GamesRadar - Lair

Lair 60% off on GoGamer (News)

May 7, 2009

Factor 5's PS3-exclusive action title Lair is being offered for $15.90 on GoGamer, slashing nearly $25 off the game's retail price.

Rumor Killers: Perfect Dark Remake XBLA? Halo Mobile? Factor 5 Wii Projects (News)

Apr 15, 2009

Perfect Dark remake coming to XBLA? A mobile Halo game in the works? Factor 5 working on Kid Icarus for the Wii?

The shortest game names of all time (Feature)

Apr 14, 2009

Earlier this year we deduced that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder II – The Legend of Darkmoon is the longest game name out there. Reader comments quickly proved there were a few names out there just as long or even longer, but will you be able to find a name that’s shorter than those on this list?

Collected here are the simplest, monosyllabic game names we could dig up ...

The Top 7… 'Whoops, you're evil!' moments (Feature)

Mar 2, 2009

Stripped down to the bone, most videogames are about running errands: go here, kill that thing over there, bake a cake. There’s almost always a clear justification for them – save the world, get revenge, etc. – but usually, the real reason you do these things is simply because the game told you to. But can the game be trusted? Are you fighting for the right side? How can you be sure? ...

Games that looked good on paper (Feature)

Feb 27, 2009

In all honesty, some games would be better off left on the whiteboard at the design meeting. Whether they're too ambitious, too expensive or simply too good to be true, we're frequently led to imagine great things only to have our expectations dashed when the game finally arrives. How could these games be so good on paper yet underwhelm so spectacularly? Let's take a look... ...

Rumor Killers: Need for Speed canned, Factor 5 cutting staff, and Home hacked (News)

Dec 16, 2008

Need for Speed hits a roadblock, Factor 5 cutting staff and a Home invasion as we head into the holiday home stretch.

Factor 5 Animator Claims Studio is Cutting Projects (News)

Dec 7, 2008

Developer Factor 5 is facing tough choices due to our bad economy, according to a blog post from Sam Baker, an animator for the company. Baker explains that after a two-week foray to work with California-based animation studio The Orphanage, he came back to Factor 5 and found that none of his fellow employees had been paid in the past month. His team continued on their current project, but then had their health care benefits taken as a cost-saving measure.

PlayStation Store Update (News)

Apr 17, 2008

Playstation.Blog writes: "Hey, everyone. It's time again for the PLAYSTATION Store weekly update."

Downloadable Games

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue ($39.99)
The best-selling racing franchise returns with the intense precursor to Gran Turismo 5, featuring over 60 cars from worldwide car manufacturers. With an all-new interior dash view, online racing with up to 16 players, Drift mode and more, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue unveils revolutionary advancements that deliver the ultimate racing experience.
ESRB Rated E
File size: 1.78 GB

Add-on Game Content

Warhawk Broken Mirror Pack ($7.99)
Download the "Operation: Broken Mirror" Booster Pack and increase the effectiveness of your team's ground assaults with the new Armored Personnel Carrier and the Vaporfield Glacier Battlefield!
File size: 131 MB

Warhawk Booster Combo ($11.99)
Booster Combo includes the Warhawk "Operation: Omega Dawn" and "Operation: Broken Mirror" Booster Packs.
File size: 274 MB

Lair demo available in Hong Kong PS Store (News)

Apr 17, 2008

The Hong Kong PlayStation Store receives a brand new Lair demo. The weight of the demo is around 1919MB and fully English.

Lair Analog Patch Now Live (News)

Apr 14, 2008

Great news for those who couldn't get to grips with Lair's motion controls: the patch for analog flight controls is now live, and also brings crosshairs as a menu option. The patch is 147MB, and is up now for European Lair owners.

Free add-on may make Lair actually worth playing (News)

Apr 11, 2008

A new free add-on pack for PS3's dragon shooter Lair is set to be released on April 17th via the Playstation Store. The pack updates the game to support the new Dualshock 3's rumble feature, dual analog stick flight control as opposed to the generally panned motion control, updated Remote Play for playing Lair on your PSP, and most interestingly, two new dragons, Wind and Poison. Players not interested in downloading the whole ...

Lair updates coming (News)

Apr 10, 2008

A free update for Lair will come on Apr 17th in Japan.

It adds control by the left analogue stick (instead of SIXAXIS), DualShock 3 support, better aim function, 2 bonus dragons (Wind Dragon and Poison Dragon) and custom themes that change randomly on startup.

59 levels to play before you die: G - L (Feature)

Mar 21, 2008

Legions of exasperated gamers whined that Kratos' escape from the bowels of Hell - complete with rotating columns of bladey cartilage, platforms of bone and two huge towers of spinning blades - was 'stupid', 'cheap' or 'toohardIwantmymummy!' but we loved it. ...

