April Fool’s Day 2010

For the fourth year running, APY at Planet Elder Scrolls very kindly hosted my Bethesda-related nonsense. Thank you once again, PES, for being my partners in crime. As for anyone who fell for this: SERIOUSLY, you should be ashamed of yourself!

The Elder Scrolls V Announced – Full story at Planet Elder Scrolls

Bethesda Softworks has announced at a press conference in London today a new entrant into the Elder Scrolls franchise, subtitled Alinor. Details are slim at the moment as Bethesda is remaining tight-lipped, but a few bits of information were provided. The game is due out sometime in 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and iPhone. The game is not a direct sequel to Oblivion, though it is an RPG in the Elder Scrolls series; Bethesda has said that you can expect the “same type of game” despite the fact that a different developer is working on it.

Bethesda’s in-house development team is involved in a number of projects, including Fallout 4 and Medieval Games 2 for the Wii. Therefore, development of Alinor has been passed over to indie studio Armor Games, who Product Manager Pete Hines said “brings exactly the type of fast-paced, easy-to-grasp action that our fans are looking for.”

Bethesda did not go into specifics on gameplay or what engine would be used, but a spokesperson did mention that you can “make educated guesses” on those matters. We can guess that the inclusion of the Wii and iPhone as a platform precludes the use of Gamebryo, and the increasing move towards cloud-based gaming opens up the possiblity of online streaming. Fans may possibly expect a traditional yet easy-to-play RPG like their previous Dawn of Sorcery, though rumors abound already that Christian Bale and The Rock are lined up for voice duties.

Alinor is the capital of Summerset Isle, which suggests the game will take place in the High Elven homeland. Gamespy has been told we can expect a full reveal when Armor Games is ready to show it.

California-based Armor Games was founded by Daniel McNeely, and develops a range of action, adventure, strategy, action, sports and puzzle games – of which the best known are Crush the Castle and Sushi Cat, both available now on the iphone. Bethesda has said it approached Armor Games regarding this project and an agreement was quickly reached.