Nathan McCree Announces The Tomb Raider Suite

As part of today's PAX East panel Lara Croft: The Undisputed Queen of Gaming, composer Nathan McCree announced his latest project: The Tomb Raider Suite, an all-new album based on his original music from the first three Tomb Raider games.

The collection will include all the original fan favorites, plus extended versions of many pieces, performed by a live orchestra and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. In addition to a CD/digital download release, there will be a live performance at a major London venue in conjunction with the Tomb Raider 20th anniversary festivities later this year.

The entire process—from composition to concert hall—will also be the subject of a documentary entitled Tomb Raider: Remastered, produced by David Burns of Eden Films and directed by Matthew Longfellow, who has previously documented such music legends as Pink Floyd, Metallica, Blondie, and Queen.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the fans, as well as me, to hear the music as I had always intended it," McCree told the official Tomb Raider Blog.

For all the latest news about The Tomb Raider Suite, bookmark nathanmccree.com and follow Nathan on Twitter and Facebook.

If you missed the panel, the video is archived here on the PAX2 Twitch channel. Nathan's segment begins at 00:19:36.

20 Years of Tomb Raider Book Traces the Rise of an Icon

Today at PAX East, Crystal Dynamics announced 20 Years of Tomb Raider, a hardcover compendium exploring the history of the franchise from the original 1996 game to Rise of the Tomb Raider.

The book is still in production, but I can tell you it will be HUGE! Fans from all eras will find something to drool over, including many previously unpublished images and assets, and insights into unreleased titles such as the Core Design Anniversary Edition and the Angel of Darkness trilogy. It will also feature exclusive interviews from developers at both Core Design and Crystal Dynamics, official voice actors, composers, live-action models, artists, and more.

In addition to in-depth coverage of every game, there will be sections spanning the entire Tomb Raider universe from the comics to the Hollywood movies, pop culture influences, merchandise and collectibles, and all of us—the community.

Previously unpublished Tomb Raider: Legend concept art by Toby Gard.

This adorable young Lara model didn't make it into Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Meagan Marie, Crystal Dynamics Senior Community Manager and a lifelong Tomb Raider fan, has been working tirelessly for months researching and writing this book. I and several other fan site admins have had the pleasure of pitching in. It's been a struggle not being able to talk to you about it, but we know you're going to love it!

20 Years of Tomb Raider will be out October 18. Pre-order from Amazon or Amazon UK.

In case you missed it, the entire hour-long PAX panel, "Lara Croft: The Undisputed Queen of Gaming" is archived here on the PAX2 Twitch channel.

Tomb Raider 20th Anniversary Kickoff Panel at PAX East

This Friday, April 22, starting at 3 pm EDT, Crystal Dynamics will kick off the Tomb Raider 20th Anniversary celebration at PAX East in Boston with a panel discussion "Lara Croft: The Undisputed Queen of Gaming." Panelists include moderator Greg Miller, Gamespot's Alexa Ray Corriea, Crystal Dynamics' Meagan Marie, Kam Yu, and Jason Botta, and classic Tomb Raider composer Nathan McCree.

UPDATE: For those who can't attend in person, the panel will be streamed live on the PAX2 Twitch Channel, and should be archived there after the event.

Nathan and the Crystal Dynamics crew have teased a few special announcements, and I'm planning to livetweet during the panel if I can get out of work early on Friday. Join me on Twitter @Stellalune if you can.