ONLINE GAMES COMPANY, WEBZEN, INC. SIGNS LEGENDARY FILM COMPOSER HOWARD SHORE TO CREATE SOUNDTRACK FOR SUN
Oscar® and Grammy® Award-Winning Composer to Create Feature Film-Quality Musical Score for Webzens Upcoming MMORPG Title
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, CA and Seoul, Korea, (April 25, 2005) Global online entertainment company, Webzen, Inc. (Nasdaq: Wzen) announced today the company has signed Oscar® and Grammy® award-winning composer Howard Shore to compose the music for the upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), SUN. Famous for his work on the acclaimed The Lord of the Rings films, Shore has also composed musical scores for other blockbuster films including The Aviator, The Gangs of New York, and The Silence of the Lambs. In addition to his work on SUN, Shore is also in post-production with Peter Jackson on the upcoming King Kong movie. SUN is scheduled for release in North America on the PC in Q4 2005. It is a privilege for Webzen, Inc. to work with such a talented composer like Howard Shore, said Nam Ju Kim, CEO of Webzen, Inc. His composing legacy has spanned decades and were excited to be a part of his video game debut. We are confident that Howard will leave his signature mark on SUN and help elevate the quality and overall entertainment experience of the game to unprecedented levels in the online entertainment world. In composing the signature soundtrack for SUN, Howard Shore turned to The National Philharmonic of Russia (NPR). He is utilizing over 60 of the best orchestra players in Russia, and also using the expertise of renowned conductor Vladimir Spivakov.
SUN is the first title to incorporate console-style game mechanics into a classic MMORPG. With action-packed intensity, stunning graphics, unique battle systems, and a captivating cast of characters, SUN is an epic medieval tale set in a rich world of emperors, armies, magicians and monsters. Under the reign of the Immortal Emperor, Schwarz, the Geist Empire has ruled the Blandis continent for five hundred years. Possessing secret knowledge of the essence of nature known as Ether, Emperor Schwarz converted the precious Ether into dark energy, and used it to conquer the entire continent with his formidable armies. The continued extraction of Ether has impoverished the land, causing the Empire to turn its eyes to the rich lands of neighboring nations to continue its supremacy. With insurrection inevitable, a rebel leader, Ignis, has formed an elite force called the Guidance, who have declared war against the Empire. Howard Shore has composed the scores to more than 60 films, and has received numerous awards and accolades. Some of these include, Grammy®, Oscar®, Golden Globe, Two Los Angeles Film Critic Awards, The Chicago Film Critics, The Broadcast Film Critics, BFCA Critics Choice Award, Five BAFTA nominations in Great Britain, a Gotham Award in New York, two Saturn Awards for Science Fiction, a Genie Award in Canada and four World Soundtrack Awards. On November 29, 2003, Shore conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of his work, The Lord of the Rings Symphony: Six Movements for Orchestra and Chorus in Wellington, New Zealand. Shore is currently touring the symphony, conducting performances all over the world. Each of the symphony's six movements corresponds to a book within J. R. R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy. The concerts feature over two hundred onstage performers, including a large orchestra, adult and boy choruses and numerous vocal and instrumental soloists. The symphony has been performed in cities including Antwerp, London, Chicago, Tokyo, Philadelphia, Seville, Sydney, Moscow, and many more. Founded in 2000 and based in Seoul, Korea, Webzen has become a leader in the MMOG market, and has developed some of the worlds top online game and client/server technologies. Webzens latest title, MU, has over 56 million users and a half million concurrent users from the Asian market alone. In January of this year, Webzen announced its entry into the U.S. games market with a new subsidiary, Webzen America, based in Los Angeles. For more information about Webzen, Inc., go to www.webzen.com
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Comments
All I could find out about this new game is that SUN stands for "Soul of the ultimate nation".
Yeah, because Horizons taught us that if you have really good music, no one will mind the sh*tty gameplay and horrid bugs.
Some screens i found:
SUN Screenshots at GI
It looks a lot like Lineage 2, and now also has a big name composer. The things i liked best about L2 was the visuals and music anyway, so now i'm eager to see what they mean by "console style game mechanics".
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Edit:: Two more screens
I can't seem to find much info about this game. Does it have a website?
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests