learns more about his past. After retrieving a remembrall while riding on a broomstick, for his classmate Neville Longbottom, Harry is appointed seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Harry, Ron and Hermione believe that one of their teachers, Professor Snape, is planning to steal the Philosopher's Stone, a magical object which grants the user immortality, and set out to stop him. The three face a series of obstacles that protect the stone, including a three-head dog, surviving a deadly plant, catching a flying key, playing a life-sized game of Chess and choosing the correct potion to get through a magical fire. Harry, now alone, expects to face Snape but instead finds Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals that Voldemort was living on the back of his head. Harry retrieves the stone and Voldemort tries to get it from him but touching him burns Quirrell's skin. Harry passes out from the struggle of the battle. He awakens in the school's hospital wing with Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, by his side. Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed but that its loss will not stop Voldemort from returning. He reassures Harry that if their battles do no more than slow Voldemort's return then he may never come back. During the end-of-year feast, Gryffindor wins the House Cup. Harry sees it as the best evening of his life and one that he will never forget. Development A new Philosopher's Stone game was initially rumoured in June 2003 for sixth-generation consoles. It was officially confirmed in July 2003 that EA was developing a new game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox console's based on a similar format as the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets game released in 2002. This new game was developed by Warthog Games and set out to fix some of the problems encountered in Chamber of Secrets such as loading times. The game uses similar character and location designs as the Chamber of Secrets game and the previous generation consoles by making them 3D. The game was released on 12 December 2003. Reception Critical response The PlayStation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone received mixed reviews from critics. The game was compared to the Chamber of Secrets game with IGN saying the game was "like the digital equivalent of a Ron Weasley