Exclusive Tomb Raider episodes for 360
Plus exclusive Underworld demo this month.
Microsoft has secured the exclusive rights to distribute two downloadable add-on episodes for Tomb Raider: Underworld on Xbox Live following the release of the game.
Tomb Raider: Underworld - Beneath the Ashes and Tomb Raider: Underworld - Lara's Shadow will offer "up to six hours of new gameplay and content" between them.
We asked how much the two episodes would cost, but Eidos was unable to give us an answer at the time of publication. Eidos has also said a demo of Tomb Raider: Underworld will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace this month, and Eurogamer has been told this is also exclusive to Xbox 360.
The first of the two new episodes, Beneath the Ashes, will be released this Christmas, and Eidos has said it follows events taking place after Underworld's story concludes. The publisher promises "an incredible new environment to explore, additional secrets to unlock and different enemies to fight".
Lara's Shadow, meanwhile, will be released in early 2009, and "will introduce players to a new kind of playable character and create a unique Tomb Raider experience". However, both episodes are described as "single-player gameplay experiences", so don't read too much into that just yet.
"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 Microsoft's global third party publishing branch, no doubt a few quid lighter.
"We look forward to continue working closely with our great publishing partners to deliver the most robust gaming experiences, only on Xbox 360."
There's already plenty of evidence of that, of course, especially with the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV exclusive episodes, which are due for release before the end of the year.
Elsewhere, Microsoft announced at E3 that it has sewn up a deal with Bethesda Softworks to publish exclusive downloadable content for the developer's upcoming RPG-shooter hybrid Fallout 3.
It's all part of the platform holder's push to position Xbox Live as the first choice for internet-connected console gamers. At the moment, the service has more than 12 million users (some paying, some not).
Tomb Raider: Underworld is due out on PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, DS and PC on 21st November.
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Comments (76) Latest comment 3 years ago
Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!
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Just give the entire audience and fans alike the bloody FULL game; not a half-baked experience.
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I don't care about this add-on crap.After spendin roughly £40 on a game I'd like to be given free stuff later on,not asked to buy a few new levels.
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Demos?
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is it that hard to say does not equal? That is such a stupid shorthand it's unreal... then again i can't bring myself to type the acronym for laugh out loud so what do i know.
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Well, if the game is any good, more is good. If it sucks, who cares?
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Microsoft are going all out to make sure my decision to buy an xBox was the right one. Fable 2, GoW2, TR:Undies and more are going to keep me busy for ages!
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I'm doing a Korn shell script at the same time as I type in EG. I get confused.
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find it really pissing annoying that MS even secured an 'exclusive' demo FFS! so MS must have paid big for the DLC because I'm sure Eidos are worried that the PS3 version will bomb now there's no DLC for it.. and that short fall will have to be picked up by MS...
hurry up Google! time to make a console!
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Morne
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Others like me will just buy the 360 version, enjoy the game, and if the DLC is good get more Tomb Raider fun. Sorry I can't quite work up your level of angst and anger at the possibility of having more content.
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probably makes more sense that most posts on eg forums
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Money must be invested. Abramovich kinda enterpeneurs suck... bad, imo!
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And, I agree, what the h*ll is up with this exclusive demo crap! ugh... Microsoft...
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Of course MS payed for this.
Just like GTA4, MS are trying to get exclusive content for the 360 version of multi-platform games. It's cheaper with DLC than entire games.
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Morne
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Or *gasp* publishers sell more and have higher profit margins on the 360?
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Eidos has also said a demo of Tomb Raider: Underworld will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace this month, and Eurogamer has been told this is also exclusive to Xbox 360
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It does kind of work, if it's good enough I'll get the 360 version. Shame no other TR came out on PS3...it feels more at home on that console. Guess it is down to playing the original on PS1 (and Saturn, but damn the slow down was annoying).
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I'm buying TR: Underworld but it's annoying that if I want the extra content I have to get the 360 version. The trend of Microsoft moneyhatting DLC annoys the piss out of me.
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Yeah but PS3 sales are good enough to support it, it's not woefullly behind Xbox 360 in software sales as say the PSP is to the DS, I can't see the difference being enough to completely support the Xbox 360 in this way.
And besides announceing this way before the game is released, might lower PS3 sales while it's not going to make much difference on Xbox 360, stupid stupid move.
