Rumour - PS3 price cuts planned for March 2009
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Yamauchi - Gran Turismo still in the works for PSP
October 6th, 2008 @ 17:08
Eidos and Microsoft have just confirmed that the Xbox 360 version of Tomb Raider: Underworld will include exclusive DLC.
Two “chapters” are to be released via Xbox Live, totalling “up to” six hours of extra gameplay.
A demo for the title has been confirmed for October.
“We’re thrilled that Xbox owners will be able to extend their Lara Croft adventures with exclusive ‘Tomb Raider: Underworld’ episodes,” said Microsoft third-party boss George Peckham.
“We look forward to continue working closely with our great publishing partners to deliver the most robust gaming experiences, only on Xbox 360.”
Update: According to this Eurogamer story, the demo will also be exclusive to 360. Thanks, yupyup.
After the break.
Eidos
EIDOS AND XBOX ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOADABLE CHAPTERS FOR TOMB RAIDER: UNDERWORLD
First New Chapter Rolls Out in Time for the Holidays with Game Demo Available in October
Monday 6th October/… Eidos Interactive, creator of some of the world’s leading video game properties, today announces an agreement with Microsoft to release two brand new downloadable chapters in the continuing Tomb Raider adventures of Lara Croft. Containing up to six hours of new gameplay and content for Tomb Raider: Underworld™, the chapters will be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®. A demo for Tomb Raider: Underworld will also be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in October.
Offering entirely new content specifically designed to extend the Tomb Raider: Underworld experience, Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes and Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will deliver two very different single player gameplay experiences. Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes takes place after the Underworld story has finished and will feature an incredible new environment to explore, additional secrets to unlock and different enemies to fight. Tomb Raider: Underworld - Lara’s Shadow will introduce players to a new kind of playable character and create a unique Tomb Raider experience.
The first new chapter, Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes, will be available for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace this Christmas. Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will follow in early 2009.
“We are constantly looking at ways to extend our franchises, whilst developing a deeper relationship with our players. The retail release of any videogame is just the start of the player experience, from there it all depends where you want to take the player in terms of ideas and innovation,” said Sean Vesce. “With these additional chapters and the online reach of Xbox LIVE, we are able to deliver exclusive content to millions of gamers worldwide.”
“We’re thrilled that Xbox owners will be able to extend their Lara Croft adventures with exclusive ‘Tomb Raider: Underworld’ episodes,” said George Peckham, General Manager of Global Third Party Publishing for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. “We look forward to continue working closely with our great publishing partners to deliver the most robust gaming experiences, only on Xbox 360.”
Tomb Raider: Underworld will release on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Wii™, PlayStation®2, Nintendo DS, and PC Games for Windows platforms. With development led by Crystal Dynamics, developers of the recent Tomb Raider blockbusters, Tomb Raider: Underworld™ represents a new advancement in exploration-based gameplay. As the fearless adventurer Lara Croft, players explore, raid and solve the mysteries of exotic locations around the world, each designed in breathtaking high-definition visual fidelity that creates a truly believable world and delivers a new level of challenge and choice. For more information, visit the official site at http://www.tombraider.com.
Xbox LIVE is the first and most comprehensive unified online entertainment network seamlessly integrated throughout the entire console experience, making it easy for people to find the friends, games and entertainment they want from the moment they power on their Xbox 360 system. Xbox LIVE connects more than 12 million members across 26 countries to enjoy hundreds of multiplayer games, downloadable games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, free and premium playable game demos, music videos, and movies as well as new game levels, characters and vehicles for all their favorite retail games.
About Eidos
Eidos Interactive Ltd, creators of some of the world’s leading videogame properties, consists of several development studios including Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive, Beautiful Game Studios and Eidos Montreal, plus sales and distribution offices in Europe and the US. The Group has a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Championship Manager and Just Cause. Eidos Interactive Ltd is part of SCi Entertainment Group Plc (SEG).
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October 6th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
M$ are morons -_-.
I wonder if all the money they throw around gets paid back at all.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
That’s pretty hardcore.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Given MS are one of the most profitable companies on the planet (as a whole)… I’d say there’s a good chance they’ve worked out the maths.
