PS3 Fanboy

Long, long, long overdue is the update to Lair's control interface, but on April 17th, it's finally arriving on the Japanese PS Store. The update not only allows a left analogue stick control scheme, but a better aiming function as well as two new dragons to mount and ride. Yep -- now you have the Wind and Poison dragons at your beck and call. But that's not all -- new custom themes will be available that change at random on startup. Will we see this stuff outside of Japan? Who knows -- if some of it's free, that stuff won't necessarily have to.

[via N4G]

You thought you heard the last of Lair, didn't you? While at GDC, a man we will call DugBuzz, states in his IGN blog, seeked out the Factor 5 booth and played around with their new build of Lair that incorporated an analog function. He made a comment about the guy who reviewed the game on IGN after playing the new version: "Greg needs to give them a new score. It was kind of clear that Factor 5 put in the extra effort a little begrudgingly, but the results were amazing. This might push me over the edge into the "must buy PS3" territory."

So there you have it. If you haven't played Lair, or rented it and had a bad taste in your mouth, should this analog patch (which also might fix other things -- just an assumption) come out, we'll let you know. It's then your call whether or not to try it out again, but if this guy has decent tastes, it might just make a potentially great game great. Get it?

It's no secret many gamers aren't very happy with Lair's SIXAXIS control scheme. And despite overwhelming requests by gamers the world over for Factor 5 to issue a patch to rectify the issue, months have gone by without any fix for this issue.

However, Factor 5's President Julian Eggebrecht recently hinted that a fix may finally be in the pipeline. "I can't say anything quite yet, but there might be something in the works there," he said. Additionally, he admitted the decision to only include the SIXAXIS control scheme was a mistake. "If you're on a platform where this whole motion control is something new and not being pitched as the main feature of the platform, you should probably give the choice between having different control schemes, there is absolutely no doubt about it," he added.

It's hard not to agree with Eggebrecht, but what a lot of gamers out there want is just a fix for what many believe is crippling controls for an otherwise decent game. Hopefully, Factor 5 chooses to give us what we want.

It seems that the European Lair delay truly was outside of Sony's control this time. CVG have confirmed that it is down to the lack of an age rating on the discs, which is a legal requirement for any game being sold. Because of this, Lair will be delayed for an unspecified time until a work-around of some description can be implemented.

We know how much you enjoy hearing about Lair and its numerous delays, so we shall keep you up to date with any developments. But like we always say, there are plenty of other, better, games that are due to be released in the coming weeks. Not to mention the huge number of games released within the last month that are worthy of your time.

For those of you in Europe who ran down to your local game store this morning, wide-eyed and hopeful that you would finally get your hands on Factor 5's dragon dive bomber Lair, please try not to let your disappointment overwhelm you. The game did not come out this week, instead being pushed back a couple of weeks. The new estimated release date is the 23rd of November.

Apparently, for once, Sony isn't at fault and the problem is being blamed on a manufacturing issue. If you really want Lair and you haven't yet imported it, then we're going to assume you're a bit crazy. Lair's EU sales figures will probably suffer thanks to the release of Guitar Hero III, Kane and Lynch and The Orange Box on the same day, but at least it will be out.

Rise From Lair (you will most likely just know it as Lair) was released recently onto the Japanese market. While the game may have flopped in the US, it seems that Japan has taken quite a shining to it. A few weeks ago, Famitsu gave Rise From Lair a very favourable score (only 1 less than Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core). Now the title has entered the Japanese top 10 at number 7 after selling 22,000 during its first week, according to Media Create.

Could it be that the control issues have been fixed? Or maybe the Japanese don't really care and are enjoying the game anyway. We're intrigued to see how the game will do in Europe once it's finally released on November the 9th. If that is its real release date.

They say that Japanese and American gamers have different taste in games. Well, that certainly appears to be the case in Japan. Lair (or Rise from Lair, as it's called in Japan) has been getting a serious push by Sony's Japanese marketing team. They might have an easier job of selling the game in the territory, thanks to the fantastic critical reception of the game. Famitsu, Japan's leading gaming magazine awarded the game an impressive 34/40, which is far more generous than the current critical average of 55/100.

Will Lair be able to dominate the Japanese sales charts next week? With Halo 3 taking the top spot this week, it seems anything is possible.

Regardless of what the critics may say, there's one undeniable great thing about Lair: its soundtrack. Composed by John Debney, the rich score of Lair is filled with epic drama and a full, textured sound provided by the London and Royal Symphony Orchestras.

All 26 tracks, which include hits like "Bridge of the Ancients," "Bridge Battle," and "Bridge Attack," are now available for purchase on iTunes for 99 cents each. The entire album can be purchased for a mere $9.99.

