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Tomb Raider

burnin down the house

Tomb Raider: Underworld Trailer, and Release Date


You know, when some of us decide we're starting all over and the place needs a new look, we take some cheap furniture or knicknacks to the dump or have a yard sale. Lara Croft packs her home with explosives and goes for the extreme makeover. Speaking of, she looks completely different, like a Bratz biker, almost. Where are the trademark shorts? More »

E308

Tomb Raider: Underworld - Making A Perfect Ass Of Oneself

There's no doubt in my mind that giving the Tomb Raider franchise over to Crystal Dynamics to develop was the best thing that's happened to the series. They've took a dying franchise and given it new life, and they're getting better at it with each new title. From the demo of Tomb Raider: Underworld I sat in on this week, I get the feeling the trend is continuing. More »

movie time

Multimedia Roundup: Lego Batman, Tomb Raider, Blitz II

Rather than masquerade a single video as an entire post, here are some highlights of what's available from other sites in the way of movies and screens: • Above is the new trailer for Lego Batman. We picked it up from Gamers Hell. It's got Poison Ivy building some evil-looking plant mini-kits, and Bruce Wayne kicking ass with a briefcase. • Some more screens from Tomb Raider: Underworld. (Also Gamers Hell) • Also the World Exclusive Debut Trailer for Blitz: The League II. It's at Gametrailers, because everything over there is a world exclusive.

Do Want

This Is How You Make A Lara Croft Action Figure

There have been plenty of action figures based off of Tomb Raider starlet Lara Croft over the years, but nothing quite like this baby right here. Standing at a whopping 17 inches tall, this Tonner Doll Company creation skirts the fine line between action figure and tiny actual woman, a skirting I doubt many fans will mind much at all. Lara features rooted hair, a variety of outfits, and 14 points of articulation, along with grenades and her signature dual automatic pistols in case her new owners get fresh.

The first 100 Tomb Raider: Legend inspired figures are going on sale today at the Wizard World Chicago show, with the remainder now available for preorder via Tonner Direct at the relatively reasonable price of $124.95, shipping in the third week of July. As an action figure junkie, I am currently surveying my apartment for things to sell. Anyone need a couple cats?

Lara Croft Figure Preorder [Tonner Direct]


tomb raider underworld

Tomb Raider Underworld Gets Web Site, Release Date

Eidos yesterday launched an official Tomb Raider: Underworld Web site and sent out a couple more screenshots, including the one above. More importantly, it confirmed the game is due out in November for the 360, PS2, PS3, DS, Wii and PC. Screenshots and other discussion follow the jump.

More »

the tomb raider workout

Former Lara Croft, Fitness Guru

Nell McAndrew is apparently launching her own "lifestyle companion" mobile fitness application in the UK, used to create workout routines from a database and develop a meal plan. Who's Nell McAndrew? 1998's model for Lara Croft, of course.

McAndrew seems to have left her Lara days behind her, though, as the announcement makes no mention of her role as one of the first Tomb Raider models. Shame, because I'd love someone to promise me I can look like Lara Croft. I mean, Nell McAndrew is pretty and all, but come on! Lara Croft!

Anyway, for those who might've been wondering what McAndrew has been up to lately, full announce after the jump.

More »

industry

Report: Mass Layoffs Hit Eidos

SCi, the parent company of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos, got a cash injection from its investment buddies at Warner Bros., the company announced today. The $120 million bailout is good news for SCi, but not so much for Eidos, as 1UP writes today that "sources have informed 1UP that Eidos's entire PR, marketing, and sales department has been laid off as part of the deal with Warner Bros." Yikes! That must be the translation of SCi CEO Phil Rogers "I want more distribution muscle in North America" statement.

Eidos' parent company announced earlier this year that it would be laying off 25% of its staff and killing fourteen projects, focusing on "cornerstone" titles like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager and Deus Ex.

Layoffs at Eidos in Light of Warner Bros. Deal? [1UP]
Lara Croft creator SCi gets cash boost [Reuters]


lara croft

12" Lara Croft Figure Is Surprisingly Tasteful

I think Lara Croft, I think 90's platforming, dinosaurs and leaps of faith. You may, however, think of something else. Well, two things. If so, don't be too disappointed when you see this new, premium 12" figure from Sideshow, depicting Ms. Croft as not only well-prepared, but well-dressed. She's packing ten weapons/accessories, 30+ points of articulation and three pairs of interchangeable hands, and will be available Q4 for around USD$80. Nice boots. More »

maximum risky

Are The Kids Still Hot For Lara?

Shhhh. It's Kotaku After Dark. Time to dim the lights, pull the door closed and look at these. This. These. This Italian minx is Silvia Shon, and Silvia likes Tomb Raider. That or she thinks a Tomb Raider-inspired calendar - with naughty bits - will still do good business on the internet. Could be both, but is probably the latter. This has absolutely nothing to do with SCi or Eidos, and is already two months late, so don't expect a marketing blitz. What you can expect are Lara Croft poses and, predictably, lady bits. Clicking through while at work is not advised. More »

industry

SCi Kills 14 Projects, Cutting 25 Percent of Staff

SCi, developers of Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex, have canceled 14 of their projects and plan on laying off 200 people and cutting their annual operating costs by £14 million as part of a company restructuring plan meant to get SCi back on track.

