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PlayStation (Games)

LAIR Pushed To Next Month 50

Posted by Zonk from the bad-news-for-the-station dept.
LAIR, the much-anticipated title featuring combat from dragon-back, is a very important title for Sony and the PlayStation 3. Its the first of the AAA slated for the end of the year for the trailing platform ... and so far things don't look good for the title. Now, the company has announced that LAIR has been delayed until early in September. "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."
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LAIR Pushed To Next Month More

LAIR Pushed To Next Month

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  • Are we surprised? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by GrayCalx ( 597428 ) on Thursday August 02, 2007 @02:44PM (#20090543)
    This is happening to 50% of the new releases. Probably higher for big-name titles. I completely made up that statistic btw, but isn't it just about common now to view a release date as only a suggestion?
    • Why game companies think they can pinpoint a release date when more then 65% of commercial aps that go through (apparently) little to no QA can't even hit their deadlines is amazing to me. Are there certifications for gaming studios such as CMMI or iso-9000? I'm sure that will never happen but just imagine the kick in the pants they'd feel when they get a cmmi level 0 rating.

      Of course, often times it's the publisher that drives deadlines, so who knows if that will/can ever be fixed.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by feepness ( 543479 )

        Why game companies think they can pinpoint a release date when more then 65% of commercial aps that go through (apparently) little to no QA can't even hit their deadlines is amazing to me.

        They don't think they can. But they hope they can get close. They have to get a manufacturing slot for their game reserved 6 months in advance. They have to line up advertising in print, TV, and online months in advance. For some games "it will be done when it's done" works because it will get the press (and bought) when it's done. Most others do not have that luxury.

        It's not the game company driving the dates, it's the rest of the industry pushing the game company.

        • I hadn't thought about all of the advertising that games do compared to thing like, say, winzip. I guess i was approaching it too much like a systems engineer.
          • I hadn't thought about all of the advertising that games do compared to thing like, say, winzip.

            Yeah, and it all needs to be budgeted and coordinated. For a big game, there can be literally tens of millions of dollars at stake. Print ads get bought months in advance, meaning they need to be worked on starting months before that, meaning they need to be budgeted and planned even sooner. A company only has a certain number of designers and they work on a variety of projects. They can't just drop everythi
            • This is true even of games that most people would think "sell themselves" like the Grand Theft Auto series. You watch how the hype ramps up as we get closer to October/November. All of that's already been either planned or actually in place for months now. Rockstar's advertising a particular date in all those ads and they will hit it. They're actually pretty good about that as a company.

              Sorry to reply to myself, but all I can say is... uh... whoops!

              http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUS N0238261 [reuters.com]

  • A month? That's an absurdly long delay. (Score:5, Funny)

    by CrazyJim1 ( 809850 ) on Thursday August 02, 2007 @02:45PM (#20090555) Journal
    I'm sure people will stop buying PS3's due to their outrage.

  • No kidding (Score:3, Interesting)

    by CokoBWare ( 584686 ) on Thursday August 02, 2007 @02:46PM (#20090565)
    Why doesn't that surprise me? Can't wait to see the game though. It looks gorgeous. Are they going to release it for the PC?
    • The controls are setup to use the sixaxis controller, you apparently can't even fly the dragon with the analog sticks, you are forced to use sixaxis. That combined with the fact that factor 5 is like insomniac in that they are a private company but have a partnership with Sony where they develop exclusively for the PS3 means that it for sure won't be coming to any other gaming platform.

  • Shocking! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    That it would take extra time to try and develop Achievement -- er, I mean "medals" -- and leaderboard functionality for the title when Sony has only just decided that having those kind of community features is valuable and necessary.

    Xbox ftw.

  • The early previews did not seem great, hopefully they'll be taking the extra time to fix issues and make the game live up to potential (the idea is great, it's just the execution that needs work).
    • the idea is great, it's just the execution that needs work

      While I see where you're coming from, I also think you're misrepresenting. It's the execution that's the hard part; ideas are easy (for proof of this statement, go read pretty much anything Peter Molyneaux has ever said). I mean, I have an idea for an RPG with an open/sandbox play style, but in which the world also evolves around you (you don't have to do the main quest, but the more time you spend not doing it, the worse the world gets and the harde
      • These may be great ideas (or not, of course), but it doesn't matter - I don't have the capacity to bring them to fruition, so no one will ever find out.

        Oh, sure. The nice thing about these Internets is what you say to one million people here, stays here. ;-)

        But seriously: your devolving world RPG idea is a good one, IMO. The problem with most game paradigms is their relentless linearity and immutable conditions. And your idea neatly addresses that. Go pitch it to someone in a suit.

        Further along these l

      • I'm not saying the execution is not the hard part, and actually from the previews I think they made it pretty far towards having a good execution - but they were missing in a few regards. I just think they are close enough they have the potential to close on that execution gap.
  • I hope to FSM that they fix the control scheme. Forget that leaderboard crap. Make sure the control is tight. My suggestion: make Sixaxis an option and let us use the analog sticks.

  • Okay here goes my karma. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Khaed ( 544779 ) on Thursday August 02, 2007 @03:18PM (#20091093)
    This is offtopic, so get your mod points handy. But:

    I am really sick of the following two terms, and they seem mostly confined to slashdot (NONE of my gaming friends outside of /. have even heard them): AAA Title, and SKU. The former just sounds stupid. Oh noes, AAA? What about AAAAAAAA?! AAA? Like, the battery size?

