Videogames: Tomb Raider Anniversary

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?

It's definitely adventurous, action, mystic. The outfit worn by Lara Croft is a hint, the weapons holsters coupled with the cargo shorts and blue top will suggest that it's an adventure game, but only because of the genre conventions already developed for games like this, if you didn't know the conventions before, chances are it might have gone over your head.I think the colour scheme represents the best adventure genre through the range of colours, such as brown and gold, which have connotations of mystery and riches, as well as being a key element of colour lighting, as it relates to elements of intertextuality that appear in Indiana Jones films.

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

The pose is known in a lot of media texts, exposing all of the feminine parts of a woman, showing that the game is aimed mostly at a male audience. Lara Croft's pose, I think, allows a to introduce the male gaze. Her pose allows this, because she's positioned in such a way that the audience can see her back and forth. This encourages male players to look at her in a more sexual way, as the main appeal is off and back from their breasts.
 
3) How might the cover be read as empowering for female gamers?

There are no male characters, the female on the cover looks powerful and confident.The pose and the clothes that suggest that Lara Croft is taking advantage of her sexuality, rather than hiding from it.This can be seen as inspirational because the main character is a female, and she is positioned without males on the front cover. In the game which is something that can be celebrated, she is portrayed as being strong, dominant, independent, intelligent and knowledgeable.

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:



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

Various of puzzles, tasks that unlock other parts of the game, difficulties like wolfs and hard paths, the POV as well as music.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.

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

Definitely diversion, for the audience to forget about the every-day world, as the setting is very different from the normal life. In this video, the male gaze can be introduced by using camera angle, and drawn on Lara's body, thereby enabling males to subconsciously objectivize their body, which gives male audience pleasures. The quest plot is driven mainly by enigma and action codes and provides an additional sense of mystery through each level as she has to solve problems that relate to the enigma surrounding this game throughout the game.

Being in control - 
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.

She is the most successful human video game heroine ever, gracing over 1,100 magazine covers and selling more than 58 million video game units worldwide.

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

'Women appearing in popular films, the #metoo campaign, and the fact that Lara Croft now wears cargo pants and 'the focus is on her attitude, intelligence and athleticism, rather than her improbable polygon body.' -The emphasis on women's rights and the popularisation of feminism has successfully changed Lara Croft's personality.

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

When it comes to women she was presented as a role model and men simply didn't mind as Lara Croft was still sexualised. 

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

It was pretty successful. There were hot pants and physiques of Barbie out; cargo pants and abs were in. Scars, dirt, and blood covered her skin and Croft's face was more focused on the gameplay to expose a deep and complex emotional context. It 'gave Lara a makeover".

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

 lightness, intelligence, recklessness, courage and physical ability.


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's both empowering when it comes to women and still portaid as a sexualised object.
2) How did the limitations of game construction in the 1990s help to establish the way female characters were animated?

It was common to use the women's body appearances to help gamers separate them from the In video games male characters. It was easier to accentuate the butt and breasts of the female protagonists than to design long hairs for example.
3) Why were Lara Croft’s physical attributes emphasised in the original games?

The number of women playing video games is increasing to a level where the number of women playing video games is 40%.

4) How does Anita Sarkeesian describe Lara Croft?

'hyper-sexualised character that promotes a deep objectification of women'. 

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

It's because the times had changed and the society became more fluid. Lara Croft's appearance changed as more people were drawn to video games being published by game developers in 2013.

Industries

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

 She was one of the first female protagonists to be featured in video games and is thus the beginning of a shift in the video game industry, she is still important and popular today.

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

The most popular one is a movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, that was quite a success as well as other media texts like animations or advertisement products.

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

The new representation of the character as a powerful, feminist character combined with a game that has an old concept 

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

Because the Tomb Raider franchise is huge and has evolved under the ownership of many different companies over the past two decades. Core design was bought by Eidos Interactive ( who published the original game). Eidos was then bought by Square Enix- publisher based in Japan.