Video game title Tomb Raider: Anniversary should arrive in North America in just a couple of days from now, or at least the versions for the PlayStation Portable, PS2, and Games for Windows platforms. Eidos Interactive did announce a Wii version of the remake but is still not quite ready to furnish any details.

Anyway, online site Gamasutra recently got hold of Crystal Dynamics Producer Lulu LaMer and discussed the game's development. The producer shared that one of the most daunting task in revisiting Lady Lara Croft's past was to create a game that triggered players' memories while maintaining a fresh and different feel to it. LaMer added that constraints in design somewhat helped them,

I'm in favor of constraints in design, they can really force creativity. We had a lot of creative freedom. We started with our hot list of important "nostalgia points" we needed to re-create, and we synched with Eidos early on to make sure all expectations were set appropriately.

Prior to this, Lulu LaMer was also the producer for PS2 title Tomb Raider: Legend and the experience she got there really helped in this project. The producer added that co-developer Buzz Monkey really knew what they were doing in terms of making the game for the PSP but that somehow was at odds with Crystal's plans of really pushing the PS2's capabilities. LaMer explained,

The problem was just that we were pushing the PS2 to its limits making massive, beautifully-detailed spaces with all the bells and whistles we could afford. Those goals were strictly at odds with what we knew would work for PSP, but we decided that the impact of an all-out PS2 version was worth the pain of PSP conversion.

After all is said and done, the collaborative effort between Eidos Interactive, Crystal Dynamics, and Buzz Monkey will be graded by the fans of the aging and resilient Tomb Raider franchise. But for what it's worth, Lulu Lamer shared that they had a blast making this game,

Our development approach (get things playable, iterate, collaborate) was entirely based around what we learned worked (or didn't work) on Legend. To be frank, the TR:A team is a bunch of opinionated, mouthy bastards, so it was a pleasure to get the opportunity to test our opinions. We had a good time doing it too!