Other : 'April Fool's' Jokes

There have been a few April Fool's jokes surrounding Tomb Raider, some that were believed to be real and even some from the developers themselves.

Nude Cheat

​As early as 1997, gaming magazines claimed that there was a hidden nude cheat programed in the game 'Tomb Raider 1' that would remove her clothes and leave her in her backpack, gloves, holsters and boots - one magazine in question was 'Computer and Video Games', in the April magazine, issue 185. The set out how the cheat was preformed and showed pictures of the results. However, before the print of the next issue, they received "hundreds" of messages from people asking about how to get the code to work. In the next issue, #186, they admitted that it was an April Fool's joke.

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Tomb Vader

​This one comes from Eidos US, the makers of the Tomb Raider expansion levels. There isn't a date but one can assume that the earliest it may come from is around 2000. It can still be seen on the portfolio of Gary LaRochelle. The image shows an early image of Lara Croft with the head of Darth Vader. The caption put to the image reads: "Tomb Raider/Star Wars cross-over game April Fools Joke". This may have been an internal joke but the image appeared on the Internet.

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The Croft Controller

Dating to April 2000, the item appeared in the 'Official PlayStation Magazine' and it was written by Chris Baker. The product was stated to have been created by 'AFD Entertainment' and priced for £30.01. The information reads: "It may look strange, but AFD Entertainment's Handheld Heroine is undoubtedly the best third-party controller on the market. The first in a line modeled after popular female PlayStation characters, this Lara Croft version features the most comfortable and responsive analog controllers you'll ever grasp. The secret? A mass of silicone tops each stick, providing a formfitting cushion for your thumbtips. However, we are a bit puzzled about the "constant shock" feature, which activated a continuous, adjustable rumble effect whenever turned on. AFD's future Handheld Heroines include Dino Crisis' Regina, Final Fantasy VIII GF Shiva and Fear Effect's Hana Tsu-Vachel (available in both hooker disguise and towel). If only all women were this easy to handle!" It should be pretty clear from the writing, the 'AFD Entertainment' and the odd price that this isn't a real product.

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'Tomb Raider For Dummies' Book

This image was created by someone called 'Womb Raider', who back in 1999 was a known prankster in the TR community. He created it because his friend couldn't understand how Womb Raider was able to get Tomb Raider to play on his Apple PowerBook whilst he couldn't get it to load.

The cover says that this 'book' talks readers through the installation of the games, cutting down the installing time from 8 to 3 hours, teaches you about the 4,368 bugs in the games and it will also includes every Nude Raider patch.

Source - April 2000

Tomb Raider Post Adventure Clothing Collection

On April 1st 2013, the official TombRaiderStore.com offered a limited clothing line, where each item had "survived their own gauntlet of challenges on the island of Yamatai. Each item comes appropriately soiled with dirt, mud, and blood from unknown donors." Additional notes added: "The fashion line will be ultra limited edition, as pre-adventure production volunteers are running low" and "Post-Adventure accessory pack (including post-adventure tourniquet) and makeup kit sold separately". It was priced at $1,200.
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