Bibliography

As shown in order according to blog entries from beginning to end.


"Tomb Raider: Underworld Official Art"-[Image]-Website: http://www.rodrigoflausino.com/imagens/games/tomb_raider/tomb_raider_underword_01.jpg [Accessed 23/11/09].

"Tomb Raider"-Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider [Accessed 1/12/09].

"Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo? On the Limits of Textual Analysis" by Helen. W. Kennedy December 2002-Website: http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/kennedy/ [Accessed 8/12/09].

"Feminism"-Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism [Accessed 8/12/09].

"Definition of Fetish"-Website: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fetish
[Accessed 8/12/09].

"Definiton of Castrate"-Website: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=castrate
[Accessed 8/12/09].

"Lara Croft Official Game Art"-Website: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/laracroft/images/thumb/1/10/Tr5-022.jpg/450px-Tr5-022.jpg [Accessed 8/12/09].

"Tomb Raider (Comics)"-Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_%28comics%29 [Accessed 16/12/09].

"Official-Tomb-Raider-Comic-Concept-Art"-[Image]-Website: http://www.tombraidercomics.com/gallery/gallery39.asp [Accessed 16/12/09].

"Tomb-Raider-Animated-Series"-Website:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_raider_animated_series [Accessed 16/12/09].

"Lara Croft Cosplay Model"-[Image]-Website: http://herosgame.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/cosplay20-thumb4.jpg [Accessed 16/12/09].

"Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Movie Review"-Website: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lara_croft_tomb_raider [Accessed 23/12/09].

"Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Movie Review 2" by (movieman365 of MovieFilmReview.com) 29th November 2009-Website: http://www.moviefilmreview.com/lara-croft-tomb-raider-2.php

"Tomb Raider Film"-Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_%28film%29
[Accessed 23/12/09].

"U2-Elevation Official music video"-[Video]-Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KstSgU-c0 [Accessed 2/01/10].

"Lara Croft Faces"-[Image]-Website: http://www.edge-online.com/files/imagecache/article_content_360x270/Lara+Croft+Faces.png [Accessed 2/01/10].

"Lara Faces Family Friendly Redesign"-by Rob Crossley 12th January 2009-Website: http://www.edge-online.com/news/lara-faces-family-friendly-redesign [Accessed 2/01/10].

"Lara Weller-INCITE MAGAZINE-Real Life Lara Croft"-[Video]-Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT98Eqw-0Gg [Accessed 2/01/10].

"Alison Carroll-Lara Croft Model"-[Video]-Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYURnwvQ5i0 [Accessed 2/01/10].

"Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Official Cover Art"-[Image]-Website: http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-games-2006/2328-1.jpg [Accessed 3/01/10].

"Tomb Raider: Legend Official Cover Art"-[Image]-Website: http://ps2.igri.bg/photos/box/PS2/lara_ps2.jpg [Accessed 3/01/10].

"Eidos Moves Tomb Raider Away From Core" by Rob Fahey 30th July 2003-Website: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/eidos-moves-tomb-raider-away-from-core [Accessed 3/01/10].

"Core Design"-Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_Design [Accessed 3/01/10].

"Toby Gard"-[Image]-Website: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Toby_Gard_-_E3_2005.jpg/591px-Toby_Gard_-_E3_2005.jpg [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Toby Gard"-Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Gard [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Tomb Raider creator leading Crystal Dynamics" by Tom Magrino, Gamespot, 18th June 2009-Website: http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6212186.html [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Tomb Raider creator departs Crystal Dynamics" by Tom Magrino, Gamespot, 15th September 2009-Website: http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6227680.html [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Crystal Dynamics hit by more lay-offs" by Matt Martin 10th June 2009-Website: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/crystal-dynamics-hit-by-more-lay-offs [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Gard: Time was right to leave Tomb Raider" by Matt Martin 15th June 2009-Website: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gard-time-was-right-to-leave-tomb-raider
[Accessed 12/01/10].

