In a contrasting string of commercials, Pringles stack their chip against bagged brand competitors. The premise is simple — “not every chip gets you to the crunch.”

And as you’ll see in the Silent Hill video game scenario below, when you finally do get to the “crunch”, a strip teasing Lara Croft will be waiting. The “squelching” non-crunch counterpart is, well, not as entertaining. Enjoy.

First, the “Crunch.”

And now, the “Squelch.”

A while back there was a rumor making its way around the internet saying that Megan Fox may play Lara Croft in the next Tomb Raider movie, as it was an origin story that called for a younger actress. This rumor finally made its way to Angelina Jolie and she is none too pleased.

It seems Jolie thinks that Fox steals a lot of things from her, like her style and her tattoos. I don’t think that she has any valid reason to be upset, as she couldn’t play Lara Croft in an origin story anyway. Why does she even give a crap?

Go Nintendo

Recognize that rear? You should. One of the most famous behinds in all of gaming makes its way to the number 8 spot of our Top 10 Nicest Asses countdown . Of course you aren’t satisfied with that little picture and need more visual proof, and we humbly oblige. Again, please note that there may be some NSFW content included.

Click images to enlarge.

#8 – Lara Croft (Tomb Raider series)

Seriously, is this a surprise to anyone? Maybe the fact that the most famous female in all of videogames is way down at number 8 is a surprise, but I think everyone kinda expected to see her on this list.

So what’s so great about Lara’s lower lumps? Well, for one thing she’s gone through a slight change with every iteration of the Tomb Raider games. At some point, there has likely been a Lara Croft model that you would totally bone. Even if her ass hasn’t met your standards yet, there’s hope that it will get bigger/smaller/rounder/flatter in the future.

Even if the “official” Lara Croft doesn’t do it for you, there are downloadable skins for the PC version like the infamous Nude Patch. Even further than that, however, you have fan art and the very, very, very NSFW content of sites like LaraCroftNude. It’s bound to happen with any pop culture icon, but Lara Croft has an entire pay site dedicated to Tomb Raider porn. That’s big time.

Additionally, Lara Croft has been portrayed by a slew of real life hot chicks. This alone makes “Lara Croft” a far-fetched yet possible sexual encounter — there are dudes out there that have actually boned Lara Croft. Think about that.

Looking at this picture, you may be drawn (as I was) to the Lara on the far right. This is model Karima Adebibe, and she has by far been the best Lara Croft to date. Need more pics?

Alison Carroll has recently taken on the role of Lara Croft. While she may actually have the gymnastics skill to pull off Lara’s fancy acrobatics, I still don’t think she beats Karima where it really counts: hotness. Alison Carroll is still pretty hot, though, and you can check out her gallery here.

And just for added eye candy, here’s a video of Lara hopping around in a white dress:

…and here’s a video of her in a bunch of different bathing suits:

I think we’ve proven why Lara deserves on this list (as if there was much doubt). Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow to see our number 7 pick for the Top 10 Nicest Asses in Videogames.

Oh, and here’s one more pic for good measure:

All the Asses: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Special Mentions | 1

Think of electioneering as a real-time strategy game. You make your moves at the same time as your opponent, and in the end whoever has the most points (votes) wins. While politicos may scratch their heads at the pick of relatively inexperienced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate, gamers will know that there is no better ally on your side than a bear-hunting, gun-toting babe in a fur-lined parka.

A reader on political blogger Andrew Sullivan’s site wrote:

It would be a big mistake to dismiss Palin’s pop-cultural appeal. It’s clear she was chosen solely to game the system, and the Republicans OWN that play. I’m sure they expect her to be a lure for the female (not feminist) vote, and they already have a lock on the over 60 white males.

In addition, I predict a bonus unintended consequence for McCain among middle class/educated/post-college/pre-adult white males. A demographic label that follows many into their late 30s and currently trends for Obama. Basically the gamers/Gen-Xers/Seth Rogen/Will Farrell crowd. The GOP has already rolled out video of Palin in snugly tailored fatigues, combat boots and tight t-shirt brandishing a weapon at a meet-n-greet with the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait. I’m sure they’re scrambling to find more. “Sarah Palin as Laura Croft” will leave these guys drooling like zombies.

Personally, I would have gone with Sonic the Hedgehog. He could probably help fund the campaign with his treasure trove of gold rings.

Source: Andrew Sullivan

You may remember the Playboy Cyber Girl of the Year Jo Garcia from her attempt to dethrone the Wii Fit girl as “Sexiest Ass to Fake Hoola Hoop” (which I think Wii Fit girl won). Anyway, it would seem that the Cyber Girl lives up to her title as the geek version of the Playmate of the Year, and was not just playing the Wii as a publicity stunt. Turns out she’s a big-time gamer, with a love and knowledge of Final Fantasy that runs so deep that I, of all people, would actually make fun of her dorkiness. Video follows.

Contrary to Jo Garcia’s statement, you are NOT watching this on PWN or DIE dot com.

Okay, is it just me, or do you find this girl to actually be less attractive now? It would seem that on paper, this is every guy’s dream, especially a guy like our own Chad Lakkis who is equally obsessed with Final Fantasy. In reality… not so much.

