More E3 coverage under the E3 2012 tag.
May 26, 2012
New Tomb Raider "Crossroads" Trailer to Debut on GT.TV/Spike May 31
As you've probably noticed, Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics is gearing up for E3 with an escalating media campaign. The latest is a new video trailer, titled "Crossroads," which will debut on the Spike network's GT.TV Thursday, May 31 at 10 p.m. PDT. GT.TV is offering us a 30-second sneak peek. Check it out and let me know what you think by posting a comment below.
May 25, 2012
Crystal Dynamics Launches E3 Ambassador Initiative
Crystal Dynamics announced today that they'll be flying a group of 17 fan "ambassadors" from around the world to the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles the first week in June. This will be a great opportunity not just to get a closer look at the new game but also to bring their communities' questions and concerns to the developers.
Katie Fleming will representing both Katie's and Stella's sites on tombraiders.net, as well as MaxRaider. Over the next week, I'll be collecting questions and comments from our group for her to take with her. So please let us know what you'd like her to report on while she's at the show.
For more information, including a list of all the ambassadors, visit The Official Tomb Raider Blog and check out Katie's E3 Coverage and intro video. I wish we could all go, but it's nice to know there's such a great crew representing us fans! :D
P.S. If you'd like to send me your questions for Katie, feel free to comment below or on my Facebook wall, tweet or email.
Katie Fleming ;)
For more information, including a list of all the ambassadors, visit The Official Tomb Raider Blog and check out Katie's E3 Coverage and intro video. I wish we could all go, but it's nice to know there's such a great crew representing us fans! :D
P.S. If you'd like to send me your questions for Katie, feel free to comment below or on my Facebook wall, tweet or email.
More E3 coverage under the E3 2012 tag.
May 24, 2012
Lara, Indy, Nate and Our Need for Virtual Adventure
From Indiana Jones to Lara Croft and Nathan Drake, the academic-adventurer archetype is alive and well. Check out Stephanie Carmichael's article Bringing back Tomb Raider: Our need to fill the old archaeologist's shoes on VentureBeat, in which yours truly is liberally quoted. ;) If you have a chance to read it, I hope you'll post a comment to let me know what you think. I know not everyone will agree with me on some points.
May 14, 2012
TOMB RAIDER Delayed Until 2013
Yesterday Crystal Dynamics announced that it's delaying the release of the new TOMB RAIDER until the first quarter of 2013.
Darrell Gallagher, Head of Studio at Crystal, penned the following message to the community:
If anyone has questions about the delay—or other concerns related to the game—our Community Manager, Meagan Marie, has encouraged people to post them in this thread on the Official Eidos TR Forum. She'll bring the most popular ones to Darrell for an upcoming installment of The Crystal Habit Podcast.
On the shiny side, we can all look forward to E3, which will be held June 5-7 in Los Angeles. There will certainly be a lot more game news and media coming out of the expo. And, as Darrell mentioned, it's always better to finish a game before releasing it. Tomb Raider fans have certainly learned that lesson the hard way. ;)
This brand new consolation screenshot, titled "The Reach," presumably shows Lara discovering the bow she'll use to defeat some of the baddies in the new game. (click to enlarge)
Darrell Gallagher, Head of Studio at Crystal, penned the following message to the community:
When Crystal Dynamics first set out to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise, there were two goals that we were extremely passionate about. The first was to create a modern Tomb Raider game that would surprise and excite gamers. The second was to make this the best game of our careers, something we would be really proud to be a part of. We truly believe that we have something very special on our hands and we can't wait to share it with you.
Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game's release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.
We're doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can't wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.
Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game's release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.
We're doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can't wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.
If anyone has questions about the delay—or other concerns related to the game—our Community Manager, Meagan Marie, has encouraged people to post them in this thread on the Official Eidos TR Forum. She'll bring the most popular ones to Darrell for an upcoming installment of The Crystal Habit Podcast.
On the shiny side, we can all look forward to E3, which will be held June 5-7 in Los Angeles. There will certainly be a lot more game news and media coming out of the expo. And, as Darrell mentioned, it's always better to finish a game before releasing it. Tomb Raider fans have certainly learned that lesson the hard way. ;)
This brand new consolation screenshot, titled "The Reach," presumably shows Lara discovering the bow she'll use to defeat some of the baddies in the new game. (click to enlarge)
May 10, 2012
Tomb Raider: Underworld Coming to Macintosh May 31
Tomb Raider: Underworld for the Mac will retail in North America for US $24.99, £17.49 in the UK, and €19.99 throughout Europe. It will also be available online for direct download on the Feral site and Mac App Store.
