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Posted by Kotaku Jul 25 2012 05:00 GMT
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#tombraider There's an interesting interview with Toby Gard, the creator of Tomb Raider, over on Critical Path's site. And it reminds us that, for all the platitudes heaped on the series for portraying a strong female character, the fact is a lot of men enjoyed playing as just such a woman for the wrong reasons. More »

Posted by Kotaku Jul 18 2012 07:59 GMT
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#cosplay I've never really thought about it, but as these photos show, a steam punk Lara Croft could be something quite special. Gritty and grimy like the current reboot? Bah! Who needs that when we've got ruffles, billowy shorts, and an old-timey jetpack! More »

Posted by Kotaku Jul 16 2012 15:00 GMT
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#tombraider There I was, bow drawn and breath held, ready to kill a beautiful deer I'd been tracking for about five minutes. Lara Croft muttered something like "I can do this," just before I let the arrow fly. The deer ran and more scrabbling through a dense forest followed. Two more arrows felled the deer and I went back to the abandoned campsite Lara had found a few minutes earlier, where the meat would be cooked and Lara would brood alone. More »

Posted by Giant Bomb Jul 12 2012 15:41 GMT
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Pratchett's involvement with Tomb Raider has been kept a secret for the past two years.

Timed for Comic-Con, Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics have announced Rhianna Pratchett has been working with the developer for the past two years as the lead writer on Tomb Raider.

“Seldom do we get the opportunity to reimagine and reinvent a legend, so getting my narrative hands on Miss Croft was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity,” said Pratchett in the announcement release.

Pratchett’s known for her work on Mirror’s Edge, the Overlord series, and Heavenly Sword, among others.

It’s not surprising that we’re seeing Tomb Raider news as Comic-Con begins, but given this game’s involvement in recent controversies regarding the representation of women in games, it’s perplexing the companies involved did not move up the disclosure of Pratchett’s involvement. Knowing a woman was chiefly involved in setting the tone and establishing the context of this new game, one that finds Lara Croft put in harrowing, formative situations, would have framed the conversation differently.

I would have been interested in hearing her thoughts, anyway.

“I grew up playing Tomb Raider, uncovering the world’s secrets and unearthing its treasures; I have lived and died as Lara Croft, but nothing comes close to the challenge of re-writing her,” said Pratchett.

We’ll learn more about Pratchett’s perspective in the coming days, as she’ll be participating in two different panels at Comic-Con, the details of which are on the official Tomb Raider Blog.


Posted by IGN Jul 12 2012 06:13 GMT
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Hunting deer for dinner.

Posted by IGN Jul 12 2012 06:00 GMT
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Hunting deer for dinner.

Posted by IGN Jul 12 2012 05:21 GMT
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Lara Croft looks for shelter on a dark n' stormy island.

Posted by IGN Jul 12 2012 04:51 GMT
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Searching the cliffs for signs of life.

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Posted by Giant Bomb Jul 11 2012 18:30 GMT
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Also, apparently the "final hours" of Tomb Raider will last for eight months. Which makes me wonder if the word "final" means anything anymore.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 29 2012 17:00 GMT
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#tombraider The people behind the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot say they misspoke while using the word "rape" to refer to a scene in the game during an interview with Kotaku three weeks ago. More »

Posted by Kotaku Jun 27 2012 06:30 GMT
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#tombraider Developers Eidos have done away with the long-standing tradition of having a real-life Lara Croft promote a Tomb Raider game. Instead, they've done something far more useful: brought in someone to actually play Croft in the game. More »

Posted by Joystiq Jun 27 2012 07:00 GMT
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Square Enix has announced that Lara Croft will have a new voice actress in the upcoming Tomb Raider series reboot, and that actress is: Camilla Luddington, recently seen on True Blood and Californication. Luddington was born in England, but as seen on this late night talk show, she apparently uses an American accent when appearing on American media.