"Eidos shareholders approve merger with Square Enix" by John Callaham 27th March 2009-Website: http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/03/27/eidos-shareholders-approve-merger-with-square-enix/ [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Square Enix Lets Eidos be Eidos" by Michael Fahey 27th April 2009-Website: http://kotaku.com/5229444/square-enix-lets-eidos-be-eidos [Accessed 12/01/10].

"Square Enix reveals Eidos Bid" by Phil Elliot 12th December 2009-Website: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/square-enix-reveals-eidos-bid [Accessed 12/01/10].

Evaluation

For now, it is time to wrap up my research on the cultural effects of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
Throughout this entire case study I have learned many things that have much to do with my future career as a concept artist. Within a development team, things may not go according to plan during major game projects, as I have found in my studies about Tomb Raider. Using a range of different resources such as online articles, blogs, academic texts, interviews, reviews, media and imagery to find out why Tomb Raider franchise was considered to have had a “cultural effect” in the gaming industry and what caused Lara Croft to become so well known, I discovered facts that have improved my knowledge of the game industry, particularly game design studios and character design itself.

Why did I choose Tomb Raider? In particular, why did I choose to look specifically at Lara Croft? Well to start off, I grew up with the Tomb Raider series and I consider them to be part of my childhood and the reason why I became interested further in the gaming industry. At the time I also had a strong interest in archaeology, Lara Croft happened to be an archaeologist within the game, therefore I was more drawn to Tomb Raider not just by the heroine herself but the ancient environments where most of her adventures took place. Little did I know that there were many “problems” behind the creation of Tomb Raider, from the arguments revolving around feminism to the financial problems it caused for Eidos Interactive, due to the game being the main key to their success, which unfortunately has disappointed them as a company and fans alike.

For years I have never had a problem with how Lara Croft is portrayed in Tomb Raider, her enhanced features and character appeal didn’t faze me the slightest and it still doesn’t. While many feminists are in favour of Lara Croft being recognised as an international feminist “icon”, the other half are completely against the character due to her “sexualised” body, which clearly is aimed at male gamers, using her iconic presence as nothing more than a eroticized object of the male gaze. The argument can be proved valid as females have been known to be attracted the Lara Croft in the same way males are, so she remains both a much loved and disliked video game character without a sexual identity. Upon discovering these negative views towards Tomb Raider, my opinion on the matter hasn’t changed the slightest. These views didn’t change how Lara Croft is shown in our world, such as in advertising, film, animation, artwork, collectable items, fan-made videos etc. Tomb Raider got its popularity boost from the film featuring Angelina Jolie, which I personally think did the franchise justice and spread the goodness of what Lara Croft had to offer. Though I am disappointed Angelina Jolie will not be playing the role of Lara Croft any longer, it takes skill to portray her character with style and ease.

Throughout my research I found that the models who portray Lara Croft outside of her virtual environment through promotions and interviews also affect the way the character has changed dramatically over the past decade within the game with the power of enhanced technology. In Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft looks far more realistic than ever before and even acts more human, a simple slip from a ledge could kill her almost instantly unlike in past games. It seems as the more realistic and darker Lara Croft becomes, ratings decrease and fans are left disappointed, not all, but just enough to question how it could have possibly made them feel that way. Comparing her character from Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness to Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft is a different person, her darker “persona” takes over and her adventures turn into something more deep, meaningful and personal. Angel of Darkness brought down publisher Core Design, and Underworld brought down Crystal Dynamics, these two games connected in my mind and formed an unsolved puzzle. Something is clearly not satisfying the audience here, which has led Eidos to decide on whether to make Lara Croft “family friendly”, which is a definite no. The problem is that both games have similar problems due to bugs, glitches and faulty game mechanics in each title that just completely tears up the game itself. Now looking at it in more depth, darker Tomb Raider titles always, and I mean always seem to have more faults then the "normal" Tomb Raider titles. Perhaps there is just too much work being put into making these "darker" titles more advanced, completely backfiring and ruining the game in the process? A faulty game is not enjoyable nor is it something to be praised about. From experience in playing both of these “darker” Tomb Raider titles, Eidos need to worry more about the "quality" of their franchise and not the "quantity" of the money it earns, spending more time fixing problems that have been reappearing in Tomb Raider since the first game would be a great start.

