So much for not pumping out a game every year?

[MattTR]

One of the things I hear complained about from Core Design is that Eidos was making them pump out TR games every year for more and more money.. then Crystal Dynamics said something on the lines of "we won't be making 1 Tomb Raider game every year because then Lara gets old fast" or something.. well as far as I can tell the next 3 games are coming out in the next 3 years?

Anniversary Edition - 2007 (Confirmed)
Tomb Raider 8 (2008)?
Tomb Raider 9 (2009) Corresponding with the movie? - Refrence from an interview.

What are your ideas? ;)

[xMiSsCrOfTx]

I say as long as they're good (not too short, not too easy, harder puzzles/traps, et cetera...), I don't care if one comes out every year. If they get us to the point where we're all really craving more, they won't need to worry about Lara getting old.

[tomvw]

That should be repetitive, such a short period doesn't leave much room for innovating stuff :confused:

[PirateRose]

The series is doomed, lets just accept that now...

[interstellardave]

Anniversery Edition doesn't count... it's a revamped existing game, pretty much. TR8 is the game that counts when you're on a topic like this.

[aussie500]

Considering they will be using the same model and engine with only slight differences, and they already had the story and some of the work done most likely before Legend was released, l do not see why they could not get the next game out in a reasonalble time frame, it is not like they have to come up with a completely new story. Tomb Raider 8 probably would have been out 12 months after Legend except for the fact that they are doing it for the PS3 and possibly another new console as well, so it will take longer to do those versions. The AE game is being done by a different team, most likely using the existing model and engine, and they started before Legend was even released, and are only working with current gen consoles so will not have as much work to do (although l am still expecting to get twice as much value for my money :D)

[Cochrane]

I would say that AE is (if it is a full remake of TR1) at least as challenging as a normal game. I do not think any textures can be reused in any way, all models will have to be remade, I imagine that the level geometry will be severely changed (as long as it doesn't impact gameplay), and the game logic for the levels will have to be completely redone to fit the new engine.

I honestly do not expect much innovation from TR in the next few years. Longer levels, more challenging puzzles and so on are things that I'm hoping for, and I'm convinced that they'll improve the graphics with each release, but otherwise, TR is not going to be the place where you see really new gameplay. At best, gameplay elements that have worked well for other games will be copied. This is simply the path of least risk, and it made Eidos and Core five games that sold nearly 30 million copies in total before, so I would be very surprised if they suddenly take a risk. On the other hand, of course, I would be very pleased if they took a risk and the result was great.

[shaahinkaaveh]

Was there a rule in Animal Farm reading: "No animal is allowed to make a game every year - unless they make a game every year." ?!

Wise words Cochrane - as always.

[Cochrane]

Some time ago, I accidentally stumbled upon the following article (warning, long, not for small children who cannot read more than five sentences at a time): http://lostgarden.com/2006/04/managing-game-design-risk-part-ii-data.html This mainly shaped my opinion on this issue.

Reading this article I realised that Tomb Raider 1-5 (even though it is not explicitly mentioned there) was a prime example for doing just this. Old technology and gameplay, hardly changed, with new levels. Even where it mentions "Gameplay is basically press a button and an animation will be played", this is directly related to Tomb Raider (1-5), where gameplay really only works this way.

The advantages of this approach are obvious: Low risk, the most money is put in things that are unlikely to break. Compare AoD, where the developers invented a new core technology (risky), new gameplay elements such as strength updates (risky), and even altered the franchise to include a new playable character (risky). I know many people love AoD, and I like it myself, but when comparing it's sales to Legend's (Legend managed surpassed AoD in it's first half year out) and looking at groups like GROK, I think it's fair to say that it wasn't a full success.

Legend, on the other hand, uses gameplay mainly from other games, focuses on the one character that brings money and makes a game that many like best for it's graphics. I hope that Crystal Dynamics can sneak in a few things that are not 100% certain to work, but fun, in future games, but I don't think that Eidos, SCi and Crystal see, on the whole, a reason to make a game more innovative than they really have to. The Tomb Raider franchise is simply to valuable to mess around a lot.

[thevman]

Meh, the money making machine for eidos is in full gear, roaring ahead. Watch out or it will roll right over you! (after it cleans out your wallet, of course) :rolleyes: Funny how in past recent interviews they claimed they won't make the same mistakes and crank out game after game only a year apart, but here they are doing just that... :whi:

[Ward Dragon]

I've learned to accept that all of the advertising is just that--advertising. They'll say whatever they think will make us buy more games. For example, advertising like, "We'll return to the roots AND attract new players" (you can't faithfully do both because the 'new players' didn't like the old roots, which is why they never got into the series before). It's fashionable to criticize Core for killing TR, so that's what Crystal is doing now in order to distance themselves from the bad reviews that the past TR games have gotten (just looking at the official reviews of Legend, they all begin the review by mocking the previous games and then going out of their way to emphasize that Legend is different, so obviously Crystal played it right to get good reviews...) So, basically criticizing Core for making a game every single year is just another attempt to distance themselves from Core in the public mind, regardless of whether or not they are doing the same thing themselves. Their job is to sell games, and that's what they're doing.

[da tomb raider!]

The series is doomed, lets just accept that now...
I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one.
Tomb Raider should have finished long, long ago. After Tomb Raider Chronicles. Or maybe even after Tomb Raider 3. But they didn't, and something is still going on, under the name of Tomb Raider. Of course, only the sensible, willing-to-let-go-of-Tomb-Raider-and-Lara-Croft guys will understand that.

[shaahinkaaveh]

I've learned to accept that all of the advertising is just that--advertising. They'll say whatever they think will make us buy more games. For example, advertising like, "We'll return to the roots AND attract new players" (you can't faithfully do both because the 'new players' didn't like the old roots, which is why they never got into the series before). It's fashionable to criticize Core for killing TR, so that's what Crystal is doing now in order to distance themselves from the bad reviews that the past TR games have gotten (just looking at the official reviews of Legend, they all begin the review by mocking the previous games and then going out of their way to emphasize that Legend is different, so obviously Crystal played it right to get good reviews...) So, basically criticizing Core for making a game every single year is just another attempt to distance themselves from Core in the public mind, regardless of whether or not they are doing the same thing themselves. Their job is to sell games, and that's what they're doing.
You are right WD, you are so unfortunately so right. Living in this confounded world could have been much nicer, there could have been no dirty fetish which in surrounded by a lot of beautiful "modern" and "democratic" so called laws absolving it everytime... .

Advertising could have been a meaningful act, no childish manipulated noise making you excited.

[Blackmoor]

I never thought there was anything wrong with releasing a game per year anyway. Provided every so often they have a major update. (...imo, we're still waiting for the first proper one... Seriously.)

But I think they'll be lucky if they get more than 1 sequel out of Legend style gameplay/system without the sales plummeting. It wasn't updated enough, to me it's already old. It should have been as awesome as Assassin's C and Man Croft are looking.

Like Cochrane says, they took the low risk approach. That's a good strategy for a cash cow that you're managing into decline... (relatively low investment, low risk, maximised returns). It's not a good strategy for a premier brand/product that you want to revitalise and reposition in the market though...

Was it a deliberate strategy to take a low risk approach or just beyond their capabilities to produce something truly innovative?

At the moment, I believe the developers are incapable of making anything truly astounding (for a variety of reasons).