Rachel, also known as Athora, is a lovely and dedicated Lara Croft cosplayer. In her interview she talks about conventions, cosplaying tips, and photoshoots. Photography by Darren Rowley Photography DRP
Recently Spike and Crystal Dynamics has reached an agreement. The trailer for the upcoming game will be shown first on Game Trailers TV on Thursday 2nd June (10pm PST, 6am GMT on the 3rd) with Tombraider.com uploading it the following day. However Crystal has recently announced that if the Tomb Raider Facebook page reaches 100,000 "likes" then they will release a section of the CGI trailer early.
Apparently according to a couple of fans on Twitter, you can only "like" it if you're over 17, the same with the Lara Croft page. In that case I would suggest bugging any relatives or friends to "like" the page on your behalf. Persuading them with milk chocolate cookies have always worked in my experience, but other ways like sneaking onto their profile, liking it, and then blaming it on Desktop Lara is another way (this doesn't work all the time).
Music in games are considered a vital part of the experience, and there is no doubt about it. In Silent Hill it really improved the experience by putting the player on edge even if they were just in a room alone with fluffy bunnies...OK especially if there were fluffy bunnies. In Tomb Raider we've had some really great pieces over the past few years, and from the piece in the Game Informer's podcast, there's more brilliant music to come! But I've been thinking about music in games recently, not necessarily about the background music but about songs made by independent or bands for that specific game and if Tomb Raider will have it's own song.
Back in 2008, the television advert promoting Tomb Raider Underworld featured Gorecki by Lamb. There were two versions, one was shown on television and the other which was released online which was the extended version including gameplay and cutscenes. The song fitted perfectly with the storyline, atmosphere and clips in the trailer and for TR fans the song became connected to the series despite it not being used in the actual game.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Tomb Raider would get it's own song for any of the future game. With other franchises it has worked well, even those which didn't sound as though it would fit at first. If you go on YouTube there are plenty of Tomb Raider music videos put with music and the really good videos show exactly how a song can represent a game.
If TR does decide to have one in the future, it will be interesting in who they choose to sing it and compose it. There are three different games that come to mind when I think about songs created specifically for a game franchise and containing lyrics. Crystal may want to consider the following games:
PORTAL
(Jonathan Coulton)
Of course this was going to be here! Still Alive is one of the most recognisable themes in games. Versions of the song could be heard in the actual including at the start by listening to the radio, although it was at the end credits where we heard it clearly for the first time sung by the lovable yet evil GLaDos. In the game's version it was a simple theme with clever lyrics and having it on the end credits with the lyrics is both clever and a tribute to the people in the company who's name appeared beside it.
For those who don't know Jonathan Coulton is a gamer, as well as writing "Still Alive" in Portal, he also wrote the song "Want You Gone" for Portal 2. He became popular in geek culture with his project called "Thing a week" in which he released a weekly song with songs including "Re:Your Brains" (which also appeared in Left 4 Dead 2" and "Codemonkey"
MIRROR'S EDGE
(Lisa Miskovsky)
I very much like Mirror's Edge's "Still Alive" theme because it fits the atmosphere of the game so perfectly. The song represents the strength of the character which is clearly heard. What is also interesting is the music video; which incorporates real locations but also blends them with the fictional city the game's protagonist runs around in. Using the music video as promotional material for the game was also a good technique; most of the trailers for ME used this theme, and the music video alone symbolises a lot of what happens in the game.
Lisa is a singer and musicain who began her career in the industry in 2001. She has now released several albums including "Falling Water", "Changes" and more recently "Violet Sky".
ALAN WAKE
(Poets of the Fall)
POTF is my favourite band. They have created the music for two games; Max Payne 2 and more recently Alan Wake. For Max Payne they created the song "Late Goodbye" which can be heard being sung by a number of different characters during the game and also at the end credits being sung by the band. If you have played Alan Wake you would have already heard a couple of their songs, but they were mentioned by a different name, the Old Gods of Asgard (with the exception of "War"). (SPOILER FOR ALAN WAKE EPISODE 4) Remember the epic fight scene with the Taken,Barry and the fireworks?. (SPOILER ALERT OVER) That was them with their song Children of the Elder Gods. They also wrote the songs "War" and "The Poet and the Muse" (that track contains quite a few spoilers) both could be heard as the music at the end of two of the chapters.
