A couple things we need to add to our Harry Potter preview. One is that EA Europe HQ in Chertsey is doing the development duties on the Potter game. We’ve also learned that the planned MMORPG Harry Potter Online was just one of many things EA was planning to do with the license. What else is happening is anyone’s guess as the online aspect was canned. E3 is coming fast & we’ll soon see what magic EA has in store for Potter-fans on the game front. Allegedly, the show will give us our first look at a Harry Potter game for GBA as well.

Last updated: 04/14/2001 by Max Lake

Fatbabies recently let it be known that EA has completely canceled its Harry Potter Online" project. How much, if anything, this project had to do with the console version of the game is unknown. Then again, EA paid out the nose (about $100 million) for the Harry Potter franchise license, beating out many other software companies, including Nintendo. Whether or not the HP: Online project resembled the game still being worked on, its cancelation might provide some answers as to why EA is so eager to promote its remaining Harry Potter projects at E3 next month.

Last updated: 04/06/2001 by Max Lake

FGNOnline reports that EA's Harry Potter licensed game will be at the forefront of EA's showings at E3 next month. It has also been revealed that Well Rounded Entertainment are doing the development duties on Harry Potter for EA.

Last updated: 03/26/2001

If you haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, shame on you. I don't care if they're considered children's books...hell, I wouldn't care if they were categorized as zoological pornographic documentaries, they're fantastic books that can be enjoyed by readers of any age. The novels' twisting plots, great action sequences, and cinematic storytelling just scream out for movie and game adaptations, and luckily for the millions of fans, we'll be getting both.

The story of the Harry Potter game is a long and mysterious one. The license was being bid around as much as a year ago, and various major publisher were rumored to be competing for it...particularly Nintendo. However, when the dust settled, it was EA who scored the rights to develop and publish videogames for one of the most lucrative licenses in all the land. Naturally, EA is flexing its mega-third-party muscle and bringing Harry Potter games to every platform known to man.

Nintendo fans will get their first fix on Game Boy Advance, probably around the release of the Harry Potter movie in late 2001. The GameCube and other console versions will be launched a few months later, although it is not known if they'll be based directly on the book or directly on the movie (it won't matter a great deal, since the movie is based directly on the book, but there could be minor differences).

The concrete facts are few and slim. We know that the games are being developed at a brand new EA-owned studio in England; in fact, it seems that the UK dev house was created specifically to handle the Harry Potter games. We also know that Harry's creator, J.K. Rowling, will be giving her genius input to the games, although the degree of her involvement is anyone's guess. Supposedly she's being pretty strict about the movie and demanding that she have some supervision of things, so hopefully the same will apply to the games.

Other than that, nothing. EA has not released any screenshots or gameplay details AT ALL. They haven't even hinted at a genre. Still, due to the books' very nature, we can make some good predictions. Expect cartoonish graphics to reflect Harry's (and his friends') wild antics and brush-ins with the supernatural. We might get to control Ron and Hermione as fully playable characters if we're lucky. Also, regardless of the game's overall genre, expect EA to put in some type of adventure or even RPG elements. The book series is very much about Harry's evolution as a character and as a powerful young wizard, and it will be important to translate that theme to any game version. You may not get experience points for dodging Professor Snape in the hallway, but it is very possible that the number and power of your magic spells could increase as you attend and participate in classes.

Also look for a lot of plot development through cutscenes and/or initiated dialogue with other characters around the Hogwarts school. This first console version of Harry Potter will probably be based on his first book, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Therefore, EA will probably want to integrate the story into the mix as more than just a summary in the manual.

Finally, there WILL be Quidditch. If there's one aspect of Rowling's books that just screams for a game, it's this fascinating game of broomsticks and Bludgers and the tiny little Golden Snitch. The only way there won't be a Quidditch level(s) is if EA is making a whole separate game for just that one purpose. Another slight possibility is that Harry Potter GC will go the way of Episode 1 Racer and introduce fans to the racing, and ONLY the racing, right off the bat. However, it seems more likely that the first game will be a more balanced mix of gameplay styles, something to touch upon as many sections from the book as possible. To that effect, some sort of third-person adventure game seems the most likely candidate.

Look for more info on Harry Potter for GameCube soon, and look for the game itself to hit shelves sometime in early 2002.