Increased game sales on your platform = increased licensing revenue + potential DLC revenue.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Same for Fallout. And GTA. They’re not fucking about this year.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
They pretty much have to, I think, given that they have made very few announcements regarding the release dates of their exclusive games. (Exclusive games that will also attract new customers)
October 6th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
What do you mean Syrok? Games coming this year? MS, Sony and Nintendo play that game very differently.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
“Given MS are one of the most profitable companies on the planet (as a whole)… I’d say there’s a good chance they’ve worked out the maths.”
their gaming division became profitable AT ALL only recently..
I still think Sony in example has a better business model.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Games coming out in general, I mean. It’s nice to know that a company has a few aces up their sleeve but it would be even nicer for the consumer to have a general timeframe when they can expect those games, not just we got this and that coming next year and we also got something special coming out sooner or later, we can’t talk about it.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Like Pikmin Wii and God of War 3? Same for every company.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
It’s just the way they do it.
Nintendo generally announces their games which are then released a few months later.
Microsoft generally announces their games which are to come within the next year.
Sony announces games they’ll think about doing at some point.
(There are exceptions, but they usually work that way. I think Nintendo announced Pikmin because they were shocked at the response they got at E3)
DaMan: You’d be right if you were talking about last gen. This gen is a different story. Nintendo has the best business model anyway… which is why they’ve always turned a profit.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
fucking hell that’s one long winded marketing article
microsoft pay for more shit again.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
@morriss and psychotext: I never said it was only Microsoft doing that.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
According to EG, the demo is exclusive to 360 too. Which is a little ridiculous. Or the PS3 versions not up to scratch…
Really showing the struggle for exclusive content when demos are becoming content to brag about
October 6th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Cheers. I’ve added that to the story.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Syrok: Yes you did.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Hmm, it does read like that…
Right, back to school.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I think if any company in the world is doing the math with their money, it’s Microsoft. It may seem like a big risk to throw all kinds of money around, but when you’re getting a significant enough cut of the final product, it’s usually a safe bet.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Well, I think it’s ridiculous to be buying content.
I think both companies should be focusing on funding development of 3rd party titles. Not that cross about this annoucnement, becuase it’s Tomb Raider, but anythign else, and that would have been ridiculous.
I am cross with both Sony and Microsoft for this ‘trend’. Exclsuive DLC is such a waste of time, and it’s also a completely underhanded marketing ploy.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Pud, I think it’s simply because neither company can afford to get many 3rd party exclusives this gen because the hardware numbers are so close.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I totally agree, and understand that. It’s just a petty little route to go down. The Bioshock route worked better. Timed exclusive is better than exclusive and I am sure it’s only marginally more expensive, or is it? I suppose 3rd parties decide that based on how quickly they can get their product out to both platforms, so it would be much more expensive.
Anyway… You had a go at me on the Team ICO Gamers forum on Eurogamer, lighten up you grumpy git I was only joking. I hope it was cus you didn’t know who I was.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
“when you’re getting a significant enough cut of the final product,”
right, are M$ getting that?
I find it desperate buying DLC like that.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Well both HD companies are doing it.
I disagree about it beign desperate, it’s just false economy if I may be so bold as to use that phrase totally incorrectly for my own means. xD
October 6th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Pud: I know full well who you are over there…
October 6th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Hahah you harsh bastard.
You nearly called me a… Well I won’t even try to repeat it. Nevermind….. Wii4Life.
EDIT: That was funny.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
well, semi-desperate they are anyway =P; their efforts in Japan are desperate.
but, sure it’s all only good for customers.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Er… some ‘interesting’ comments in here.
Yet more exclusive DLC, for yet another big franchise. Microsoft most certainly aren’t fucking about. They might not be buying the exclusives, but they’re certainly going out of the way to mark out their version as ‘best’.
That said, I do think it’s ultimately a bit mean to do this with DLC. If the game’s coming to both platforms, both platforms should get the add-on stuff. And making the demo platform-exclusive is just nuts.
I guess this is going to be paid-for content and not free? I’ll probably get it if it’s any good. I loves Tomb Raider.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Yeah, no way it will be free.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Won’t be free. No chance.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
“Yet more exclusive DLC, for yet another big franchise. Microsoft most certainly aren’t fucking about. They might not be buying the exclusives, but they’re certainly going out of the way to mark out their version as ‘best’.”
