Lair delayed until September 4th

by Jem Alexander { Aug 1st 2007 at 8:30PM }

That's right. Ryan Hamlyn, Associate Producer for SCEA, has confirmed on the PlayStation.Blog that Lair has been delayed until September 4th ... 2008. Not really, but it may as well have been. Pushing back a game that we at PS3 Fanboy likes to refer to as a "thirst quencher", during these months of drought, is a real disappointment.

It seems QA has had to be extended by "an extra step", which means an extra three weeks of development time. For those of you keeping score at home, that brings the total number of AAA titles being released this month to ... well, one actually. Warhawk will be out on the 28th, but that's barely August really, is it? The thing we're most worried about now is that Lair won't get as much attention as perhaps it should, with Heavenly Sword being released on the same day.

So get yourself stocked up on crisps and beer and prepare to wait out the oncoming month in some sort of drunken, greasy stupor. August never seemed so uninviting.

Tags: delayed, lair

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

gt4freak85 @ Aug 1st 2007 8:37PM

That really does suck. I will be so broke. Lair, Heavenly Sword and Warhawk? What is one gonna do! I can deal with a 3 week delay and not a 3 month delay. But the delay with Dirt is hella worth it. Ill just have to work 48hr weeks for a few. gah.

John @ Aug 1st 2007 8:37PM

I guess we can always say: "At least the game will be better, for it."

Almost everything releases with SOME error SOMEWHERE. I imagine that companies today actually finish all playtesting, then, time permitting, have a bunch of totally new people play the game a week, to try to open up any particularly glaring bugs, then give the programmers a week to fix 'em.

That's probably not even true.

The only other thing I can think is that... well, we had to wait for some other titles (Motorstorm, Ninja), but when they game they were... good... 'course we never saw what they were before the delay.

This would be an interesting thing to look back on, in the interest of full disclosure: what if a company could show you (oh, they can... perhaps I mean WOULD) what exactly took place in those extended three weeks?

Wonder if THAT info will be in the blog?

I'm just curious. Enquiring minds, an' all that.

Real Gambler @ Aug 1st 2007 8:40PM

Yep, too many games in a short frame... Getting Heavenly Sword for sure, but one of the others may have to wait a bit...

Jimmy @ Aug 1st 2007 8:42PM

*Jaw drops*
I'm pissed (period)

Andy @ Aug 1st 2007 8:45PM

Didn't they just say Lair was done?

I am so confused.

I have a link.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/808/808047p1.html

doc j @ Aug 1st 2007 8:54PM

I do have to say I am really quite crestfallen.

While this does mean I am going to get three weeks of extra pay before I have to buy a PS3, it also means I am unlikely to pick up Lair - at least for a while.

UNI starts back on the 27th and I simply won't have time for more than one game for at least a month.

mccomber @ Aug 1st 2007 8:52PM

This definitely turns the game from a must buy to a may buy.
Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, BioShock, PGR4, Lair... somethings gotta give, and it's going to probably be one of the last two.

Also, anyone else think that this coming on the heels of a couple disappointing reviews makes this feel sort of... Jaffe?

apease @ Aug 1st 2007 8:57PM

Don't worry, I'm sure Heavenly Sword will get pushed back at least a week so they don't come out on the same day. Urgh.

Knowing Sony, they'll probably put up a few sweet ps1 games during August to make up for it, kinda like they did with Castlevania after E3.

humpty @ Aug 1st 2007 8:59PM

Its either delay with bugs fixed up or release as is, suffer the scorn of launch buyers, and patch, patch, patch... it sucks that there are no aaa games out in August.. but, thats the way it is.

FM @ Aug 1st 2007 9:03PM

Why does it say here that it was delayed for 2008 and the blog states that its for September 4th 2007?
I'm confused too,it seems.

GRT @ Aug 1st 2007 9:16PM

The 2008 thing was a joke by the blogger, FM.

What bothers me most about this delay is that it exposes another Sony lie, since on 7/25 they said, on the Playstation Blog, that Lair had been sent to manufacturing.

The official word (since the blogger didn't list it) is:

"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."

Some people are speculating that they're talking about Home trophies and stuff...

Michael K. @ Aug 1st 2007 9:17PM

im so pissed, sony deserves the awful ps3 sales with the crap they're pulling

FM @ Aug 1st 2007 9:47PM

@GRT:
Heh,I see it now. I just looked at this game for the first time today,and(Im not a fan of games set in "mythical" times),but the air,ground,and vehicle combats look very very fun. And I just noticed that it is developed by Factor 5? That's great.

a.j. @ Aug 1st 2007 10:00PM

i wish companies would stop talking release dates period. put the friggin game out when it's done and STFU until then. "it's May, and we're on track for a Aug. release date!..oh..no wait, it's September..". with all the time they spend running their mouths about how done they are, they could be pissing off less people and ACTUALLY finishing the game. and this goes for all consoles.

duder @ Aug 1st 2007 10:27PM

bad previews = delay

drdre74 @ Aug 1st 2007 11:57PM

oh well, I won't be getting it now. If i gotta choose between this and Heavenly sword thats a no brainer.

Dahk @ Aug 1st 2007 10:46PM

Wow this is a huge blow for me.

My hardest term frickin starts on the 10th. That means i have 6 days to move in, get settled, prepare, couple BOT parties, get better at Warhawk, finish Heavenly Sword, AND FINISH LAIR NOW?!

Jeez.

