The Golden Compass Arrives in Stores Today

SEGA has announced that The Golden Compass is now available in stores for the DS, PC, PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii. Based upon the best selling series”His Dark Materials” by Phillip Pullman and the motion picture, The Golden Compass contains a world where witches fly through frozen skies, giant armored bears fight to defend their kingdom and sinister Gobblers kidnap children and carry them to a frozen wasteland. The world is full of intense danger and adventure for the rebellious Lyra Belacqua.

Storyline:

Her uncle, Lord Asriel, has been imprisoned, her best friend Roger kidnapped and now she must leave the safety of Jordan College to rescue both. Joining Lyra in her mission is her animal daemon, Pan, as well as a giant and powerful polar bear, Iorek, and the mysterious Golden Compass – a truth-telling device that will help lead the way. Together they embark on an epic journey of action, exploration, collaboration and discovery.

Game Features:

• Authenticity to the movie. The official video game of The Golden Compass from New Line Cinema – the studio behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy – comes to life this holiday 2007.
• Play as the heroes from the film. Embark on a journey into the frozen North as the rebellious and headstrong heroine Lyra who uses her cunning to evade enemies. Or charge forward as her powerful friend and protector Iorek – a giant armored bear able to overcome any obstacle with his brute strength.
• Explore a parallel universe. Immerse yourself in the world of The Golden Compass movie and discover the majestic grandeur of Jordan College, the hustle and bustle of port town Trollesund, or the dark and foreboding research station at Bolvangar. Go beyond the movie with two areas from the His Dark Materials universe exclusive to the game.
• Discover a powerful bond greater than friendship. Experience the collaborative bond between Lyra and her unique animal-companion Pan who has the ability to morph into a variety of different creatures to help Lyra solve puzzles and navigate obstacles throughout her perilous journey.
• The Golden Compass will lead the way. Use the truth-telling Golden Compass to solve in-game puzzles and unlock bonus content allowing you to explore the worlds as seen in the movie.
• Use quick wit to discover and evade. Participate in a variety of themed embedded mini-games to help Lyra gain further information about her journey and avoid confrontation with those that mean her harm.

Rated “10+” for ages 10 and up, The Golden Compass is creating controversy, mostly due to the Catholic Church stating that it is nothing more than atheist propaganda, due to its “God killing” themes. Whatever. They are always on the bandwagon about something whether it be “The Da Vinci Code”, “Harry Potter”, or homosexuals. You never hear a peep out of them when a game, novel, or movie comes out depicting warriors who worship many gods or are just plain godless barbarians or where the church is “killing in the name of”. For crying out loud, it is FICTION – they need to look up the meaning of the word in the dictionary. More than anything, this makes me want to go see the movie and play the game just to piss off the Vatican.