They are a Finnish rock band consisting of Marko (Singer), Olli (Guitar) and Marcus "Captain" (keyboard). They are often joined by Jaska (Guitar), Jani (Guitar) and Jari (Drums) if they doing a live performance or on tour. They've released several albums including; Signs of Life, Carnival of Rust, Twilight Theater , Revolution Roulette and Alchemy Vol.1.
Mark your calenders for next Friday, because that's the date when you can see the first trailer for the upcoming Tomb Raider game. It was released on Twitter through Sqaure Enix Europe's feed and on the Square Enix Members blog that the video is going to be released on the 3rd. As well as a date there's also two teaser photos.
The trailer will be first show on GTTV on the 2nd June, and the following day at the official Tomb Raider website.
I've got to say it, I've missed her.
Doesn't your iphone track your movements? Well that's handy!
Killerfilm.com recently uploaded an exclusive interview they did with the two writers behind the script for the upcoming Tomb Raider movie; Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby.
You can CLICK HERE to be transfered to the interview at their site.
One of the quotes that interested me the most was; " Someone isn’t born that way, they’re made. We going to get deep in character. It’s a great opportunity." by Hawk Ostby. It's sounds as though the movie is in good hands. It's going to be exciting to hear more about the film which is due out in cinemas 2013.
The next Konsol Magazin (Hungary) issue due out tomorrow will have a feature on the upcoming Tomb Raider game as well as having Lara on the front cover:
Meagan Marie (Community Manager for Tomb Raider) has recently posted 29 photographs on the new Official Tomb Raider Flickr page recording the TR evening in the E3 Judges week.
The demand for red candles on the release of this title is going to be HUGE!
On TR's Tumblr site she says:
It’s been a very long - but enjoyable - day. E3 Judges Week festivities are drawing to a close, and tonight was Tomb Raider’s time in the spotllight. While I can’t go into specifics about the event or share impressions just yet, you can check out a gallery of snaps from the showing here. Hope you enjoy!
-Meagan
It's a dark day in Venice, the clouds are rushing past foreshadowing the actions which were about to take place. A huge stone building is standing overlooking the water. The structure itself is gorgeous with a huge dome roof. It has such a presence that it's intimidating. This is the gathering place of the Illuminati. Manfred Powell and Mr Pimms enters the building unsure of what will take place and embarrassed to admit that there has been no progress in finding the Triangle of Light. He enters the building in Venice and then is immediately teleported into a large painted hall in Greenwich, UK, moments later as he begins to walk up the steps to greet the members of the group.
Angelina Jolie's scene in the Painted Hall
Last month I decided to take advantage of a day off and traveled to the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich to do a location visit to the Painted Hall which was used as the Illuminati gathering room from the first Tomb Raider movie. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what would happen and I didn't know quite how to get there. I teamed up with one of my friends who was armed with a camera and I was armed with a camcorder, and with a combined three and a half hours of sleep between us, we set off for a strange day out visiting a number of Tomb Raider filming/game locations.
If you know me you know that one of my favourite past times is to break public transport, one time when I was heading into London to meet a friend, I broke three trains and ended up being 15 minutes late which wasn't so bad considering. Nevertheless me and Lauren headed on a bus to go to the Cutty Sark where we had a rough idea in where we were going because I had looked at a map for a few minutes the night before. As we got on I made a small joke to Lauren about having the ability to break transport with my mind, however we were hopeful and continued to not let this small fact concern us. After ten minutes on the bus, we heard the driver mutter something, we're too far back to hear what was being said, but since no one looked concerned by the announcement and we concluded that we were fine. However there was another announcement about three minutes later which said that the destination had changed. I felt at this moment that Transport For London was pretty much quoting Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and saying "So long and thanks for all the fish". It also reflects quite a lot about public transport in the UK, they're happy to have your money but not so willing to actually get you to your destination on time.
It stopped about 20 minutes away from the Cutty Sark without any explanation, and the driver seemed to be as bemused as we were. We saw this as a challenge, something from a bad video game that needed a better plot, I know that she would want me to do a Final Fantasy XIII joke right now, but I am stronger and I'm going to rise above it...Also Square Enix is a big company and may send Agent47 after me in the middle of the night since they own the franchise now. Using the bus stations as Checkpoints (yes, like in the Silent Hill movie, where did you think we got it from?) we managed to get to the Old Royal Naval College.