As more sequels are released, these problems just get worse as shown in Underworld. From the look of how things are being handled, Eidos are showing obvious lack of care in the technical department, leaving future Tomb Raider titles in the future to suffer from the same fate. Instead of them laying off studio workers when Tomb Raider happens to fail financially, perhaps they should spend more time helping their employees who work on the game, possibly setting them more tasks to solve the many faults Tomb Raider has, as it’s quite clear they are going unnoticed. Simply firing workers at Crystal Dynamics doesn’t improve the income Eidos receive at all as they were already buried under serious finance issues, though were luckily bought out by Square Enix, which I believe is a wise and well thought out plan made. To make matters worse, the original creator of Lara Croft, Toby Gard, left Tomb Raider for good.

This was an unexpected find, as I never imagined him leaving his one greatest creation behind in the hands of someone else. Without Toby Gard, I feel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is merely an empty shell, the soul and heart of her character and the game has now gone. From this case study, my understanding of how the game industry works has left me set in a negative shadow and more informed about the game I have loved since a young age. As years go by, the Tomb Raider franchise loses its spirit, although the games are still entertaining, Eidos Interactive have not paid attention to what is happening to it and still remains that way. Instead they focus on creating new decisions on how to change Lara Croft even though she has already lost half her original spice of character and life. The more her character is altered, the less of the video game heroine she became is left of her. Her cultural status will soon be lost in the depths of time at this rate. Although she is still recognisable, her popularity has decreased dramatically since the release and downfall of Tomb Raider: Underworld. Now that Eidos are paired up with Square Enix, Lara Croft’s future looks positive and good things are bound to become of her if she is given the care and love she needs, just as her creator did all those years ago.

In conclusion, this case study has been highly insightful. I have learnt far more about Tomb Raider then I expected and I have gained both positive and negative views about the franchise and how it has made an impact in the world, not only within the gaming industry but outside of it. I feel my resources were informal enough to help me understand what I took on to study within my contextual studies unit. The Internet can be very helpful, not only have articles made me understand more about Tomb Raider, but watching videos and even comic books based on Lara Croft has helped me a long way. From now I will still continue to love the Tomb Raider franchise and admire Lara Croft for years to come, as she is a part of who I am and why video games play a huge role in my life.

Square Enix+Eidos=Square Eidos

Due to Eidos having to deal with severe financial problems for quite some time, not just with the Tomb Raider series but other games produced by them, Japanese RPG game company offered to buy out Eidos and they kindly accepted the offer, which could bring great news to the gaming industry as these two companies are big and have had their fair share of successful game titles.

"Following the successful completion of its £84 million acquisition last week, Square Enix has announced that UK publisher Eidos shall remain UK publisher Eidos. Eidos has spent nearly two decades developing their brand identity, and that brand identity will remain intact. The company will continue on as an independent organization and wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. Square Enix Holdings president Yoichi Wada suggests the arrangement is akin to a more romantic coupling."

As Eidos have been bought out by Square Enix, they are allowed to keep their "independence" as the major UK publisher and organization they have been known to be. Tomb Raider became their biggest success and will still be their main gaming title to have brought them this far. According to Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd. Square Enix Holdings president Yoichi Wada:

"This is an exciting beginning to what I believe will be an incredible journey. I am very happy that Phil Rogers has agreed to lead Eidos in what I see as an international marriage between our two companies, a marriage that will give birth to great things. Eidos is a content rich company and a culturally significant business to the Square Enix group."

Yoichi Wada believes that his company fusing with together with Eidos was a brilliant idea. The relationship between the two companies, which are from different backgrounds and revolve around different cultures, will give birth to "great things". Eidos have have specialised in being a "significant" business, with the success of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the effects it has had on our culture, from being a feminist icon to the most successful female video game character known, Eidos have made a big name for themselves, something Square Enix became attracted to.

(Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2 and of course, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider-they'd make a great team).

The offer given to Eidos was made right during the publisher's lowest point after the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld made worse-than-expected sales during the holiday period of late 2008 and early winter of 2009. As Eidos were broken down once again by the curse of the mysterious dark side of Lara Croft, Square Enix just happened to save the day. Without them Eidos would most have likely been caught up in a very serious mess. I expect our favourite female gamer heroine to be wielding a gun powered keyblade and wearing magician robes whilst summoning "aeons" with a group of friends. As of now, Square Enix and Eidos are said to be working together on a new project. I wonder what it could possibly be? And what is the future of Lara Croft, now that her original creator has gone for good and Eidos are now owned by Square Enix?

We can only wait.

[Resources]:

-http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/03/27/eidos-shareholders-approve-merger-with-square-enix/

-http://kotaku.com/5229444/square-enix-lets-eidos-be-eidos

-http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/square-enix-reveals-eidos-bid

The Man Behind Lara Croft

Ever since Crystal Dynamics became in charge of developing the Tomb Raider series, Lara Croft has seemed to have changed dramatically in terms of appearance and personality. She's more fierce and darker, a now more determined character on a journey to discover her past, and problems surrounding her childhood, many of this having to involve her late mother she lost as a child and how she tragically died, who apparently so she "thought" happened to her, which has always been a mystery in the series.

For Core Design, their connection with Lara Croft and Tomb Raider was broken and now in the hands of another developer. Would Crystal Dynamics be able to make a breakthrough and be able to produce a even better Lara Croft then Core Design and make her appealing to the world once again? Tomb Raider creator Toby Gard was "originally employed at Core Design, he designed the original Tomb Raider video game in 1995 along with the character Lara Croft. His work on the game included building and animating most of the game's characters (including Lara), animating the in-game cutscenes, storyboarding the FMV's, and managing the level designers."

Sadly Toby Gard left Core Design in 1997, the first blow to the company's success, as Core Design were not giving him the "creative freedom" he originally had. As more projects involving Tomb Raider came about, his options were limited and did not appeal to him, so in the end he left, forming his own company called "Confounding Factor". Years after his departure from Core Design, Eidos hired him to work with Crystal Dynamics and bring Tomb Raider back to life starting off with Tomb Raider: Legend.

Considering Crystal Dynamics' recent history and Tomb Raider's status as one of the most recognizable brands in the industry, the listing shown for jobs available with Crystal Dynamics led many to believe that the studio was staffing up for a new Lara Croft-led action adventure. Lending more credence to that speculation, the creator of the buxom brunette herself has taken the reins as lead designer at Crystal Dynamics. In 2007, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, directed by Toby Gard himself, was released to mark Tomb Raider's 10th Anniversary which was a complete remake of the original first game he created 10 years previously in the series.

In November 2008, the darkest and most realistic version of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Underworld was released. It seemed to being going so well for Crystal Dynamics, but their newest game didn't get the praise they expected it to recieve. In return, the worrying news that once brought down Core Design with Angel of Darkness struck Crystal Dynamics with Underworld, two TR games that happened to show a "different" side of Lara Croft. It seems games involving the newer and more mysterious heroine never did so well financially-strange. Jobs were cut down by Crystal Dynamics following the unexpected blow. According to this article from gamesindustry.biz:

"Eidos' Crystal Dynamics studio has shed another 25 positions, the publisher has confirmed.

"We can confirm that Crystal Dynamics has made a reduction of approximately 25 people at the San Francisco studio," said Eidos in a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz.

"This decision is a reflection of the continued drive to focus resources at the studio. We would like to thank all of the employees affected by this difficult decision for their hard work during their time at Crystal and we wish them all the best in the future."

Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics sacked around 30 staff at the start of the year, following disappointing sales of the latest game in the series, Underworld."