Tomb Raider: Underworld Macintosh Teaser Trailer
May 6, 2012
Croft Manor Brick by LEGO Brick
After posting about my buddy Jason's LEGO Tomb Raider animations last week, I heard from quite a few TR fans who also love LEGO like we do. One of them was Dempsey Rosson, who created this replica of Croft Manor using the LEGO Digital Designer. It even includes minifigures of Lara, Winston, Zip, Alister, Natla and the Doppelgänger!
It's still a work in progress, Dempsey says. "I just completed the first part of the manor. I'll create the gym, pool house and an outer layer for the manor (similar to the Hatfield House) once I have more free time. (School is busy.) As you'll see in the pictures, the minifigures are in place as they are seen when playing Croft Manor in Tomb Raider: Legend."
I'm itching to try out the LEGO Digital Designer myself, so I asked Dempsey for advice. "First I'd say you would need a strong computer, depending on the size of your building. Download the software here. Then, for starters, I'd recommend building according to instructions found here.
"The designer requires a lot of patience since the bricks aren't always cooperating when trying to place them. With the latest version of the designer, players can build most of the themed sets, such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman. I'd say to start with something easy, and then build up until you think you're ready for the creation of your own work."
Sounds like a plan. Meanwhile, check out Dempsey's Croft Manor and stay tuned for updates as the project progresses.
It's still a work in progress, Dempsey says. "I just completed the first part of the manor. I'll create the gym, pool house and an outer layer for the manor (similar to the Hatfield House) once I have more free time. (School is busy.) As you'll see in the pictures, the minifigures are in place as they are seen when playing Croft Manor in Tomb Raider: Legend."
I'm itching to try out the LEGO Digital Designer myself, so I asked Dempsey for advice. "First I'd say you would need a strong computer, depending on the size of your building. Download the software here. Then, for starters, I'd recommend building according to instructions found here.
"The designer requires a lot of patience since the bricks aren't always cooperating when trying to place them. With the latest version of the designer, players can build most of the themed sets, such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman. I'd say to start with something easy, and then build up until you think you're ready for the creation of your own work."
Sounds like a plan. Meanwhile, check out Dempsey's Croft Manor and stay tuned for updates as the project progresses.
Two Classic Tomb Raider Sites Reborn
I'm overjoyed to announce the rebirth of two of my all-time favorite Tomb Raider fansites: Lara Croft Online and Planet Lara. Both have been around for over a decade but recently took a break to regroup. LCO relaunched last week with a spiffy new flash-based design. (Huzzah!) Planet Lara hasn't officially re-opened, but they plan to do so soon. I hope you'll all join me in welcoming Tom and Dan back into the fold.
Now if we could only get a new Tomb Raider game to play.... ;)
Now if we could only get a new Tomb Raider game to play.... ;)
May 5, 2012
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Ported to the Blackberry PlayBook
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light has just been released for BlackBerry's PlayBook tablet. I haven't seen this version yet, but according to Crackberry.com, it's a straight port of the original PC/Xbox/PS3 version and well worth the $3.99 price tag. "The 3D graphics are awesome and it runs super smooth on the PlayBook. If you're at all a Tomb Raider fan (and honestly, who isn't?) then you should definitiely pick this one up."
So far the player reviews on the BlackBerry App World download page have been generally positive. It seems to be a much better gaming experience than the glitchy iPad version.
You can see a bit of the gameplay in this stage demo from BlackBerry DevCon 2011, courtesy of CrackBerry.
If you've tried it, I hope you'll leave a comment below to let us know what you think.
For more info on the game itself, visit my Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light page.
So far the player reviews on the BlackBerry App World download page have been generally positive. It seems to be a much better gaming experience than the glitchy iPad version.
You can see a bit of the gameplay in this stage demo from BlackBerry DevCon 2011, courtesy of CrackBerry.
If you've tried it, I hope you'll leave a comment below to let us know what you think.
For more info on the game itself, visit my Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light page.