The Old Royal Naval College is big. It's opposite the National Maratime Museum and is pretty much the same size, except that the museum has a huge garden in front. It was also seriously a gorgeous place. We managed to go on a day when it was sunny and we had blue skies, which made the place seem to glisten. There were several people wandering around, some with pets, some with children. The site is not only a college but sections are open because of it's history and also for filming. As we entered the grounds we found comfort in a nearby map, and yes the site is BIG! Thankfully it was an actual map with clear instructions instead of those illustrated maps with pretty calligraphy handwriting, however it was upside down so they lose points for that. The way to our destination was simple; follow the path down and take the first right and a large sign pointing the way towards the Painted Hall would be right in front of us. I almost got us lost, but I didn't admit this to Lauren at the time since she thought the map was pretty simple and she knew where to go.
Outside the Painted Hall
Since the day off coincided with the Easter holidays for all the schools, we were a little unsure about how people would be like there. When I was working at the British Museum there was a similar issue, I noticed that on average the staff were more relaxed when they were not surrounded by young kids running around the exhibits, mainly because it wouldn't be the child's fault if anything was broken. When I was in the room with the Crystal Skull there was two kids that was playing hide and seek behind it and thought that it was the perfect hiding place, it was a truly awesome sight.
However since it was hot, there was quite a lot of young children, and it was early in the week, we tried not to disrupt anyone. Also since these kind of buildings have a lot of history and is a tourist attraction they might not take too kindly to two people walking in with a camera and a camcorder. They were probably used to it, but still there's a lot of places where you can't go and film stuff. Aldwych Station was quite difficult because of this, everyone was nice but it was a very tight schedule and it was an escorted tour with about 60 people.
There were a group of caretakers nearby and me and Lauren paused to do some recording and photos of the outside of the building before going in so we would have a range of videos and images to choose from when it came to writing this. Lauren got an awesome photo from the entrance of the Painted Hall overlooking the gardens and the river outside. This caught the attention of one of the caretakers who was walking past, he smiled and said "Wait, I'll pose!" followed by an heroic stance, which was awesome. I did check on the site before hand about photography and filming and I remember reading that it was alright, however reading it online is very different from being there. You also have the thing of even though you know, the people working there might not or they might have changed it and not updated their website. But so far so good, and everyone there seemed really lovely.
Gardens from just outside the Painted Hall
(We did this piece of recording just before we left.)
We then entered the hall, and seriously even the dramatic view of the room in the film does not give this place justice. It has got to be one of the most detailed and stunning halls I have ever seen. There was a worn white and black titled floor which contrasted beautifully with the handpainted walls and ceiling. As we entered there was no one else there apart from us. The couple which were there originally moved on, and we had the chance to do some filming with no distractions or interruptions. There was a document in a frame in front of us as we entered and teal painted wooden stairs to the right leading up to the hall as they did in the filming. The paper did make me think of Alan Wake with the manuscript pages. The sight almost made me drop the camcorder but the strap around my wrist prevented this from happening. I set the picture quality to the highest possible setting and began to record.
Just around the corner
I gingerly made my way up stairs towards the hall, stopped around the fifth step and turned to Lauren to go up with me, it was THAT intimidating. The hall was not empty, there was a selection of chairs and tables in neat rows, it dawned on me that they must have used these in the TR movie. I'll admit after realizing this, I did quickly look for the throne chairs so I could reenact the "Yes, but who sits here?" scene, but I realized that that would be immature and we might be thrown out for that...Also I couldn't see them. I think the main reason why it looks so much more gorgeous in real life is also because of the lighting. In the film it was cloudy and dark, whereas in the sunlight it looks far more impressive and brilliant. The paintings are more vivid in natural sunlight, just look at some of the images that we got!
The room at the back where we could only barely see in the movie.
Above one of the entrances
In the room at the back, taken from the right hand side
Five minutes later a few more people had joined us in the a hall and a small tour group was going around, I was slightly concerned that we would be asked to stop filming, however everyone was really nice and didn't mind.
