Lair control fix may be in the works

by Justin McElroy { Feb 12th 2008 at 10:55AM }

The shoddy SIXAXIS controls may not be Lair's only problem, but it's certainly the one that's taken the brunt of the criticisms pointed at the game. Throughout it all developer Factor 5 has insisted that motion-controlled dragons were the only way to go, but it seems that they may finally be softening.

Recently, the company's president, Julian Eggebrecht, told IGN "If we find a chance in the future that would bring Lair to the audience which didn't get any access, that would be fantastic," he said. "I can't say anything quite yet, but there might be something in the works there. We might have a chance yet to bring those back to the table and hopefully, if that should happen, they would give the game a second chance." Now, as much as we'd like to see a patch, we get the sneaking suspicion he's hinting at a sequel. What does it sound like to you?

[Update: More of Eggebrecht's quote added.]

[Via PS3F]

Tags: factor-5, factor5, julian-eggebrecht, lair, sixaxis

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 10:59AM

Where the hell did you get that patch idea from? It sounds more like he's talking about a PORT to me.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 12:15PM

After Edit, I can see a sequel. I doubt they'd patch the game.

Ben @ Feb 12th 2008 12:18PM

I still get either patch or port out of his quote. "The audience that didn't get any access" aka, another system or "Give it a second chance." People who own it or have played it and stopped because the controls sucked... Don't see sequel anywhere in his text.

deaftly @ Feb 12th 2008 3:31PM

@Co

The game engine has nothing to do with the way the game looks my friend.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 12th 2008 11:00AM

Port. You heard it here first.

brof @ Feb 12th 2008 11:03AM

sounds like it is going to the 360...?

Worst Review Ever @ Feb 12th 2008 11:03AM

Lair for Wii confirmed!

deaftly @ Feb 12th 2008 11:05AM

doubtful, they would have to basically cripple the game to run on the wii.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 12th 2008 11:12AM

God, I can't even imagine how awful that game would look. Now, you'll you get to battle jaggies, as well as armies and dragons!

Worst Review Ever @ Feb 12th 2008 11:20AM

"doubtful, they would have to basically cripple the game to run on the wii."

I thought that the problem with Lair was that it was basically crippled in the first place. You know, on the PS3.

deaftly @ Feb 12th 2008 12:22PM

Well it looked pretty good graphically, thats what i meant.

Co @ Feb 12th 2008 12:36PM

Funny that you would say that Deaftly. Here's a quote from IGN Wii directly from this same guy:

Asked about the Wii game's state of completion, Eggebrecht responded: "We're pretty much at a state where we're almost done with the engine. But the biggest milestone or mark right now is that we're almost done with the engine and it does everything that the PS3 did and then some, quite frankly. So we're pretty happy with that."

Ben @ Feb 12th 2008 1:28PM

@Co's quote from IGN
"it does everything that the PS3 did and then some." The quote roughly translates to "it does everything that the PS3 did, except control like crap (and run at 1080p, but who's counting p's anyway)."
I have no doubt that a Wii port of this game would (assuming they're working on one) both handle a considerable amount better than the PS3 version and look nice as well.

Ben @ Feb 12th 2008 1:32PM

Oh, and check out Wiifanboy...
"Eggebrecht promised that Factor 5 was aiming to 'outdo everything else on the platform, the same as we did for the Star Wars games back on the GameCube.' We're certainly not opposed to the idea of a game that's prettier than Super Mario Galaxy, but that is one very tall order.

In the same interview, Eggebrecht also admitted to loving the pointing aspect of the Wiimote, and revealed that this was 'probably the biggest innovation which we're working on right now.' So there you go. Pretty graphics. Pointing."

timnc @ Feb 12th 2008 11:04AM

I concur, sounds like he's hinting at a port.

xFenixKnightx @ Feb 12th 2008 11:04AM

No, they arent porting it, ck out PS3fanboy. They twisted it around here on Joystiq. I really do hope they make a patch for this so I can check it out. It looks really good but with crappy controls nobody wants that game.

ViagraFiend @ Feb 12th 2008 11:12AM

I agree. If they fix it, I will rent it.

Shagittarius @ Feb 12th 2008 11:42AM

While many people overstated how bad the game was, it was not a great game. Fixing the controls doesn't fix half of whats wrong with the game.

I still think its worth a play, just be prepared to play each mission several times, not due to difficulty or control issues but beacuse you'll have no idea what the goals are and how to achieve them without trial and error.

Oh, and sometimes you need to ignore what the game is actually telling you to do.

xFenixKnightx @ Feb 12th 2008 11:50AM

Nevermind then, thanks Shagg.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 12:09PM

You know, everytime I visit PSP fanboy, I read the strangest spin on the news. They'd turn bad news like "DMC4 going multiplatform" into good news, somehow.

So, yeah. I think I'll trust joystiq proper over PS3Fanboy.

ViagraFiend @ Feb 12th 2008 12:28PM

I'd still rent it. It would probably be worth 5 bucks.

deaftly @ Feb 12th 2008 11:04AM

Yup, definitely a port

Cal @ Feb 12th 2008 11:05AM

yup sounds like lair for the wii

Obie @ Feb 12th 2008 11:13AM

Doctors Note:

Do not resuscitate.

FOXHOUND @ Feb 12th 2008 11:47AM

+1 for you, sir.

Don't bother with a fix-patch-port for LAIR. You had your chance at QA testing, probably didn't listen to the testers, and kicked this crock'o'dragon-turd to the market anyway hoping for the quick buck on a market of early PS3 users scrambling for whatever new game to try.