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Momrne
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Nonsense - MS paid for this exclusivity (again). Doesn't make sense to only sell the DLC one platform otherwise.
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Because not everyone has a 360 and are not buying it for the game. Sould be pretty obvious from er publisher's perspective... two similar platforms=more money.
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At what point did Microsoft give you the impression they were a charity? Of course they're all about the money, as is every other Corporation in the world.
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/awaits EG's pointless Head to head.
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edit: just had this neat idea, we could do an online petition to boycot the game an any DLC exclusive. A fight for an equalitarian society. We could then go further and endorse a controlled economy like Cuba or China.
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That said, Tomb Raider has a history of "extra levels" (TR1, 2 and 3). And thing all the way back to Tomb Raider 2, that Sony signed an exclusive contract to... for a series that originally started on the Sega Saturn! Basically, this isn't the first: just be glad it's on the PS3. I was gutted when TR2 went exclusive
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Well, we know what's on the table. Buy or don't buy, everybody makes their own choice. As long as the PS3 version works as a complete, final product it shouldn't be problem, and it should do since some 360 owners will have to live with that version of the game too.
I don't like how messy things have got in this generation, patches, DLC and more patches. I miss the days when the disc you held in your hand represented the full game. In the long term I forsee problems when people want to take a nostalgia trip and try and get a 10 year old favorite fully up and running.
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Considering that those countries are doing much better during this crisis, that's not as bad as this sounds.
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evilfoxhound
02-Sep-08 13:50:23
Since Sony don't pay for exclusive's, I wonder how they ended up with exclusive DLC. Maybe they are very close with the developers, the PS3 is the lead development platform for the game after all.
Soo...maybe MS are just close to the developers, all snuggled up and no dollar changes hands..ahh
..I didn't say i beleive that for a second, but let's put it out there..
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The PS2 could do exclusive DLC? News to me.
The exclusive demo is bulcrap though, how on earth is a PS3 owner like me who hasn't battered an eyelid at TRU's direction supposed to gain some if any interest in the game if it's exclusive to a specific console, that's an even more godawful decision.
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Pointy
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I like games to tell me a story and give me a cool narrative arc to progress through, I enjoy the fact that someone has thought of all that stuff and I'm experiencing it - it's very much like watching a good film or reading a good book to me.
Hence, when I hear that there are 'chapters missing' to be bought later, I automatically feel like I'm going to be missing something and that the original 'full' product is actually broken.
I adored Oblivion with 250 hours put into it but if I'd known about the future DLC I may never have bought it and despite (because of?) my love for the game I've never even considered buying the DLC for it ...
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You think Eidos gave this for free? The suggestion that the 360 makes publishers bigger margins is rubbish, and if you look at multiplatform game sales, the best games tend to sell better on PS3.
Its annoying that MS seems to applying its principle of overpriced accessories to dlc. Whats the betting these 'episodes' last about 2 hours each for most gamers and cost about £8-£10 each?
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"If this DLC is ready for December release that means they cut a level out of the game in order to sell as DLC to 360 users because the £40 they are asking for this game was not enough already".
Blatant greed at its worst. The funny thing is that some 360 fanboys think being ripped-off by MS is good because 'they are getting one over the competition'.
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Miiguel, I agree investment needs to be made on exclusive content, but given a choice between exclusive games and exclusive DLC I know which I'd go for. Only one of those strategies delivers long terms returns. Can you guess which one???
Billybrush, only one problem with your borrowed theory, MS are known to pay for exclusive DLC.
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Because Sony say they dont pay for exclusives... its now truth is it?
Because Sony say next gen starts when they say it does thats the truth too is it?
Because Sony say the PS3 is all powerfull compared to 360 thats the truth?
The only people pissed off with this so early are Sony fanboys or PS3 only gamers... perhaps it was MS' idea in the first place? You know maybe the episodic content work really does start after the game has been finnished... same could have been true for GTA:IV(probably is too given the time taken for it... it fits perfectly) its not stealling if its their idea is it?
So Sony didnt pay for the Heavy Rain's exclusiveness? They were PC devs, it would be better suited to the 360 audience, well after PC obviously.
Mirrors edge?
You can bet any 3rd party exclusive from Sony IS paid for... the days where going exclusive for Sony means bigger sales(ala PS2 in$tal base) are gone for now... why else would they do that now? Thats the only reason MS had to pay... when you are top dog you can call the shots and alot of the devs will bend over backwards just to have the platform hold behind their game and generate the buzz which will garantee sales.
