TOMB RAIDER ZODIAC DEBUT SPRING '05
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ November 22nd 2004 ]

Tapwave, the US manufacturer of the world's first Palm Powered multimedia handheld, has confirmed details of its agreement with Eidos, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, to bring the most famous video game icon Lara Croft to the Zodiac platform. Tomb Raider Zodiac, due to be published by Tapwave in spring of 2005 sees Lara embarking on an exciting adventure. Using an all new custom 3D game engine, this adventure will take full advantage of the Zodiac's graphics accelerator. Gamers can look forward to the latest character model, lavish locations, heart-stopping action sequences and brain-taxing puzzles - which all combine to produce one of Lara's greatest adventures yet.

"We have been very impressed by the Zodiac and Tapwave's understanding of what makes a good Tomb Raider game," says Simon Protheroe, Eidos' director of new media and online technologies. "Tomb Raider for the Zodiac will be a valuable new addition to the franchise." "Like the Zodiac, Tomb Raider is truly multimedia," adds Byron Connell, founder and SVP Marketing, Tapwave. "Tomb Raider began life as a game, and evolved into two movies, a couple of original soundtracks and several books - four formats, among many, the Zodiac handles with style. We're delighted to be working with Eidos on a Zodiac version of Tomb Raider, and we're confident it will be one of the best handheld incarnations to date."

The Zodiac offers a high-resolution (480x320) 3.8-inch color display, Yamaha audio with stereo speakers and vibration effects. With integrated Bluetooth and infrared wireless technologies, the Zodiac can also be used in conjunction with a compatible mobile phone with data services to browse the Internet and manage email. The Zodiac can be operated in landscape or portrait mode, allowing Word documents, email or family pictures to be viewed in the orientation that best suits them. The Zodiac also features high-capacity rechargeable lithium batteries for extended use, a touch-screen for direct interaction and text input, and the first ever analog controller with 360 degree of motion in a handheld product.

While the powerful Freescale ARM9 processor and integrated ATI graphics accelerator are the same in both models, the Zodiac 1 and Zodiac 2 come with 32MB and 128MB of memory respectively. Each can be expanded by slotting in SD cards in the handhelds two expansion ports, offering up to 2GB of additional storage - enough for a significant number of songs, photos, e-books, games, videos, and business documents.