Susie Hamilton
Susie Hamilton (also Suzie, Susan) was the Public Relations expert for Core Design from circa 1993 to circa 2002 [2]. As the "public face" of Core she was the person whom many fans interacted with, and during her tenure she supported many competitions, including the first Tomb Raider fan fiction writing competition. After Eidos, Susie went on to work for Circle Studio in Derby [3]. She wrote the book "The Official Tomb Raider Files Featuring Lara Croft" [4], which contains many fascinating details about Lara's original biography. Fan mythology says that she and writer Vicky Arnold may have contributed some of the voice sound effects (grunts, sighs and screams) for Lara in the first Tomb Raider game.
Miscellaneous quotes
"We do get a lot of emails from female game players and most of them are complimentary -- in spite of Lara's visual characteristics, which will naturally appeal more to the male players out there, the female players seem to have found a certain sympathy with her character. Lara represents independence, courage of conviction, and strength, but these have been incorporated into a role which still remains totally feminine. I think that when you combine Lara's no-nonsense, go-getting attitude with the above, you get something quite dynamic."
- Susie is interviewed in 2001 [6].
"The first Tomb Raider was a cutting-edge game at the time,' says Susie Hamilton, Core Design's resident Lara historian. 'The fact that it starred a female protagonist was very unusual. Lara was portrayed as an attractive, pistol-packing heroine. But it wasn't just her physical appearance that was of interest, it was also her no-nonsense attitude, independence, determination and genuine love of adventure. Another element to contribute to the success was the fact that the whole Girl Power thing was happening at the time Tomb Raider came out. We were lucky with the timing in many respects.
"... it's really hard to account for the percentage of people who'd buy a game on the strength of the hero or heroine. The two factors are inextricable - it has to be a 50-50 thing, I guess: great game, strong character. The fact that the majority of players are male obviously has to be taken into consideration, but I doubt the average fan would be prepared to keep buying the sequels purely to see Lara again."
- Susie on Lara models and "actresses" (2001) [7]
"Susan Hamilton, an Eidos spokesperson, explained the company's concurrent decision to shift its marketing strategy away from humans more towards the digital character by telling reporters, "It would be impossible for a human to speak as Lara Croft and to convey her true personality... [Creating a 3D interactive Lara] allows us full control over Lara's movements and personality."
- Susie and working in public relations for Eidos/Core Design (2001) [8]
"While managing a restaurant about eight years ago (Ed. 1993?), Susie was approached by Core Design ... and asked if she wanted to be an assistant at the company. She subsequently ended up in charge of Core's PR department. PR Highlights: Tomb Raider and all the sequels (various platforms), Thunderhawk (PC/Mega Drive/ST), Chuck Rock (ST/Amiga/PC)."
"The job has a lot of variety. You get to travel around a lot, both here and overseas. It can be very rewarding if your product does well and it gets a great review ... If you feel a review is unfair or you missed your coverage, then it can be a bit disheartening. Also, having to wear a smile continually and be very pleasant to everybody all the time even if you don't like them can be a downside."
- Susie to famous Tomb Raider author Katie Fleming [9]
“It shows a great overall observation of Lara and the Tomb Raider games - you've certainly done your homework there - it's almost like playing a Tomb Raider game.”
- Discussion between Susie and the Tomb Raider fan site Planet Lara about copyright [10].
"You may under no circumstances produce your own Tomb Raider level editor programme. Doing so will lead to legal action being taken against you."
