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4Players: I know Tomb Raider 8 is still in development and something you can't talk about yet. But can you say where you want to go, what you want to see story-wise and character-wise?Gard: Well, I mean, it's difficult to talk about that stuff, because stuff that I do want to see tends to end up happening!

Driven and dangerous: Lara Croft at work.

*laughs* I mean, not always. I'm not designing it...

4Players: Are you going to stay as an advisor?

Gard: Yes.

4Players: Why is that, anyway? Why not be the designer?

Gard: Well, when you become creative director on a project it completely takes up all of your energy and time. And the fact is that there are lots of things going on for Tomb Raider, like different games, different people coming up with ways to use the license or the brand. Ian (Livingston, ed.) was talking about a movie coming and all those kinds of things. And there's no one really looking for the coherence of the whole thing. And I think there needs to be. So I try to look at everything I can.

4Players: So, you're overlooking Lara's development.

Gard: Yes, unofficially. *laughs*

4Players: What do you think is the most important aspect about games? Story, characters, gameplay?

Gard: Oh yes, that's tough! I don't think the characters are even a necessary part of a game. I truly believe that story is integral to making any kind of experience that's going to have any real effect on people. You know, I never remember an

In the tombs of Peru you will catch up with old friends.

individual game of Tetris, because there's no story to tell. I think story is so important to humans, and I think that designers who ignore story do so at their own peril. But obviously gameplay is the key thing. I mean what you're doing and how much fun the experience is is the key thing. That's what people play games for.

4Players: Do you think an older Lara could be an interesting character as well?

Gard: Well, you know, that's the beauty of digital actors: They don't age.

4Players: Did Lara get older during the course of the games?

Gard: She's pretty much stayed the same. She's in that time warp. *laughs* And that's really a great thing when you think about it, because real actors - you can't get a young Harrison Ford any more...