WIZARD CHANCE TO PLAY HARRY AT HIS OWN GAME; pounds 700,000 computer

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Apr 8, 2001 | by SALLY GUYONCOURT

IT'S wizard news - the first official Harry Potter computer game is being launched later this year.

Fans will be able to choose their own character and join Harry and friends at Hogwarts School to learn the secrets of a carefully- guarded spell book to help them wage battle against arch enemy Voldemort.

The long-awaited game follows a pounds 700,000 deal between US- based Electronic Arts (EA) and Warner Bros, who own the film rights to the Harry Potter books written by British author JK Rowling.

EA - also behind top-selling games FIFA 2000 and The Sims - have already recruited a team of British computer experts to design the interactive game. It will be available in December, shortly after the film Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is premiered in the UK in mid-November.

The game, which which will also have an online element, will be available for home PCs as well as consoles like the PlayStation 2.

Warner Bros' studio president Don Mattrick said: "We are extremely excited to become part of the Harry Potter phenomenon by bringing our own brand of interactive magic to this fantastic series."

EA has promised that the game will remain true to the storylines and characters from all four books in the series.

Warner Bros are also playing a part in the games production as they put the finishing touches to the first in the series of Potter films expected to break box-office records.

The all-star British cast will see John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Dame Maggie Smith playing alongside newcomer Daniel Radcliffe, 11, as the young Harry Potter.

Harry Potter fever has swept the country since the publication of the first book in 1997. Since then, three further sagas in the life of the apprentice wizard and his friends have captured the nation's imagination.

The first three books alone sold more than pounds 30million worth of copies worldwide, propelling JK Rowling into the list of Britain's richest women.

Merchandise from the films and the games is set to make her a further fortune.