RipTide Licenses Lair Soundtrack (News)

Mar 11, 2008

Gamedaily.Biz reports that RipTide Music announced today that it will represent the soundtrack for the game Lair. The score was composed by John Debney, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work on The Passion of the Christ. Lair's soundtrack and other aesthetic elements of the game were well received by critics last year, even though the overall gameplay and control scheme were not.

"Riptide Music is uniquely positioned to deliver our music to television, movie trailers and advertising in a way that will separate it from the pack," said Chuck Doud, Director of Music for SCEA. "The videogame industry is producing some of the best, unique and most exciting music out there, and is a perfect companion to compliment other media."

Get the most out of PSP Remote Play (Feature)

Mar 6, 2008

Is it really worth the hassle just to play your old PSone discs on your PSP via your PS3? In some instances, yes. Find out how to get the best results with our guide. ...

Lair Analog Controls Confirmed For March (News)

Feb 23, 2008

TheBitbag writes:

"I played Lair today and the controls wouldn't work. Why? They reconfigured it for analog use. Now you can choose which controls you like. It's too bad so many Lair owners balked at the innovation. It's still good to have a choice. The patch will be available sometime in March for download."

Lair Controls Patch Experienced At GDC (News)

Feb 21, 2008

Ripten:

"One of Lair's biggest criticisms was that it's motion controls were compulsory. The rumour of a patch adding analogue stick control caused a sigh of relief among Playstation 3 gamers."

"Now one fellow has claimed that he's experienced the patch at GDC and that it will be released in the coming months"

Lair Score Wins IFMCA Award (News)

Feb 19, 2008

Kotaku reports:

"The International Film Music Critics Association have announced their 2007 award winners, and this year sees the debut of their Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media award, which recognizes the increasing importance of music in gaming and gaming as an entertainment medium. This year's winner is John Debney for the wonderful score to Lar for the PlayStation 3."

Lair 2.0 on the Way? (News)

Feb 12, 2008

Although Factor 5's 3D action flying game Lair has been available for months, players who could never come to grip with the Sixaxis controls may have a more traditional solution waiting in the wing. Recently, F5 president Julian Eggebrecht chatted with IGN about Lair's mixed reception at the marketplace and hinted at a future enhancement to the game.

Kotaku's 2007 Games of the Year and Overall Game of the Year (News)

Dec 29, 2007

Kotaku's Brian Crecente writes:

"Our first-ever Game of the Year awards was a pretty straight forward deal. I asked all of the writers to submit a list of three games for each category and the three that showed up most in each category made it as a finalist. Once we had the list of finalists I asked each writer to go through and order the finalists and then tallied the vote. The one with the most points was named Game of the Year, the runner-up was named Not Quite Game of the Year. The game with the most votes for Worst Game of the Year received that dubious honor."

Super Mario Galaxy won Kotaku's Overall Game of the Year award. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune came as second, it won the Not Quite Game of the Year award. (Kotaku posted the overall results as a separate post, see the link at the Alternative Sources below for more details.)

Los Angeles Times: Best and Worst of the Year (News)

Dec 23, 2007

What makes a good video game? Strong visuals are important. Good controls are essential. A well-crafted concept helps too. These days, most games can boast at least two-thirds of that criteria.

So, then what makes a game great? Feeling. Emotion. Surprise. Interaction. Even addiction. It's a magical feeling when a game offers all these elements.

Here are the titles L.A. Times deemed the best experiences of 2007. Admittedly, they didn't play everything (because that would probably be impossible), but of the titles that did cross their paths, these are the ones that resonated most. Their favorites in order:

Best of the Year:
Â¿ BioShock
Â¿ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Â¿ Assassin's Creed
Â¿ Super Mario Galaxy
Â¿ The Orange Box

Honorable Mention:
Â¿ Halo 3
Â¿ Rock Band
Â¿ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
Â¿ Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Â¿ Lost Planet

Worst of the Year:
Â¿ Lair

Dishonorable Mention:
Â¿ Fusion Frenzy 2
Â¿ 300: March to Glory
Â¿ Tenchu Z

[ By Pete Metzger, December 21, 2007 ]

NPD Fallout: Uncharted Fails to Chart (News)

Dec 15, 2007

Missing from the NPD November sales charts is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, which only managed 117,000 sales. To be fair, Uncharted did have a better first-month than Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (74,500 units), Warhawk (58,600 units) and Lair (46,500 units), but still fell behind Heavenly Sword's debut sales (139,000 units) in September.

Amazon's '10 Days, 10 Deals' starts with PS3 (News)

Dec 8, 2007

Amazon will be offering a video game deal of some kind for the next 10 days starting today. The offer is a Playstation 3, Blu-Ray remote, and the collectors edition of Stranglehold, for $399. Noteworthy is Lair only being $34.99 today as well.

