Roman Legion Marches on E3
Historical re-enactment society Legio IX Hispana marshals in support of Perpetual Entertainment’s Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
For Immediate Release
San Francisco, CA - 10th May 2005 - The famed soldiery of Legio IX Hispana have broken camp and begun marching on Los Angeles, where they will marshal in support of Perpetual Entertainment's Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising.
Legio IX Hispana is the largest Roman re-enactment society in North America, with chapters throughout California and the South-West. Over a dozen members in full legionnaire's kit will be present at various times in E3's Concourse Walkway to promote Gods and Heroes and discuss the tactics and technology of squad warfare in ancient Rome.
"Due to safety concerns, Legio IX Hispana will be unable to hurl our spears and charge with drawn swords," said Sean Richards, founder and centurion of the legion. "We will still, however, be able to show off the armor and kit of the era, and share our expertise in Roman squad-based combat."
Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising is a new massively multi-player game (MMG) from the makers of Star Trek Online and the designer of Diablo II. First unveiled at GDC 2005, Gods and Heroes will be demoed in private showings in Perpetual's meeting room during E3. A select few press, guilds, and enthusiasts will get the opportunity to join Perpetual's two development teams and the soldiers of Legio IX at an invitation-only party of heroic excess on Wednesday May 18th at Element Hollywood.
"We are extremely pleased to have Legio IX marching for Gods and Heroes," said Stieg Hedlund, lead designer of Gods and Heroes. "With their first-hand expertise re-enacting the warfare and weapons of the Roman era, who better can promote a game featuring innovative squad-based combat and large scale ancient battles?"
About Legio IX Hispana
Founded in February 1994 by Sean "Sheridan" Richards, Legio IX Hispana is devoted to experiential archeology and realistic, hands-on re-enactment of the life of the Roman soldier in the 1st Century AD. The ancient history experts of Legio IX have been featured in documentaries on the History Channel, at live combat displays at E3, on campuses and colleges, and at film festivals and movie premieres throughout Los Angeles. For more information, visit the website at http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org
About Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
In Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, players become classic heroes of the ancient world, born of immortal blood. As a scion of the gods, each player will have the opportunity to pursue his destiny through a series of Epic Quests that will span all levels of gameplay, over time commanding amazing God Powers and acquiring famous weapons and treasure of myth.
The game will be set in Rome around 300 BC, a time when the Republic is powerful, but Roman enemies including the Carthaginians, Gauls, and Samnites threaten the fledgling imperial holdings. Worse, the land is beset by terrible creatures, such as Gorgons, Cyclopes, and Furies. As heroes of Rome, players will take on missions to expand and protect the Republic, her interests, and her citizens, and will serve one of the twelve great Roman gods. Future expansions are planned to open up new lands and new pantheons of gods
There will be over 1,250 quests at the time of launch, all tied in to the characters and the themes of the unique areas in the game. In addition, players will enjoy private zones for individually tailored gameplay, rich skill-based character development, fully integrated social systems, player-to-player interaction tools, and ongoing contested areas such as forts, territories, towns, castles and mines.
Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising will implement the most interactive, dynamic, strategic and engaging combat system of any MMG - challenging players before battle as well as during battle. Players will strategically select and train their NPC Soldiers in a variety of skills and abilities to form individual squads that meet specific challenges, and devise strategies and create formations for these squads to execute on command - maximizing the unique skills and abilities of each individual squad.
For more information about Gods and Heroes visit the web site at www.godsandheroes.com.
About Perpetual Entertainment, Inc.
Perpetual Entertainment is a San Francisco based producer, publisher, and operator of networked multi-player and massively multi-player games for the PC and next-generation videogame consoles. Perpetual Entertainment was founded and is staffed by industry veterans dedicated to the vision that playing games together is simply more fun, more challenging, and more rewarding than playing alone. For more information visit the web site at www.perpetual.com.
About Stieg Hedlund
With a lifelong interest in games and visual storytelling, Stieg Hedlund became a professional designer of pen-and-paper role-playing games in his teens before beginning a career in electronic entertainment in 1987. Since then he has designed games of nearly every genre for a wide variety of computers, consoles, and arcade machines. He has successfully adapted to many diverse game development and production styles in environments ranging from small and entrepreneurial studios to some of the biggest publishers in the business, including working extensively in Japan. The list of companies he has worked for include such well-respected names as Blizzard, Konami, SEGA, and Electronic Arts. In addition to being the sole designer of Diablo II, the all-time best-selling PC role-playing game and receiving many of the industry's most prestigious awards, he also worked on Blizzard's other huge hits Diablo, StarCraft, and the Diablo II Expansion Pack, the acclaimed arcade action game, Die Hard Arcade, a Lord of the Rings-based action-adventure game, and a 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, among many others. All told, he has shipped well over thirty titles.
Contact:
Kara Japhet Media Relations Manager TAP Interactive
919-806-4477