New "in-game" picture of Lara...

[Trinity34]

Thanks to Croft28 at Yahoo TombRaiderMovies club for the info...


Tomb Raider, the last PSone demo disc and Britney Spears. Whether you choose to believe it or not...
by - Steve Watt

(8:16PM)- For all our faithful readers, here's the contents of the upcoming OPM issue for March 2002 (even though IGN nor Gamespot nor OPM themselves have announced it to anyone) ;).

Cover Story:

Tomb Raider: The Next Generation: See the world exclusive first screens and read first details on Lara's new adventure on the PS2. You'll be stunned when you see just how good this game looks.

Features:

Final Fantasy XI Beta Test Hits Japan: A report on the beta test from Japan and some hands-on impressions of the game so far.

Peripherals Supertest: A complete testing of all of the latest PS2 joysticks, wheels, controllers, memory cards, and more and report on which ones will suit you best.

Britney Spears Interview: Find out how she feels about starring in her first PS2 game. New game info and screens too!

Cheap Thrills: OPM reports on what the best low-cost PS one games are. Tekken 3, Ape Escape and Spider-Man are the list -- see what else made the cut.

Previews: Virtua Fighter 4, Tekken 4, Soul Calibur 2, Army Men RTS, Fatal Frame, Space Channel 5, Gran Turismo: Concept, Sled Storm, Hot Shots Golf 3, and more!

Reviews: Maximo, Pac-Man World 2, Godai: Elemental Force, Johnny Mosley Mad Trix, Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front, and more!

Demo Disc: OPM's last PSone demo disc? Check out playables of such games as Sheep Raider, Monsters, Inc., Twisted Metal: Small Brawl, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, and more! Sounds pretty decent to me for a PSone disc!


Here is the picture of Lara on the cover...
http://216.234.188.15/~imageupload/trcover.jpg

[tlr online]

Thanks Trinity. We're also going to be posting some original prints to the site shortly.

[Trinity34]

I think she looks a lot better than the previous pictures of NG http://www.tombraiderforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[tlr online]

you ain't seen nothing yet ;)

[Trinity34]

tlr_online I saw that you updated the Latest Headlines for the NG section but do you have any new pictures other than what is in the Design Artwork section?

[trfreak]

tlr_online when are you going to update... IM DYING!!!!!

[trfreak]

how many more pictures / information are you posting??? and when?? im seriously freaking out about this im so excited!!!

[tlr online]

the profile article has been revised and reads as follows. Please NOTE copyright info before porting to your own sites/forums etc. nice shiney new pics to follow shortly....

TOMB RAIDER NEXT GENERATION UPDATE
Copyright © 2002 www.tombraiderchronicles.com (http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com) | January 10th 2002

Tomb Raider Next Generation is, without doubt, this year's most anticipated title, propelling Lara Croft - the most successful video-game character in the history of the industry - onto the Sony Playstation II and PC platforms for what promises to be a highly charged, action packed and digitally re-rendered adventure penned for a five year incubation period.

Rumours surfacing this week add further credence to the vaguely outlined plotline which, although shrouded in mystery, has ricocheted around the video-game circuit like Chinese whispers since Eidos Interactive confirmed Lara Croft would return following her involuntary incarceration in the Temple Of Horus at the end of The Last Revelation.

Lara Croft, framed for a murder she did not commit and pursued by the authorities while escaping from the evil conspirators who seek her doom, begins a three-part adventure in gay Paris, where she will be forced to break into the famous Musée du Louvre to action the theft of artwork to further her adventures. The second and newly revealed plotline - still unconfirmed at this time - sees Lara Croft resurrecting her traditional Tomb Raider skills as she embarks on an adventure deep within the bowels of the catacombs rooted beneath the city. Part three re-introduces the schematics of high tech industry as Lara finds her adventures mapped to a mental institution where the first in a series of episodic adventures looks set to conclude.

Core Design have introduced additional playable characters to the Tomb Raider broth including Curtis - whose path will intertwine with Lara's as they both advance their challenge for beneficial resolution. Adventures involving the new AI character are likely to spawn from Tomb Raider Next Generation in the form of a spin-off video-game series; although no official confirmation has been made.

Core Design will expand the interactivity of Tomb Raider Next Generation by offering downloadable components such as character development and plot details via the web, although the studio dispelled earlier rumors about their internet update strategy by stating that the games themselves will not be made available online.

Tomb Raider Next Generation will also sport more role playing elements in the form of attribute development, which awards more diligent players richer content and improves Lara's skill and dexterity the more she performs specific actions. Rather than allowing players to tweak the game's characters to their liking, certain actions - such as running and sprinting - will automatically become more effective the more a player performs them. This allows Core to include areas in the game that are accessible only by characters of a certain proficiency level.

The Lara Croft model has undergone extensive digital surgery and her current 500-polygon skeleton has been shed for a 5,000 polygon external chassis, affording an improved fluid appearance that will provide gamers with a more organic and human feel. Environmental architectures and game-play schematics have been redesigned from the wire frame up with Core Design gearing up to exploit the PS2's huge terrain-based polygon capabilities to render more depth, texture and response to its levels.

Tomb Raider Next Generation - a working title - has initially been slated for a November 2002 release, although we suspect mandatory teasing will see the game commercially available sometime in December. During a visit to the Derbyshire-based studios last year, we noted a Microsoft XBOX Developers Console in Next Gen Mission Control, but to date no official confirmation has been made as to whether this platform will host Tomb Raider. Sony Playstation II and PC platforms are the only confirmed consoles.

[Pancho]

Please, we're all DYING, please, if you have any other thing, let us see it, mainly PICTURES, please :D :D :D

[tlr online]

Patience is a virtue.....

[raider of tombs]

Tombs, eh? DO you think it's possible that Core sensed the desire among fans for a mixture of tombs and cities, and adapted the game to suit it? I remember tlr saying something cryptic about Core listening to their fans more than you'd think...

[trfreak]

tlr online can you at least tell us when this update is going to take place....???????????????

[raider of tombs]

OK, I found that cryptic remark (http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=17&t=000040)

[buckmana]

I'd rather have the game demo than the pictures. And at some point, I think they will release one.

Or failing that, some more ingame movies. And I don't mean that one that we've all seen (with the police squad, etc). I don't like it. The model doesn't really look like Lara. I glad the ingame model does though.

A question:

Given the plot breakdown I've seen of TRVI, why doesn't Lara just go to the local international bank and withdraw some cash? I'm assuming Winston has full access to her bank account (which would make sense, as he's probably paying the bills when she's off tombraiding (knowing Lara, it would be an international bank account)) and has kept the account open.