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Sony not bothered with Lair's poor press reception

Posted Sep 6, 2007 at 2:40PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PS3 Tags: Factor 5, Julian Eggebrecht, SIXAXIS, Sony

All eyes were on Factor 5's Lair for the PlayStation 3 before its release, but bad reception from the press made gamers think twice before grabbing a copy. However, Sony doesn't seem to be much bothered. Dave Karakker, who's about to leave his post as PR Head, told Next-gen that consumers are more important in quantifying the title's success.

Karakker acknowledges the hype and anticipation that came with Lair as the dragon-flight simulator set forth in its adventure. Taken from a phone interview he had with Next-gen:

At the end of the day, I'll be interested in the consumers' response, because the consumer awareness for this title was so huge. I've spoken to any number of people who really like it, and there's other people that find it a challenge. What really matters is whether or not the consumers are having a good experience, because they'll tell us on the [PlayStation] blog.

Even Lair's director, Julian Eggebrecht, is not worried about what reviews say. He described critics as "hardcore" with "passionate hate for all things motion."

The game has taken flack due to its poor SIXAXIS control mechanics despite having high production values and being one of the most visually impressive titles in the market. Word has it that PS3 Firmware Update 1.92 made controls tighter and substantially better; here's to hoping Lair will be seen in a new light.

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OBVIOUSLY Sony's going to play it cool and try and tell the press something positive. They're not going to be like, "s**t man. That game sucked! We were so wrong..." And what does he mean by "Passionate hate for all things motion." I'd say Wii sales are a pretty clear indicator of a passionate love for motion sensors. I like the idea of sixaxis a lot but whenever I turn it on in games like motorstorm or warhawk it makes it significantly harder to control.

# suck — Guest 2007-09-06 17:00

you guys are all morons if you even read and consider reviews.... from what? IGN? lol. they side with whoever is paying them more. or better yet, they rate a game bad because of hard controlls. thats pretty weak. I have Lair, and its no different than any other dragon flying game out there, in fact its better graphics. If you want to judge a game before you buy it, then play the demo or rent it. but PLEASE dont listen to the *****ty review from some middle aged 'gamer' who probably was having a *****ty day.

# lair — Guest 2007-09-06 17:28

great game it was worth the 60 bucks

controls are perfect too.

dont believe the reviews.

factor five must have made some enemies or somthing.

i mean its obvious if you have actually played the game that it is fun and controls good. should have recieved a great score.

# ... — Guest 2007-09-06 18:20

I think what they meant is that it doesn't matter if the reviewer gave it bad rating since it's only another person opinion they rather see that the consumer enjoy it rather than listening to some stranger thoughs on the game

# Specify firmware version when reviewing games. — Guest 2007-09-06 18:28

If 1.92 helps Lair's control problems, it might show that it's time game reviewers start posting the version of console firmware was used during the review. I've seen the reviews of Lair, and I'm not sure if some of the reviewer's complaints are still valid or not. They don't mention the version of PS3 firmware he/she is using.

# Lair's really good — SuperVegeta 2007-09-06 19:20

I didn't like lair at first, thought it was slow, but once I got about 4 levels in I learned all the moves and really took off. Now its a blast (pardon the pun). I think 1.92 did tighten the controls a bit. its much easier to reek havoc upon the opposing army. its also very challenging as I have yet to earn a gold medal. A quick look at the world wide leader boards shows only one person has gotten all gold medals I think. Any ways, great game. Give the controls a few minutes. You'll get used to them.

# bla bpa — Guest 2007-09-07 00:22

There almost never give wii games good ratings of course they sell

# Thoughts — Guest 2007-09-07 00:56

I picked Lair up as well and I gotta say its pretty damn fun, its a very different style of game compared to whats out there but once you get a feel for the controls it really meshes together well with the game and ends up feeling quite natural. I would highly recommend at least renting the game and giving it a few days to get used to controls before passing judgment because once you get the hang of it , its pretty sweet.

# lair — Guest 2007-09-07 01:31

x play gave it a 2/5 but if that's the only game

you got . sorry noone wants style over substance or graphics over gameplay

# so — Guest 2007-09-07 01:58

So lair isnt as hard as any other dragon flight simulator out there.. wow.. thats a good point seeing as how THERE IS NO OTHER DRAGON FLIGHT SIMULATOR OUT THERE

You guys have awesome arguments.

# Rubbish! — Guest 2007-09-07 03:04

I got the latest playstation offical magazine and they ripped it apart!,

I will give this game a miss and get DIRT which is Sweet!

# Lair - meh! — Guest 2007-09-07 04:45

I got the game and while at some times it looks gorgeous, other times I'm let down by the graphics... not consistent. And the six axis controls are about as good as they are bad - love and hate, really. I personally wish they option was in the game to control the flight with the left thumbstick (not just on the ground). The game gets better as you get farther into it - but I have to say, I was VERY disappointed after I played through the first mission - thank goodness after about the 3rd or 4th mission things got better. Is this a killer app? Nope. Its a good game, just not great... I'd give it a 7.5 or 8 out of 10.

# Yep — Guest 2007-09-07 04:46

And the lowest score so far is from Gamespy, with 1.5 out of 5 (that's 3 out of 10, or 30%).

Ouch!

# what else to expect besides excuses? — Guest 2007-09-07 07:59

Factor 5 should be saying they're working on a patch to fix the control issues and not going to charge for it. Also to remove the stupid time limits from some missions.

# . — Guest 2007-09-07 08:01

The one person who got all gold medals was the moron who devised the control scheme.

# yeah — Guest 2007-09-07 11:27

I tried to give the game a chance. But by the time I had gotten to this coral snake that I couldn't hit for anything, I had had enough with these god-aweful controls. I am done with it.

# some control issues — Guest 2007-09-07 12:42

When I first played the game I had major control issues; almost to the point of returning this game. But, a few days ago my little brother, of all people, was playing it, and as I watched I he was actually good at it, the dragon was going where he wanted to go, and by the love of god he was actually able to do a 180 turn! I basically found out that its physics 101 all over again.

If you want to turn sharp then by the love of god people tap on the brakes a bit, its almost like driving a car (just stick with the analogy) you can't play this game only flying as fast as you can, you need to tap on the breaks a bit and turn (almost like drifting). Hope that helps some people.

# lair controls — Guest 2007-09-07 12:55

Yea I sound like a crybaby..I know it..but couldn't Sony have had at least the option to just use regular joypad control rather than sixaxis joypad only?

I wanted to buy this game but I gotta say, when I'm chillen, the last thing I want to do is flail my hands here and there to play a game.

# Um...hammertime? — Guest 2007-09-07 19:57

I've been subscribed to the official playstation magazine for quite a while (I even have their last issue, the one with motorstorm on the cover, if I remember correctly) and I have no recollection of them ripping lair apart, but maybe I'm mistaken... or maybe you're just a fanboy (DIRT? Try Motorstorm, it's really an awesome racing game)...one of the two, but whatever lol

# ^^^Er hem — Guest 2007-09-08 11:51

Please remember that the internet is global. Therefore you two are probably living in different countires reading DIFFERENT official PS magazines, i.e. US and UK.

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Sony not bothered with Lair's poor press reception

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