Crystal Dynamics decided to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise because Lara Croft was starting to “lose relevance.” In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, director Karl Stewart augured that gamers were struggling to relate to the “invincible, infallible” old Lara.

“I think Lara’s a beloved character and Crystal has really enjoyed their time they’ve been able to spend with her,” explained Stewart with great discretion. “We felt she was losing some relevance in the gaming world, that she was a little too hard and removed. We wanted to make her more approachable and relatable.”

“I think she became an icon,” he added. “When you do, you remove yourself from relatability. We wanted to bring her to a place where she didn’t have all those skills, she wasn’t perfect. The modern gamer can relate to that, they want a complex hero.”

Stewart also added that the development team also ran out of stories to tell with the original Lara, stating that Lara was “all grown up.” “I think Lara had done all the growing she could. We’d taken her to a great place, to somewhere she had some closure. There weren’t really many more stories we could have told. So we feel like with this new place we have fertile ground and there’s a lot of places we can go.”

Lara Croft returns in Tomb Raider, an origin tale detailing her untold roots. Square Enix, who will be publishing the title, released this piece of artwork, showcasing a battle damaged, younger and much more ragged version of the famed protagonist.

Tomb Raider will entangle the first adventure for a young and inexperienced Lara Croft, which “charts the journey of an ordinary woman who finds out just how far she must go in order to stay alive.”

“Forget everything you knew about Tomb Raider, we are exploring things that have never been done before in this game,” added Crystal Dynamics’ Darrell Gallagher. “This is an origins story that creates Lara Croft and takes her on a character defining journey like no other.”

The series has hit some speed bump over the last two or three years, we’ve seen a strong revival in the last game Legend. But lately the game has been hitting some very had speed bumps, thanks to the recent review push back order by a member of the Eidos UK PR team. Sadly the news doesn’t end there because it seems that the Wii version of the game has stepped into a big mess. Now, we only had the chance to play the 360 version of the game (review on the way), but according to one of the fans that brought the Wii version of the game there’s a game stopping glitch in the Wii version of the game.

“The glitch apparently appears in the Coastal Thailand area, depending on how you attack that area. One member of the Eidos forums claims to have found a solution to the problem and provides a way to proceed through the level, but one must wonder why this issue was never discovered before the game released.”

There are still many reports going around reporting the same problem but we will be contacting Eidos about the problem. The Wii version of the game was released the same time as the nex-gen version of the game. Lucky there was no reports of this glitch in the other versions.

[Tomb Raider Underworld’ Wii Version Has Game Ending Glitch via Gamer Investments]

It sure does take alot of work to be the greatest Lara Croft you can be. In a new trailer just in from Eidos Interactive we get a inside look at what we can expect from the next installment in the Tomb Raider franchise currently in the works at Crystal Dynamics. In the early information we have been given, from top down you can tell that the game will be action-pack. While Lara will have her signature dual guns she will also have to depend on her physical strength and the environment along with her archaeological tools to complete her mission. Lara leads a quest that circles the world to uncover the secrets of the Norse underworld and a forgotten power that if unleashed could lay waste to all civilization. Tomb Raider: Underworld will hit the store shelves across the world on November 21st.

This is not a rumor at all. Today at E3, Yoichi Wada announced that Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the the Xbox 360. How about them apples, looks like it’s almost time to turn in my PlayStation 3 after this showing there’s no need for me to see more.

Before all the hate messages start coming in, this was a very fast type so i just started putting what i think sooo…… yeah, i really don’t do that…

On the official site for Tomb Raider: Underworld the game was giving the confirmation of a November 2008 release across all current-gen platforms as well as the PS2 and DS. On the site there where forums, a podcast and lots more with even details on the mission you will be taking this Fall. Also with E3 just around the corner we may more from Edios on this this game and the there 2009-10 line-up.

Take a look at the site.

While Eidos isn’t exactly in the most pleasant of thoughts with thousands of gamers out there, the bottom line is that we can’t skip on reporting about one of the world’s most recognizable franchises, Tomb Raider. Eidos Games has release new screenshots for Tomb Raider Underworld, their upcoming follow-up to Tomb Raider: Legend. In the first screenshot you will see Lara Croft hung to a rock facing a giant octopus and in the next screenshot you will see her under water in prey with a shark.

We already know that Eidos would be occuping long awaited titles like Tomb Raider Underworld and Just Cause 2. It comes as no surprise that Eidos will implan a new episode of Hitman, this comes with no exit date or even what platform that game will make it’s big exit on.

[Le prochain Hitman annoncé via Jeux-France]