This gen MS are still infront, offer better support to the devs, ontop of better tools, better online structure from a devs veiwpoint and a console that gives them more back for the work they put in(see the many complaints about the design of the PS3 from the dev community... and no its not because "they are just too stupid" its because its shouldnt be necessary... 360 proves that it could have been better designed for the devs instead of the PR department).
So Sony have paid for exclusiveness this gen already... they will present an image of being to proud and pretend theyve never been reliant on 3rd party all of a sudden(HAHAHA dont even try and say that)... I see them trying to pretend now they are this 1st party powerhouse... but are they though? No they certainly never was for the PS1-PS2 era they were there but you couldnt place them in the same place as Nintendo let alone above them... infact MSGS' output seemed higher to me last gen. The only reason Sony played that angle is because they cant really afford to pay for too many, they never thought they'd be in this position.
Having said that MSGS have been quiet on announcing new titles, Im much more interested in seeing what they have planned because although MS have improved the 3rd party support enough so that Sony have no advantage anymore(ie. hogging all the Japanese devs, and a few European for no apparent reason other than being 1st place for so long), they have never been too dependant on 3rd party support and MSGS has served them well thus far(alot of million sellers under their belts... not to mention critical acclaim).
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Another misconception appears to be that most of you think developers have this endless amount of time to create content. Time is money and who is to say you will see return on that investment. Money upfront eliminate the risk and also can help produce a better product because the devs can spend more time doing a good job then pushing something out to the public because doing the DLC started to cost more than they felt the investment would return.
The thing is, if the GTA, Mirrors Edge and TRU content comes out and is of very high quality where console owners start to doubt thy picked the right platform then the damage will be done.
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ITS A BUSINESS FFS!!
The same people would be cheering from the rooftops if it was the other way round!
The bitterness is incredible quite frankly
PS I though the exclusive DLC on Mirrors edge was announced as fake?
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Or is it the case that there will be a demo, just one that's different (exclusive) on the PS3 and PC to the (exclusive) one on 360?
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Exclusive demos seems a little useless - it can only serve those with more than 1 console platform. I can almost understand the thinking of offering timed exclusivity to XBL gold members over the non-paying silver tightwads (*joke*). However, platform bias for demos (on simultaneous releases) is dumb as I doubt many people are going to play the demo and then buy a 360 - I can't se TR:U being a system shifter like LBP/Halo/Gears.
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Sadly I know for a fact that this is how it works
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How the fuck is any PS3 user meant to see how the PS3 version runs? Or they are doing it because they have completely screwed up the PS3 version because they are shit at code.
Now I'm thinking, get the demo on 360, if it plays well, get it on PS3. My Elite would probably just scratch the disc anyway
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What a defensive SDF troll retort LOL!
You didnt even read it properly either; yes! Nintendo are and will remain top dogs for the remainder of this gen short of some spectacular turn around by MS or Sony(ie not likely) BUT what I said was Sony are no longer Top Dogs and MS are ahead of them... trust a Sony fanboy to try and put a spin on my wording. The difference in sales arent enough on their own for devs to go 360 exclusive either(may change may not... the end of year sales battle should be interesting) but as I pointed out MS are more developer friendly as it stands... always have been but perhaps thats not enough either for some devs.
It could be that MS ask devs if they are doing much DLC... if the answer's no maybe they propose a deal that after devlopement on the game is finnished they start work on episodic content for Xbox live which MS will fund, there isnt much wrong with that and its a likely scenario.
Of course because Sony fanboys can only see things from an anti-MS perspective they will say its MS stealing from Sony and buying all the goodies Sony should get, as the rightfull owners of everthing in console gaming... since they invented it.
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If it gets good feedback from the Demo people will read that and wait for the reviews, most people buying it have already decided which version they are getting if they have the choice in the first place, theyd have to seriously drop the ball on either version to change most peoples minds. Those who havent been waiting for it will probably only be swayed by reviews and word of mouth anyway.
So either its the fact that the PS3 version is further behind or like someone said already there is going to be a different PS3 demo at some point.
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Because he's a spastic.
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There was a young boy named hedbog.
Who enjoyed making love to his bulldog.
But the dog became queasy.
for bogs cock was too cheesy.
That weird Lithuanian named hedbog.