Remember a few months ago when it seemed like fall 2012 was loaded with tons of awesome, highly anticipated video game releases?

We told you how BioShock: Infinite would be delayed several months and now add another of those high-profile games has jumped ship to early 2013. In an announcement made on Edios Games’ forums, Darrell Gallagher informed us that the Tomb Raider reboot game has been pushed to 2013:

Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.

Unfortunate news for a game that a lot of people were really look forward to. Although we here at The Flickcast think this might be for the best, in a world where Uncharted has set a new standard for action and treasure hunting games, Tomb Raider has a lot to live up to. At the very least the game wont be a no-show at E3 like BioShock, so we wont have to long to wait to see what sort of additions this delay allows.

Just when you thought both Tomb Raider films couldn’t get any better, it looks like GK studios has now obtained the rights and are planning to go back to the drawing board with the entire franchise, and a complete reboot starting in 2013.

The rights were purchased last week from GK. Here’s the official press release.

In a pre-emptive strike, GK Films has come on board to acquire the feature film rights to TOMB RAIDER and will reboot the successful action-adventure franchise aiming for a 2013 release for the first film.

Produced by Graham King and Tim Headington, the films will create daring new adventures for the young and dynamic Lara Croft.

GK Films acquired the film rights from interactive entertainment company, Square Enix Ltd. In Dec 2010, Square Enix subsidiary, Crystal Dynamics, revealed a new game for TOMB RAIDER based around the origins of the Lara Croft story.

“We are very excited to be rebooting what is already a hugely successful film franchise and continuing the TOMB RAIDER phenomenon,” said King.

Though the original films were considered blasphemous to most legitimate gamers, they did pretty well financially. The first films, both in 2001 and 2003, grossed over $430 million worldwide. We’re sure GK is hoping to capitalize on that with a brand new face and brand.

So XBox Live Arcade brings the latest Tomb Raid— Oops. Still getting used to the title change. Let’s try again. During Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade, the XBox received a five week exclusivity deal for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.  A completely different take on the traditional gameplay Lara is used to from the Tomb Raider series, this downloadable only title gives an overhead perspective mixed with two stick gunplay and puzzle solving.

Gameplay:

The control scheme of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light seems simple enough. One analog stick moves, the other aims and the buttons help Lara dodge, jump, set explosives or grab objects. The game also attempts to assist players with certain jumps like leaping from the edge of a platform to one of Lara’s golden spears that can be used as an extra step.

Unfortunately due to the 45 degree angle of the camera and the lack of feedback of hitting those perfect 45 degree angles from the XBox’s controller, some tasks become unnecessarily difficult. They aren’t challenging on purpose but because they are hindered by the game’s control scheme. Sometimes the auto-assist on the jumps sends Lara off in a direction you didn’t intend to take her.

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Who doesn’t love lists? Starting this week, we’ll be bringing you a brand new regular feature in which many members of The Flickcast staff will contribute to The Flickcast Five, a list of five films, TV shows, characters, plots, or other pop culture related items that we love (or hate) the most.

This week, one of the bigger films in this year’s Summer Blockbuster season gets its national release, when Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time hits theaters. Many know that the film is based on the classic 1989 side-scrolling game. In keeping  with the cross-genre of gaming and films we bring you our very first Flickcast Five: Video Game Movies. This time, it’s ones we love.

There have been plenty of flops in the genre, from films like Super Mario Brothers with Bob Hoskins, to Double Dragon with Scott Wolf and Alyssa Milano. While not all of them are watchable, most of them are enjoyable, and some are even accurate to the source material that we’ve spent hours, if not days and weeks, trying to complete.

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As we previously reported, Lara Croft is making her return to gaming this summer. But even though she’s no longer under the Tomb Raider moniker, don’t think Lara is changing her MO. She is still going through dark underground lairs in search of treasure.

