Eragon - new from Tippex!

Vivendi is adapting Eragon for release on PC, consoles and handhelds to coincide with the release of the film later this year.

Nope, we'd never heard of Eragon either - but apparently it's one of the world's favourite fantasy book series, despite its modest profile here on these'm shores.

It's all about a chap called Eragon, predictably, who discovers that he's not just a farm boy but also destined to become a Dragon Rider - with the power to save or destroy his Empire home. We wish we'd discover something like that.

Anyway, Eragon will be big news at the flicks this Christmas - with Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and others involved - and Vivendi's working on PS2, Xbox, X360, PC, PSP, DS and GBA versions of a game. It'll be out in November.

Given the story's fantasy roots, Vivendi's secured the help of Stormfront Studios - probably best known for their work on EA's Lord of the Rings console games - to do the PS2, Xbox, X360 and PC versions, while Amaze Entertainment's working on the others.

All versions will boast a big old single-player campaign, presumably of the hackandslash variety, but there are also platform-specific bits and bobs to note - console and PC will boast two-player co-op, while there'll be touch-screen spell-casting on the DS, and four-player wireless arena battles on the PSP.

With it all coming to ahead around Christmastime, Vivendi's planning to give everyone a good look at Eragon at next month's E3, and it's from there that we shall inform you more, presumably.