Eidos owner SCi has been on the hunt for a potential suitor for some time, reportedly having batted its eyelashes at everyone from Midway and Vivendi to Time Warner and even some mysterious outfit in China, with none showing enough interest to sign their name across the dotted line. However, after having been given the cold shoulder by Ubisoft last October, the British firm has finally gotten the hint and moved on, stating that it had not received any formal offers within the requested timeframe.

What this means to you and I is that it may be some time before we see another major release branded with the Eidos logo, as SCi confirmed that it has pushed out the recently revealed Tomb Raider: Underworld until the fourth quarter of 2008, along with three other unspecified titles. The company also announced plans to bring Lara Croft's latest escapade to the DS, Wii and PS2, in addition to the previously known versions for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Way to be strong, SCi, but you might not want to look at your stock this morning. Following the firm's decision to go it alone, SCi's stock hit "rock bottom," and according to a new Bloomberg report, suffered its biggest plummet in more than 18 years, falling some 61 percent after SCi admitted that the aforementioned delays will likely result in an operating loss for 2008 and that the company may need to look to outside parties for the money to stay afloat. Of course, with SCi's share price now swimming with the fishes, we wouldn't be too surprised if another company now swooped in and bought up SCi and its properties at bargain basement prices. You hear that EA? Someone is singing your song.

Jacqueline Natla is quite obviously the villain in Tomb Raider: Anniversary. In the 1996 original, the only initial clues to her evil nature resided in a somewhat condescending tone of voice and a far too serious haircut. The opening moments of the Crystal Dynamics remake, however, show a more conniving woman with flowing blond hair, almost alien facial features and suspiciously long fingers. Still a bit of a condescending hag, though.

"My company has recently turned its focus on the study of ancient artifacts, and I am lead to believe that with the right incentive, you are just the woman to find them for me," she says, addressing one of gaming's most iconic characters, Lara Croft. "I'm afraid you've been mistaken," comes the decorous reply. "I only play for sport." Ah, but Natla's done her research. "Which is precisely why I've come to you Miss Croft. This is a game you've played before..."

Though trusting the words of a noticeably vile video game character is generally not advised, they're true in this case. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is indeed a game you've played before, at least if you had the good sense to play Tomb Raider at some point in your fulfilling life (replace "fulfilling" with "miserable" if you haven't). The reworked puzzles, contemporized controls and modern presentation may set Anniversary apart from the groundbreaking effort by Core Design, but beneath those layers lies the same game with the same ideals. Either Tomb Raider was nearly eleven years ahead of its time, or the games we play just haven't changed all that much.

We have a very serious question regarding this particular news item. What happens when you put Minnie Driver into a Mini Cooper S? Would the unusual occurrence of a famous Driver becoming a Mini driver release an unstoppable explosion of meta-energy, forcing the entire universe to infinitely collapse in on itself? We're not sure if anybody has tested this theory, but the more likely outcome would be Ms. Minnie running us over for childishly poking fun at her name and wasting an entire paragraph before talking about her latest role.

Ahem.

The gist of it, you see, is that GameTap's upcoming ReVision animated series, which initially chronicles the adventures of one Lara Croft, is set to become a star vehicle of sorts for Minnie Driver. Reuters reports the actress and occasional singer will lend her voice to Tomb Raider's gun-toting heroine for ten episodes, the first three of which will come from Aeon Flux alum, Peter Chung. Further episodes will have other artists interpreting the iconic action archaeologist, while future seasons of ReVision will delve into other characters and games.

[Via Tomb Raider Chronicles]

No, we're not quite sure we understand the purpose of a female-only beach either, but experience has taught us that it's never a good strategy to question the wisdom of a woman wielding two guns. Doubly so if said woman happens to be one famous for destroying dinosaurs and gallivanting through graves, Lara Croft. The action archaeologist and Tomb Raider star, here represented by non-polygonal human model Karima Adebibe (she's the one with the big guns), opened Italy's first women-only beach in Riccione, "an exclusive resort near Rimini on the east coast" as Gamertag Radio reminds us.

Though you may have briefly interpreted the presence of Lara's scantily-clad posse as proof that the next Tomb Raider game would be "Pikmin with babes," the ladies were in fact there to compete in "Miss Muretto," a beauty contest coinciding with the opening (or closing if you're a guy) of "Pink Beach." Don't worry, we're sure there's a nearby lookout point that's ideal for surveying Italy's finest beaches. If being a pervert isn't your thing, there's always the superb Tomb Raider: Anniversary to keep you occupied indoors.