But this game will not be a full retail release. Instead it will be a digital download only game. In addition, gameplay will drastically be changing as it takes a 3/4 overhead view which resembles a dual stick shooter than a traditional third person action platformer.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light stars Lara Croft as she discovers the lost Temple of Light, resting place of the ancient artifact the Mirror of Smoke. When she finally reaches the mirror, she is ambushed by a devious Mercenary named Vasco and his army. Vasco steals the mirror and releases the evil Xololt who was imprisoned in the mirror.

As you will see in the trailer after the jump, Lara isn’t alone as she teams up with Totec in her first ever cooperative adventure. Hopefully Totec doesn’t whine about his wife the whole game like Dom insists on in Gears of War. It’s refreshing to see Crystal Dynamics attempt to take this series in a new direction much like Ensemble Studios did to the Halo franchise with Halo Wars.

While keeping to the core mythology, they created a drastically different gaming experience still keyed in on what players loved about the Halo world. We are hoping to see the same with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

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She’s had scores of games released, two movies and is probably the hottest video game vixen out there. And from the looks of things, everyone’s favorite Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, doesn’t plan on slowing down in 2010. Thursday, Crystal Dynamics, which is a part of Square Enix Europe, announced the next chapter in the Lara Croft story with the upcoming digital download only Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

Other than the announcement and logo, very little information has been released about the upcoming title. Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics, says that, “This is a really exciting project for Crystal Dynamics, we have created something completely new and very different to what people might be expecting… Lara Croft is such an iconic character in video games, with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light we have created what we believe is a truly original digital experience.”

At the moment, Crystal Dynamics has said that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will only be seen “behind closed doors” at next week’s GDC conference.

If you’ve been dreaming of a new Lara Croft movie and that Megan Fox will take over the role made famous by Angelina Jolie, then you’re not going to be very happy with this post. Still, this post does contain info about both subjects, which obviously you’re fond of if you’ve been having the above mentioned dreams, so read on.

According to a recent interview with the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen star, Fox is not interested in taking on the role of Lara Croft in a Tomb Raider reboot nor has anyone even offered her the role. Speaking after a press conference for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen last week in Beverly Hills, Calif. Fox told a cluster of reporters that it’s a complete rumor. No one has offered her the role of Lara Croft or even spoken to her about it.

Not only that, but even if they did, she wouldn’t be interested anyway. “I think that’s a role that Angelina Jolie mastered, and I would never attempt to take that over from her,” Fox said.

Of course, in Hollywood that could also mean that people are talking with her about it and she is considering it but just playing hard to get. That’s just the way things work sometimes. So, don’t give up hope just yet. You might still end up seeing Fox doing backflips, firing two giant guns while wearing skimpy shorts and a clingy tank top. Its Hollywood, dreams sometime do come true.

You may have figured out we’re fans of Megan Fox here at The Flickcast. We’ve not made a secret of it for sure. And yes, even though her obvious physical charms far outweigh her acting abilities (At least for the time being. She’s still improving), we still like to suggest her for upcoming roles we feel she would be perfect for. One such role would see the comely Ms. Fox playing the Amazonian warrior princess Wonder Woman in any feature film that eventually gets made. We think it would be a great role for her.

Sadly, at least according to The Times Online, it doesn’t look like our dreams for Ms. Fox are inline with here own. In fact, she has no desire whatsoever to play Wonder Woman and even goes so far as to call the character “lame.” According to Fox: “Wonder Woman is a lame superhero. She flies around in her invisible jet and her weaponry is a lasso that makes you tell the truth. I just don’t get it. Somebody has a big challenge on their hands whoever takes that role but I don’t want to do it.”

The Times Online also claims Fox turned down the chance to take over for Angelina Jolie in the reboot of the  Tomb Raider franchise, so don’t expect to see her doing backflips, firing two giant guns while wearing skimpy shorts and a clingy tank top any time soon. You hear that sound? That’s the sound of fanboys everywhere sighing in dissapointment.

Check out the larger, fan-made, Megan Fox as Wonder Woman poster after the jump and enjoy it because that’s the closest you’re gonna get.

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