Rise of the Tomb Raider

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Rise of the Tomb Raider Review: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Askew

rise-of-the-tomb-raider-headerSeldom do reboots actually reinvigorate a franchise. Sure, Star Trek wasn’t too bad but when you consider the likes of Point Break and The Amazing Spider-Man and Conan The Barbarian and Godzilla (twice), you find yourself scared away from reboots. Gaming isn’t immune to that with the likes of Sim City, Medal of Honor and Sonic the Hedgehog as failed attempts to reinvigorate franchises.

One of the more successful reboots in history is 2013’s Tomb Raider which is the series best-selling and among its most critically acclaimed. It came as a shock that Microsoft had to pay the way for this sequel to 2013’s hit. Rise of the Tomb Raider recently hit PC after an exclusivity period on Xbox One and will come to PS4 this fall (despite being the platform that Tomb Raider sold best on).

So how does the sequel to the reboot standup? Well, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops.

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Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

E3 2015: What to Expect from Square Enix’s First Press Conference

square-enix-e3-2015-announcementThe pre-E3 festivities began with a newcomer on Sunday night and will end on Tuesday morning (afternoon away from the west coast) with another newcomer. This time, it’s Square Enix who are making their E3 debut. While they won’t have the Tomb Raider sequel, they have a few other sequels that should excite gamers and the assembled press alike.

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Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

E3 2015: Rumours, Predictions and a Preview of Microsoft’s Presser

microsoft-e3-2015-announcementWith Bethesda’s E3 opening press conference out of the way, it’s time for the big boys to play with the four Monday press conferences that we typically see on the Monday before E3 officially begins. The first of the four Monday pressers is Microsoft. While Microsoft bounced back from the Xbox One launch E3 presser last year, this year looks to be an even bigger year for Microsoft at E3. This could be their big chance to move ahead of Sony in the 8th-Gen console wars.

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Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

From Failure to Record-Breaker: Tomb Raider Racks Up Franchise Record 8.5 Million Copies Sold

tomb-raider-wallpaperI want you to flashback to March 2013. I know it seems like forever ago. I didn’t have any grey hair then so it’s longer for me.

In an investor call at the end of the month, Square Enix effectively called the Tomb Raider reboot that had been out for all of three weeks a failure. They said that they had expected the game to ship between five and six million copies and only it moved 3.4 million. Square Enix made it sound like the Tomb Raider franchise was dead on re-arrival.

Over the following 24 months, Tomb Raider and the current-gen (PS4 and XB1) Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition sold another 5.1 million copies to bring the total units sold to a franchise record of 8.5 million copies sold. They’re touting the success of the Tomb Raider reboot in the run up to this fall’s release of The Rise of the Tomb Raider (a timed exclusive on Xbox One and Xbox 360).

So what happened for Square Enix to change their tune?

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