Admit failure and just release a new title and/or sequel. At least save *some* grace & face over this.

Johnny @ Feb 12th 2008 11:20AM

Well seeing as he said in his IGN interview about their Wii engine that: "But the biggest milestone or mark right now is that we're almost done with the engine and it does everything that the PS3 did and then some, quite frankly. So we're pretty happy with that."

Couple with this news, Lair Wii?

Worst Review Ever @ Feb 12th 2008 11:21AM

BURN!!!

WiNG @ Feb 12th 2008 11:39AM

Yeah, I agree.

Co @ Feb 12th 2008 12:43PM

lol whoops i just posted this same quote a few replys up...nice work Johnny. Great minds....you know...they think alike!

License to ill @ Feb 12th 2008 2:12PM

Wii owners can have that turd, enjoy don't forget to flush after use....

Van Faulk @ Feb 12th 2008 11:26AM

I'm not spending a dime on this game till F5 cops to how shitty it was and apologizes. There is nothing wrong with people who don't like lair. they aren't too hard core, they aren't misunderstanding the game. They aren't the wrong audience. they are people who know a bad game when they see it.

I'm sick of this "you didn't like my game? Well fuck you!" attitude that so many devs have. What about some humility?

paragraph @ Feb 12th 2008 11:28AM

Thats because a dev would never reaslease anything they didn't think was 100% Perfect (unless it's shovelware... or purposely gimped... or relies on DLC... or... damnit... i hate devs... but the argument still stands) they pick a final version because it dosn't need any more tweaks :-P therefore, if you don't like it you're clearly wrong.

Ben @ Feb 12th 2008 1:38PM

I have a feeling it may have had something to do with Sony pushing a release date that may have been unreasonable. Happens a lot in both the video game and film industry (Gore Verbinski was quoted talking about it in another post on Joystiq). Sometimes a big developer can get pushed around by the even bigger guy. You can't really blame the developer on that note, it's not like they have [i]that[/i] much say on release dates.

Nigeria @ Feb 12th 2008 11:28AM

Are Sega going to bring back Panzer Dragoon?

I'd buy a Wii version.

Not sure about this though.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 11:33AM

I'd buy a remake of PD1. If they make a sequel to Orta, though, count me out.

Nigeria @ Feb 12th 2008 11:39AM

???

Orta was amazing. It's one of my all time favourite games, and definitely the best game on the Xbox.

A remake of Panzer 1 would be cool though.

Zootittles @ Feb 12th 2008 12:06PM

Yeah, Orta was definitely a great game. It's too bad Team Andromeda dissolved.

JET @ Feb 12th 2008 11:34AM

The only problem with Lair is that the developers didn't do a good enough job expalining that you're not controlling the dragon, you're controlling the dragonrider. I think if more people understood that simple distinction the game would have avoided a lot of its negative criticisms. Folks are used to Blazing Angels and Warhawk where the motion controls directly control the carft, not a game like Lair where the motion controls act as reigns that influence an independent. The idea that the developers should apologize for the inability of gamers to adjust to new control schemes is silly.

Lair isn't PS3's best game, but it is far from the worst.

JET

baby sea tuna @ Feb 12th 2008 11:47AM

I think Dynasty Warriors: Gundam or Genji might take that dubious honor.

FOXHOUND @ Feb 12th 2008 11:51AM

...with SONIC THE HEDGEHOG as runner-up. ;]

-punny rimshot-

Grimmus @ Feb 12th 2008 11:54AM

It would be fantastic if this was a hint at a port; I've been interested in Lair in general, but it's just about the only title I see myself wanting on the PS3, so obviously not nearly enough to justify the purchase.

Yishai08 @ Feb 12th 2008 12:11PM

You want it over Ratchet, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword and Resistance? eh, different strokes I suppose.

Grimmus @ Feb 12th 2008 12:57PM

Ah, I forgot about Uncharted, that one seems pretty solid; Heavenly Sword is nice, but I'd wait until it hits the bargain bin because I can't justify sixty smackers for minimal game time; I've never been a particular fan of the Ratchet series; and I've got shooters out the caboose on my PC. Admittedly though, I'd rather have Resistance than Halo.

Yishai08 @ Feb 12th 2008 11:57AM

It's weird, that whole "bringing lair to an audience that didn't have access" sounds as if they're going to make a casual version for the Wii (and they've stated in Matt Cassamassina's interview that they are definitely doing a casual game on Wii.) or they're going to put it on the Xbox360.

Sounds like porting, not patching. Although you'd think the PS3 version would get a dual analog patch if the game heads to 360.

ejordan @ Feb 12th 2008 4:18PM

Doesn't sound like a fix. Sounds like a re-make for the Wii. All those people who missed it will find it on the little console that can.

ThornedVenom @ Feb 12th 2008 11:20PM

As ludicrous as it sounds, I'm voting Wii Port.

But I doubt that it'd look as pretty.

Vectorsword @ Feb 13th 2008 4:57PM

First of all, if anyone's having trouble with this game, look at my post on my blog at 1up.com or gametrailers.com (same name... pixelsword, or pixel_sword) I'm not the best person ever to play this game, but I must admit it came easy to me after a friend told me one tip... the 180 move. After the tip, everything came into focus, and thank God I even got a gold medal or two.

Anyways,

Sounds like:

a patch, (I know someone who works there, so I even know how it might go down, think cameras)

a port (Wii, but a scaled-down version, and maybe even a smaller-version for the 360)

and a sequel (toughen out the numbers, and we'll all get the dragon goodness)