Round Up: WWII Jeeps In MoH Airborne, Lineage II Concert, Activision & Mattel Deal

Today's round up includes news of a deal between Electronic Arts and Jeep to include authentic World War II Jeeps in the upcoming Medal of Honor Airborne, a Lineage II concert in Korea featuring the music of Inon Zur, and an exclusive worldwide publishing deal signed between Activision and toy maker Mattel, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts, product news, Serious Games Source news, and Gamasutra job postings. - Electronic Arts and the Jeep announced today a new deal that will see the classic World War II-era Willys-Overland Jeep included throughout several missions in the upcoming Medal of Honor Airborne. When driving a Willys Jeep in the game, players can choose to use it as a mode of transportation, or as a mobile attack platform taking advantage of a variety of mounted weapons. Authentic to their use in WWII, the Willys Jeep will be able to access more areas than the other drivable vehicles featured in Medal of Honor Airborne, because of Jeep vehicle's four-wheel drive off-road capabilities. Medal of Honor Airborne is being developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC for release in 2007. - Composer Inon Zur will have his music composed for the online PC game Lineage II: Chronicle V: Oath of Blood performed by the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra at the AX-Hall in Seoul, Korea on May 30 at an event titled Lineage II: The Concert. Zur was commissioned by NCsoft Korea to compose the game’s original score based on his accomplished music for film, television and video games. His other game credits include titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest, Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, Icewind Dale II and SOCOM II. For the recording of the Lineage II: Chronicle V: Oath of Blood original game score, Zur recently conducted and recorded with the 70-piece Northwest Sinfonia at the Bastyr University Chapel in Seattle. The score was mixed at Zur’s project studio in Los Angeles. - Activision subsidiary Activision Publishing announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Mattel that grants the company exclusive worldwide distribution rights to new video games based on the toy manufacturer's Barbie brand. The video games are expected to be available at retail stores worldwide this fall. The first five games Activision will distribute under the terms of the agreement are games based on Mattel Entertainment's upcoming movies, including The Barbie Diaries for the PC and Game Boy Advance, and Barbie In The 12 Dancing Princesses for the PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance. Activision will also distribute titles based on some of Mattel's older video games, including Barbie Fashion Show, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, and Barbie Beauty Boutique. - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include news on cell phone strap weapons in Japan from Capcom to promote the release of Sengoku Basara 2 (Devil Kings 2), a nostalgic look back at the Konami 16-bit classic Snatcher, and a nice analysis of what may (and may not) be heading to retail into 2007. - Also updated today: Serious Games Source news on Motorola opening up a high-tech educational venue within Florida-based Wannado City theme park, and a serious games report by the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, product news on a set of ambient background sounds for developers, as well as the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring openings from Céidot Game Studios, Datascope Recruitment, Meez, NCsoft Europe Ltd, Nival Interactive, Tilted Mill Entertainment, and Vivendi Games.