There was another set of stairs leading to a small room which was technically part of the hall but slightly cornered off. It appeared in the movie but was behind the people on the thrones. It was as dark in the movie as it was when we went there. We entered the room and was invited with more huge detailed paintings and large wooden table surrounded with leather chairs the impressive display finished with an electric candle light in the center of each of the tables.
I hope you enjoyed this article. If you want to go and visit the location yourself I highly recommended going either in the Summer or December. In the winter they have an ice skating area, I went about three years ago and really enjoyed it. If you go in Summer it's a more relaxed area and less crowded which leads to better photos. Make sure to check out the main website, there's a few areas in the college which are open to the public.
Moments ago a link to the official Tomb Raider blog was posted on Twitter. The blog is hosted by Tumblr, and will be maintained by Karl Stewart and Meagan Marie. So far there are three posts, but make sure to keep visiting the page or to follow it, it looks as though there will be awesome things appearing very soon, especially with E3 just around the corner.
The next issue of Next Level (Croatian magazine) will feature Lara on it's cover:
The text below the image translates as:
Lara Croft was never this fragile human.
Will this be the most memorable Tomb Raider in the series? We've visited Square offices in Wimbledon to find out!”
UPDATE (7th June 2010) - In an interview with Karl Stewart (brand director), my question about if the Endurance which was destroyed in 1912 inspired the name of Lara's ship, was asked. Karl confirmed this and said that Crystal loved the story of Shackleton and not only is the boat's name inspired by the voyage, but also Conrad Roth shows similar traits with Ernst Shackleton.
Since December, I've always wondered about one thing. We had the announcment of the new game that came with a gorgeous image of the new rebooted Lara, the introduction of Conrad Roth, screenshots, summery etc...But there was something which wasn't fully explained. Lara does have a tendacy to break things; tombs, temples, artefacts, people's sanity, but nevertheless how she got to be on that island was kept a mystery. In the background of a piece of concept artwork was wreckage of a ship (the one we know she came to the island on) , it was also mentioned in the summery of the game. The ship's name is Endurance.
The Endurance from Tomb Raider's Concept Artwork
I study English at my college. On Wednesday to test our exam skills on choosing words and techniques and expanding on them, my English teacher handed around an article for us to look through. He introduced the topic first by using a documentary clip from YouTube and then by going through the history. 99 years ago, a ship set sail for what it became it's final journey and by 1914 the journey ended. The ship crashed and became locked within ice and the crew had to survive the harsh conditions. Fortunately after some time they discovered an island....The ship was also called Endurance.
It's not a big leap to say that the ship that Lara was aboard was based on the ship that was locked in the ice in 1914. It has not been released yet what has happened to Lara's ship, theories of a sort of Bemuda Triangle has been thrown around the forums. Whatever made the Endurance crashed, also was kind enough to crash several others...Psirens perhaps? Since this is Tomb Raider where Atlantis, Excalibur and Thor's Hammer exsists perhaps it's not a crazy theory...Just unlikely. I'm presuming it's something to do with currents, the jaggered rocks would smash any ship that hits it at such a force, it's possible that there some tide or wormhole (you can see I'm fantastic when it comes to understanding underwater tremors). I read an article from one of the gaming magazines focusing on the game and it said that it was meant to be a tsumani but I believe that it was an issue was translated and I have no idea how reliable it is.
The first Endurance, locked in the ice
It's interesting to see where the similarites lie. The real Endurance set sail for what it later became it's last adventure in 1914, two years after being built in 1912. Tomb Raider is also rumoured to be released in 2012, the 100th anniversary of the incident. The ship set sail from Plymouth, like the one in the game. Unlike Lara's world, the real ship became stuck after drifting through the ice and slush. The locking forced the crew of 28 men to abandon the ship which eventually sunk due to the frozen water crushing it. The men then travelled, facing the cold and dark conditions to what they hoped would be their salvation. Later they became the first people to set foot on a mysterious island, later named Elephant Island.
Something happens early on in the game (set 3 weeks after leaving the port if the leaked script is to be believed) causing the boat to crash and Lara ends up on the island, literally fighting for survival. The island may not be the ice covered Elephant Island but it's instead someplace unknown near Japan. As Lara once said in Legend; "The similarities are striking."