Okay, big franchise, no matter how releavnt in your mind, Tomb Raider is not a big game anymore, and the franchise is only big becuase of it’s heritage.
They aren’t fucking about at all, agreed, but this is the least sane thing about this geenration. I mean above the fucking Wii insane! Well, maybe that’s hyperbole, but
what isn’t in this industry?
October 7th, 2008 at 7:17 am
I’m actually somewhat pleased about this.
To me, this says: Okay, we accept that those who’ve purchased our console probably aren’t stupid enough to fall for diddling DLC tactics, so we see no need to waste server space on that.
I get to be smug about having the intelligent person’s console again! This pleases me. I’d actually feel a little empty inside if I logged into the PSN one day and saw it filled with overly expensive DLC cons. The only DLC on the PSN is pittance and thouroughly optional, and that’s a stark contrast from what I saw of Live’s DLC costs and the DLC tactics of some companies there (Bethesda, I’m looking at you again).
So yeah… I see the positive side of this. I’m actually hoping that my hunch is right and it’s more simply that Sony just don’t give a damn about over-expensive DLC and Microsoft are putting the best PR face they can on about it.
And no, I’ve never supported DLC. And the only time it was ever really tried on the PC - Oblivion - I turned my nose up in disgust. They should save things like that to make a full and complete expansion pack. But eh… I’m an opinionated bugger, I know.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Okay, that’s just nuts, man. Seriously.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:10 am
One man’s nuts are another squirrel’s sustenance.
/twitch
Honestly though, I’m just a contrarian. And I’m not an easily understood one at that, so it’s okay that my outings don’t click with everyone.
Y’know, devil’s advocate, not jumping on the bandwagon, actually having something different to say, a new viewpoint, and all that.
Really, I think everything surrounding DLC is nuts, including my own outbursts (which are mostly for fun) but… eh.
The point of a contrarian is to occasionally have some gem that’ll actually introduce a new thought into someone’s head (in this case: DLC is the most idiotic contrivance of software since Windows Me). If I ever achieve that, even now and again, rarely… then it’s all worth it.
(Whew… that took a lot of revisions, but I wanted to ensure that my particular stance was understood.)
October 7th, 2008 at 8:18 am
You do understand that you don’t have to purchase DLC, don’t you? It’s an option, not a requirement.
Quite how PS3 users not even having the option could ever be classified as a “good thing”, I have no idea.
The DLC is quite obviously coming to the 360 because Microsoft paid for it, not because of Sony coming over all holier-than-thou and protecting its consumers from the evils of playing their games for a bit longer.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:24 am
“You do understand that you don’t have to purchase DLC, don’t you? It’s an option, not a requirement.”
How often is this statement true?
The DLC of Oblivion felt like it was actually removed from the game only to be added back in bits and bobs later, and there were many people who felt this way (just check the archives of Bethesda’s own boards).
DLC is sometimes designed so that the product feels incomplete without it.
If DLC is designed so it is purely optional, then I have no issues with it. But that’s not always the case, really. I mean… really, look at how PC reviewers take umbrage at expansion packs for The Sims. Should DLC that’s doing exactly the same thing be treated any better?
DLC that should’ve been in the original game should not be treated kindly, in my opinion, and should not be thought of as the optional and joyous gift from God that some take it for.
But that’s my opinion. And I’m entitled to it, no?
“Quite how PS3 users not even having the option could ever be classified as a “good thing”, I have no idea.”
Okay, take what I’ve written above and please let it percolate for a moment.
Let’s say now that an incomplete product is released, and DLC is released later that’s obviously meant to make the product complete. Then let’s say that one console doesn’t have that DLC, this means that the incomplete product is seen for what it is, by everyone. And people are then less willing to trust the company that did that.
This would hurt that company’s wallet when said people decided not to buy their next game, and they might actually learn not to use such cheap tactics.
I actually think that’s a good thing, I think incomplete products which are clearly more than a bit of a rip-off should be highlighted and made note of.
“The DLC is quite obviously coming to the 360 because Microsoft paid for it, not because of Sony coming over all holier-than-thou and protecting its consumers from the evils of playing their games for a bit longer.”
There I was just playing silly buggers.
I thought that was obvious…
/sigh
Yes, I was poking fun, I wasn’t serious about that. I was just trying to highlight how silly I think DLC is.