No age rating on Lair disc caused delay (News)

Nov 13, 2007

The sudden delay that saw Lair's UK release pushed back even further behind the US release was due to there being no age rating on the game discs, Sony has told CVG.

Sony told CVG last week, on the day before Lair was due to go on sale: "Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the launch of Lair has been delayed very slightly."

But speaking to employees at UK retailer GAME, CVG has learnt that "the reason Lair has been delayed is because there is no age rating printed on the disk."

European Lair version won't have analog controls either (News)

Nov 12, 2007

Playstation 3 exclusive title Lair has been stores in America since the end of August, but the European version of Lair has still not been released yet. The game has been delayed multiple times, with no exact reason why. Rumor has it the European version would get an updated control scheme, where players could choose between the SIXAXIS-controls or the newly added analog controls.

Dutch website Insidegamer however can confirm that the European version of Lair won't feature analog controls either. In fact, Insidegamer can conclude in the video review that Lair is probably exactly the same as the American version. Why the game was delayed in Europe is still a mystery. Lair is slated to hit stores on November 16 in Europe.

Sony confirms UK Lair delay (News)

Nov 8, 2007

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.

Lair delayed in Europe (News)

Nov 8, 2007

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.

SCEE confirms slew of PS3 release dates (News)

Oct 24, 2007

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.

The Japanese like Lair! (News)

Oct 18, 2007

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 ...

Lair enters Japan top ten (News)

Oct 18, 2007

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)

Lair pushed back in Europe once more (News)

Oct 15, 2007

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.

Japan goes bonkers for Halo, Lair and PSP (News)

Oct 4, 2007

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 ...

Lair goes iTunes (News)

Oct 3, 2007

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."

EDGE slams Lair and Two Worlds; praises Halo 3 and PGR4 (News)

Sep 27, 2007

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

UT3 preview and Jeff Day interview for PS3 (News)

Sep 20, 2007

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.

BioShock Dev Defends Lair Motion Controls (News)

Sep 19, 2007

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.

Mr Lair says: "Warhawk's controls are... eurgh!" (News)

Sep 18, 2007

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 ...

Sony Offering Free PS3 Or PSP With HDTV Purchase In EU (News)

Sep 14, 2007

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.

Warhawk brings the "PS3 Out of it's Coma-like State" But Not Sure About "Lair" says Yahoo (News)

Sep 13, 2007

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."

Factor 5: "We would do another Rogue Squadron" (News)

Sep 13, 2007

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 ...

The Reviewer's Guide to Crap Games (Feature)

Sep 11, 2007

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 ...

Stranglehold & 360 Dominate GameFly Charts, Heavenly Sword leads on PS3, Metroid Prime 3 on Wii (News)

Sep 11, 2007

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.

Lair: Reviewer's Guide is "Dummy text, add new text here." (News)

Sep 9, 2007

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.

No Stranglehold demo for EU (News)

Sep 9, 2007

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.

Sony Releases PS3 Lair Reviewer's Guide (News)

Sep 7, 2007

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.

Sony brushes off Lair critics (News)

Sep 7, 2007

This story originally appeared on our sister site next-gen.biz 07 Sept 07 The dragon-riding action game Lair from Factor 5 is one of the highest profile games for PS3 this holiday season, flanked by titles including Ratchet and Clank Future, Heavenly Sword and Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. But since its release this week, Lair is averaging a rather abysmal review average of 57, with critics knocking the at times beautiful game for technical glitches and poor gameplay and control. Outgoing SCEA ...

Sony on Lair: Consumers Matter, Not Critics (News)

Sep 6, 2007

The high-profile PlayStation 3 game Lair is falling flat with most critics, but Sony tells Next-Gen that it's the consumers that matter, not the critics.

American Sales: 360 Outsells PS3 while Lair & Warhawk Enter Top 10 (News)

Sep 6, 2007

Sales across the board were quite interesting this week. Compared to last week, hardware sales were up significantly, and the three current generation consoles (Wii/PS3/360) saw pretty big shakeups in their top ten software for the week:

1---Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
2---Bioshock
3---Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
4---Wii Sports
5---Madden NFL 08
6---Blue Dragon
7---Warhawk
8---Lair
9---Wii Play
10-Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08

-Metroid Prime 3 had a much better launch week than Metroid Prime 2 did - 314k vs. 139k. This is even more impressive considering GC had 2x as many users in November 2004 as Wii has now, and that Prime 2 launched in November, while Prime 3 launched in August. If Galaxy and Brawl show the same type of generation to generation growth (2.25x better sales), then Nintendo is going to make alot of money.

- PS3 is approaching respectable Americas (US,Canada and a bit extra) sales. If it can do 55,000-60,000 a week for a while in the Americas, the business ecosystem of PS3 will improve quite a bit - at least in the West.

