I don't usually bother commenting on gaming news on Well-Rendered because as you might have noticed, I tend not to write about very recent releases. About once or twice a year, I'll buy something on release day and end up writing about it a couple of weeks later, but the rest of the time I tend not to get round to playing something until it's been out for at least six months.
I also try and avoid news about games I'm really interested in because I fear the hype machine that claimed me and forty of my hard-earned pounds back in 2010 with the release of Final Fantasy XIII. If I really want to play a new or upcoming game, I'll ignore it for a few months, then start reading blogs and reviews by people whose opinions I trust. That way, I generally manage to avoid disappointment.
There are exceptions though, and you can probably guess that one of those exceptions is Tomb Raider. I follow the official Tomb Raider tumblr blog daily, not just for news, but also the lovely and varied selection of fan art and development nuggets from Crystal Dynamics. Now would be a good time to say how much I like the tumblr blogs for Square Enix studios such as Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal that provide such a fun feed for fans (no alliteration intended), an approachable and varied mix of fan art, Q&A sessions, studio insight and news. It's smart community management, basically, far better than a sporadically updated news page on a flash-heavy website.
Anyway, I've been quite excited about the box art for the upcoming Tomb Raider game, and now that it's been released, I'm happy to say that I like it. I wasn't too keen on the grubby headshot that did the rounds when the game was announced because, well, I just didn't believe in her hair. Take a look.
Why is it all short at the back and sides? It would have been messed up by the shipwreck, but not cut off, which means her hair was short in those places in the first place and I just don't think the kind of woman who'd go to the effort of having such long, well-conditioned, swishy hair would have it cut in such a ridiculous way. Role-playing is important to me, and that hair really threatened to get in the way of it.
Actually, Elena Fisher has something similar going on: if her hair's long enough to go back in a bun, she shouldn't have those weird Lisa Simpson spikes at the nape of her neck. Look:
The other Uncharted woman, Chloe Frazer, also has immersion-destroying hair because it's not really tied back in any way that would facilitate adventuring, it's just sort of loosely gathered, like an eighteenth-century curtain or something. It looks like it would be really annoying, and keep falling in her eyes during gun battles. I guess it was chosen because practically tied-back hair would look too much like Elena's, a higher ponytail or braid would make her look too much like Lara Croft (she's already a brunette with combats and boots), and loose hair would look too impractical.
At least the style she has makes a slight nod to practicality, even if it doesn't follow through. Still, I always want to tie it back properly for her with a good-quality hair elastic and maybe a clip for her fringe.
Where was I? Oh yeah, Lara. More recent publicity shots have played down the stupid haircut, which I'm really happy about.
I like the new box art, I think it's a good balance between the series' new identity and a classic pose, where she looks capable and determined, if not confident. Yet. I'm really beginning to look forward to the game, if only because it looks like it's doing something new, not just within the series, but within games in general.
In the meantime, I've signed up for NaNoWriMo. One of the instructions it gives is to tell people you're doing it so it's harder to quit halfway through, so that's what I'm doing. I'm still not terrifically optimistic about my ability to write 1,600 words every day (i.e. 1,600 more words than I currently do), but you know, they don't actually have to be any good. That's the point. Like Hemingway said, "write drunk; edit sober".
That would explain why I'm so good at my job.
JOKING.
 |
| "That trailer was lame." |
I also try and avoid news about games I'm really interested in because I fear the hype machine that claimed me and forty of my hard-earned pounds back in 2010 with the release of Final Fantasy XIII. If I really want to play a new or upcoming game, I'll ignore it for a few months, then start reading blogs and reviews by people whose opinions I trust. That way, I generally manage to avoid disappointment.
There are exceptions though, and you can probably guess that one of those exceptions is Tomb Raider. I follow the official Tomb Raider tumblr blog daily, not just for news, but also the lovely and varied selection of fan art and development nuggets from Crystal Dynamics. Now would be a good time to say how much I like the tumblr blogs for Square Enix studios such as Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal that provide such a fun feed for fans (no alliteration intended), an approachable and varied mix of fan art, Q&A sessions, studio insight and news. It's smart community management, basically, far better than a sporadically updated news page on a flash-heavy website.
 |
| The new Tomb Raider box art. |
Anyway, I've been quite excited about the box art for the upcoming Tomb Raider game, and now that it's been released, I'm happy to say that I like it. I wasn't too keen on the grubby headshot that did the rounds when the game was announced because, well, I just didn't believe in her hair. Take a look.
 |
| Worst. Hair. Ever. |
Why is it all short at the back and sides? It would have been messed up by the shipwreck, but not cut off, which means her hair was short in those places in the first place and I just don't think the kind of woman who'd go to the effort of having such long, well-conditioned, swishy hair would have it cut in such a ridiculous way. Role-playing is important to me, and that hair really threatened to get in the way of it.
Actually, Elena Fisher has something similar going on: if her hair's long enough to go back in a bun, she shouldn't have those weird Lisa Simpson spikes at the nape of her neck. Look:
 |
| Why does Elena have some kind of hair valance? |
The other Uncharted woman, Chloe Frazer, also has immersion-destroying hair because it's not really tied back in any way that would facilitate adventuring, it's just sort of loosely gathered, like an eighteenth-century curtain or something. It looks like it would be really annoying, and keep falling in her eyes during gun battles. I guess it was chosen because practically tied-back hair would look too much like Elena's, a higher ponytail or braid would make her look too much like Lara Croft (she's already a brunette with combats and boots), and loose hair would look too impractical.
At least the style she has makes a slight nod to practicality, even if it doesn't follow through. Still, I always want to tie it back properly for her with a good-quality hair elastic and maybe a clip for her fringe.
 |
| Surely this hair would get in the way? It's a bit Monica-from-Friends circa 2002, and the Friends girls always had really unconvincing hair. |
Where was I? Oh yeah, Lara. More recent publicity shots have played down the stupid haircut, which I'm really happy about.
I like the new box art, I think it's a good balance between the series' new identity and a classic pose, where she looks capable and determined, if not confident. Yet. I'm really beginning to look forward to the game, if only because it looks like it's doing something new, not just within the series, but within games in general.
In the meantime, I've signed up for NaNoWriMo. One of the instructions it gives is to tell people you're doing it so it's harder to quit halfway through, so that's what I'm doing. I'm still not terrifically optimistic about my ability to write 1,600 words every day (i.e. 1,600 more words than I currently do), but you know, they don't actually have to be any good. That's the point. Like Hemingway said, "write drunk; edit sober".
That would explain why I'm so good at my job.
JOKING.