MANGA-STYLE INFLUENCE
FOR LARA CROFT?
Copyright 2003 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ November 1st 2003 ]
The future
of Lara Croft Tomb Raider has never before been
shrouded in so much secrecy than that which conceals
the tentatively titled Tomb Raider 7, currently
in development in Southern California by U.S.
game-makers Crystal Dynamics. However, one clue
on the future direction of Miss Croft could be
the recent revelations that the next game could
be influenced by Mango anime, a popular style
of art developed in Japan.
Manga
is the Japanese terminology for comic book or
graphic novel, a serialisation predominately made
up of pictures or illustrations characterized
by stylized colourful art and futuristic settings.
By definition, Manga is commonly confused with
anime - both formats are closely related and frequently
cross over. Expanding by including a by-product
on definition, Manga is usually created first,
and if it becomes popular then the market is deemed
capable of supporting a much more costly animation
based on it.
To immerse
Lara Croft in a world with such provocative definition
and starched characterisation would require immense
engine power, requiring Crystal Dynamics to develop
ground-breaking core code with the ability to
crisply encapsulate and quickly entertain a wanton
audience whose mindset would be very much precipitated
by previous Tomb Raider episodes coupled with
the development debacle that has dogged Eidos
since July. It is this stigma attached to an ardently
criticized transfer of the Tomb Raider franchise
from UK based Core Design to U.S. based Crystal
Dynamics that will also amplify a critical dissection
of any future Lara Croft helmed adventure.
It would
not be too prudent to hypothesize at this point
where the Californian developers intend to take
our very British export - Eidos maintains the
essential hallmarks of an English rose and a potent
franchise will remain intact - but a more Manga-in-orientation
styled production would indeed be the marked departure
from previous Tomb Raider games former Core Design
Managing Director Jeremy Heath-Smith touted prior
to the release of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The
Angel Of Darkness. We'll have more information
over the coming months on the future of the Tomb
Raider adventure game series.
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