"Following our business review over the last six weeks, we are initiating a clear action plan based on three fundamental strands of activity: a radical change in our structure to a studio-led business, a top to bottom programme of product improvement and efficiency and a considerable cost reduction plan," Phil Rogers, Chief Executive of SCi Entertainment Group said, in a prepared statement. "To get SCi on track we have to act rapidly and effect change quickly. We must allow the world-class people that we have within the Group to focus on strong, profitable titles which will create the value our shareholders deserve."

A chief part of that plan is a fundamental change to the way the company does business with SCi shifting from the current centrally-controlled development and publishing model to a studio-led one, similar to the labels model that EA moved to last year.

Under the new structure, SCI would have studios based around "cornerstone products" like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager and Deus Ex. The company is also creating an Eidos PLAY studio which will "fuse together casual and new media resources." Finally, production services will form part of the studio group and be relocated to Montreal from London.

I blame the Wii... well that and a company that has essentially been living off of three franchises for nearly two decades.

SCi Corporate

More »

lara croft

Get Your Hands on Lara Croft For (Almost) Free


Lara Croft is ten years old today (doesn't that make you feel dirty?), and to celebrate, Eidos is letting you play Tomb Raider Anniversary for free.

Of course, nothing in life is truly free, is it? You can access the game through TrialPay, an alternative payment service, but only after you sign up to try or buy an offer from one of their blue-chip advertisers. To sign up for your free subscription to Tomb Raider Anniversary, go to the TrialPay sign-up page.

See? Lara's a classy broad. She wouldn't be givin' it away for nothin'! Her momma raised her better than that!

More »

gallery

First Tomb Raider Underworld Screens Unearthed

Eidos has released the first batch of screenshots for Tomb Raider: Underworld for the Xbox 360, and look how Lara has changed! This is definitely the latest in a long line of more realistic Lara models, standing there on that tree limb, teasing those panthers with her delicious human flesh. Yum! I'd daresay that within a few more games, Lara Croft will actually be more realistic than you and I, causing us all to look like our hips and breasts are ridiculously disproportionate. Looking good, Lady Croft.

crafts

Lara Croft Needlepoint

The work of Becky Schaefer has recently resurfaced on the blogosphere (hate that word, btw) so now seemed like as good as a time as any to introduce you to her art if you hadn't encountered it previously. These Lara Croft cross-stitchings (Schaefer's 2003 graduate arts degree project) subvert the traditional by introducing a modern, digital (female) icon into a classic (traditionally female) analog activity. The result? It's a bit jarring and induces introspection. What do you think of it?

Game Heroine Invades Bucolic Needlepoint Landscapes; Wreaks Aesthetic Havoc
[via shinyshiny]


sonic the hedgehog

Do These Gaming Franchises Need To Retire?

The San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Hartlaub has put together a dead pool of some of the video game industry's longest running, longest in the tooth franchises. It's not a bet necessarily on who will die, but who should die, sequentially speaking. Topping the list? Pac-Man. Sure, the excellent Pac-Man Championship Edition gets a pass and Nintendo would do right to bring Pac-Man Vs. to WiiWare, but we could certainly do without another Pac-Man World. More »

business

Tomb Raider Publisher Hits "Rock Bottom"

SCi Entertainment Group PLC, publisher of Tomb Raider, announced it won't turn a profit. The company's stock is at an 18 year low as it's in talks with potential investors interested in taking over the company. The company itself doesn't believe it will be sold for its full value. Huge European bank ABN AMRO has this to say about SCi Entertainment:

Management credibility is rock bottom, given heavy use of questionable provisions, failure to achieve release targets, at a time when market is booming.

Ouch.
SCi Woes [Bloomberg]

tomb raider underworld

PLAY Unveils Tomb Raider Underworld

The January issue of PLAY magazine will feature a first look at Tomb Raider Underworld, which is said to take place in after the events of Tomb Raider Legend.

According to the article, quotes heavily over at The Tomb Raider Chronicles, the game's emphasis is on "bringing Lara's world to life, a lush, vast, interactive world that reacts and remembers. It's pure woman versus the wild."

For instance, in a level in Southern Mexico, Lara leaves footprints behind in the mud, which are eventually washed away by the rain. The bodies of those she kill, though, will stay as will debris from her destructive path.

TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD EXCLUSIVE [The Tomb Raider Chronicles, via Computer and Video Games]


game development

Deus Ex 3 Rifles Through Lara Croft's Things

An interview with Stephane D'Astous of the newly opened Eidos Montreal story reveals that Deus Ex 3 is being built on the foundation of the latest Tomb Raider games. The studio is using the Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider engine that was so handy in transforming Lara Croft's series into something people wouldn't be embarrassed to play as the foundation for the third installment of the popular series. The reasoning?

We chose the Crystal engine because we plan to help develop this engine more and then share it back with the rest of the company, the other Eidos studios. Having that technology from the start gives us a great advantage and foundation for our coders - there are no doubts about the approach, and we have few uncertainties.
Plus it also saves a hell of a lot of time trying to develop an engine from the ground up, and that's good because I've wanted Deus Ex 3 since Deus Ex 2 came out. Snap to it, developer boy!

Q&A: Stephane D'Astous, Eidos Montreal [Develop via CVG]


rumor

Tomb Raider Underworld Coming Next?

Have you seen the movie Underworld? OK, great. Now take that movie and relate it in absolutely no way to Tomb Raider Underworld, the rumored next TR sequel since the trademark was discovered. Said to revolve around the Mayan calendar, or more specifically, the five unnamed days at the end of the year known only as "Wayeb'." During this time, the realm of the living and dead was said to blur, leading us to only one, inevitable plotline in the game: giant ghost/zombie jubblies.

Tomb Raider Underworld
[via gamelife]