And for a brief, tantalizing moment, Lara Croft was supposed to join it.
By the spring of 1997, Eidos Interactive officially canceled the 3DO version. It was simply too late. The Saturn version sold poorly enough; a 3DO version would have been financial suicide. To this day, no ROM, no beta, no prototype of the 3DO version of Tomb Raider has ever surfaced. tomb raider 3do
Why the 3DO? Because in late 1995, the PlayStation was still unproven. The 3DO already had a library of "adult" PC-like games ( Return Fire, The Need for Speed, Road Rash ). Lara’s realistic (for the time) proportions and puzzle-solving gameplay seemed like a perfect fit for the 3DO’s "sophisticated gamer" image. We never got to see it. By the time Tomb Raider launched in late 1996, the 3DO was a corpse. The console had been discontinued in Japan, and US retailers were clearing shelves for $50. And for a brief, tantalizing moment, Lara Croft
The market did shift. It shifted away from expensive, multimedia boxes and toward focused gaming machines. But for a brief moment in 1996, Lara Croft was supposed to help one last console stand up. The Saturn version sold poorly enough; a 3DO