It was revealed after Underworld that Toby Gard had been tapped to lead development on an as-yet-announced project at Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics. The information was significant, considering that Gard created the highly acclaimed original Tomb Raider and that Eidos indicated it would give the franchise a major makeover in the next installment. Unfortunately after 9 months into the "secret" project, Toby Gard left Crystal Dynamics, transitioning to a new role as an independent game consultant, with an emphasis in animation, story, and cinematic design, character design, game design, and balancing. Neither him or Eidos Interactive commented on his decision to leave.

"The only real way that I can really effect Lara Croft is to be in charge of a project. More and more as I was working at Crystal, especially on Underworld where I was just doing cinematic work, the reality is the control of the characters is in the hands of the creative directors and the publisher.

"I think it's just something you have to learn to realise that there's no one person really in charge of what goes on with a character and they have a life of their own in the hands of the team."-Toby Gard.

What will become of Lara Croft now that her creator, left to persue his own independent career? During Gard's departure, Eidos became unable to move forward and paired up with the highly successful Japanese RPG games company who gave us Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, two major titles completely different from Tomb Raider.

Their name? Square Enix.

[Resources]:

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Gard

-http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6212186.html

-http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6227680.html

-http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/crystal-dynamics-hit-by-more-lay-offs

-http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gard-time-was-right-to-leave-tomb-raider

Core Design vs. Crystal Dynamics

Tomb Raider slowly declined in good reviews, with the 2003 release of "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness" taking the hit. Many game related websites & magazines, such as IGN and Gamespot criticised the Playstation 2 version of the game more then the PC version, due to its problems with practically every part of the gameplay, which left its audience disappointed. According to a Wikipedia article on Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness:

"The game received mediocre reception from critics, receiving a 5.3/10 from IGN and a 6.5 from GameSpot, with an overall GameRankings score of 56% for the PS2 version. The Metacritic review site stated that PS2 version of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness has met with "mixed or average reviews",[1] while the PC version received "generally negative reviews".[2]. Reviewers praised the improved graphics, sound and the environments, while they criticized large amount of bugs, control system, combat system, camera, steep system requirements etc."

Due to the failure and lack of positive attention, Eidos announced that following a poor review of both the Tomb Raider franchise and Core Design, the first developer behind the gaming series, development on further Tomb Raider titles were moved to the hands of another studio Crystal Dynamics, in the US. Originally Core Design is widely known for the Tomb Raider series, created by Toby Gard and Paul Howard Douglas, which as we know was released in 1996, followed by several sequels. The success of Tomb Raider and its subsequent sequels played a huge part in keeping Eidos Interactive financially solvent until the release of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. As Eidos made their final decision on how Tomb Raider would be handled for now on, this prompted three key members of the Core Design team and several others to leave the company and establish a game development team of their own, Circle Studio. Even the founder of Core Design departed due to the downfall of the latest Tomb Raider title which also threatened to damage Eidos even further financially, according to this statement:

"The move also followed the departure of Core founder Jeremy Heath-Smith from the boards of both Core and Eidos shortly after the launch of the long-delayed and critically panned title, which threatened to damage Eidos' full year results as its release date slipped marginally past the June 30 financial year-end. However, Eidos has now confirmed that all but 500,000 units of the title shipped within the June quarter, and the publisher expects to meet its original expectations for operating profit (pre goodwill) in the financial year to June '03".

The future for Core Design, however, looked unsure of, as without Lara Croft-or the founder Jeremy Heath-Smith, there's a question mark over the worth of the studio to Eidos. This must have been rather depressing for Core Design, knowing that Lara Croft, Tomb Raider and all other assets that go along with the game were going to be removed from them and given to a "better" developer to take care of for the sake of Eidos, throughout the entire time true Lara Croft creator Toby Gard was hardly ever mentioned as he left Core Design a long time ago. Other titles from the studio in the past few years had underperformed at retail, and Eidos' statement on the matter didn't inspire confidence, stating only that "the Company will now be evaluating the Core Design studio's on-going direction and contribution as part of the Group's overall development capabilities."

(Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, developed by Core Design-2003)

(Tomb Raider: Legend, developed by Crystal Dynamics-2006)

Definitely a difference in just three years on how Lara Croft has been portrayed by either developer. Crystal Dynamics have made her seem more "realistic".

According to Paramount Pictures, the negative reviews Angel of Darkness recieved affected the 2003 opening sequel to the first Tomb Raider film, "Cradle of Life". The blame was slapped on to Core Design, Eidos now had only one hope left that Crystal Dynamics could possibly turn Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise around, regaining back it's popularity and positive outcomes financially. As Crystal Dynamics are behind the latest "Legacy of Kain" games which have been critically acclaimed and given sufficient creative freedom, Tomb Raider stood a chance.

The Tomb Raider franchise took another battering when Paramount Pictures blamed the poor quality of Angel of Darkness for dismal opening weekend figures for the latest Tomb Raider movie, Cradle of Life, in the USA. However, the move to Crystal Dynamics may inject new life into the brand; the company's Legacy of Kain games have been critically acclaimed, and given sufficient creative freedom, there are certainly great things that could be done with Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise.All original plans for the series were dropped from Core Design and passed on to Crystal Dynamics, who gave us Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary and Underworld.

[Resources]:

[1]-http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/eidos-moves-tomb-raider-away-from-core

[2]-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_Design

Lara Croft: Makeover Time

Over a decade, Lara Croft has been known as the female game heroine with a large chest, tiny waist whilst traveling around in nothing more then revealing a little shirt and pair shorts. Though now Eidos are having doubts about the original look of Lara Croft, fearing her appearance has now become officially uninteresting and repetetive, so a change for their icon is in place. "The publisher’s suggestions have come forward as the recent release of Tomb Raider: Underworld missed sales expectations by some £20 million, while developer Crystal Dynamics has been subjected to layoffs to focus the team's output to the core IP". Eidos are suggesting the modern video game icon Lara Croft should go under a more family friendly redesign, this could possibly mean losing her iconic appearance and possible sex appeal to appear more "realistic" and suitable to cater to different markets.

As Tomb Raider is failing to bring happiness to its fans, it is suspected that Lara’s popularity , as a character, is fading particularly in the US. And, as the commercial success of all Tomb Raider games have always had a degree of dependence on Lara’s image, this may prompt a fresh face for the heroine in her next title. Her image doesn't seem to be achieving success, since Tomb Raider: Underworld was released and it failed to get anywhere. There are other reasons as to why the most recent Tomb Raider title flopped. It is possible during late 2008, was in competetion of other big selling new games such as "LittleBigPlanet" and "Spore". These games did incredibly well in terms of sales, it wouldn't surprise me this also caused Underworld's fall.

According to Eidos CFO Robert Brent, “we need to look at everything, as we develop the next game. Look at how Batman changed succesfully, from the rather sad character of the Michael Keaton era to the noir style of The Dark Knight"

"The Tomb Raider franchise has been through a popularity rollercoaster in its 12 years, hitting the heights of Lara’s image on the cover of the (now defunct) lifestyle magazine and “fashion bible” The Face, while the heroine’s sixth adventure, The Angel of Darkness, was critically panned and failed to make an impact at the retailers." As Angel of Darkness put a stop on the Tomb Raider series, considering how poorly it was acclaimed to be, Core Design were stuck in a hole and needed serious help.

"The franchise then enjoyed a revival as its development moved from Core Design to Californian outfit Crystal Dynamics, which released Tomb Raider: Legend in 2006 to critical praise and commercial success." Strangely enough Angel of Darkness failed, yet was designed by Core Design. Underworld was designed by Crystal Dynamics, yet that too failed. So what exactly is going wrong and how did two completely different design companies let Eidos down?

Now, as Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider: Underworld missed its sales targets, despite positive reviews , Eidos is pondering that Lara’s image needs to cater to different markets. Lara enthusiasts will no doubt know that the full-figured archaeologist had previously gone under the knife to more directly appeal to her current audience as shown in Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary and Underworld.


