eidos-interactive posts

One of the traditions of releasing a new Tomb Raider game was that a lucky UK woman was hired by Eidos to portray the lead character Lara Croft at various press and fan events.That model achieved international fame and it sometimes lead to other things. The very first official Lara Croft model, Rhona Mitra, has had a solid acting career since her time in the costume in the late 1990s.

But now it looks like the franchise's new owners Square Enix have other plans. The just announced new reboot of the action-adventure game series, simply called Tomb Raider, has a preview in the new Game Informer magazine. According to a post at NeoGAF from a person who has reportedly read the preview the plan is not to hire a model-actress to play the Lara Croft role this time. So you will just have to deal with the tons of non-official cosplay models. Oh well.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is ramping up the marketing for its first quarter 2011 release by announcing plans to release an "Augmented Edition" (code for Collector's Edition) for the upcoming cyberpunk-themed RPG. The game from developer Eidos Montreal and publisher Square Enix will be priced at $49.99 for the PC port of the Standard Edition with a $59.99 price for the PC Augmented Edition. That price will get you the game and a number of extras including a behind-the-scenes DVD, a motion graphic novel and a 40 page art book.

In addition there will be two special pre-order incentives. GameStop customers who put their money down early will be able to access an additional mission in the game that features a special cameo appearance from an unnamed character from the original Deus Ex game. You will also get some extra in-game items ( The Linebacker G-87 multiple shot grenade launcher, the M-28 Utility Remote-Detonated Explosive Device (UR-DED), and the Automatic Unlocking Device). Other retailers will get a separate pre-order bonus which will include extra in-game credits and two in-game items (The Huntsman Silverback Double-Barrel Shotgun and the Longsword Whisperhead Extreme Range Sniper Rifle) .

[Via email press release]

While we wait for more info and screenshots to be released for Batman: Arkham City. the first Batman game from developer Rocksteady is ready for yet another sale. Yep, the Game of the Year edition of Batman: Arkham Asylum has a big price cut at the Steam PC game download service.

Normally priced at $39.99, the Game of the Year edition is now on sale via Steam for just $13.60, a 66 percent discount. The game is almost a steal at that price and if you have not yet played it you need to do so before Batman: Arkham City comes out.

You only have a week before Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days is released but various retailers are offering special pre-order offers for Io Interactive's third person shooter sequel. GameStop is offering perhaps the coolest of the pre-order bonuses; an exclusive new multiplayer map, the Radio Tower. Ordering the game from Best Buy adds eight new multiplayer masks for your character to wear in the game. Both GameStop and Best Buy's pre-order offers add new multiplayer weapons to the game.

If you buy the game from Amazon.com you can get a 16 page preview of the recently launched Kane and Lynch comic book. Finally Wal Mart is offering a free strategy guide for the game's Fragile Alliance gameplay mode as its pre-order incentive. Again, you had better movie quickly as Kane and Lynch 2 is due out on August 17.

[Via email press release]

Earlier this year we reported that the PC port of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light would be released a few weeks after its launch on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade. Today we received word that the downloadable action-adventure game from developer Crystal Dynamics will be released on the PC via Steam on September 28 for $14.99.

Even after the release of the game. Crystal Dynamics plans to offer several downloadable expansions for the title from October to December. Three of these expansions will give the heroine of the Tomb Raider series new areas to explore with more puzzles and combat. The other two expansions are character packs which will let players play the game with unnamed but "other well-known videogame characters..."

[via email press release]

Rocksteady Games' hit super hero action game Batman Arkham Asylum came out in September 2009 for the PC but today owners of the original game can use the Games For Windows Live client to purchase and download two new challenge maps that were previously available to a select few.

One of the new additions, the Villain Challenge Map ,was previously available if you pre-ordered the game via GameStop. The other addition, the Crime Alley Challenge Map, was only available until today with the collector's version of the game. Both can now be purchased and downloaded for 240 Microsoft Points each (about $3). In addition, the Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition is also available to download from Games For Windows Live Marketplace for $29.99. As we have reported before this edition has 3D gaming support without the need for special equipment save for normal 3D glasses.

[Via Shacknews]

It apparently happened several months ago but today Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers admitted publiclly that the publisher shut down their development studio Eidos Hungary. The team, which was acquired when Square Enix bought Eidos a year ago, is best known for developing the WWII action-RTS games Battlestations Midway and its sequel Battlestations Pacific.

Develop Online chatted with Rogers who stated, "We took the decision back in October" to close the developer. He added, "We were pleased with Eidos Hungary but I think we realised that to be first or best in the RTS genre was going to be really challenging. It wasn't necessarily something we were going to win." He added that they are not moving forward with more games in the Battlestations series.

Want to drive around your neighborhood in a pimped-out ice cream truck? Well, you can't in real life but you sure can in the open world action game sequel Just Cause 2. Today its publisher Square Enix has announced that players of the Avalanche Studios developed title can now access the Chevalier Ice Breaker vehicle for free.

Yes, you can be stylin' and profilin' in this rig which comes with some low suspension, a great paint job and as you can see a very nasty looking front bumper that looks like it could tear up your Ford Focus if you happen to be on the wrong side of it. This is likely the first of many extra content releases for the game in the coming weeks.

[Via email press release]

IO Interactive is better known for their mature franchises Kane & Lynch and Hitman, but come fall, they'll have a more light-hearted title under their belt with Mini Ninjas. An action game revolving around cutesy ninjas saving nature, Mini Ninjas is reminiscent of a more child-friendly version of the brutal Ninja Gaiden. The title is planned for release on September 8th in North America, September 11th in the UK and PAL territories, and October 9th in France and Germany. Full press release after the cut.

Eidos may have been bought out by Square Enix recently but the game developer/publisher is still cutting jobs at its Northern California-based team at Crystal Dynamics. After letting 30 team members go last January, Kotaku has learned that the team has let go of another 25 people this week.

The team's last project was Tomb Raider Underworld which didn't meet Eidos's sales expectations. There's no official word yet on what Crystal Dynamics' next project will be although many assume it will be yet another Tomb Raider game. Meanwhile Eidos' Montreal studio is actually hiring for their two announced projets Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4.