While Sixaxis pads across American are being put through their motion-sensing paces with Lair, UK gamers are forced to wait even longer as Sony tells CVG that the game's European release has slipped... again.
» Read More 

Good old Lair for PS3 has been delayed by at least a couple of weeks according to retailers speaking to Eurogamer, with the game now listed as 23rd November by many.
» Read More 

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has confirmed a selection of release dates for a number of forthcoming PlayStation 3 titles, including the likes of the highly anticipated Lair and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

First up for release, as confirmed last week, is The Eye of Judgment this Friday (October 26), followed by Factor 5's Lair and Insomniac's Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction on November 9.

Finally, December sees Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune arriving on December 9, with the elusive SingStar PS3 pencilled for release for some time that month, though an exact date has yet to be revealed.
» Read More 

Oct 18, 2007 Factor 5's Lair may have had a tough time in front of the critics upon release in the US (OPM said the game "is marked by a crippling inconsistency, and not just in its use of motion-sensitive controls" - ouch) but that hasn't stopped the magic dragon from going straight into the Japanese top ten. Latest figures from Japan reveal that Lair went into the charts at number seven, after notching up sales of just over 20k. How long it stays there is anyone's guess. November 9 is the ... » Read More

PS3 title takes number seven spot on first week in the charts

Sony's PlayStation 3 title Lair has entered the Japanese software chart at number 7, selling 22,000 units in its first week of release, according to the latest data from Media Create.

Top of the chart for the sales week ending October 14 was DS title Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent, another new entry, that sold 61,000 copies.

Project Gotham Racing 4 entered the chart at number 25, and was the only Xbox 360 title to feature in the top 30, following Halo 3's earlier positive showing.

The full top ten is as follows:

01. DS Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent (DS)

02. Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor (PS2)

03. Gundam Battle Chronicle (PSP)

04. Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon: Time Expedition Party (DS)

05. Arcana Heart (PS2)

06. Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon: Shadow Expedition Party (DS)

07. Lair (PS3)

08. Archaic Sealed Heat (DS)

09. Kanji Test 2 (DS)

10. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS)
» Read More 

Sony today revealed in its newest release schedule for Europe that Factor 5's Lair has been pushed back in Europe once more. The game has been available since early August in America but the game was already delayed for Europe. The game was planned for a release on October 19. Sony today revealed that Lair won't hit European stores until November 16. A reason for the delayment was not given, although rumors suggest Factor 5 may be drastically improving the control scheme.
» Read More 

Oct 3, 2007 It's a bit early to start proclaiming that "Microsoft wins Japan!" or the like (though that was our knee-jerk headline of choice) but we're still gobsmacked at the news that Halo 3 has taken first place in last week's Japanese sales charts, beating a Pokemon DS game into the bargain. Bungie's 360-powered threequel managed to shift 59,000 copies in Japan, four thousand more than Pokemon's Mysterious Dungeon: Toki on Nintendo DS. And this in a land where FPS games traditionally fail ... » Read More

From Playstation.Blog: "[We] now have Lair's official soundtrack available on Apple iTunes! Just search for "John Debney Lair" in the iTunes store and it should come right up. I think it's amazing how different the music sounds outside of the game setting and how well it works on its own, and yet how reminiscent of the game it is and how much it adds to the gameplay experience."
» Read More 

The newest edition of the British games magazine EDGE has just hit stores and first readers already posted all the review scores on the internet. This months edition contains reviews of some big titles like Halo 3, PGR4, Metroid Prime 3, Lair, SKATE, Stranglehold, SEGA Rally and Eternal Sonata.

Like many other reviews, Lair did not score so well with a 3/10. Two Worlds didn't do much better either with just a 4/10. Phoenix Wright and Jam Sessions on the Nintendo DS did not impress either with both just a 6/10. Metroid Prime 3 also quite disappointed according to EDGE with just a 7/10. Stranglehold, SKATE, Sega Rally, and Eternal Sonata all were rewarded with 7/10 scores.

Halo 3 and Project Gotham Racing 4 were this months' best titles with Halo 3 getting the top score of 10/10. PGR4 did very well to with 9/10. Check out all this months' scores below.

Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 10
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii, Nintendo): 7
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9
Sega Rally (PS3/Xbox 360, Sega): 7
Lair (PS3, Sony): 3
Stranglehold (Xbox 360, Midway): 7
Skate (Xbox 360, EA): 8
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2, Atlus): 7
Singstar (PS3, Sony): 8
Two Worlds (Xbox 360, SouthPeak Interactive): 4
Grimgrimoire (PS2, Koei): 7
Jam Sessions (NDS, Ubisoft): 6
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP, Square Enix): 9
Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360, Bandai Namco): 7
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations (NDS, Capcom): 6
Sonic Rush Adventure (NDS, Sega): 5
» Read More 

Latest issue of P3Zine has a 6 page preview/interview with emphasis on how the user-built maps work on the PS3. Also has Stranglehold, Warhawk, Fracture and Fallout 3.
» Read More 

Ken Levine, 2K Boston president and creator of potential Game of the Year BioShock, has come to the defense of Lair, possibly one of the worst games of the year. Levine speculates that Factor 5 may have been given a mandate of sorts to push the motion controls with their game.
» Read More 

Sept 18, 2007 As well as discussing the chances of a new Rogue Squadron game when we sat down with Factor 5's president Julian Eggebrecht recently, we also chewed over the pros and cons of motion-control. To our surprise, the Lair dev was happy to say that he thought Warhawk's implementation of pad-tilting magic left a little to be desired. "Warhawk's controls are... eurgh!," Eggebrecht told us with a shudder. He explained that while motion-sensing felt the perfect way to convey the feeling ... » Read More

Apparently, Sony is offering a pretty sweet deal overseas, in Sweden at the very least. Anyone who purchases a full-HD TV from Sony, will get either a free Playstation 3 unit or a 200EU rebate on the TV. On top of that, with every HD Ready TV purchased, buyers will receive a free Sony PSP.
» Read More 

Yahoo's Matt Slagle writes :

"It's been a long year for PlayStation 3 owners with very little in the way of new, exclusive content. As good as they are, "MotorStorm" and "Resistance: Fall of Man" are wearing thin for me. Finally, two new PS3 exclusives are available: "Warhawk" and "Lair." Being an exclusive game doesn't guarantee greatness. Five minutes with "Lair" makes that painfully clear."
» Read More 

Sept 13, 2007 Despite its fire-breathing credentials, developer Factor 5's PS3 dragon-driver, Lair, struggled to raise the temperature of the game's critical reception to anything much above chilly. We can't imagine that gamers will be petitioning for a sequel anytime soon. However, love for the developer's Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series is much more abundant, with fans hoping for another chance to slip into the cockpit of an X-wing and fight in a galaxy far, far away all over again. We ... » Read More

Sept 11 2007 You might have heard about Lair being a bit rubs. You might have read our 5/10 review. And you might also have seen that Sony and developer Factor 5 weren't pleased - reacting to the many paltry scores by issuing a 'reviewer's guide' to the tragically disappointing dragon-riding actioner. To which your response may have been "What the f-!?". We weren't so surprised. After all, it was Sony who once conjured up a make-believe film critic to heap praise on its own films. And it's ... » Read More

This week's top rental charts from U.S. game rental company GameFly, representing the most requested games for the week ending September 7th, highlight both to-be-released and already released games in a unique demand-specific chart.

This week sees the overall charts dominated entirely by Xbox 360 titles, with Midway's Stranglehold, formerly in the second position for two straight weeks, rising to the top spot, displacing BioShock to the fourth position. EA's Medal of Honor: Airborne moves up one slot to second place, and Halo 3 slides from fifth to third, making room for Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in spot five.
» Read More 

Lair is not very good. But what's really scary is that even the "Reviewer's Guide" that Sony sent out to the gaming press is not very good either. Apparently the guide was rushed out the door unfinished -- see the first image attached below shows a clip from page 7 of the booklet.
» Read More 

European PS3 owners will have to settle for the new MotorStorm downloadable content on PSN this week as Midway still hasn't confirmed when the Stranglehold demo will be released here.

The Coyote Revent VIP Pass pack will cost GBP 3.99 / EUR 5.80. It includes the new reversed and revamped version of the Coyote track plus two new vehicles and the Eliminator online mode.

There's also a spattering of new trailers you might want to look at, like GT5 Prologue, Lair, and Heavenly Sword - but you can find most of those over on Eurogamer TV already.
» Read More 

After the media lashing Lair received last week, Sony seems to think reviewers could use some help coming to grips with the motion-controlled dragon game. A "Lair Reviewer's Guide" just arrived in our mailbox, and is chock full of helpful information that Sony hopes will give critics a better understanding of how the game should be played.
» Read More