[Resources]

-http://www.edge-online.com/news/lara-faces-family-friendly-redesign

(One of the early Lara Croft models, Lara Weller from "Tomb Raider: Revelation")

(The newest Lara Croft model, Alison Caroll from "Tomb Raider: Underworld")

Tomb Raider Hits the Big Screen

As the Tomb Raider Series got more popular in the late 1990s, there came a time a film based on the adventures of Lara Croft was to be produced by director Simon West. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was released on June 15th 2001. Tomb Raider fans had their prayers answered-but was the film a success? According to RottenTomatoes.Com [1] "Angelina Jolie is perfect for the role of Lara Croft, but even she can't save the movie from a senseless plot and action sequences with no emotional impact." I however fount a better review on the film.



(Official movie poster for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)

Personally after watching the film as well as the sequel "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life", I have to say it portrays the world of Tomb Raider in depth, bringing real archaeology sites to life as well as all other aspects of the game. Angelina Jole plays the role of Lara Croft incredibly well in terms of looks and her "calm" yet fierce personality. [2] “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” chronicles one of the many adventures of Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie), a modern-day, female version of Indiana Jones. After uncovering a long-buried secret from her father’s mysterious past, Lara learns she must seek out a powerful object known as The Triangle of Light. Upon embarking on this perilous quest, Lara soon discovers that she is not the only one interested in the artifact. A secret society known as The Illuminati hope to attain control of the Triangle, and if they succeed, our world could be in grave danger."

The film shows gives an inside view of Lara Croft's daily life which consists of risking her life to find mysterious artefacts and moving forward with dangerous quests. If the film based on the series wasn't too good to be true for Tomb Raider fans, the surprise behind the fact Academy Award actress Angelina Jolie was to play the role of Lara Croft shocked them all, even myself. "Prior to her casting, Angelina could have easily passed as a real life version of the character based solely on her looks or at least served as possible inspiration for the character’s appearance. Another reason her casting surprised me was because the role was so unlike most of her previous work, which had been predominantly dramatic in nature, not counting “Gone in 60 Seconds”. Even with her relative inexperience in the world of action films, Angelina handled the role rather well. There were just a few moments where she seemed a little uncertain of herself, but generally she stayed true to the character’s confident nature as depicted in the video games". I think it's great that Angelina Jolie stayed true to Lara Croft's character, I personally don't think another actress could have done a better job.

(Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft)

The film's plot was seen as unoriginal and "cliche", lacking interesting characters and could have been improved a great deal in order to make Tomb Raider seem more exciting and adventurous, possibly even attract more fans. "It occurred to me while watching the movie that the lack of any truly interesting characters, aside from the titular one, coupled with a fairly unoriginal and basic plot, could have served as an example of how not to make a film adaptation based on a video game or otherwise. However, the film’s terrific turn at the box office allowed it to emerge victorious over its various inherent faults. Despite its drawbacks, I have to say that “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” is a superficially entertaining action adventure. Just be sure to check your brain at the door first."

So a success or not? Lara Croft Tomb Raider made a break through, and became one of the only most successful video game adaptions to date. No doubt Eidos were highly impressed with their fortune. Their video game heroine became a shining star.

Box Office Performance:

[3]-"Tomb Raider debuted at number one with $48.2 million, giving Paramount its second-best debut and the fourth-highest debut of 2001. It beat the opening record for a film featuring a female protagonist ($40.1 million for Charlie's Angels), and is the most successful video game adaptation to date, grossing $300,000,000 worldwide."

The Lara Croft Tomb Raider film was a great adaption of the Tomb Raider game. The Tomb Raider franchise became stronger and even more dominant in our culture, especially in gaming culture. Irish rock band "U2" featured clips of the film within their 2001 hit "Elevation", turning Lara Croft into even more of an icon on our television screens and grew to become even more famous than she was before.


[Resources]

[1]-http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lara_croft_tomb_raider/
[2]-http://www.moviefilmreview.com/lara-croft-tomb-raider-2.php
[3]-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_%28film%29