Lair is just the start of the PS3-PSP link-ups, says Sony (News)

Sep 6, 2007

The ability to play PlayStation 3 dragon-combat game Lair on the PSP has generated plenty of headlines in recent days. What's gained much less attention, however, is the fact that the feature is potentially available for all PlayStation 3 games.

Indeed when checking up on the Lair situation with a Sony technical insider, Pocket Gamer got the response: "It's a nice start. Over time, I'm sure we'll have more advanced features."

Lair's secret "Hot Coffee" code is exactly what it sounds like (News)

Sep 5, 2007

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.

Lair developer flies to its defence (News)

Sep 5, 2007

Sept 05 2007 It hasn't even gone on sale yet, but Lair's developer Factor 5 has already started passing the buck for why Lair was utterly panned. Developers usually keep quiet when the shit hits the fan, so we're mildly surprised to say the least. In an interview with MTV's GameFile, director Julian Eggebrecht first announced that the whole project was cursed from the start, before excusing Lair's faults as not entirely their own. First off the bat, the fact that developing for PS3 isn't like ...

Lair have more responsive SIXAXIS after FW 1.92? (News)

Sep 4, 2007

1.92 will make the controls for lair more responsive since 1.92 makes any controls from the controller more secure and thus the controller is sending all button presses and tilt senses from the sixaxis tilt sensor faster to the ps3 system. so if you pay close attention ....

Lair (Review)

Sep 4, 2007

Sept 4, 2007 We've been looking forward to Lair for more than a year. Originally slated to be one of the crown jewels of the PS3's launch lineup, it was delayed repeatedly so that Factor 5 - the developer behind the legendary Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series - could finish it properly. Even now, this dragon-combat sim is one of the prettiest games on the PS3, sporting vast battlefields filled with dozens of airborne monsters and hundreds of armored ground troops at once. But after playing it ...

Play Lair on your PSP (News)

Sep 4, 2007

Sept 4, 2007 Sony's dragon-themed aerial combat game, Lair, has become the first PS3 Blu-Ray game to allow full gameplay on the PSP via Remote Connection. Remote Connection is a feature built into the PSP and PS3 that allows you to access your PS3 via the handheld - but it hasn't previously allowed you to play PS3 games remotely, only access to your stored music and video. The main reason for the restriction, we expect, was because Remote Play requires the PS3 to stream the video and sound ...

Lair and Heavenly Sword - what went wrong? (News)

Sep 4, 2007

September 4, 2007 So the results are in. With two of PlayStation 3's biggest titles now being reviewed around the world, it has to be said they haven't been as impressive as their initial promise suggested. We're talking scores as low as 40 for Lair and 6/10 for Heavenly Sword. How could such massive releases be so disappointing? Didn't someone look at Lair somewhere along the line and say "Er... this really isn't working"? And why does Heavenly Sword feel so disappointing despite its beauty? ...

Confirmed PSN Dates (News)

Sep 3, 2007

Confirmed PSN dates for you guysÂ¿

MotorStorm Coyote Revenge 06/09
Vehicle Sets 1 13/09
Vehicle sets 2 27/09

Heavenly Sword Making of and anime part 4 6/09
Heavenly Sword Making of and anime part 5 13/09

Lair trailer #3 6/09

LocoRoco Cocoreccho trailer 13/09

inFamous trailer 13/09

Lair on PSP Remote Play Confirmed (News)

Sep 2, 2007

A user has posted screenshots of him playing Lair on the PlayStation Portable in remote play on the Official US PlayStation Boards. Many users where skeptical, but some users tried it out and confirmed that it works.

XBOX 360 Dominates PS3, Wii in Most Requested Top 10 (News)

Sep 1, 2007

XBOX 360 completely dominated the Top 10 most requested titles for the week. Both Wii and PS3 didn't even come close.

Lair Developer on decision to use Sixaxis Controls, aerial combat and more (News)

Aug 31, 2007

While at GC Leipzig Generationgamerz managed to chat with Julian Eggebrecht, Co-Founder & President of Factor 5, about the upcoming Lair. The first thing Julian said was that Lair was a perfect fit for the PS3. Factor 5 wanted to design a flight game but not a regular flight game, they wanted something new, the next step. Lair is that next step.

Enter Lair Early - Another high-profile street date is broken (News)

Aug 31, 2007

Sony's flying dragon simulator Lair isn't supposed to be released until next Tuesday, but it appears some EBGames stores are selling the title early. Several of IGN's readers have reported successfully purchasing the game and are wrestling with the controls as this is written. One store IGN contacted said it would begin selling the game tomorrow morning, still five days before its street date.