Worry not, though - Luddington has a lovely English accent as well (and you can hear her using it on this clip of Graham Norton's show in the very beginning). She definitely sounds younger than previous Croft voice actors, which Square Enix says will contribute "a depth of emotion and the youthful tone needed for Lara Croft" in the game.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 27 2012 05:00 GMT
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#fineart James Paick is a freelance concept artist who has worked on more big games recently than I could fit in that headline. More »

Posted by GameTrailers Jun 26 2012 01:11 GMT
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Get a quick fix of even more gameplay as a young Lara Croft gets pushed to her limits in Tomb Raider.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 18 2012 03:00 GMT
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#pullquote The always-wonderful Charlie Brooker weighs in on the furious and indignant response from some quarters following last week's topic du jour, as seen here and here. More »

Posted by Kotaku Jun 16 2012 00:01 GMT
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#somethingnegative The major controversies, disappointments and outrages of the preceding week all seemed to share one trait: They contained some eye-rolling levels of double-speak and ulterior meanings. More »

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Posted by Giant Bomb Jun 15 2012 22:56 GMT
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I'm sure these women are well versed in the talking points for Namco Bandai's upcoming fighting game.

There’s been no shortage of discussion about women and video games this past week.

The conversation’s been driven by the gross response to Anita Sarkeesian’s nearly finished Kickstarter about the unfortunate and exclusionary tropes of female video game characters, and the quickly scrutinized comments from a producer on Tomb Raider about a potential rape scene (a description the studio has walked back) in the new game.

These are all good, uncomfortable conversations to have, but if we're talking about the depiction of women in games at such a serious level, how do we still have E3 booth babes? Other than for easy hits in web galleries, anyway.

The commonly referred to booth babe (also known as a "woman") is hired solely to wear skimpy clothing with a game or company’s logo and take photographs with attendees (who does that, by the way?). Typically, they are not well versed in the product they are hired to represent.

It seemed like a good time to check in with the Entertainment Software Association, who manages E3.

Despite some of the recent heated conversation, there are no plans to shift E3 policies.

"Exhibitors determine for themselves what is the best representation for their companies. Models are welcome if companies would like to have them, but that's an individual exhibitor decision,” said ESA VP of media relations and event management Dan Hewitt in an emailed statement to me yesterday.

Ghost Recon Commander designer Brenda Brathwaite sparked a vocal debate on Twitter over booth babes before she headed to the E3 show floor last Thursday.

“I dread heading off to work at E3 today,” she said. “The show is a constant assault on the female self esteem no matter which direction I look. I am in good shape, yet it is impossible not to compare. I feel uncomfortable. It is as if I walked into a strip club w/o intending to. These are the policies of @e3expo and @RichatESA. I feel uncomfortable in an industry I helped found.”

Her comments found plenty of support, such as Inside Network managing editor AJ Glasser.

@br The worst is when I get so good at seeing right through it that I forget they're actually women underneath the barely-there clothes.

— AJ Glasser (@Joygirl007) June 7, 2012

It’s not a new critique, but it was louder this year, and there seems to be a growing desire for change.

There was also the usual “what’s the big deal?” responses, including 3D Realms co-founder George Broussard.

@br I think you/others take it too seriously. It's not some academic event. It's a glitz show full of spectacle. #serious_business

— George Broussard (@georgeb3dr) June 7, 2012

It’s been a few years, but the ESA policy on booth babes has changed from E3's inception. The last major shift came in 2006, as new penalties, fines and policies were introduced regarding women featured in E3 exhibits.

"What's new in 2006 is an update and clarification of the enforcement policies; as we do from time to time, we have taken steps to ensure that exhibitors are familiar with the policy and how it will be enforced," said E3 show director Mary Dolaher to Reuters at the time.

A violation of the clothing policy would result in, at first, a warning, and then a $5,000 fine. Here’s what the handbook from 2006 said to exhibitors considering booth babes--er, sorry, live models:

"Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the show."

Hewitt told me there have been no changes to ESA policy since 2006.

Maybe there should be. Consider this anecdote that didn’t even take place on the show floor itself.

This was one of the first results the search term "Devil May Cry strippers" gave me, sorry.

We arrived to our Capcom appointment, I plunked down with Lost Planet 3, and Alex Navarro was ushered over to play Devil May Cry. In a room of kiosks, there were pole dancers. It’s unclear what that has to do with Devil May Cry. The girl hired to skimpily waltz around was sitting on the floor, looking bored. Everyone in the room is focused on playing the game, and Alex wasn't playing Devil May Cry in a see-through bubble. No one on the show floor could see this room. Can someone explain how this helps anyone do their job?

