Lara Croft Achieves Guinness World Record
Most successful human video game heroine.
Following on from yesterday's story about Lara's nipple slipping palaver, Eidos has just triumphantly announced that Lara Croft, the world’s favourite digital adventurer, has been awarded a Guinness World Record as the ‘Most Successful Human Videogame Heroine’.
As PR stories go, this really is a bit of a barrel-scraper. SPOnG is not sure, for example, what the competition in this made-up category was. We also suspect that both Princess Peach and Samus have both, somewhat unknowingly, been robbed.
We are also aware, from prior research, that it costs around £200 or so to register a new Guinness World Record category – so it would seem that some bright spark at Eidos has come up with the category of ‘Most Successful Human Videogame Heroine’. Name five others who might even have a chance of winning at this category and you win a prize.
To be just a little bit fair, the sales figures for the Tomb Raider franchise are pretty damn impressive. Over the past 10 years, since Lara’s mugshot adorned the cover of The Face way back in ’96 and videogames were suddenly declared ‘cool’ and ‘lifestyle’, she has helped to shift over 28 million games worldwide, appeared onstage with U2, and on the cover of over 200 magazines.
Perhaps most famously of all, is the fact that Angelina Jolie squeezed into the Lara’s luscious hot pants to play Lara in two critically-panned, commercially successful Hollywood movies - propelling the total value of the Tomb Raider licensing industry to over $1 billion – lunchboxes, soft drinks, cars and loads more random products have all been 'Lara’d'
Whether or not this deserves a Guinness World Record in a totally made up category is another point entirely.
But whatever your views on that, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend, the latest and much-anticipated iteration in the series, is finally out in stores for you to spunk your hard-earned on today.
As PR stories go, this really is a bit of a barrel-scraper. SPOnG is not sure, for example, what the competition in this made-up category was. We also suspect that both Princess Peach and Samus have both, somewhat unknowingly, been robbed.
We are also aware, from prior research, that it costs around £200 or so to register a new Guinness World Record category – so it would seem that some bright spark at Eidos has come up with the category of ‘Most Successful Human Videogame Heroine’. Name five others who might even have a chance of winning at this category and you win a prize.
To be just a little bit fair, the sales figures for the Tomb Raider franchise are pretty damn impressive. Over the past 10 years, since Lara’s mugshot adorned the cover of The Face way back in ’96 and videogames were suddenly declared ‘cool’ and ‘lifestyle’, she has helped to shift over 28 million games worldwide, appeared onstage with U2, and on the cover of over 200 magazines.
Perhaps most famously of all, is the fact that Angelina Jolie squeezed into the Lara’s luscious hot pants to play Lara in two critically-panned, commercially successful Hollywood movies - propelling the total value of the Tomb Raider licensing industry to over $1 billion – lunchboxes, soft drinks, cars and loads more random products have all been 'Lara’d'
Whether or not this deserves a Guinness World Record in a totally made up category is another point entirely.
But whatever your views on that, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend, the latest and much-anticipated iteration in the series, is finally out in stores for you to spunk your hard-earned on today.
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Comments
SPInGSPOnG 7 Apr 2006 11:06
1/5
‘Most Successful Human Videogame Heroine’ is it?
So which character was awarded the only-fair-if-Guiness-is-to-avoid-sexism-claims ‘Most Successful Human Videogame Hero’ award?
So which character was awarded the only-fair-if-Guiness-is-to-avoid-sexism-claims ‘Most Successful Human Videogame Hero’ award?
AlexDee 7 Apr 2006 14:43
2/5
*sigh*
She's a female hero, not a heroine. A heroine is the person who needs to be saved by the hero. I hate it when these things get mixed up.
She's a female hero, not a heroine. A heroine is the person who needs to be saved by the hero. I hate it when these things get mixed up.
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config 7 Apr 2006 15:14
3/5
AlexDee wrote:
*sigh*
She's a female hero, not a heroine. A heroine is the person who needs to be saved by the hero. I hate it when these things get mixed up.
She's a female hero, not a heroine. A heroine is the person who needs to be saved by the hero. I hate it when these things get mixed up.
For real?
Every definition I've come across follows this from Merriam-Webster;
1 a : a mythological or legendary woman having the qualities of a hero b : a woman admired and emulated for her achievements and qualities
2 a : the principal female character in a literary or dramatic work b : the central female figure in an event or period
Now, I'm happy to accept that an American dictionary might have twisted the word's original definition, publishing the popular usage rather than itscorrect definition. However, M-W also has the etymology;
Etymology: Latin heroina, from Greek hErOinE, feminine of hErOs
Please prove otherwise :)
SPInGSPOnG 8 Apr 2006 01:09
4/5
AlexDee wrote:
She's a female hero, not a heroine.
And the definition of Heroine would be... "Female hero"
I know it's trendy now for Actresses to call themselves Actors, and it's all PC and so on. But the fact is, men and women are different. No amount of pretending otherwise is gonna mean that a chick can benchpress what I can, nor that I can have a baby.
But your assertion that a heroine is the defenceless chick tied to the railway track that has to be rescued by a Hero is plain and simply wrong.
I hate it when these things get mixed up.
Ironic, then, that you are the only one mixing them up.
wanderingsoul 8 Apr 2006 19:25
5/5
How could you confuse Heroine with damsel in distress Alex? lol. This debate stems much further than mere symantics, so get over what you would call it. I could name it agrioste (note: just made that word up now) and define it as a woman who is a principle female character in a dramatic presentation. The word itself doesn't matter, but the ramifications of it does.
And I agree with Tod, male and female are different but by no means does that mean either is better than the other. There are certain inherent qualities of both sexes, but there are also many qualities that are individual in nurture. A woman raised by a band of men in the forest will have far different attitudes than a woman raised in Greenwhich Village with a vuitton hand bag and an armani dress.
But I digress, at least this is another category for video games in the book of records, it was shunned ten years ago.
And I agree with Tod, male and female are different but by no means does that mean either is better than the other. There are certain inherent qualities of both sexes, but there are also many qualities that are individual in nurture. A woman raised by a band of men in the forest will have far different attitudes than a woman raised in Greenwhich Village with a vuitton hand bag and an armani dress.
But I digress, at least this is another category for video games in the book of records, it was shunned ten years ago.