Polar Express departs for retail

THQ today announced that the publisher's lineup of titles based on the upcoming Warner Bros. film The Polar Express have shipped to retail and are available in stores starting today. All told, four versions of the game were developed, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, PC, and Game Boy Advance.

The Polar Express film, which opens in theaters November 10, is a computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same name. As the conductor of the magical, North Pole-bound Polar Express, Tom Hanks lends not only his voice but his singular facial expressions to the role, using refined motion-capture technology called "performance capture."

As in the film, players will board the Polar Express and journey to meet Santa Claus, solving puzzles, searching for lost presents, and playing other such minigames along the way. The PlayStation 2 version of the game supports the EyeToy digital-camera peripheral.

Each version of the game is rated "E" for Everyone. The console and Game Boy Advance versions of The Polar Express will have an SRP of $29.99, while the PC version will retail for $19.99.