Crystal Dynamics is threatening to bring out the big guns after a leak of a memo and concept art on Tomb Raider 9 Sunday morning. The new game is a prequel featuring a much younger and less experienced Lara Croft than the one in the screen above. Four Player Co-op has taken down the contraband media but the article remains.

“Say hello to the concept art for the new Tomb Raider reboot. Our mole, deep behind enemy lines (and armed only with his digital camera), woke me up at 2 in the morning to deliver you these goods. I haven’t had a chance to fully digest the information here (getting it to you as quickly as possible was my paramount concern) but it seems like the new Tomb Raider will be, wait for it, Open World. Looks like the combat system has been completely revamped and that the story is starting over from Jumpstreet. I have no idea what the story is with the clawed… things… but, out of everything, they excite me the most. More screens through the portal.

Update: We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. Crystal Dynamics’ lawyers swooped in with a fancy email asking us to take the pics down. We will be discussing the whole ordeal on this weeks Bullshot! (link opens in iTunes) which we are recording tonight. It will probably show up in your iTunes early Sunday morning. Thanks to Kotaku, Joystiq, 1up, and others for picking the story up. It’s been a hell of a day.”

The original Tomb Raider concept art is still on display at Gamersyde for the moment. Get it while its hot.

Maxim has compiled its most wanted videogame babes of 2008. Usually these lists pick the top ten, but Maxim just couldn’t stop there. There are seventeen lovely ladies, virtual and real live knock out that give playing videogames an extra thrill.

Several of these heroines are a given. The list wouldn’t be complete without Tomb Raider: Underworld’s Lara Croft modeled after Alison Carroll and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3’s Gina Carano as Russian hottie Natasha Volkova and Jenny McCarthy as Special Agent Tanya Adams.

Maggie Q as Detective Chase Linh in Need for Speed: Undercover may have been overlooked due to the games underwhelming ratings. Of course the virtual girls are well represented including. Zoey from Left 4 Dead is a pick as well as several secondary characters and enemies.

I’d say you could read the article for details but let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we? You can view the whole The 17 Hottest Video Game Babes of 2008 list on Maxim.

Eidos and Crystal Dynamics has released a patch for the PC version of Lara Croft’s latest adventure, Tomb Raider: Underworld. Fixes include some occasional crashes, the addition of autosaves for each chapter with the save slots being increased, they have also fixed the bacl screen deadlock when skipping the doppelganger cinematic, and a compatibility issue with some Realtek sound drivers that caused crashes.

The full list of fixes and additions are listed below and thy include the ones mentioned above.

• Inability of users to map the mouse buttons.
• Inability of users to map the ‘center camera’ button.
• Some occasional crash fixes.
• Graphics card stability:
  1. A change to re-enable use of some graphics card features on ATI hardware, with their latest drivers.
  2. Progress has been made towards addressing stalling on GeForce 6/7 series hardware.

• Fixed compatibility issues with certain Realtek sound drivers which could cause crashes.
• Autosaves now made for each chapter. Number of save slots is increased to accommodate these.
• Bug with ramp not raising in Xibalba.
• Fixed black screen deadlock when skipping doppelganger cinematic.
• Issue with door lever at Kraken room entrance.
• Occasional control issue during headshot move.
• Fixed an occasional problem when entering a save game filename.
• Some PDA fixes.
• Some cinematic subtitle fixes.

You can get the patch by hitting the badge below or by visiting FileFront here.

Those of you who are undecided on Tomb Raider: Underworld have a try before you buy option. Eidos has provided gamers with a demo for the latest adventures of Lara Croft. The demo is a heft 1.19 GB and is currently featured on Filefront. If you’ve been taking your time deciding on a personal purchase or are considering Underworld as a holiday gift, this is a no risk option.

The newest 1Up Show is live and this week you will get a unique perspective on just how violent the offices are at 1UP.  Too many “bike” accidents apparently.

Ryan Scott, Shane Bettenhausen, and Richard Li discuss Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and you can also watch Sam Kennedy and Nick Suttner chat about the things they liked most about Tomb Raider: Underworld–as well as some of the more frustrating aspects of the gameplay. Especially the “there for the sake of it” combat.

Towards the end you can check out David Ellis and Peter Brown’s experience with the Killzone 2 Multiplayer beta.

Due to Thanksgiving, there will not be a 1UP Show next week; however, you can still get a special LTTP segment via the iTunes feed and on the site where they will be talking about some of the games you may have forgotten about or missed out on due to all of  the “AAA” titles that took precedence during the past few months.