Dahk @ Aug 1st 2007 10:50PM

http://playstation.joystiq.com/2007/07/25/lair-is-gold-flies-onto-ps3s-august-14th/

Lair went GOLD! ITS PUBLISHED. I'm kinda pissed. That was like my looking-forward-to-summer source of gaming entertainment too. ARGH.

You can't gold it up and then delay it back!

I'm guessing because developers got the Home dev kit, 3 weeks ago!? But that was THREE WEEKS AGO! AGHH!

MY SUMMER >=(. I'm usually an optimistic person too. MAN.

Brian Spence @ Aug 1st 2007 10:54PM

You just KNOW they're going to fix whatever EGM had a problem with. Although, I kind of suspect that EGM has an axe to grind. This is why I hate gaming sites. Everyone has literally DROOLED over this game for a year, and now that it's coming out, they're all haters. WTF?????

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Aug 1st 2007 11:25PM

im kind glad another week to build up some money to but the long list ps3 games coming out including multi platform games.

John @ Aug 1st 2007 11:45PM

How about a demo? You know, the one we were supposed to have in July? There's no reason that should be delayed. This blows.

JGUNZNP @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:10AM

I won't buy it no more. I will be too busy with warhawk and than heavenly sword and bioshock.

brettjr @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:21AM

I don't understand, how is it possible to delay a game 2weeks before its release. I thought two weeks before it's release they are...well "mass producing it". For this to make sense to me, they would of have to known for atleast 4 weeks that it was going to be delayed.

They probably just used false hope to keep us going because knowing it would be delayed weeks ago would be a LOT more disappointing then learning a month away from its release.

secret @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:09AM

Brian Spence, that was a very insightful comment about EGM. It might as well be the actual reason for the delay...

der-k @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:16AM

I think it was for the best the date changed. If it went with the August release then it would have to compete with Madden 08, that would have been horrible to witness. Course this new date it have to compete with NBA 08 but I think it can hold on this fight better then with the behemoth of gaming known as Madden.

madman @ Aug 2nd 2007 3:48AM

so now what? I have to go outside?

Gnort @ Aug 2nd 2007 4:12AM

I see on Metacritic that EGM have already reviewed it and gave it a 5.5. That's hardly a AAA title score. That's more like a "Drakengard in hi-res" score.

BlackBeltJones @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:19AM

Some internet rumors (which means completley unreliable) are saying that they are going to change some control features due to early bad reviews (EGM gave lair two 5's and a 6) complaining of wonky controls.

Gnort @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:07AM

Does anyone know if Lair has mandatory motion sensing controls? If they're delaying the release to implement regular dual analog controls as an alternative, I think it will be time well spent.

I'm afraid I have very little faith in the Sixaxis' motion sensing controls, I've yet to hear about an implementation I wouldn't rather disable.

Dave @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:16AM

I'm really hating my PS3 right now. Thank god I have a 360 becuase at the moment the PS3 has *NOTHING* worth playing, and the next hit title just got pushed back, less than two weeks from when it was supposed to be released. Way to go fellas Keep screwing your fans. I was hoping to get some Lair play time in between Bio Shock, Mass Effect, and Orange Box, but it looks like that isn't happening. Maybe I'll buy it next year.

ShadowHawk01 @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:33AM

Interesting... Gold no longer means Gold anymore. I would be interested to know why they delayed it after it had gone Gold.

Popfrogs @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:55AM

EA: Release early, skip QC, ignore whines of gamers with a bug filled game for at least 3 months, then start patching.

Sony: Release late, extensive QC, patch bugs within a few months but add content at the same time.

This has to do with the Home integration and possibly even the Sixsense controller. Also the IGN early review dogged the poor controls, so who knows, they just might be polishing it up. Just because something goes gold doesn't mean it's finished...a page from the average PC developer's diary.

ryano @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:11AM

i heard in the new EGM, Lair and Blue Dragon got mediocre reviews like
5.0-6.5 and Persona 3 got GOTM status an 8.5-9.5 rating. can anyone confirm this rumor??

JL @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:32AM

*raises arms and looks at sky*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

aka Bitter @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:24PM

Spence: As I recall, all the early previews commented on the bad frame rate and awkward controls, while praising the graphics. Then the game went sorta dark and we haven't heard a lot of "hands on" reports, just some impressive looking game play videos.

I doubt they can make major changes to the controls in two weeks, so I suspect they are fixing a major crash bug or some other error caught during by the press playing final code for review.

secret @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:35PM

I was debating on whether to buy LAIR to tide me over while I wait for Heavenly Sword, but I guess I won't need to anymore since they're coming out at about the same time. I want Heavenly Sword to sample it's interesting story and unique cinematic style.

never$$hort @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:02PM

I'm sure they have reasons for the delay but why recently state that the game is good to go for 8/14/07??? Stupid... just start saying "EXPECT ALL PS3 TITLES ALWAYS TO BE DELAYED EVERYTIME"... that would be a much more accurate statement.

Ed @ Aug 13th 2007 12:14PM

They may have delayed lair because Sony needs to release the version 2.0 software update for the PS3 first. If you read about the details for the version 2.0 software update, it says under game, Support for PLAYSTATION®3 format software titles has been expanded. (You can read the full list here @ http://www.playthree.net/2007/05/playstation-3-firmware-20-features.html) Lair will use 6 of the 8 cores in the cell processor so thats why sony needs to release the software update first. I hope they put a demo of it on the PS store