AMD unveiled the new TressFX technology it teased us with, earlier this week. The technology, as predicted, works to create realistic hair rendering and physics; but we imagine it could be applied to foliage and hopefully, furry donuts as well. It will be first implemented in the 2013 reboot title of the Tomb Raider franchise, in which Lara Croft finally parted with her braid. TressFX helps accurately render Croft's hair, drawing finer locks of hair than pre-rendered hair textures plastered on bigger hair polygons that look unnatural. The free and fluid nature of these locks can then be used to accurately draw the effects of wind and water onto the hair. Below are a few before-after instances of TressFX.

Technically, TressFX is a toolset co-developed by AMD and Crystal Dynamics, which taps into DirectCompute to unlock the number-crunching prowess of the GPU (specifically Graphics CoreNext ones), to render individual strands of hair. It is built on the foundation laid by AMD's work on Order Independent Transparency (OIT), and uses Per-Pixel Linked-List (PPLL) data structures to manage rendering complexity and memory usage. DirectCompute is additionally used to process the physics of these strands of hair, which are affected by the character's motion, and elements such as wind and water/rain. TressFX will be implemented at least on the PC version of the upcoming Tomb Raider.

In our last teleconference with AMD's graphics team, the company briefly touched upon a new feature it was working with Square Enix to ship with the upcoming Tomb Raider franchise reboot game. It turns out AMD has a name for it, TressFX. The company is said to detail the technology tomorrow (26/02), but signed its teaser off with a catchphrase: "Render, Rinse, Repeat." To us, it sounds like a technology that helps GPUs render elements such as hair and foliage more accurately. Then again, we wonder how it would make Lara Croft look any hotter (who ties her hair into a French Braid). Something to look forward to 26th for.

You may have read our report from earlier today, covering the main points that AMD was trying to make in its recent teleconference with the European press (which includes us). While in the call, we were a little jolted by the choices of words some of AMD's executives used to describe their company's consumer graphics outlook for 2013, how they believe they can hold out for almost the entire year with little or no major updates to their product stack, and more interestingly, a few above-the-belt jabs at NVIDIA and its upcoming GeForce GTX Titan product.

The crux of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was to bust some misconceptions spread in the press over the last couple of weeks, to tell them a Graham's Number of times that they still hold the fastest single GPU on the planet, which powers the fastest graphics card there is (ASUS ARES II). The most ironic part of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was the one in which they called GeForce Titan NVIDIA's emergency/knee-jerk reaction to AMD's getting cozy with game developers, and netting some of the biggest PC game launches of the season for its Never Settle Reloaded bundle.

Over the last weekend, AMD hosted a teleconference with the press in which it charted out its strategy for 2013. Older reports led us to believe that the company's next-generation GPU lineup won't launch any time before Q4, but the press overlooked another possibility, that AMD could make additions to its existing HD 7000 series product family, before Q4.

The current Radeon HD 7000 appears "complete," due to the fact that there are products covering nearly every competitive price point. With the introduction of the GeForce GTX Titan, NVIDIA could gain two products in the price-range of $900-$1200, the other being GTX 690. AMD's various board partners, lead by TUL-affiliated ones, and HIS, launched the HD 7990 around the $800 mark, and ASUS topped things up with the Republic of Gamers ARES II at an unreal $1,600 point, which AMD claims is the fastest graphics card money can buy.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the arrival of its "Never Settle: Reloaded" game bundle, the sequel to last year's monumental "Never Settle" bundle. "Never Settle: Reloaded" delivers by bundling up to four of this year's most anticipated PC games -- "BioShock Infinite" by 2K Games and Irrational Games, "Crysis 3" by Electronic Arts, "DmC Devil May Cry" by Capcom and "Tomb Raider" by Square Enix -- with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards. The bundle highlights the continued commitment by AMD to ensure an incredible gaming experience on the world's top PC titles optimized for AMD Radeon graphics cards

"AMD knows gaming and in 2013 we plan to make a huge mark on the industry. Today we begin that journey by showing the world that the best PC game developers are AMD Gaming Evolved partners," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. "The 'Never Settle: Reloaded' bundle clearly stands apart from anything else in the market. Gaming has always been, and will remain, the core of the AMD Graphics strategy and success. In 2013, we plan to forge greater inroads into the gaming industry and it begins with packaging this year's biggest games with the best graphics hardware from AMD." The "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle offers the following games when purchased with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards:

AMD stumped PC gamers last October by announcing its first Never Settle game bundle that sees its various AIB partners bundle 2~4 AAA game titles with their performance-thru-extreme segment graphics cards. In a bid to overcome post-X'mas slump, and build the brand in the run up to summer, the company released its Never Settle Reloaded bundles.

Based around games that launch within Q1, the bundle covers four new AAA titles: Tomb Raider (2013); Bioshock Infinite, DMC: Devil May Cry (2013); and Crysis 3. That's right, one of the biggest PC games of this season will be freely distributed with AMD Radeon graphics cards. Those buying a single Radeon HD 7900 series graphics card get Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite; a single Radeon HD 7800 series card gets you Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider (2013).

Following on from the hack into Square Enix's (Deus Ex, Tomb Raider franchises) servers last week, the Japanese company has been sending out an email to its members, updating them on the situation. They explain that no personal information was lifted, but have suspended their member's service while investigations continue. This rather reassuring explanation is in stark contrast to initial reports that up to 1.8 million accounts (1M in Japan, 800K in America) had had personal information lifted, such as names, phone numbers and email addresses. However, it does appear that no personal, login or credit card info was accessed in the end, the company reports (hopefully honestly). Here is that Square Enix email in full:

Eidos has released the first batch of screenshots for Tomb Raider: Underworld. The game is being developed by Crystal Dynamics for six major platforms including Sony Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. The latest installment takes Lara Croft to Southern Mexico on a mission to unravel the mystery surrounding the five missing days of the Mayan calendar, an apocalyptic time when the portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolve, allowing ill-intending deities to causing disaster and mayhem. The full game is expected to release in December 2008. All 10 ultra high resolution (5120x2880) screenshots are here.

The release date of the next Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider Underworld, has been moved to the fourth quarter of 2008, Eidos announced this morning. Originally Lara's last adventure was only announced for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, but due to the changes the game will ship simultaneously on six platforms for the 2008 Christmas season (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii and PS2). Details are a bit slim on Tomb Raider: Underworld, but it's being developed by Crystal Dynamics and will cover events taking place after Legend. It'll also include more animations and is said to be pure woman versus wild.

The demo of Lara Croft's upcoming adventure "Tomb Raider: Anniversary" is out now. The game is a complete re-make of the first Tomb Raider game which was originally released in 1996 for the PlayStation. It's powered by an advanced version of the previous hit game's (Tomb Raider: Legend) engine and takes you on a quest to Peru where you have to find the mysterious artifact known as the Scion.

Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Demo) (257MB)

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What do Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Dickens, and now Lara Croft have in common? They all have commemorative plaques at their figurative I-did-something-important-here place in the UK. The former site of Core Design, located in Ashbourne Road, Derby, is going to be commemorated with a blue plaque to signify that Lara Croft from the PS1 smash hit Tomb Raider was "born" there. Of course, people are currently building flats in that region, so the plaque will be officially put in once the buildings are complete.

It's been eleven years since the original Tomb Raider was released. And so, the original makes of Tomb Raider have felt it necessary to make an anniversary edition. Of course, the actual production wasn't done by the original producers. A lot of franchise ownership transfer has been going on, and now Eidos Interactive is responsible for Tomb Raider: Anniversary. On June 5th, you will be able to get this game for the PS2, PC, and "shortly thereafter", the PSP.