The real Endurance ship encased in thick ice
The final photograph of the ship before it fell victim to the sea
As of yet there has been no official confirmation about if the Endurance in the game is based on the ship 99 years ago, but if not it's a big coincidence. There's a pretty cool documentary about the real voyage on YouTube, so if you're interested make sure to check it out!
The BBC recently reported that Square Enix's database was recently hacked into. The company has confirmed that 25,000 customer details were stolen. It is also believed that 350 applicant's resumes for Eidos Montreal has also been copied.
In a statment, the company declared:
Square Enix can confirm a group of hackers gained access to parts of our Eidosmontreal.com website as well as two of our product sites. We immediately took the sites offline to assess how this had happened and what had been accessed, then took further measures to increase the security of these and all of our websites, before allowing the sites to go live again.
Deus Ex's website was one of the promotional websites that was hacked into, however the other site is not mentioned in the article*
Square Enix has also stated that no credit card information was stolen since the company does not store that kind of information on their web severs.
I see what you're doing there Mr.47, protecting your guns from Indiana Jones...Clever.
It may not be Tomb Raider related, but it is Eidos related and it's also a game series I am rather fond of. Agent47 will be continuing his murderous rampage in the upcoming title, Hitman Absolution. IO Interactive will be company behind making the game, as they were with the other four titles in the series.
For the first time we are taking Agent 47 on a personal journey which allows us to explore other parts of the Hitman fantasy. This is both a familiar and yet significantly different experience from other Hitman games; something our silent assassins will relish, as will all those new to the Hitman world.
Personally I can't wait for the upcoming game, it's a little earliar to say that the "game looks good" but IO hasn't disappointed me yet :)
If you're interested make sure to keep in contact with the development of the game through their:
A gaming website, Siliconera, posted earliar today a leaked copy of the Tomb Raider script. The website did not post all of it, but appearently it was used for the voice auditions for either Conrad Roth or Lara Croft. The website also posted several images and screenshots of the game which fits with sections of the script. Also the quotes from the recent flow of magazines appeared in the script.
Crystal Dynamics or Eidos has stated if this script is the real thing or not.
Below is a copy of the apparent script:
Cinematic – Videolog1 Page 1
INT. LARA’S CABIN – TWILIGHT
We’re watching a video log; Lara is seen leaning into the camera as she draws her hand back from the record button and sits down on the side of her bunk.
LARA
(Bored) September second. Three weeks out, zero finds, twenty fish suppers, fifty instances of Roth fantasising about a pint of Bitter and a ninety-nine percent chance that I’ll hurl myself off this boat out of sheer boredom.
Still, at least I’ve convinced him that the only thing standing between him and his ale is the Dragon’s Triangle.
Lara shifts her weight.
LARA
(Dismissive) There’s the usual folklore rubbish about the place – spinning compasses, cursed ships – but that’s a load of nonsense and Roth knows it.
Lara leans into the camera a little.
LARA
(Growing excitement) We’re close to something, I can feel it. Something extraordinary. And that’s what it’s about after all, isn’t it? Anything less and it’s just a hobby.
EXT. VILLAGE – NIGHT
Lara is approaching the village when from a nearby distance she hears wolves BARKING and SNARLING. GUNSHOTS follow, and then the sound of Roth crying out in pain:
ROTH (O.C.)
Gah!
Lara rushes toward the source of the sounds. From across an ancient, weathered bridge that spans the distance to a plateau atop a rock spire, she can see now a battle between Roth and a pack of wolves.
She rushes across the bridge, we cut to Roth, who sits on the ground with his back to the wall of a ruined structure. He clutches an emptied automatic pistol in each hand. A couple dead wolves lie nearby, amid a scatter of spent shell casings. Roth’s eyes are closed, his teeth are clenches, but he’s obviously still alive. One of his legs is bleeding from a serious wound. Lara runs into frame and crouches down beside him.
LARA
(Relieved) Oh thank God you’re alive.
Roth pries open one eye, smiles and gestures to draw attention to his gun.
ROTH
(Pained) God had nothing to do with it. (Smiling weakly) It’s good to see you too, girl.
Lara touches Roth’s wound and they both wince.
LARA
(Wincing) Sorry…they did a real number on your leg…
She looks around for something to use as a tourniquet. We focus on Roth and can hear Lara tearing off some material – maybe from Roth’s clothes or hers.
