Atari developing Dungeons & Dragons game for PSP

New York (NY) - Two of the most classic brands in gaming history are pairing together, with Atari announcing the development of the Dungeons & Dragons : Tactics game for the PlayStation Portable system. Using authentic rules from the classic game created by Gary Gygax of TSR Hobbies, players can form a party of six adventurers and do combat in turn-based action.

Party members can be any one of the traditional D&D classes like the warrior, paladin and rogue. Like in the paper-based game, characters gain levels and can acquire new gear - those characters are saved to the PSP’s memory stick. Characters can also change from good to evil or vice-versa, depending on what acts they perform. Players will also be able to download new dungeon maps as they are made available.

Dungeons & Dragons : Tactics will have cooperative and deathmatch modes using the wireless features of the PSP. Players can take their saved parties and duke it out in both monster-populated and empty arenas.

The original dice-based Dungeons and Dragons games were made by Gygax when he was part of TSR Hobbies. That company folded and the rights to the games were purchased by Wizards of Coast, part of Hasbro Properties Group, which very nearly holds the rights to the word "game."

Dungeons and Dragons : Tactics will be released at the end of 2006, and pricing has not yet been determined.