Tomb Raider Anniversary: blog tasks

Language and Audience

Analyse the game cover for Tomb Raider Anniversary (above).

1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

The light coming from behind her indicates a small light source like that of a temple 

2) How does the pose and costume of the character appeal to primarily male audiences?

both assets are visable

3) How might the cover be read as empowering for female gamers?

It's an active woman character not characterised as weak. 

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:

1) What does the gameplay for Tomb Raider Anniversary involve?

Lots of physical activity for Lara Croft as well as puzzles

2) Write an analysis of the media language choices in the construction of the game: e.g. genre, narrative, mise-en-scene, camera shots etc.

The genre is action and adventure and employs iconography from Indiana Jones for nostalgia's sake. 

The narrative follows an independent woman character raiding a tomb and killing vicious animals. 

The camera angles often give excessively sexualised views of Lara "for the presumed straight male player"  

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.

Male Gaze- Mulvey

Distraction, personal relationship- Blumler and Katz

Representations

Read this NME feature on the evolution of the character of Lara Croft. Answer the following questions:

1) Note the statistics in the opening paragraph.

gracing more than 1,100 magazine covers, and selling over 58 million videogame units worldwide

2) How does the article describe the cultural change in society and the media since the early 00s?

There are women as the leads in big blockbusters and #metoo has solved all sexual assault 

3) How was the original 1996 Lara Croft received by audiences and critics?

Women saw her as their first role model in gaming 

4) What did the 2013 re-launch do differently – and how successful was it?

They re-did her appearance and motion captured an actual woman so that the movements were more true to life. 

They also gave her emotions and a backstory. 

5) How is ‘woke Lara’ defined in the conclusion of the feature?

she will find the courage to survive her journey.


Now read this feature – Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft: feminist or femme fatale? 

1) Why is Lara Croft considered a “polarising figure among gamers”?

"She was a sex icon and a feminist icon, and there is no issue being both of those at once."

2) How did the limitations of game construction in the 1990s help to establish the way female characters were animated?

Because women were harder to distinguish from men, they'd have to greatly exaggerate their form.

3) Why were Lara Croft’s physical attributes emphasised in the original games?

for advertising purposes

4) How does Anita Sarkeesian describe Lara Croft?

Lara Croft was simply a stereotype for the category of games typically associated with male players. Even the camera angle in the game focuses on her rear end, she said, putting it at the centre of attention.

5) Why has Lara Croft’s appearance and characterisation changed over time?

To appeal to her changing audience, nearly half of which were women. 

Industries

1) Why is Lara Croft such an iconic figure in the gaming industry?

She is widely regarded as a sex symbol and has appeared on magazine covers for the male and female gaze. This links to hyper-reality as she's blurring the lines between what was fiction and what is real. 

selling over 58 million videogame units worldwide

2) What products and spin-offs have featured Lara Croft or the Tomb Raider brand?

There are many spin off titles for hand held consoles and mobile devices 

3) Why might Lara Croft be considered a postmodern icon?

She relates to Baudrillard's theory of Hyper-reality. Because she's completely constructed, we are blurring the lines between reality and fiction by having real models appear as her as objects to be looked at. 

4) Why is Tomb Raider Anniversary a 'case study in conglomerate ownership'?

Core design --> Eidos Interactive --> Square Enix 

This exemplifies vertical integration by conglomerates.