OPM Scores Warhawk(9), Heavenly Sword(7), SingStar(9), Stranglehold(8) & More (News)

Aug 30, 2007

NeoGAF member pswii60 posts:
"Got my latest Official Playstation Magazine UK.
PS3 Reviews:

Lair - 6
Heavenly Sword - 7
Stuntman Ignition - 7
..."

New games tantalize ahead of holidays (News)

Aug 30, 2007

The summer dry spell for video games came to an end last week with the arrival of "BioShock," the creepy underwater shooter that has won rave reviews and flown off store shelves.

The main bulk of important games this year won't come out until November, but the next month or two will see the release of quite a few other hot games. These aren't necessarily "system sellers" -- games that are so good that consumers will buy a particular video game console just to play them -- but give potential customers a few more reasons to eventually take the plunge.

Amazon.co.uk Cancel Lair and Folklore £14.95 Orders (News)

Aug 29, 2007

I have received an e-mail from Amazon.co.uk informing me my order for Lair has been cancelled due to an incorrect price being displayed.

The e-mail is as follows:

"Dear Customer

We are writing to inform you that the price for the following item was displayed incorrectly at the time you placed the above referenced order:

---------------------
Lair (PS3)
---------------------

Despite our best efforts, with the millions of items available on our website, pricing errors can occasionally occur.

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I guess some things you see are too good to be true.

Lair and Folklore prices returned to normal on Amazon.co.uk (News)

Aug 28, 2007

It seems that the recent price of the Playstation 3 games Lair and Folklore listed on Amazon.co.uk for 14.95 pounds each was a mistake as now they are listed as 34.99 pounds each.

Current US Best Sellers: BioShock, Halo 3 & Metroid Prime 3 Rule the Charts (News)

Aug 28, 2007

2K Games' BioShock rules over the charts again this week while there are new best sellers on PS3, PS2 and Nintendo Wii.

1. BioShock-2K Games (Xbox 360)
2. Halo 3*-Microsoft (Xbox 360)
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption-Nintendo (Wii)
4. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day-Nintendo (DS)
5. Nintendo DS Lite w/ Brain Age 2-Nintendo (DS)
6. Wii Play w/ Remote-Nintendo (Wii)
7. Halo 3 Ltd. Edition*-Microsoft (Xbox 360)
8. BioShock-2K Games (PC)
9. Madden NFL 08-EA (Xbox 360)
10. Brain Age-Nintendo (DS)

Worldwide PS3 releases for the week of August 27th: Lair Vs. Warhawk (News)

Aug 27, 2007

Warhawk and Lair? In the same week? Potentially. A lot of websites are showing the US release date has been pushed forward to the 30th of this month. It could easily be the case that whatever problems they had with the game that originally had it pushed back could have been solved early.

Lair Developer: Mags will go out of business if they diss Wii (News)

Aug 25, 2007

Let's say the Wii takes over the world. Just naturally, the traditional magazines -- if they stick to their current position of slightly dissing it -- will simply go out of business," said Julian Eggebrecht, presdient of Factor 5's who is most recently responsible for the release of Lair on PS3.

PS3 Exclusives List from PSU (News)

Aug 24, 2007

The list both shows confirmed, and rumored exlusives in an easy to read and well thought out way. The list includes both released and unreleased PS3 exclusives including timed exclusives such as Haze.

A Couple of Facts (News)

Aug 23, 2007

PSM's Editor-in-Chief Rob Smith sets some facts straight.

"I just want to clear one thing up: I didn't review either Lair or Warhawk. Both reviews were done by staffers. I did sign off on them, obviously, but didn't spend anything like the time our reviewers did."

More after the jump as well as responses from PSM subscribers.

Top 50 Most Wanted PS3 Games (News)

Aug 23, 2007

Issue 6 of P3Zine, the free PS3 magazine, has a Top 50 Most Wanted PS3 games feature, with all the games grouped in release date order and info on each. 50 great reasons to own a PS3. Plus WWE SmackDown vs RAW exclusive and Lair preview.

US Playstation Magazine rates Lair 5.0; Warhawk 6.5 (News)

Aug 21, 2007

German gaming webstite Gamefront has posted an image of the latest Playstation Magazine issue, in which both Lair and Warhawk have been reviewed. Both games will be in stores at around August/September but Playstation Magazine does not seem very happy with both games, as the magazine rates Warhawk 6.5, and Lair even lower: 5.0.

In the image of the magazine, you can see that Lair is described as: "A one-trick dragon" and destroys it with a 5.0 rating. Warhawk on the other hand is described as: "A third-person shooter that never quite gets off the ground", and rates the game with only a 6.5. The image can been see below.

GC07: Lair's creator thinks ESRB game ratings system is 'bizarre' (News)

Aug 20, 2007

A senior games industry executive has blasted the American ESRB games rating system, saying he thinks it is "absolutely bizarre," and calling for changes to be made to bring it in line with other mediums such as film.

