CD have no affiliation with Hitman at all.

I do think that the fact that Eidos are releasing both of their pillar releases so close together can only benefit both camps. Think of all the cross promotion opportunities!

I don't really understand what you mean, how would that work out?

... telling us their timeline wouldn't be.

Well not only does Crystal Dynamics not have anything to do with a game made by IO interactive, but how have the Hitman fans got more than the Tomb Raider fans anyway? We have already had reveals (2 rounds of magazine articles), a trailer, screenshots, developer interviews and a few other video features, as well as a fair chunk of gameplay. We got to see the game earlier and both games will be coming out within a few months of each other.

The Hitman fans had to wait a very long time to see anything of their game, the last one came out in 2006 and the trailer only came out around October last year. Before that they only had a teaser trailer from May 2011 that showed nothing of the game. I think the Tomb Raider fans are better off. In the end it is not how early you started the advertising campaign (look at AOD), or how many magazine previews you got before release (Duke Nukem Forever), but how enthusiastic everyone was just before the game released that matters the most. The publisher wants them them so excited they all rush out and buy the game. No point getting them all excited ages before the game is released and then failing to rekindle that enthusiasm when it counts. In the end both the Hitman and Tomb Raider advertising campaigns would have a fair chance of making the same impression. Even if Tomb Raider started with the biggest splash and doused everything else. We have yet to see if Crystal Dynamics is planning on making a similar impression as they start the main campaign, but it would not surprise me. Lara is likely to be leaving Agent 47 for dead at E3.

Tomb Raider be promoted off the back of Hitman events and perhaps even little things like advertisements inside the game box when it's released and vice versa.

They still do that.
My copy of Mass Effect 2 came with an ad for Dragon Age 2 for instance.

They're confirmed to be at E3. They also said it's go big or go home, and that they don't go home.

^Funny, Will.I.Am's song 'Go Home' started playing as soon as I read the end of that sentence. :pi:

The lyrics go like "Go hard or go home!".

Oh, I understand now. That's a good idea.