[Via PlayStation.blog]

Maybe trying to distance itself from the critically lambasted Lair, Phil Harrison told GameTrailers that it did not force tilt controls in Factor 5's controversial dragon game. "[Motion control] was definitely not mandated by us. We've always said all along that the use of the Sixaxis is something that should be decided by the developer in tune with their creative vision for the game, so it's not something we would mandate." In spite of this, it appears that many first-party Sony titles utilize tilt controls in some way. Thankfully, many developers have learned from the mistakes of Lair, and include options to turn off the tilt controls and replace them with analog movement (for example, Ratchet & Clank Future.)

In addition, Harrison doesn't find fault with Heavenly Sword's length -- a deciding factor that has limited the game's score in many reviews (including our own). "You know what? Not that many people finish games, so I think we shouldn't criticize a game for being a story, which has an arc with a beginning, a middle and an end... and actually encouraging all gamers to see all of the story, I think that's something positive." Granted, the experience looks and feels big-budget. But at the end of the day, most gamers probably want a longer journey for the increased price of admission.

[Thanks, njkid1! Via GameDaily]

Factor 5's Julian Eggebrecht has been thinking about motion controls a lot lately. While still content with Lair's much-maligned input system, he has found issues with Warhawk's use of motion controls less-than-stellar. In an interview with Games Radar, Eggebrecht said that "Warhawk's controls are... eurgh!"

"I see motion-sensing as a complimentary, additional new step in terms of controls and where it fits you should use it and where it doesn't fit, don't force it. Please don't force it," he said. You see that folks? Eggebrecht just redefined irony.

Note that Warhawk can be played entirely without using the Sixaxis' tilt capabilities -- hence, they are not "forcing it." Is this a sign that Factor 5 might resign themselves to releasing a Lair patch enabling analog stick flight, or do we need to tell the Emperor he is strolling through the village without any clothes on?



[Via Joystiq]

Lair is not very good. Most people agree with that. To try and alleviate the reviewing experience and perhaps gain a few points on scores, Lair's handlers released a 'Lair Reviewer's Guide' to the gaming press. Some were insulted by this.

But what's really scary is that even the guide that Sony sent out is not very good either, or at least it was not proofread well. The image above is a clip from page 7 of the 'Lair Reviewer's Guide'. Yes, you read correctly, the Medium Dragon is described as "Dummy text, add new medium dragon txt here" several times over. Perhaps the "dragon-game curse" isn't done wreaking havoc on Factor 5 after all?

[Thanks, Stoo!]

Sometimes when you combine things, they form something even greater than its parts, like peanut butter and jelly, or the five robot cats that form Voltron. Other times, like when you combine Factor 5 and ghosts, you get Lair. "I am not a believer in ghosts, but this one was haunted," Lair director Julian Eggebrecht explains to MTV's Stephen Totilo.

Factor 5's Eggebrecht and producer Brian Krueger even admit in Lair's in-game commentary that there was a "dragon-game curse". Ranging from contrast problems with the very first trailer, to power outages during the writing of the master disk, nothing would go Factor 5's way during the development of Lair.

Eggebrecht and his team's struggle with the creation of Lair may be the exception rather than the rule in the video game development business, but it does help people outside of the industry understand just how tough making a game can be. The Lair director explains that "every single time there was a crucial delivery, something bizarre went wrong", even sickness and deaths within employees' families.

Maybe Lair is not everything PS3 owners were hoping for, but maybe they deserve some credit too for completing a game under such trying circumstances. It's good to know that even with all that they had going against them, the Factor 5 team still had time to have a little fun and hot coffee.

Did you know that Lair has a secret "Hot Coffee" code? Inspired by the controversy sparked by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Factor 5 has included a video in the game that lampoons the ESRB's overly harsh decision. You can experience it for yourself by inputting code 686F7420636F66666565 (case sensitive) into the game. Or, you can take the lazy way out, and watch after the cut.

While Colin gets the delightful task of reviewing Warhawk (9.0), I'm left with the arduous burden of reviewing Lair, one of PS3's most hyped and anticipated games. What could possibly go wrong with a game where dragons fly around, killing each other? With stunning graphics, incredible production values, and dragons, Lair easily had a ton of potential. However, it all goes to waste through unresponsive controls and flawed level design.

As any Gamecube owner knows, Factor 5 is a team comprised of technical wizards. Their previous Rogue Squadron games pulled off graphical techniques on Nintendo's last generation machine that most Wii games still don't take advantage of. Factor 5 managed to rip out the most celebrated moments of the Star Wars films and make a captivating series that delivered action faithful to its inspiration. So, why does Lair feel like a retread from Factor 5's previous games?

No, this is not a joke. Lair can be played on PSP through PS3's Remote Play functionality. As discovered by Dubbedinenglish on the PlayStation forums, this is quite possibly the first Blu-ray PS3 game to run successfully on the PSP. By reducing the visual quality and increasing the response time, the game is actually quite playable. In fact, because the game uses the PSP's analog stick instead of tilt controls, it actually controls better than the PS3 counterpart.

Stay tuned for a video.

[Thanks, Nightz!]