ROTH
(Pained Dismissive) Nah, it looks worse than it is.
Lara starts to bind Roth’s leg.
LARA
Have you heard from any of the others?
ROTH
(Pained) Nothing.
We pull back. Lara’s tied a tourniquet around Roth’s leg. Roth reaches up a hand to be helped to his feet.
LARA
(Shocked) What are you doing?
ROTH
Those scavengers took my food pack. The transmitter from the lifeboat’s in it. If we don’t get it back we’re not getting off this bloody island.
Lara gestures to Roth’s leg
LARA
(Worried) You need bandages, antiseptic… morphine…
ROTH
Also in the pack…
LARA
(Despondent) Shit.
ROTH
(Pained) In a word.
Roth Holds out his hand again. Lara helps him up and he puts his arm over her shoulder. He staggers and blacks out, Lara almost overbalances as his body slumps to the ground.
LARA
(Rising panic) Roth!
She lies him down and shakes his face.
LARA
(Rising panic) Oh don’t do this to me you Yorkshire bastard.
She checks his pulse.
LARA
(Semi-relieved) At least he’s still alive.
Lara stands up, takes a few deep breaths, She looks around the clearing before squatting down to examine the earth. Lara’s eyes follow the wolf tracks leading off in one direction and she stands back up.
LARA
(Slight panic) Oh God, what am I doing?
Cinematic – Village2
EXT. VILLAGE – NIGHT
Lara returns to Roth and finds him still lying unconscious next to the campfire.
Lara drops the transmitter and the medkit next to Roth and starts to work
LARA
(Determined) Right, let’s get you patched up.
FADE DOWN briefly and then FADE UP to Roth waking up. He sits up. Lara’s is sitting a small distance away staring into the camp fire.
ROTH
Not bad. Where does a young lady like you learn to do a thing like that?
LARA
Late shift at The Nine Bells. A wolf’s got nothing on a broken bottle.
Roth looks at the transmitter.
ROTH
You got it. Nice work.
LARA
I assume the plan is to get it to that radio tower?
We angle on the central mountain peak.
ROTH (O.C.)
It should give us the best shot of broadcasting a strong signal in every direction.
Roth grunts, shifting his wounded leg uncomfortably, He looks at the peak, then at his leg, then back at Lara.
ROTH
(softly) Lara. We need to send out that SOS and I’m not going climbing any time soon.
Lara stares into the fire.
LARA
(Despondent) I was afraid you were going to say that.
Roth reaches out and touches Lara’s shoulder. She turns to look at him – her face a mask of worry.
ROTH
You can do this Lara; after all, you are a Croft.
LARA
(Weakly) I don’t think I’m that kind of Croft.
ROTH
(Encouraging) Sure you are. You just don’t know it yet.
Roth reaches over and picks up his climbing axe. He lays it on the ground between them. Lara stares at it for a minute unsure if she should take the responsibility.
LARA
(Putting on a brave face) Then let’s hope I’m a fast learner.
When she does reach for it Roth grabs her wrist gently.
ROTH
(softly but sternly) Just be careful Lara.
Roth lifts his hand and Lara nods before standing up to leave.
She slips off into the night without another word.
Tomb Raider fans in the UK might be happy to know that EDGE magazine was released today with a feature on the upcoming TR game as well as featuring Lara on the cover. It is available at stores like WH Smiths for £4.50. If you can get the issue, I highly recommended doing so. It's a seriously gorgeous edition and magazine, and some of the photos in there you really need to see them in front of you to fully appreciate them :)
Yesterday, Brand Manager Karl Stewart announced that the official Tomb Raider Facebook page will be closed to fans under the age of 17 since the upcoming game will be a mature rating. He posted:
Lara Croft fans, After several years of our Lara Croft Facebook page being open to all age groups we sadly have to start making changes in order to bring our media channels in line with age restricted content guidelines. As your all aware our upcoming Tomb Raider title will be rated M for Mature. This means that we need to amend the current age restriction for our Lara Croft facebook page to 17+. This restriction change to our page is scheduled to take place at 12:00am PST, May 25th 2011. Sorry to have to do this to all our Lara Croft and Tomb Raider fans under the age of 17, but unless we make these changes we will no longer be able to post any content relating to Tomb Raider. Best
@crystaldkarl
There's also a new poll at Stella's Tomb Raider Facebook Page about your opinion. CLICK HERE for the poll.