Julian Eggebrecht, the president of Factor 5, drew on the example of the company's own game, the dragon-fighter Lair for the PlayStation 3, for which the company really wanted to get a T for Teen rating in the US, because teenagers make up a big part of the game's potential audience. He said, "Teenagers are really into dragons."

In order to do this, Factor 5 went through a process with the ESRB over "weeks and months," where it tweaked every bit of the game that the ESRB wanted it to in order to secure a T for Teen rating.

PSW October Scores - Heavenly Sword & Lair both score an 8/10 (News)

Aug 18, 2007

Heavenly Sword - 8

+ Stunning Visuals
+ Inspired use of the Sixaxis
+ Superb combat system
- Over too soon

Lair - 8

+ Always so much going on
+ Stunning attention to detail
+ Intuitive control set-up
- Not the longest of games

Lair gets 3/5 on Gamer TV (News)

Aug 18, 2007

UK TV program Gamer.tv has given Lair 3/5. The episode aired at 10:00am Saturday morning and I personally watched it myself so can confirm the score is correct. They didn't seem to have any issues with the controls but said it was a bit repetitive.

European PS3 Owners Will Have To Wait For LAIR (News)

Aug 17, 2007

Although still officially TBC, reports suggest that the title won't be available until October 26th. This date is almost two months behind the U.S. release, which itself was delayed from August 14th to September 4th.

Sony Exclusives Cheaper Than Other Games In UK (News)

Aug 16, 2007

The normal RRP(Recommended Retail Price) for games in the United Kingdom is £49.99 for the Playstation 3. Online game retailers such as Play, Gameplay and ShopTo have updated their prices to reflect the PS3 exclusives as £39.99 RRP. This includes Warhawk(with headset), Heavenly Sword and Lair

It is worth noting that despite these RRP you can buy games online for £39.99 instead of the RRP of £49.99 and these Sony exclusive games are available online for £32.99 instead of the RRP of £39.99. This makes them £7.00 cheaper than all other new games coming onto the market.

Could this be a promotion by Sony to promote the exclusive games you can only buy on the PS3? Will these prices help sell more consoles?

EGM explains why Lair's review was awful (News)

Aug 13, 2007

If you had missed it, they were the first gaming website to review the game and game the game very low scores. According to the latest podcast from them, the sit down and discuss the reviews of the game.

Here is what they liked and hated about the game:

Lair box art swoops down from the heavens (News)

Aug 7, 2007

Sony has just released the official box art for Lair, and it's looking pretty hot (no pun intended). Featuring the armored mug of Rhon, the main character, glaring off into the distance while a battlefield of guys get the marshmellow-in-campfire treatment, it's got classic look to it.

EXCLUSIVE Lair video (News)

Aug 6, 2007

Weve just dismounted our dragon, that we've affectionately named Puff, in order to bring you this exclusive footage from Sonys fantasy blaster. And it's not all about soaring around hundreds of feet in the air. Taken from the game's first few stages, the footage shows that although there were some aerial scraps to be had, we also got the chance to land our scaly beast on the ground and unleash some fiery breath onto hordes of enemy troops. Escort missions of some much-needed supplies and an ...

Lair - EXCLUSIVE gameplay video 08-06-07 (Video)

Aug 6, 2007

A beautiful, but ultimately mediocre, dragon-riding sim that suffers from mandatory Sixaxis controls and shallow, frustrating gameplay.

Play reviewed Lair knowing framerate & controls would be fixed (News)

Aug 3, 2007

The Play journalist who wrote the Lair review for their magazine (he gave it a 9/10) makes his face known on neogaf, stating that they reviewed the same build as other journalists. This review copy had a poor framerate, and other bugs - but they were assured by Factor 5 that this would all be fixed for release - they thus reviewed it in this knowledge:

"We (Play) received the same review copy that I assume all the other mags did, which had optimized frame rates in the earlier missions, but poor frame rates in the last few missions and several bugs. We contacted Factor 5 and asked for all known issues and Julian himself replied with a detailed list, promising that the later levels were being optimized for frame rates, the bugs were being fixed, and that one aspect of the control would be improved. They said they would have a gold master candidate ready by our ship date, so I wrote the review on the assumptions that their promises would be kept, got the gold master candidate right before we went to press, and played that version for a few hours to confirm that they had addressed the issues. That gold master candidate was dated roughly a month ago, and as far as I know represents the game's final optimization.

I'm not sure what version the OP played-ours were never labeled "Preview Code", but a print mag's Review Code is sometimes a web site's Preview Code. Our last-received version of the game does not run at a rock-solid 30 fps, but I did not consider the frame rate problems to be an issue at all. I don't mind a few frame rate dips into the 20's here and there, if it's for the purpose of making an otherwise amazing looking game. I'm certainly not as sensitive to frame rate issues as the OP, but I don't think the average game enthusiast is either.