While we joke that everyone and their mother was invited to purchase and play Lara Croft's big Tomb Raider: Anniversary, it seems an invitation got lost in the mail. The European version of Valve's Steam service no longer has the game available. According to GI.biz, neither Valve nor Eidos is explaining why. Apparently after the final stage of purchase the service says, "Sorry, but Tomb Raider: Anniversary (ROW) is not available for purchase in this country. Your purchase has been canceled."

Too bad European Steam users. On a happy note, you can still purchase the game practically everywhere else in the outside world and even at TombRaider.com ... or Eidos' official site. For North Americans, feel free to join Lara at retail, Steam, GameTap and we're sure Eidos will be offering the game by carrier pigeon soon too.

Next week sees the release of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, where Lady Croft goes to the salon and fixes her roots. The video above shows the transformation of the original Tomb Raider into Anniversary. Tomb Raider: Legend (now playable for free on GameTap) reawakened the joy for many in Tomb Raider and reinvigorated the franchise. We're hoping that Anniversary is a fitting tribute to the original but, and this was part of the design behind Anniversary, puts some modern concepts into the gameplay for gamers who are just joining the series post Legend.

We're definitely looking forward to E3 and seeing how far along the Tomb Raider: Legend sequel is. Although not half as painful of a cliffhanger as Halo 2, the ending to Legend (which came about 8 hours too early) was excellent and we were ready to put down the cash for the sequel right there. If Anniversary continues the solid gameplay trend of the new Lara Croft, the future looks bright again for the series.

Today begins the next iteration of game subscription service GameTap. One of the key components of this new version is the free ad-supported service that'll have about 30 games on a rotating schedule, starting with titles like Metal Slug (which will have online co-op), Bust-A-Move, Bubble Bobble and Rampage. Best of all, part of this free service is being able to play the excellent return of Lara Croft in last year's Tomb Raider: Legend. Yes, for free.

As part of their regular paying subscription service, GameTap is rolling out Panzer Dragoon, Metal Slug 2, Art of Fighting, The King of Fighters '95 and Tomb Raider: Legend. We're mostly looking forward to logging into the service next week and playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary as part of the normal subscription fee without having to experience the unwashed masses at retail. You can also purchase the full version digitally from Steam if you don't want to pony up the $10 for GameTap, or there is always the option to purchasing it directly from GameTap's new digitial distribution service, which is completely different from their subscription and free gaming sections. There's a lot of changes going on at GameTap, and we're more than happy to play classic arcade and console games free ... legally.

Lara's throwing her big Anniversary bash and it looks like every conceivable outlet who can sell or run the game is invited to the party. We've got typical retail, GameTap and now Steam is in there too. Everyone into the pool on June 5 for Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Just make sure you take a buddy, because you might drown from all the people crowded in there.

We can't help but wonder if this is the nature of things to come. This is the first explicit moment of a trifecta release. Retail, digital distribution (Steam) and subscription service distribution (GameTap). That's just for PC. The PS2 and PSP editions come in their standard box at retail format. We still find it strange that the game still hasn't been announced for the Xbox 360. If it gets announced for XBLA, that's it, we'll have officially entered a new era of game distribution.

[Via Press Release]

If there's been any entity who has surprised us over the last year, it's GameTap. The online game service that started off as nothing more than a retro library repository is really turning into something completely different. Starting with Sam & Max, then URU, then their reinvention of sorts at the end of this month including a "free-to-play" service, topped by the leak of Grimm this morning, this isn't the GameTap we once knew. Their latest venture is a website fully dedicated to Lara Croft with a retrospective documentary and a conceptually amazing animated series beginning in July.

Although the 10 year retrospective documentary is definitely interesting, the thing that really catches our eye is the "Re\Visioned" series that starts in July. An animated series of shorts all featuring Lara Croft by artists and writers well known in the animation field. The first three episodes are by Peter Chung, best known for Aeon Flux and a segment in the Animatrix (although his credentials really do go on and on). All the shorts will be available to view for free on this GameTap Lara Croft site. After the Lara Croft series is done, GameTap will apparently do more characters as part of this Re\Visioned series. Even if they stick with Eidos' characters it'd be cool to see Hitman and Kane and Lynch, but they're apparently going in a completely different direction.

