I started
Tomb of Ash as a small personal blog in 2012, but at the end of 2013 I decided
to completely re-brand my website with a new layout and in fact turn it from a
general Tumblr blog into a video game focused website. In 2014 I received Official Tomb Raider
Fansite status.
2015 was a
very fruitful year for my website and this report will highlight the content
that I’ve produced and the changes that were made to the website as a whole.
Articles:
I’ve
published a number of investigative articles and reviews this year, including:
- Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy Your Rise [Rise of the Tomb Raider Review]
- Core Design Team
- Exploring Aldwych –
the Real Location from Tomb Raider III - Split – A VERY Tomb
Raider Place - Tomb Raider IV –
Core Design Team Information (1998-1999) - Tomb Raider IV – the official press release (unpublished before)
- Tomb Raider IV – Q&A with the Team
- Tomb Raider IV – the official storyline
- Official Tomb Raider IV memo
- Kurtis Trent’s
Biography - My E3 Experience
- The Role of Tomb
Raider in My Life - Rise of the Tomb
Raider Demo impressions. - Lara Croft Relic
Run Review - Lara’s Musical
Career - History of Eidos
A number of
interviews were conducted with people who were involved in the making of both the
classic and contemporary Tomb Raider games.
- Shelley Blond –
behind the voice of Lara Croft - An Exclusive
Interview with Brandon Fernandez, Animation Director for the Rise of the
Tomb Raider - Interview with John Stafford, lead narrative designer
- Interview with Brian Horton, Game Director of the Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Interview with Noah Hughes, Creative Director of the Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Interview with Jill
de Jong
We’ve finally got a dedicated
Facebook page so give it a like! The page is run by my friend Terenete
We’ve visited a
number of gaming expos and conventions in Europe and North America and produced
detailed recaps of each one of them:
- E3, Los Angeles
- Reboot Infogamer, Zagreb
- Eurogamer Expo, Birmingham
A number of videos were
produced, including:
E3 2015 Recap video
(featuring Shelley Blond):
A visit to Aldwych
Station (the real location from Tomb Raider 3):
A Let’s Play Video of
the Rise of the Tomb Raider:
We’ve started a
couple of creative projects that will still be ongoing in 2016
Lara’s JournalLED ArtTomb Raider 20th
Anniversary Project
We received many wonderful emails,
tweets and Facebook messages with your feedback for which we are very grateful!
We hosted a couple of
competitions and gave away a number of items with a combined worth over £200
What’s next? Well, in 2016 we
plan to finally start working on the 20th anniversary project (in
which YOU need to get involved ASAP). We’ve already received a couple of videos
for it including one with Jill de Jong, the official model for Tomb Raider: The
Angel of Darkness.
We also will continue our mission to bring you more
interviews and media on classic Tomb Raider, and even though we do plan to have
a number of projects focused on the contemporary series there will be links
with the original series as usual. Also look out for more competitions and
give-aways at some point; make sure you follow our Facebook page and check our
website regularly.
As usual – we’d love to hear your
feedback, so don’t hesitate to send us your thoughts via email, Facebook,
Twitter or just send a message via Tumblr’s messaging.
Thank you for being with us this
year.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Ash and Terenete.