Canada’s videogame event Festival Arcadia is holding a special “Virtual Fashion” show on November 8 at the Society for Arts and Technology where the worlds of fashion and videogames will converge and cause a rip in the space time continuum. Well, maybe not, but other than the odd gamer T-shirt or other wearables broadcasting to the world your love of all things gaming, fashion and vidoegames usually are not uttered in the same sentence. Times are a changing though, and pixilated heroine Lara Croft will be helping to usher in a brand new eon where all can co-exist peacefully.

On November 8, a Virtually Fashionable evening will feature 10 of Quebec’s best-known designers as they present creations designed specifically for Lara Croft on real-life models as they strut their stuff down the runway. After the show, judges will pick the best one which will be implemented into Lara’s wardrobe as downloadble content after the launch of Tomb Raider: Underworld and the winning designer will take home a cool $3,000. The other creations will be judged by the public and both outfits will be available via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 version of the game.

So it is quite possible that Lara will be fighting bad guys, crawling through the mud and fighting giant squids in a hot-pink full length sequined gown or something just as odd and maybe even a bit revealing. It just would not be a Lara Croft game if she was not dressed a bit vampy. No word yet on just how much, if anything, these downloadable outfits will cost or how soon they will hit Xbox Live after the game lands November 18, but as soon as we hear something we will be sure to let you know.

The final two Tomb Raider: Underworld gameplay videos are out and available on FileFront. These gameplay videos don’t lose any of beautiful graphic quality of the premier trailer sent out by Eidos. With the new skills for Lara that can be executed with the Wiimote and it appears as though you have a game to look forward too. Hopefully Underworld can live up to the high expectations its setting.

In the first video, watch as Lara leaves the safety of her yacht and dives into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, only to be confronted by dangerous sharks at every corner. Help Lara solve puzzles to unlock secret caves and further navigate the deep sea underworld.

In the next video, trample through the jungles of Mexico with Lara on her all-terrain motorbike as she searches for an ancient temple. Utilizing her flexibility and agility, watch as she scales the temple walls, walks along narrow beams and uses her grapple tool to explore the ancient ruins of Mexico, letting no obstacle get in the way of her search for the truth.

Alison Carroll made waves on the internet a couple weeks ago when she was crowned the new official Lara Croft model and the face of the upcoming Tomb Raider: Underworld. Now Eidos has released a video showing behind the scenes of a photo shoot where some of her Tomb Raiding skills get put to the test. It’s actually a little impressive to see the former gymnast flipping through the air and contorting herself much like Ms. Croft would. It is a little strange though that Eidos still has yet to reveal all that much about the actual Tomb Raider: Underworld game itself; especially since it’s due out in November. But on the other hand, a cute, flexible Brit in short shorts and tank top is always bound to get more attention than any video game.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is shaping up to be a very interesting game, which I for one am pretty excited about, and I have not been interested in a Tomb Raider title since the highly lamentable The Angel of Darkness. I have heard that Tomb Raider: Legend was palatable, but with the new turn that Crystal Dynamics is taking with Lara and her adventures, Underworld looks much more tantalizing than any Tomb Raider game released in years.

In the trailer, while searching for Thor’s Hammer in Thailand, the viewer is privy to some of the cool water dynamics, and lush environments that Cyrstal Dynamics have been working so hard on. Also of special note, are Lara’s enemies, which as always, come out in droves to impede her progress. With the prerequisite spiders and the huge leviathan she must subdue should she wish to continue her adventure, Lara must also solve mutli-stage puzzles, and use her unlimited knowledge of acrobatics to reach some of the most precarious heights imaginable.

Newly introduced to the series is the ability to kill multiple enemies with a dual-target system, a brand new shiny motorbike, ans state of the art gear with a new sonar map system. All of which should give long time fans and newcomers to the series a reason to have faith in gaming’s darling once again.

Coming to the PC, PS2, PS3, DS, Wii, and Xbox 360 on November 18, Tomb Raider: Underworld may just be the adventure game of the Fall, providing you are not a Fallout fan. Start crossing your fingers now.

New screens for the game can be found here.

A large part of me can’t believe they’re still doing this, but it looks like another new model has been announced as the official, real-life Lara Croft. A receptionist at a golf club in Great Britain, named Alison Carroll, beat out hundreds of other ladies to win the role of the Tomb Raider heroine. Now she’s set to travel the world to meet fans of the games and be the public face of Ms. Croft. She will be the seventh such model to do so since the first game was released in 1996, not counting Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Croft in the Tomb Raider films. Carroll will also be promoting the upcoming Tomb Raider: Underworld, which is set to release on November 21st:

“Lara is strong, athletic, confident, and obviously very attractive. She has everything a man would want from a woman and everything a woman would aspire to be like. I’m really looking forward to playing the part.”

The phrase “glorified booth babe” comes to mind, but I’m not going to complain too much about the opportunity to post some eye candy.

Via The Sun