Edit: I’m sorry that I actually included sarcasm in that post and highlighted the irony of the situation. I really didn’t think that would be an issue, I was just being as I usually am and trying to inject some humour into my posts. When I comment on something like this again, I’ll try and keep it as straight-arrow as possible.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I do agree to a certain extent, but the early days of DLC where you’d be paying for an item or something small like that are long gone. Obviously they proved as popular as we expected them to - the consumer obviously isn’t quite as stupid as perhaps we think he is.
I do think there’s plenty of room for DLC in the future, though. Rather than ’stuff that was cut from the game to make more money’, it’s obviously moving more towards being the digital equivalent of an expansion pack or a downloadable mod.
The two levels here (for example) are unrelated to the main quest (so you don’t actually lose anything if you decide not to buy) and sound like they’re more experimental than the levels that will be going into the retail product. Yes, they could’ve probably included them in the main game but that would’ve probably meant pushing the release date back or skimping on the quality of the main game. I imagine Eidos isn’t keen to do either.
The earlier examples of stuff being held back to make cash (horse armour) are pretty much isolated cases. For the most part, the latest batches of DLC have been (or promise to be) worth having. I don’t think you can dismiss the entire idea as a con job when it appears to be getting larger and more complicated all the time.
October 7th, 2008 at 11:32 am
“Let’s say now that an incomplete product is released, and DLC is released later that’s obviously meant to make the product complete. Then let’s say that one console doesn’t have that DLC, this means that the incomplete product is seen for what it is, by everyone. And people are then less willing to trust the company that did that.”
hey dude, don’t you think it’s too much calling the version without a DLC an “incomplete product”?
October 7th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Spin spin sugar.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
This erupted ridiculously.
The point is.. It’s Tomb Raider..
Lets moan instead about Fallout 3 DLC or GTAIV DLC. Even taking into account that it’s subjective… It’s Tomb Raider, it hasn’t been good for 10 years.
No only that, I just don’t like the habit because it’s false. It’s just not right.
Pay for a timed exclusive, or don’t bother. It’s half assed attempt at havign soemthign to market. And those who still think GTAIV DLC will be an extra landmass… Well I doubt it.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Pud, did you even play either of the last two Tomb Raiders? They were both seriously good games, especially Anniversary - easily the best in the series since Tomb Raider 2.
They both reviewed well and both sold well. You might think it’s an irrelevant franchise, but it’s still very popular.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
“The point is.. It’s Tomb Raider..”
Not really though. TR may not be as err, relevant as it was in the PS1 era but Legend was very good and it redeemed the series after the horrible Angel of Darkness.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
“They both reviewed well and both sold well. You might think it’s an irrelevant franchise, but it’s still very popular.”
No, the point is, regardless of how good some remade classics were (doesn’t really count does it?) it IS irrelevant nowadays.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Legend was a totally new game, silly. And Anniversary was based on the idea of the original, but was still pretty much totally new game-wise.
If it was irrelevant, they wouldn’t make them any more. Because they wouldn’t sell. But they do. Because they do. So it isn’t.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
They sell to a niche audience…
It’s the same relevance as one of the backseater games this fall. If people can still afford games after Dead Space they’ll go for this.
It’s Fallout 3 that is the big hitter, and that has exclsuive DLC that is relevant.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I can’t wait. There aren’t enough explorative (new word) 3D platformers out there.
Hopefully Prince of Persia will live up to expectations too.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I think you’re a little fast to project your own tastes and preferences onto the rest of the audience at large, Pud. Despite the fact that stuff like Fallout 3 is for an entirely different audience, Tomb Raider games are still chart-toppers.
Legend went in at number 1. Anniversary went in at number 2 (below the Pirates of the Caribbean license).
Fallout 3 will obviously outsell Tomb Raider. But that doesn’t make Tomb Raider ‘irrelevant’.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Blerk, I would say the same about you.
I personally think it looks pretty great, but it’s released at an awful time, and I am never very optimistic with new TR titles.
I’ll bow to your better judgement for this arguments sake though, mainyl becuase I had no idea Legend was a chart topper in any country.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Nonsense! I’m very vocal about my tastes, but I can still appreciate games which are solid but not to my liking.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
You can’t ask fairer than that.