The website also includes a bunch of extra content like clips of all the models who have "been" Lara Croft, conversations with developers, sneak peeks at Tomb Raider: Anniversary (which will be "free" to GameTap subscribers on the same day it launches in stores) and just a mess of other stuff. Definitely worth checking out for behind-the-scenes geekery and if you're looking to get a feel for the franchise in a nutshell.

In news that is sure to set tongues wagging and arms waggling, IGN reports that Lara Croft will soon raid a more modern tomb -- your Wii's game shelf. In a press release issued by an international Eidos branch, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is stated as being in development for Nintendo's popular console. Previously, the remake was only slated for release on the PC (including GameTap), PlayStation 2 and PSP.

With Eidos holding out on costly PS3 releases until 2008 and with no Xbox 360 version of Anniversary in sight, it seems the Wii is benefiting for once by being lumped in a similar technological bracket as the PS2. It makes for a quick and financially sensible port, it's only challenge being the tacking on implementation of unique motion controls. We're hoping for an ice-cold virtual hand to poke Lara into position for those tricky jumps.

No Anniversa-Wii date has been set, but other platforms begin festivities on June 5th.

Some of us have been jonseing for each successive Tomb Raider adventure ever since Lara Croft decided that messing up archaeological sites wasn't just for Indy. (Where were the interns and study? No, Kurtis Trent and Short Round don't count.) The June 5 launch of the original, remade with updated graphics (and we can only hope controls), as Tomb Raider: Anniversary is just around the corner.

The tombs aren't going to just raid themselves; our video pick is the latest trailer for the back-to-her roots game. We don't see much that we didn't already know -- surprise, the game has "mild suggestive themes" -- but we're sure fans will appreciate the latest look at Lara. See the video after the break.

Those longing to don a pair of unreasonably tight pants, shoot up ancestral tombs and mow down innocent bears (without getting arrested) would be wise to circle the date of June 5th, 2007 on their official Rhona Mitra calendars. This day marks the release of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a Crystal Dynamics remake of the adventure that put the grave-robbing heroine on the map, the coffee mug, the magazine cover and the unfortunate t-shirt which proclaimed, "I raided Lara's tomb."

Hearkening to a time (1996!) when Tomb Raider regularly induced drool as opposed to debilitating nausea, Anniversary sees reworked puzzles, improved controls and enhanced graphics injected into one of the greatest games of all time. Play it on your PS2, PC or PSP while you wait for a sequel to last year's surprisingly superb Tomb Raider: Legend to arrive -- and don't forget to do a graceful swan dive straight into a boulder. That's always good for a laugh.

Graphics card maker NVIDIA and pants tent maker Adrienne Curry (of America's Next Top Model fame) have teamed to create "the world's first real-time, virtual celebrity," according to an NVIDIA press release. Though the "world's first" claim is dubious (companies have been working on this sort of thing since before the days of Max Headroom), we like that Ms. Curry took a dig at Lara Croft via the release:

"The Digital Adrianne is so realistic, it's really trippy. Lara Croft, eat my shorts!"

Actually, that's a great idea, Adrienne. Make it happen, NVIDIA. Literally -- by this time next year, virtual Lara needs to wrestle off and eat virtual Adrienne's shorts. As a tech demonstration to prove Adrienne's polygonal superiority and stuff.

Click "continue" for some video of the virtual Curry.

She's said to be "drool"-worthy, but does that make a good game? Today's most-watched GameTrailers video shows the acrobatic Lara Croft in the trailer for the next Tomb Raider game. With the required low-angle shots of Lara -- from in-front and behind -- the video mixes cut-scene-renders with a little in-game footage at the end.

See the trailer after the break. Did it make you drool?

Eidos exec Ian Livingstone OBE reminds us that the next Tomb Raider is still all about the curves and bounce of its star Lara Croft. "I've seen some of the in-game models and it's just like watching television; if you felt you were in love with Lara Croft previously, you ain't seen nothing yet. You'll be drooling when you see the new Lara as she appears in the next iteration," Livingstone promised Eurogamer TV. Aw c'mon! Just tell us ... are you gonna license the DOA Xtreme engine?

But seriously, Livingstone wasn't even trying to sell us on any other aspect of the game. Is drool-factor enough to keep this franchise from falling off again?

In related news, for those that prefer a slightly more real infatuation, Angelina looks to be donning the short-shorts again, as Livingstone confirmed Paramount has agreed to hire a scriptwriter for a third Tomb Raider movie.