Crispy Gamer News

Back in October, we reported that Warner Bros., looking to increase its stake in video game publisher Eidos, was cleared by Eidos investors to pick up more stoke in the ailing company. Not long after, the rumor mill started grinding hard with talks of different companies eying the home of Tomb Raider for a potential buyout. Today, word coming out of Warner is that it decided to exercise that stock purchase agreement to purchase another 10 million shares in Eidos, bringing its total stake to 52.5 million shares, about 20 percent of the total company.

Back when it first invested in Eidos (then SCi Entertainment), Warner was originally subject to a contract restricting the number of shares it could own until early 2009. SCi then loosened the stock restrictions somewhat, opening things up further for Warner, so long as the total stake in the company remained under 30 percent through 2008.

Warner’s increased stake in Eidos, at least on paper, looks to be a win/win situation for the media giant. With rumors of at least three other publishers vying for control of Eidos, Warner is in prime position to either take control of Eidos at a fraction of the cost as the other suitors, sell off its stake in the company for a profit, or simply sit back and rake in the dividends regardless of where Eidos eventually ends up.

Canada’s Festival Arcadia video game event will play host to a ‘Virtually Fashionable’ fashion show Saturday, November 8th, at the Society for Arts and Technology. The event will merge the fashion and video game industries, as ten of Quebec’s best-known fashion designers will be crafting costumes for gaming icon Lara Croft. Two of these outfits will be incorporated into Lara’s official wardrobe as downloadable content for Tomb Raider: Underworld post launch. At the show, Bodybag by Jude, Complexgeometries by Clayton Evans, Denis Gagnon, Helmer, Marie Saint Pierre, Philippe Dubuc, Tavân & Mitto, Travis Taddeo, Valérie Dumaine and Yso will unveil designs that have been made specifically for the heroine’s upcoming new adventure.
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Could the folks at Warner Bros. soon have Lara Croft as their exclusive spokesperson?

Last week, rumors started to circulate that Warner Bros. was looking to acquire a controlling interest in SCi Entertainment, which owns Tomb Raider publisher Eidos. The rumors began when Warner, who already had a minority stake in SCi, bulked up on its SCi stock, increasing its ownership in the company to about 16 percent.
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Who says exclusives don’t mean anything these days? Certainly not Eidos or Microsoft, as the two companies announced today that they’ve entered into an agreement to release two exclusive downloadable chapters to the 360 version of Lara Croft’s upcoming adventure, Tomb Raider: Underworld. Tomb Raider: Underworld is currently scheduled for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC next month. According to the announcement, the first of the 360 exclusive chapters, “Beneath the Ashes” will be available for download in late December, while the second episode, “Lara’s Shadow” will follow suit in early 2009. (more…)

Here is all the coverage from the first day of the E3 Media & Business Summit, in no particular order:

- Feature - Halo Wars

- Feature - Tomb Raider Underworld

- Feature - Street Fighter IV

- Feature - Silent Hill: Homecoming

- Feature - Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

- Screenshots - Fallout 3

- Crispy Staff Blogs

- News- Day 1 Coverage

Like some wounded sea turtle seeking the shelter of a coral-clad rock, Eidos is simply refusing to quit. (I’ve been hired at Crispy exclusively for my stellar analogies and awesome good looks.)

And why would they?

With the massive release that is Age of Conan, and with the Tomb Raider series finally back on track with TR: Legends and now TR: Underworld (thank you, Toby Gard!), the SCi/Warner Bros owned company is starting to look lively again.

That said, the official website for Tomb Raider: Underworld is now live. Eidos has narrowed down the game’s release window to November for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PS2 and PC.

Additionally, they shed some more light on the title’s backdrop — word is Ms. Croft is seeking “the secrets of the Norse underworld and a forgotten power.”

If the forgotten power was so damn powerful, how did it get forgotten?!