Tomb Raider fans in Australia might be happy to see that Lara is gracing the latest issue of the Official Playstation magazine. The issue is on sale now, so if you haven't done so make sure to buy a copy, it looks rather awesome:
About the magazine from the official Playstation site
She's back. Lara Croft returns to your console in 2011 and she looks very, very different to how you last saw her. We visit Crystal Dynamics and talk to their Head of Studio, Darrell Gallagher, what the grand dame of gaming is getting up to over our eight-page feature!
Our investigation into Australia's R18+ rating continues, and we compare the ratings of games on shelves in Australia with New Zealand and our gaming brothers in the UK and USA. Are we cheating adults or are we putting too much pressure on kids?
We review some of the big guns in gaming - literally - including Portal 2, SOCOM: Special Forces, Operation Flashpoint: Red River and more! Plus, we show you how to get the fastest lap time in SHIFT 2: Unleashed and highlight the best celebrity downloads for Fight Night Champion.
How do you play shooters? We challenge everyone's expectations of what it means to look up and down in games in a debate and history of inverted and non-inverted control schemes. It'll turn your world upside down.
Get yours today!
On sale at all good newsagents now or head to www.magshop.com.au.
Recently the writers for the upcoming Tomb Raider film has been announced. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (the duo behind Children of Men and Ironman) will be writing the screenplay for the movie which is going to be produced by Graham King and Tim Headington.
The film, due to be in cinemas in 2013, will see a new actress playing Lara Croft. Angelina Jolie will not be playing the heroine since the movie will be focusing on an origin story, very much like the upcoming Tomb Raider game.
GK Films has been involved in several movies recently including Camelot and The Tourist, as well as Rango which starred Timothy Olyphant who also played Agent47 in the Hitman movie, (a franchise which is also owned by Eidos.) In Rango, they also played Ave Maria near the beginning, which is the series' theme song.
The last Tomb Raider film was released back in 2003, two years after it's predecessor. Rumors of a third movie was heard for years afterwards. During the Square Enix take-over, Paramount Pictures (who made the first two films) lost the rights and therefore the project was left alone until recently GK films got on board. As of yet the third movie doesn't have an actress playing Lara Croft, but hopefully after the script is done it will be announced.
For German Tomb Raider fans there's a magazine heading your way too! The next issue (released tomorrow) of Computer Bild Spiele will be focusing on the upcoming Tomb Raider game by having a feature on Lara as well as having her on the front cover.
Computer Bild Spiele Cover
There's three versions of the magazine, but I presume it doesn't matter which version you get since it's only the free extra DVDs with the issue that changes. For the Gold version (with 2 DVDs) it's 5.50 €. There's a silver version (with 1 DVD) for 3.50€ . And the standard edition (with no DVDs) costs 2.70€.
Ironically I learned German for five years, yet the only word I can remember correctly is "Computerspiele" meaning "computer games". My teacher said I would never manage to get it into a conversation especially that word alone. I win!
The Edge Magazine website recently posted details about their upcoming issue, and we were right! The next magazine, which is due out on Tuesday 10th May, will be focused on the next Tomb Raider. Lara will also be on the cover, so it should be really easy to spot.
Edge Magazine is only in the UK, and costs £4.50. It can be found in most WH Smith shops if you can't find it in newsagents.
From the magazine's site about what else to expect in the issue:
In issue 228 of Edge magazine, which will be available to pluck from UK newsagent’s shelves on May 10, we get marooned with Crystal Dynamics as it transforms one of gaming’s most cherished series, giving Lara Croft new life inTomb Raider.
Another classic PlayStation-era title joins Lara’s reboot in the form of Driver San Francisco, and we find out how Tanner’s new body-switching ability affects his driving.
And those wheel-skills are put to good use when we visit Nadeo to see not only TrackMania 2: Canyon, but also the studio's first steps into the FPS and RPG genres, ShootMania: Storm and QuestMania.
In our An Audience With, we speak to Remedy CEO Matias Myllyrinne about life post-Payne, what the studio has learned from Alan Wake and where it’s heading next.
Finally, the founders of Epicenter Studios talk us through the struggle to keep a modern development studio alive.
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