More Reviews
REVIEWS Resident Evil: Revelations Review
While 3DS gamers have been enjoying the franchise's best game in years for some time now, does the experience translate for Resident Evil fans on console?

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Review
Gamers have gone bananas for Nintendo's 3DS, but can this port of Retro Studios' 2010 Wii game make the jump to your portable?
More Previews
PREVIEWS The Last of Us Preview
With Naughty Dog releasing a new IP in just a few short weeks, we got hands-on one more time. But don't worry: This is a spoiler-free preview.
The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot Preview
Watch Dogs (PS4) Preview
Release Dates
NEW RELEASES GRiD 2
Release date: 05/28/13

Fuse
Release date: 05/28/13

Remember Me
Release date: 06/04/13

The Last of Us
Release date: 06/14/13



LATEST FEATURES Being A Console Is Actually Xbox One's Worst Asset
Microsoft's newest console has lots of different features, but video games might hold the device back from the software giant's true intentions.

Everything I Learned About Call of Duty: Ghosts Last Week
I wasn't allowed to talk about the new Infinity Ward game last week when I met with Activision, and I don't have much to say now that Xbox One spilled the beans.
MOST POPULAR FEATURES 7 Best Video Game Franchises Of All Time
Gaming is home to some incredible IPs. Here you'll find a slightly objective, yet heavily biased, list of the absolute best of the best.
Xbox Infinity: Everything (We Think) We Know About Microsoft's Next-Gen Console [Updated... Again]
5 Ways Microsoft Could Screw Up The Xbox Reveal
Top 10 Games EA Should Develop With Star Wars License
 
Coming Soon

More Cheats
LATEST CHEATS
iStunt 2
Sports
05/21/13
More Cheats
MOST POPULAR CHEATS
Temple Run
Action / Adventure
04/08/13

LEADERBOARD
Read More Member Blogs
FEATURED VOXPOP Bras
On the future of some gamers
By Bras
Posted on 05/22/13
Before Microsoft and Sony do something regarding their future in the video game business, I wanted to write this for a long time now, but other things kept getting in my way, and fearing that tomorrow might be too late, today will have to do.   Months ago, when I heard Dark...

Home News Tomb Raider Art Director Comments On Maturity Of The Industry

GAMING NEWS

Tomb Raider Art Director Comments On Maturity Of The Industry

Posted on Wednesday, December 5 @ 10:02:41 Eastern by Alex_Osborn


Crystal Dynamics art director Brian Horton recently shared a few words about our industry's perception of female leads and the need for the gaming community to mature in this regard.

In an interview with CVG, Horton explained that there is evidence of steps forward with games like Mass Effect, but their upcoming Tomb Raider reboot is taking a bold new approach to a female lead that we haven't seen in games prior.

I think that’s what’s really great about Mass Effect for instance: you can choose to be female Shepard. You can choose to make the protagonist a heroine, but that’s not the way they market the game, right? It’s marketed as the male Shepard. So for our game, Lara stands alone in an industry of AAA third-person action games, in that it has the female hero.

He also went on to point out that the Lara Croft of earlier Tomb Raider games was "really just an expression of male energy in a female body," but "now she’s both female and feminine, but at the same time very strong, has that inner strength, has those smarts – the things you associate with Lara Croft – but also with a little more texture."

When asked about that controversial scene that ends in Lara killing her attacker, Horton replied by saying:

As an industry we’ve grown up, but not enough to do everything you can do in films or TV. We made a conscious decision to make a bold storytelling choice and gameplay choice, to give that scene more emotional weight. We don’t shy away from the choices we made.

Tomb Raider launches on March 5th for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Related Games:   Tomb Raider (2013)
Tags:   Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix


More from the Game Revolution Network




Comments
  • napsterxxl
    napsterxxl
    Joined: Mar 2006
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 10:11 am
    "Lara Croft of earlier Tomb Raider games was "really just an expression of male energy in a female body," but "now she’s both female and feminine"?

    does that mean she'll have PMS Rage instead of normal berserk mode?







    yeah, sorry. couldn't help myself.
    0 3
  • Lien
    Lien
    Joined: Feb 2008
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 10:24 am
    "You can choose to make the protagonist a heroine, but that’s not the way they market the game, right? It’s marketed as the male Shepard"
    Yes and no. In the first two mass effect, it was marketed as a male Shepard but with mass effect 3 they tried to give more attention to the female counterpart such as on the box cover or in the CGI trailers. Heck, even on the bus adds, they had a female Shepard looking up to the sky.

    But still, he's right. The marketing reps still think it's a male leads game
    0 1
  • majorcoxsore
    majorcoxsore
    Joined: Nov 2012
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 10:33 am
    I do remember seeing a big push for female shepard ads for me3, they even had a male and female trailer.
    0 1
  • Jobin_Wendy
    Jobin_Wendy
    Joined: Mar 2012
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 11:07 am
    Although the covers were reversible, the default display was male Shepard, wasn't it?
    0 1
  • majorcoxsore
    majorcoxsore
    Joined: Nov 2012
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
    yeah it was, but a least they provided reversible covers. I don't think bioware realized how popular the series was with female audiences until game 3. Tomb Raider better have a reversible cover.
    0 0
  • Jobin_Wendy
    Jobin_Wendy
    Joined: Mar 2012
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
    With the Lara on one side and the rapist on the other? Or just some cool art on the reverse side?
    0 0
  • elmoreoocyte
    elmoreoocyte
    Joined: Apr 2012
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 11:12 am
    "Lara Croft of earlier Tomb Raider games was "really just an expression of male energy in a female body," but "now she’s both female and feminine"?

    So now when she enters a tomb she exclaims, "This kitchen looks weird."

    Also, must be hard to be an adventurer without shoes.

    I kid.
    0 1
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow
    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
    I say make a Kinect version just so when does a good job you can pay her on the ass, call her "sugar tits" a d watch her giggle
    0 0
  • Stickyellowsock
    Stickyellowsock
    Joined: Oct 2009
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
    SQUARE ENIX talking about maturity in games a day after apologizing for that Hitman facebook app.
    0 1
  • Nick_Tan
    Nick_Tan
    Joined: Jul 2006
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
    The male body in the vast majority of the world is generally seen as the vessel for physical strength and action. It's a classical and mythical interpretation that dominates Western thought dating back to mythological times. That, and marketing teams are hellbent on the 18-34 male demographic, so it's no wonder that there are a lack of female leads.

    One special quality about Mass Effect, and other sci-fi universes, is that it takes place in the future, where the differences between man and woman are less important since the emphasis is on guns and biotics. The underlying reason why asari are great at biotics is the suggestion that the female body is a vessel for empathetic forces and mental flexibility. Let's hope that this Tomb Raider is able to portray Lara Croft as a protagonist not tied to gendered roles.
    0 0
  • Ivory_Soul
    Ivory_Soul
    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Dec 5th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
    I usually play as female characters anyway, I wish there was more of them.
    0 0

Post a Comment
LOGIN or REGISTER to post a comment or rate this article.
More On GameRevolution
STAFF | CONTACT GR | ADVERTISING | GRADING SYSTEM | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE | AdChoices
GameRevolution.com is a property of CraveOnline Media, LLC, an Evolve Media, LLC company. ©2013 All Rights Reserved.
monitoring_string = "9825918b2b361fb0e003f4935ce18ae6"