Lara Croft lands in Guinness Book of World Records

by Alan Rose { Apr 7th 2006 at 3:27PM }

A decade after Lara Croft took the video game industry by storm, she will be immortalized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful video game heroine of all time (sorry, Princess Peach). Eidos' well-endowed, gun-toting femme fatale has come under fire over the years from anti-violence groups, women's rights organizations, and even animal activists. However, the Tomb Raider franchise has still managed to sell 28 million games, and has spawned a lucrative licensing industry valued at over $1 billion. Lara gets ready to take center stage again next week with the multi-platform release of Tomb Raider: Legend. Stay tuned for reviews.

Tags: eidos, guinness book, lara croft, tomb raider

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

puh_fifer @ Apr 7th 2006 3:34PM

Samus would rock her...

And has prolly sold more units.

And doesn't have so many bad titles in her past.

Armin @ Apr 7th 2006 3:37PM

WOW, that's great, right next to "Worlds largest toiletbrush" and "Fastest 100 yard run with a potato on your head"

How about "World most useless book ever published"?

Derbeste @ Apr 7th 2006 3:38PM

hmmmm....I would love to see those numbers stacked up against the metroid series.

Samus still has my vote.

RB @ Apr 7th 2006 3:40PM

I doubt the Metroid titles sold more than Tomb Raider. IIRC the last Metroid Prime game didn't sell very well. It would be interesting to see the numbers for both franchises though.

ronnie @ Apr 7th 2006 3:41PM

Samus is a woman... no way!!!

My world has been shattered...

Justin Bailey indeed...

Marc @ Apr 7th 2006 3:43PM

I agree with #3, Samus should have won that. I mean whats better, a hot girl in a large metallic suit or a hot girl in a tight shirt and short shorts?

Uh... wait, scratch that last part.

Mike @ Apr 7th 2006 3:44PM

Yeah, Samus came to mind after reading this.
As for numbers, the Metroid series sold much less.
According to Wiki, here, it's 21.7 million to 12.3 million in game sales, although the numbers are slightly out of date.
However, I do believe Metroid games are of a much higher quality.

Nmaster @ Apr 7th 2006 3:44PM

Yeah...there's this chick name Samus...she pwns in ways Croft can't even dream of...

I think we should award Lara the "Most Overrated Game Heroine of All Time" myself. Seriously people, enough already. She's got a gifted chest, we get it, it's really not that big a deal...

Mike @ Apr 7th 2006 3:47PM

Whoops. Goofed the link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best_selling_video_games

Matters @ Apr 7th 2006 4:01PM

Best selling game? That's because it came out as computers were going mainstream and a bunch of newbs purchased the game who didn't know any better. Anybody who played Doom12/Quake123 or basically any other FPS at the time knew the game sucked. Only newbies liked it. The camera always sucked. The reviews always sucked. The game always sucked.

Half the people who played it probably got it packaged with their brand new Packard Bell or Compaq computer they got from Comp USA for cheap or it came with some lame ass sound card/video card they purchased and made ME install because I was their "friend" (*cough*neighbor*cough*).

Basically Tomb Raider has nothing but big boobies and up and coming computer newbies and possibly the fact that it came pre-packaged with damn near everything to thank for it's success.

I only know a hand full of people who liked the game and uhh.. yeah... I trust those peoples opinions about games as far as I can throw them.

(There might have been 1 good game in the series but I don't care to hear about it)

SenseiJinx @ Apr 7th 2006 4:04PM

Samus definitely rocks Lara, if only for the fact that she doesn't have to rely on skin and a ridicioulsly proportioned body for popularity...

Plus, I don't know of much video game heroes or heroines that could stand up to Samus, in both awesomeness, bad guy destroying, and sheer quality of gameplay.

Matters @ Apr 7th 2006 4:06PM

In other words Tomb Raider is to computer gaming as AOL is to Internet Service Providing.

SID SPACE @ Apr 7th 2006 4:10PM

That Wikipedia article was pretty interesting. I definitely would have guessed that the Metroid titles sold better than they did.

And HOLY CRAP, how did Star Fox Adventures outsell RE4 on GameCube? That game (Star Fox) was mediocre at best.

Crazylink @ Apr 7th 2006 4:11PM

That tottaly belongs to Samus.

obi-wan @ Apr 7th 2006 4:24PM

As good as the Metroid games are, Samus Aran is not as recognizable worldwide as Lara Croft. With the movies, comic books, and her appearance on U2's Pop Mart tour, Lara has had a much greater impact on pop culture. Besides, we didn't even know Samus was a woman until a few games back.

32_footsteps @ Apr 7th 2006 4:38PM

You know, it seems some pertinent factors are being forgotten.

First off, this isn't in terms of total popularity, or potential for the series. This is just sales.

Second, the Tomb Raider series is simply better built for more sales, because it is cross-platform. If you consider each one a seperate title (and thus, the PS1 version of Tomb Raider is different from all other versions of the game, and so on), there have been probably twice as many as there are versions of Metroid (which, I believe, is just at 9 when you count the two DS games that just came out and wouldn't be impacting all-time sales figures yet).

Of course, given the way most gamers react to Tomb Raider and Metroid at this point in time, I anticipate that Samus will only need another release or two to surpass Ms. Croft.

32_footsteps @ Apr 7th 2006 4:40PM

I wouldn't say that, Obi-Wan. Samus is pretty recognizable. And I knew Samus was female in 1989 - as did anyone who wasn't molasses-slow at beating the original Metroid.

Also, Nintendo Power did do those Metroid comics in the early 90's in which Samus was obviously female.

Matters @ Apr 7th 2006 4:41PM

You're right. Sales. Which is where the AOL comparison comes in. This is probably the most pre-packaged video game in the history of games. I own like 3 copies of different Tomb Raider games and I personally HATE the game. I would never purchase it. The fucking thing came pre-packaged with damn near eveything I purchased in the late 90's early 00's. It's not like I wanted the freaking game.

Matters @ Apr 7th 2006 4:48PM

You do have a point about cross platform though. Metroid is exclusive to Nintendo where Tomb Raider is made for damn near every major OS on the PC and most all of the consoles.

Just think how many sales Metroid might have gotten if it came out for the PS2/Xbox and PC.

Jeff @ Apr 7th 2006 6:22PM

To bad Samus needs a suit to do most her awesome stuff while Lara does it the natural way.

Kajex @ Apr 7th 2006 8:07PM

Samus > Lara Croft > Joanna Dark >>>>>>>> Angelina Jolie.

Seriously... that girl makes me freakin' sick to my guts.

AlienEye @ Apr 7th 2006 8:30PM

I actually prefer Lara Croft to Samus. However, I do agree that the past few Tomb Raider games have been lacking. Let's hope Legends turns the tables.

Lynk @ Apr 8th 2006 3:26AM

People should weep when crappy games like Tomb Raider sell well while more deserving titles like Metroid don't.

Samus has always had my vote :p

"To bad Samus needs a suit to do most her awesome stuff while Lara does it the natural way."

Yeah, because Lara can just walk out into space, face many types of hostile aliens, travel into the depths of a planet into fire, ice, survive the destruction of planets, space stations, etc... all in her tank top and short shorts ;) Yeah you're right, Samus is stupid for wearing her powersuit in situations like those XD lol

Jeff @ Apr 8th 2006 7:58AM

#23, If lara had a powered up suit she could do the same :/, shes a talented acrobatic with skills. I'm just saying, without the suit Samus would have her hands full with Lara. Also I played the demo for legends and I personally thought it was quite fun, although short, but left me feeling good about what the game was gonna give.