Just something to point out to the people who want to hate on Lair here-Sony and Factor 5 went all out to make sure the print mags got review copies as early as possi...

Lair: Edge on controls and other features (News)

Aug 3, 2007

No doubt the controls will continue to be tweaked as the development zeroes in on its release date, but beyond the occasional ungainliness of the game's core mechanic, early previews of Lair raise other concerns in its peripheral features and the manner in which the game ties together into a coherent whole - elements that are unlikely to see radical change between now and release.

Lair delayed after poor review (News)

Aug 2, 2007

Sony has delayed its flagship dragon flight game Lair three weeks, hot on the heels of Electronic Gaming Monthly's shock 6/10 review. According SCEA the dodgy review has nothing to do with the slip though, instead SCEA producer Ryan Hamlyn says it's "an extra step in QA testing to enhance the community features in the game." After all the anticipation, we sort of wish it was to do with the review criticisms. He went on to say that "natural challenges that arose while finalizing the offline ...

PS.Blog: Lair Officially Delayed (News)

Aug 1, 2007

Following the early tips of delays from GameStop and EBgames, Ryan Hamlyn the associate producer of SCEA has officially confirmed the delay in Playstation Blog:

"Wow, even I didn't see this one coming! Due to an extra step in QA testing to enhance the community features in the game, the release of LAIR, originally set for August 14th, has changed to September 4, 2007. Natural challenges that arose while finalizing the offline game to include key online features - such as leaderboards and medal systems - have led to the difficult choice of pushing back the release date. We appreciate everyone's excitement and patience for the game and look forward to its release on September 4."

Rumor Mill: Lair Delayed (News)

Aug 1, 2007

According to EB Games, Lair has been delayed until September 4th from it's previously scheduled August 12th release date. Gamefly has also changed it's release date, but they're showing September 6th (most likely to account for getting enough copies in to rent to customers). Screenshots taken in case they change it back (EB Games above, Gamefly after the jump).

Rumor: Lair gets a 9 from Edge Magazine and Gamezone (News)

Jul 31, 2007

According to an un-named source, two reputable gaming magazines/websites have reviewed Lair and have each given it 9 out of 10. EDGE magazine is one of the these sites which reviewed Lair and gave it a score of 9 out of 10.

Gamezone, the other publishing website that also reviewed Lair and gave it a score of 9 out of ten. According to the un-named source, they label the game as having a "unique experience "

While this has not been confirmed yet, the availability of EDGE magazine and Gamezone will be available in a few days in which we will know if this rumor is true.

Sony Gamer's Day - revealed! (Feature)

Jul 26, 2007

Originally posted on May 22, 2007 Months before the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Sony Computer Entertainment of America flew a small army of journalists down to its headquarters in San Diego for its Gamer's Day, a pre-E3 sneak peek at games set to arrive on its PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP platforms. Featuring dozens of games from Sony and third-party publishers, several of which were unveiled and/or made playable for the first time, the event was a staggering look at a swarm ...

PS.Blog: Lair Dev is Complete, Aug 14 Release Set plus new Image (News)

Jul 25, 2007

Ryan Hamlyn, Associate Producer of SCEA posts on official Playstation blog:
Given all the content and interest here on Liar, I figured you guys would also be interested to hear that the North American version of Lair has completed its development and is now in manufacturing! That means that we are on track for our August 14 release date. It goes without saying that we're eager to get this out to those of you that have been waiting so patiently (or not!) for it to arrive. Considering the new PS3 price and now Lair, hopefully there's even more of a reason to scoop up a PS3 if you haven't already!

Lair - New screens; Pushed Back to October (News)

Jul 19, 2007

Three new Lair screens were released at the Playstation event in Tokyo yesterday. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe also announced that Lair, which had an initial release date of September 26 of this year has been pushed back.

Read On.

Lair - E3 trailer 07-17-07 (Video)

Jul 17, 2007

A beautiful, but ultimately mediocre, dragon-riding sim that suffers from mandatory Sixaxis controls and shallow, frustrating gameplay.

E3 07 - Lair - E3 trailer 07-12-07 (Video)

Jul 12, 2007

A beautiful, but ultimately mediocre, dragon-riding sim that suffers from mandatory Sixaxis controls and shallow, frustrating gameplay.

Lair demo may be coming post launch (News)

Jul 6, 2007

Within the IGN "Pre-E3 2007: Lair Near-Final Preview", one can read the fine print on the highly talked about and anticipated Lair demo, supposedly coming in July! At the end of the preview its states:

"Indeed, you'll be able to check it out for yourself because our Sony rep was confident that a Lair demo would appear on the PlayStation Network, although they admitted it could well be POST launch because Factor 5 is working flat out to get the actual game finished."