Elsewhere, I refused to play any 3DS games at Nintendo’s booth because the company didn’t have a table with machines, and instead tethered its lineup to attractive women. I let that gimmick slide when Nintendo pulled the same trick at the original 3DS unveiling, but I’ll just wait until those games are out now, thanks.

Nintendo probably thought it was a cute idea. I doubt (and this is my sincere hope) Nintendo meant to undermine the credibility of women at gaming’s biggest show. It's still ignorance. Many of the issues regarding women and E3 aren’t overtly offensive, and can be easily rationalized by those who don’t see a problem.

That’s okay--we should have a debate about it.

And this is all hardly an issue that’s exclusive to games. The same week as E3, the Computex Summit was happening in Taipei, and computer manufacturer ASUS sent out the following tweet:

That tweet has since been deleted and ASUS released an apology, obviously.

I can gripe all I want, but the most effective solution has to come from the ESA itself. Only the ESA can enforce regulations on exhibitors, and let them know this archaic marketing tool needs to go away. If games are growing up, so does the way we go about advertising them in front of, ostensibly, a bunch of professional. This isn’t 1994.

PAX figured this out years ago, even if there have been incidents along the way (i.e. Lollipop Chainsaw at PAX East).

“Our definition of a ‘booth babe’ has been a model (male or female) that has been hired to stand/sit in skimpy clothing to market the product,” said Penny Arcade president of business development in 2010. “If that person knows the product inside and out then it’s less of an issue. A company representative that can interact with attendees in a way that provides value as opposed to ‘hey stare at my body’ is something that we encourage whether or not that representative is physically attractive or not.”

If E3 is supposed to represent the industry’s best, why can’t it figure out how to respect its own attendees?


Posted by Kotaku Jun 11 2012 23:00 GMT
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#tombraider In the past, Lara Croft didn't need protecting. She was a fearless daredevil, a crack shot in short shorts with enough attitude to scare off a pack of bloodthirsty gorillas. More »

Posted by Joystiq Jun 08 2012 16:00 GMT
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Amazon identified two major tropes in this year's E3 games, and then, to our delight, rounded up all the games featuring these tropes in a promotional page. Allow us to present: "E3 Helicopter and Bow Titles."

Everything from Brave (bow) to Beyond: Two Souls (helicopter) to Tomb Raider (helicopter and bow) is conveniently collected for your helicopter and bow game needs. It even links out to a few already-released games featuring helicopters and bows, for the impatient helicopter/bow enthusiast.


Posted by IGN Jun 08 2012 00:52 GMT
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Who won the coveted IGN Game of the Show at E3 2012? Find out!

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Posted by Giant Bomb Jun 08 2012 00:22 GMT
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Patrick talks with Ron Rosenberg executive producer for Tomb Raider about all the fun life lessons that will be beaten into Lara.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 06 2012 10:30 GMT
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#toys E3 isn't just about games. It's about game-related stuff as well. An example: Square Enix's Play Arts action figure line, which is using the show to debut a couple of new pieces based on upcoming titles (which it also happens to be publishing). More »

Posted by GameTrailers Jun 06 2012 10:20 GMT
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The executive producer on Tomb Raider talks about reinventing the character of Lara Croft and the changes made to the gameplay.

Posted by IGN Jun 05 2012 21:22 GMT
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Lara Croft is back and we are checking out exclusive gameplay at our booth at E3 2012!

Posted by GameTrailers Jun 05 2012 07:01 GMT
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The team behind Tomb Raider sets the building blocks for our beloved Lara Croft.

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Posted by Giant Bomb Jun 05 2012 02:01 GMT
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An arrow to the face thats understandable but one to the knee come on Lara that is just mean.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 05 2012 01:34 GMT
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#vita Sony will bring its PS1 Classics service to Vita this summer, it said today at its press conference. More »

Posted by GameTrailers Jun 04 2012 20:40 GMT
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Lara Croft's situation continues to worsen in this open world section of the Tomb Raider reboot, shown off during the GameTrailers All Access Live coverage of E3 2012!

Posted by GameTrailers Jun 04 2012 18:20 GMT
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See a bit of action-packed gameplay from the new Tomb Raider.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 04 2012 17:37 GMT
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#tombraider Tomb Raider's reboot will offer its first downloadable content extension to the Xbox 360 as a timed exclusive, the game's developer said on the stage of Microsoft's E3 news conference. A long gameplay sequence from late in the game also was shown. More »