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Lara Croft's future uncertain after disappointing Tomb Raider sales
It was a tough week for Lara Croft (pictured above, messing around with yet another obtuse puzzle involving levers, sliding stone edifices, and maybe even crates). Tomb Raider publisher Eidos scaled down their financial outlook by 10%, probably based on the disappointing sales of the last game. The developer, Crystal Dynamics, has confessed to laying off about 30 people. And it looks like Lara is about to undergo another make-over as Eidos considers how to give the franchise appeal beyond titillated boys.
Tomb Raider: Underground was a ridiculous exercise in doing things the same old way. So fixing Lara Croft is going to take a lot more than another boob job. It's going to take a shift in game design. Eidos needs to consider closely the latest games competing with Lara, including her old nemesis the Prince of Persia and the two new upstarts in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Mirror's Edge. Ubisoft, Sony, and EA are doing their own tomb raiding, likely stealing some of Lara's audience.
Here's what you need to do, Eidos: take the strong characterization from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the gameplay risks taken by the Prince of Persia series, and the respect afforded female characters in Mirror's Edge. Get two out of three of those right, and you can probably give your competitors a better run for their money next time.
By Troy Goodfellow at 11:28 AM ON 01/12/09
I'm not sure any of those ideas would work in the short run, since TR's big problem is that people think they know what a TR game is all about. It's a tired franchise, beaten into the ground, It needs some time off first - maybe three or five years.
Then you do a LARA'S BACK release that integrates all the positive improvements in the climbing/jumping/shooting games that you mention.
By Pogue Mahone at 12:21 PM ON 01/12/09
Honestly this news makes me a little sad, as I'm a big fan of platformy, acrobatic adventure games in general and the Tomb Raider games specifically. I guess this must be how fans of Madden games feel, grabbing up each year's new incremental revision while I'm left befuddled. Though I doubt there's much risk of Madden being 'shaken up' or canceled.
But while I can see the argument that the Tomb Raider games are getting tired, I can't honestly say that I see any disrespect in action. But that may be just because I'm a typical neanderthal male-type gamer.
By salwon at 12:52 PM ON 01/12/09
I think what they need is more breast physics.
By budgethero at 5:53 PM ON 01/12/09
"Here's what you need to do, Eidos: take the strong characterization from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the gameplay risks taken by the Prince of Persia series, and the respect afforded female characters in Mirror's Edge. Get two out of three of those right, and you can probably give your competitors a better run for their money next time."
nice
By astralith at 12:52 AM ON 01/13/09
"I want this game but it cost so much I wouldn't be able to afford to upgrade my computer to play it", said America. "Wake up and smell the recession", said I.
By Ginger Yellow at 8:42 AM ON 01/13/09
Funnily enough, Underworld was the first Tomb Raider I've bought snice the original, mainly on the recommendation of the Rock, Paper, Shotgun people. Even with that recommendation I probably wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't been knocked down to £25 just a couple of weeks after launch.
By Wat Eva at 8:32 AM ON 03/20/09
Hey I think Tomb Raider Underworld was a fantastic game, there are a couple things that crystal Dynamics should take a look at, but I see this game reaching new hieghts. Tomb Raider has been around since 1996 and I dont see the franchise kicking the bucket anytime soon. There is no other franchise's that takes as much consumer critisism into account as 'Tomb Raider'. The guys at Crystal listen to what we want and they try to give it to us, so stop complaining about the game give some REALISTIC critisism, so that the next game will blow you away.
Wat Eva:
Hey I think Tomb Raider Underworld was a fantastic game, there are a couple things that crystal Dynamics should tak...More »