So perhaps the demo might not come in the month of July after all!

Playstation Network: E3 Heavenly Sword & Lair Demo, LittleBigPlanet Beta (News)

Jul 5, 2007

First off, Factor 5, the developers of the forthcoming dragon shooter Lair, has already confirmed that a demo will be coming out for the game "in July", one month before the game's official August 14th release.

Another demo rumored to be making the rounds "very soon" is Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword, featuring a sweet-looking hottie battling all kinds of impossible odds to bring down the man that murdered her father. Theory should be finishing up work on this soon and already promised a demo would be coming as well. So, again, it would be a big part of some kind of online E3 push.

And let's not forget the online betas, either.Word has it that Little Big Planet would be starting up a beta as well. Again, E3 could hold the key to all this and Sony could really give its users something spectacular if it wanted.

Lair Nears The Finish Line: Official site updated with new info and other material (News)

Jul 3, 2007

Ryan Hamlyn Associate Producer of SCEA posts:
"Hey everyone, I'm Ryan Hamlyn, I'm the associate producer for Lair. It's been a long haul-almost 2 years for me, and even longer for some of the team over at our developer, Factor 5-but putting the finishing touches on the game and now seeing all our work culminate into a finished product is very exciting. "

Lair official site launches (News)

Jul 2, 2007

Sony has finally launched the official site of Lair, the upcoming game being developed by Factor 5.

Killzone 2 and Lair: More Rumors from supposed Sony Employee (News)

Jul 2, 2007

Here comes speculation from a previous employee of Sony about Killzone 2. Note his credentials cannot be validated, but he provides this evidence for the truth of his words:

"Just thought I'd post in response to people asking for proof. I'm just passing on information from one of my best friends, who works at Sony. If I had proof, you would have proof.

I agree that it sounds almost unbelievable, but I obviously believe it because I know that he wouldn't lie and works in the environment where this information is available.

For example when I worked there I played on heavenly sword, which was 18 months ago (very early code running on a dev kit, the enemies where either blue or pink), and i played on the PSP well before its release.

But as I said I'm just passing info on..."

This is what he claims to have heard:

"As some may know I used to work at Sony, and I was speaking to a friend still there last night, trying to get some details out of him over a few pints. Now he isn't working on Killzone 2 but he's been told and shown a few things. Here's what he said;

1. He seen a gameplay video. Graphically he said it was better than the E3 trailer, but personally I think he was just a bit over exited because it looked amazing.

2. NPC's react realistically to where they are shot. The example he said is that a Helghast was hit in the hand and it shook its hand as if in pain, and also if shot in the leg blood seeps out of the exact area shot.

3. For multiplayer each server is like a world, with villages and towns, and your battling for control. If Helghast controlled it looks run down, if ISA controlled it looks nice, with residents living there.

He said the game is very far along too."

This previous employee also claims that Lair's GFX are spectacular but the gameplay is lacking.

Lair Release Date Announced (News)

Jun 28, 2007

Gaming Today Reports:

You see that date up there my friends? That's the date that PS3 owners will be looking forward to because not only does it mean the long awaited, highly anticipated Lair comes out, but it also is the date where the PS3 software "drought" officially ends and the good games begin to roll out.

Not only has the release date been revealed today, but also it's been revealed that we can all expect a Lair demo to hit the Playstation Network sometime in July. Here's hoping it'd happen near the 4th of July. What better way to ring in America's independence by burning up some soldiers and and then eating them while they still cry in agonizing pain.

Awesome Lair video orgy (News)

Jun 27, 2007

Lair has to be seen in motion to be believed. Finally, after months of disappointing screenshots, Sony has finally released some footage that does the PS3 stunner justice. A gargantuan ten videos in all have been unleashed, some more amazing than others, on Sony's official site. You should watch them all, unless you're running on an archaic 56k connection. In which case you definitely need new internets. Check out our recent preview right here. June 27, ...

The PS3 Games Of Summer 2007 (News)

Jun 23, 2007

PS3 owners weren't as overcome with software as they thought they'd be this past spring, but the summer is a totally different story. With a number of high-profile and potentially excellent videogames headed our way over the next few months, the awaited "must own" PlayStation 3 era may finally be upon us. Highlighted below are most of the season's biggest titles, so be sure to look for them at your local retailer between the dual-21sts of June and September.

GT5 Prologue & Loco Roco on PSN this summer plus Unannounced titles (News)

Jun 22, 2007

French gaming mega-site PlayFrance has posted a list of Sony titles coming out in Europe between now and this October and they've revealed a bunch of unheard of titles. Not only do they confirm that both Loco Roco PSN and GT 5 Prologue are coming out in the next couple months, they also listed three previously unheard of games:

EyeToy Play Factory 1
EyeToy Play Factory 2
Chills