Guinness World Records 2010 Gamers Edition

**PICTURES & NEWS STORY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 THURSDAY 21 JANUARY 2010**

• “MOST SUCCESSFUL VIDEO GAME HEROINE”

• “MOST RECOGNISABLE FEMALE CHARACTER IN A VIDEO GAME”

• “MOST DETAILED VIDEO GAME CHARACTER”

• “MOST OFFICIAL REAL LIFE STAND-INS IN A VIDEO GAME” (TOMB RAIDER)

• “HIGHEST GROSSING COMPUTER GAME SPIN-OFF” (TOMB RAIDER)

• “MOST SUCCESSFUL LIVE-ACTION TRANSFER” (TOMB RADIER)

Computer game character Lara Croft, star of the hugely successful Tomb Raider computer game franchise, has cemented her status as video gaming’s leading lady by notching up an impressive six world record entries in the brand new edition of Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer’s Edition, published Thursday 21 January 2010.

This means Lara Croft is now officially recognised as the “Most Successful Video Game Heroine,” “Most Recognisable Female Character in a Video Game” and “Most Detailed Video Game Character” while Tomb Raider set new records as “Highest Grossing Computer Game Spin Off”, “Most Successful Live-Action Transfer” and “Most Official Real Life Stand-Ins in a Video Game”.

Lara Croft has transcended the boundary of the video game to become a recognisable figure in mainstream society, making her “Most Successful Video Game Heroine” and “Most Recognisable Female in a Video Game”. Her position at the helm of the Tomb Raider franchise has seen her star in two blockbuster movies, TV advertisements for Lucozade and SEAT cars. She has also appeared on the front cover of style magazine The Face has even shared the stage with rock band U2.

Lara Croft is also the “Most Detailed Video Game Character”. In her Tomb Raider: Underworld incarnation, developers used a character model consisting of 32,816 rendered polygons during gameplay, which as well as ensuring the video game looked amazing, also set a new world record.

Tomb Raider is the video-game with the “Most Official Real Life Stand-Ins” with Lara Croft having been officially portrayed by 10 different models since 1996. Actress Rhona Mitra and TV presenter Nell McAndrew are among the stars who became famous as the official face (and body) of Lara Croft. The most recent “real-life” Lara (pictured) is UK gymnast and model Alison Carroll, who took up the mantle from Karima Adebibe in 2008.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider already ranks as the highest grossing video-game movie, but together with its sequel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (USA, 2003), the franchise has grossed in excess of $431 million (£216 million) as of July 2008, making it the “Most Successful Live-Action Transfer” of all time.

Guinness World Records Gaming Editor, Gaz Deaves, says: “Lara Croft epitomizes all that’s great about video gaming and we’re delighted to acknowledge her success by awarding her with six official record entries including making her the most-famous and most-successful female video game character in the world.”

Karl Stewart, Brand Director of Crystal Dynamics, said: “After traveling the world for 14 years now, exploring and uncovering some of the world’s greatest secrets, Lara Croft has continued to remain one of the most recognisable video game characters in the world. She continues to break new ground and we are thrilled that Lara has been recognised through these Guinness World Records.”

Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer’s Edition is published Thursday 21 January 2010 and is the third instalment of the successful Gamer’s series devoted to the latest and greatest in video gaming. Guinness World Records is the globally-recognised authority on record-breaking achievements.

Notes to editors:

About Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer’s Edition

The Gamer’s Edition series, praised by critics as a ‘must have for fans of gaming’ (Kotaku.com) and ‘Gamer’s Edition has become an institution’ (The Independent) returns with its third instalment. The new edition promises to be the best yet, with more gaming records, reviews, trivia and features. Records from Gamer’s Edition 2010 include the Biggest Selling Video Game Of All Time (Wii Sports, with lifetime sales of over 46 million copies – eclipsing the previous 20 year record holder, Super Mario Bros’ 40 million copies sold). The Highest Grossing Video Arcade Of All Time (NBA Jam was released in North American arcades in 1993 and earned over $1 billion -£676,269,678- in its first year). The Longest Time Spent Playing An MMORPG (Sara Lhadi spent 16,799 hours playing Runescape between November 2004 and October 2009 – this averages out at 9 hours 20 minutes of play every single day!). The Most Played Video Game Of All Time (Snake, produced by Nokia distributed for free on mobile phone handsets is estimated to have been played by over a billion people). Most Played Online Video Game (Call of Duty 4, which has been played by over 13 million gamers on Xbox Live since its launch in November 2007). Departing from the game-by-game structure of the last two books, the new layout covers the world of gaming by genre and sub-genre, enabling the editors to pick only the strongest and most relevant records in each topic area. As well as records, Gamer’s Edition 2010 is full of interesting features such the as the Top 50 Games Of All Time as voted by our readers on the gamer’s website; Future Gaming; a profile on the doyen of Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto; How to be a Record-Breaker; the Year in Review; and of course the Twin Galaxies high scores charts that allows you to see how you compare with the best in the gaming world.

About Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements.

-ENDS-

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND/OR ARTWORK PLEASE CONTACT:

Damian Field: +44 (0)20 7891 4518 press@guinnessworldrecords.com

Mark Collins: +44 (0)20 7891 4518 Mark.Collins@guinnessworldrecords.com