Scheduled to ship simultaneously with The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II in February 2006, The Lord of the RingsTM, The Battle for Middle-earthTM II Collector's Edition will be available at select retailers and is rated 12+ by PEGI.

Expanding on The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth, the new real-time strategy (RTS) game will allow players to engage in heated battles with Elvin and Dwarve armies plus heroes and creatures that have never been seen in The Lord of the Rings films. The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II Collector's Edition will offer everything the sequel does plus entirely new and exclusive content.

For the first time ever, The Lord of the Rings fans will now have access to all the behind-the-scenes details of creating the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings PC game. The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II Collector's Edition will feature:

Exclusive Bonus DVD with content provided in High Definition (HD)

• Mastered in HD for the ultimate high resolution experience on your PC
• Entire musical score including original music created exclusively for The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II
• In-game cinematics and trailers in high resolution and surround sound
• "The Making of The Battle for Middle-earth II": The story of the team behind The Battle for Middle-earth series including never before seen videos and exclusive interviews with key development team members
• "The Art of the Game": The ultimate collection of artwork created for the game, including hundreds of cinematic paintings and key pieces of concept work

Exclusive In-Game Content

• All new fire-breathing Dragon – on the battlefield, this impressive unit can only be controlled by players who purchase the Collector's Edition
• Special graphic treatment for "create-a-hero" units identify Collector's Edition gamers during on-line play
• Multiple exclusive maps including signature locations from The Lord of the Rings films – such as Weathertop and Argonath

Exclusive Campaign Map Poster

• Two-sided, 11x17 colour poster
• Gorgeous high resolution map of Middle-earth created exclusively for the game – "Good" side lists out all the campaign locations from the good campaign while the "Evil" side lists out its campaign locations and descriptions
• The perfect companion piece while playing the Good or Evil game missions

"We believe we've created something very special with The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, and our team felt passionate about making a Collector's Edition that is truly special for the fans," said Mike Verdu, Executive Producer at EA Los Angeles. "The exclusive content including the behind-the-scenes footage, amazing concept art, cinematic paintings and sequences, the extensive soundtrack, and access to the unique dragon unit adds new dimension to the gaming experience."

Developed at EA's Los Angeles studio, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II introduces players to depths of the fiction never before explored in an EA game. The game makers at EALA have brought The Lord of the Rings world to life in accordance with an agreement with The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises that grants EA the rights to develop games based on the books, in addition to a separate agreement that allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films.