned for more news as it develops! Whatever it is we are sure fans will jump at the chance to own some more Potter-related books!