She also further fuels the stereotype that pretty girls are stupid by talking about the 15-level difference between a boss that she fought at level 45 and then again at 70, which all you number wizards out there can agree is not quite accurate. Then she says that people have the “misnomer” that there is only one Zodiac Spear when in fact there are two — so it appears that Miss Garcia not only failed math class, but English as well.  Congradurations!

Don’t get me wrong, I would make fun of this person just as much if it were a guy, if not more.  Then again, it probably wouldn’t be worth writing about if it were a guy, unless maybe it was some celebrity like Danny DeVito or something.

So, in conclusion, the moral of this story is that hot girls seem hotter when they don’t talk.  Ha, I’m just half-kidding.  Seriously, do you find this girl more or less attractive now compared to just watching her shake her ass on Wii Fit?  Ladies also — what are your feelings on the matter? And don’t just saying I’m being superficial. As a Playboy model, it it her job to be attractive, so discussing what makes her more or less attractive is relevant and important to her career (*snicker*).

The new face of Lara Croft, 23 year old Alison Carroll, has been spotted making her rounds at Leipzig. Can you tell which one is Alison?

We know it’s hard, but try anyway. If you guess correctly, you may click the jump and see another photo of the British beauty taken at the show.

If these two photos are not enough to quench your unhealthy Lara Croft obsession, feel free to check out the gallery we published a little over a week ago.

Source: GoNintendo

The new model for Lara Croft, Alison Carroll, recently did an interview with British News Channel Five.  We got the video here, and in addition to the interview itself, you will see some hot footage of Alison in the new yellow and black swimsuit, as well as some of her physical training.  Miss Carroll also does her spokeswomanly duty and slyly drops the Tomb Raider name and release date with a wink and a smile (not quite literally, but whatever).

You can check out more images and another video of Allison in our previous post by clicking here.

E3 08 has had plenty of surprises so far, but far more reliable was the sexy spelunking of heroine Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Underworld. The demo we played started on a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean, a scene about ten minutes into the beginning of the game.

Immediately Lara began her underwater descent to a sunken ruin, wearing SCUBA gear that meant she could swim at her leisure without having to find air pockets. Plus, she looked really good in that bikini.

At the bottom of the ocean, a garden of kelp grew around waterlogged tunnels, making it difficult to see which pathways were available. This gave us a good chance to try out Lara’s new sonar map, which sent out a ping to create a 3d map of the area around her. The sound actually bounced off of the stone to reveal a few hidden crags. Along the way, Lara was attacked by a few sharks, which could be disposed of with either dual pistols (which seemed to work fine underwater in this build), a harpoon gun, or sticky grenades.

After a typical Tomb Raider puzzle, which involved swimming to find two hidden keys and turn giant stone discs into place, our way was now clear. Lara moved out of the water and onto the slick rocks for some of the running, jumping, climbing, and swinging that have become her signature moves. Little flourishes like an extra twist when swinging on poles looked nice, but didn’t add much gameplay-wise.

For innovation, we instead have slow-motion “adrenaline moments” where Lara has a split second to make a jump, or face instant death. The cause of these dramatic incidents was a huge krakken, a tentacled creature that was so large, it blocked her from moving into the next chamber. The adrenaline moments are thankfully not quick-time button presses, but maintain the same controls and camera angle of the normal game, with only a slight screen blur and whooshing sound effect.

To get past the krakken, Lara had to move to two opposite sides of the chamber and use her grappling hook to position a large, spiked rock squarely above the beast. While we did this, we noticed a new move Lara had with her hook– she can now rappel down walls, but in actuality this doesn’t perform any differently from the walking move she had in the last game, Anniversary.

With the giant spiked stone in place, all that was left was send it crashing down. We shot the supporting chains (you could also use the sticky bombs here) and squished the krakken. With this puzzle solved, the demo was over.

So what did we learn from this encounter? It looks to me like Tomb Raider: Underworld is not going to try anything substantially different from what worked in Anniversary. The swimming mechanics were a bit clunky in this early build, and the platforming and puzzle solving didn’t use any new elements that grabbed my attention other than two brief adrenaline moments.

While I am interested to find out where Lara will go next, I can’t help but feel she’s just being led through more of the same. The krakken wasn’t a boss (shooting it does nothing), and it could have just as easily been replaced by a giant stone statue.

As an early part of the game, this section served its purpose in easing players back into the experience. However, I was hoping to be impressed with a bit more innovation and a genuine sense of discovery. Instead, Lara just seems to be going through the motions. And at this point in our twelve year relationship, she’s got to try harder than that.

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This is what we have all been waiting for … a battle for the ages, and the time is now. We have assembled 32 of the finest video game characters that have ever called a console home, and a five round single elimination tournament of speed, skill, strength, and determination stands between them and being named pixel for pixel the baddest that ever was, the “King of the Game”.

This weeks match up is a classic battle of old school versus new school, as Lara Croft goes head to head with Pitfall Harry. John Madden calls the game live from the University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, with the help of special theme guest Harrison Ford.

Click the images below to begin. Once the larger image loads, you may need to click the green arrow icon that appears below it in order to see it in full size. Enjoy the amazing art of Siddhartha Deb, and check back next week for our next installment of King of the Game.

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We hope you enjoyed this weeks “King of the Game” match up. Check out more of Siddhartha Deb’s art work at his official website, www.mrsidslounge.com.