Museum plays the game for Lara's legions of fans

A SNEAK preview of the new Tomb Raider game is to be offered at an Edinburgh exhibition which is expected to attract thousands of computer fanatics.

Some of the action footage from Lara Croft’s fourth adventure will be shown for the first time at the Royal Museum’s celebration of video gaming - Game On - which opens next week.

Fans will also be able to watch exclusive trailers for the Angel of Darkness when the exhibition opens ahead of the game’s official launch next month and then play the game as soon as it is released. Gary Reading, publicist for Core Design, the makers of Tomb Raider said two copies of the eagerly-anticipated game were being specially transported to Edinburgh to make sure they were available on November 15, when the new release is expected to hit the shops.

The Tomb Raider series will have a whole section of the exhibition devoted to it.

Museums chiefs say the exhibition - the first ever in Scotland to explore the history of video games - will give fans the chance to play more than 120 games.

Everything from the first computer game, Spacewar, created in 1962, and the first home games console, Magnavox Odyssey, from 1972, to the latest in games technology will be on display.

Popular classics such as the 1972 arcade game Pong - an early version of electronic tennis - Space Invaders and Pac-Man will also be included.

The exhibition runs from October 18 until February 2.