    Are there B titles? O titles? S titles? So could there be a BOOBS title? (Would that be those volleyball games?)

    Both of these terms have come around somewhat recently, and it irks me. It reminds me of computer terminology thrown out there on bad TV by an idiot: "It has Megagigs!"

    Seriously. You guys sound like marketing idiots using buzzwords.
    • Outside of slashdot?

      Go look at a game developers site. Look at the job listings, I'm willing to bet about half the time they will use the terms AA,AAA,or AAAA.

      In fact here is one from blizzard: http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/art-lead-3d-environ ment.shtml [blizzard.com]
    • Agreed. Agreed with the intensity of one thousand suns! Whither mod points?

    • I am really sick of the following two terms, and they seem mostly confined to slashdot (NONE of my gaming friends outside of /. have even heard them): AAA Title, and SKU. The former just sounds stupid. Oh noes, AAA? What about AAAAAAAA?! AAA? Like, the battery size?

      I encountered such terms many years ago in game *development* circles. You know, the guys who actually make the games. When I encountered the terms years ago, they were clearly widespread and well known to the guys in that field. Personally, I

    • SKU means stock keeping unit; it should mean the lowest level of product detail, as kept in stock. Why everyone suddenly started using it as a layman's term, beats me. I assure you it is not only here in /. though.
    • There a difference between people to mis-uses jargon and people who doesn't understand when others use unfamiliar but legitimate jargon. Those bits of jargon are legitimate devloper jargon. They've started springing up into common usage so either go with the flow or look foolish. I think you've chosen your option?
      • And here goes my karma too (not that I had any to begin with) but ...what?? Excuse me, but what did you just say??? There a diffference? What is mis-uses? I think people DON'T understand, I know I don't. Devloper? The option to proofread your post so YOU don't look foolish was obviously decided against. Better luck next time. Even if you had a point, no one would even know it.
    • SKU = Shelve Keeping Unit / Store Keeping Unit. Why do you have a problem with this?

      Its a common retail acronym. Its frequently used these days to identify types of console bundles which are to be announced before formal notification has been made.

      Personally I find "new buzzwords" like podcasting, vlogging, ARGs to be more annoying.
  • Honestly.. I actually praise that they delay the game only for the reason that when I get the game in my hands I won't be bombarded with bugs that aren't fixed or spotted by QA.. which if anyone forgot, means QUALITY ASSURANCE.. emphasis on the assurance part and bigger on the quality part. They want to make the game fool-proof of glitches that can cause for negative gameplay. All they're doing right now is pleasing their customers by providing good quality software. Final note.. many games in the past hav
  • I can live with a month delay, that's not too bad, especially if it helps. At the very least it shows they do care about the quality of their product. I'm sure I can find something else to amuse me for a month, actually I'm pretty sure theirs a couple other games I need to play this month.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by toolie ( 22684 )

      I can live with a month delay, that's not too bad, especially if it helps.

      Its been delayed far longer than a month. It was originally going to be a launch title. They then pushed it back to June I think it was. After that, they said it would be July. Then they said it would release on 04 AUG. Then then PS3 Blog announced it went 'gold' for a 14 AUG release. Then they said it would be released 04 SEP.

      Thats about nine months worth of delays, not one.

      When one of the major issues cited with a system is lack of games, any delays like this hurts.

  • that copies all the comments for the "Spore: When it's ready" thread over to here and replaces "Spore" with "LAIR". Guaranteed +5 Karma!

  • zonk bias (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ch0ad ( 1127549 ) on Thursday August 02, 2007 @08:13PM (#20095289)
    ok i am new here but is it not quite obvious to everyone that the editors here have a strong personal bias towards (or in this case against) certain consoles. off topic i know... but as a ps3 owner it's quite annoying having my favourite news site slating the ps3 for *any* reason at all, even regarding stories that are about positive things.

    ps3 gets a price drop: article "ps3 price doesnt get lowered enough".

    ps3 gets a bundle/starter pack deal, article: "ps3 starter pack forces you to get games you may not want"

    or something along those lines anyway. this time the lair dev's want to spnd a few extra weeks tweaking the control scheme and somehow this is doom and gloom for the whole game, and next the ps3 will die!. ok, it's more subtly worded... but the bias is obvious to me.

    ... or am i alone in finding this a bit tiresome. i suppose i can never get enough of the microsoft blunders... maybe you just have to be of a specific mind set to appreciate the editorial style here, and if you dont happen to share the mindset you're on your own.

    • He's probably getting free games and laptops from Microsoft for posting spin-news from Microsoft's marketing department.
    • how the heck did this post get modded as 'interesting'? apparently you only read the ps3 slashdot articles. There's no love for MS around here:
      "more advertising in your next Xbox game"
      "xbox division posts $1.9 billion loss"
      "For-Pay Demos Coming to Xbox Live?"
      "The Man Who Went Through 11 Xbox 360s"
      "Microsoft Sued Over Scratched Xbox 360 Discs"

      and why don't you list any of the "pro" ps3 article names:
      "Price Cut Leads To PS3, PSP Sales Boost"
      "A Million PS3s Sold in Japan"
      "PS3 Oblivion Approaching PC

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by ch0ad ( 1127549 )
        it's not the articles themselves i was talking about exactly... the editors don't make the news up, it's just the way the news is presented. positive bits of news re. the ps3 are given negative spin, and visa versa.
  • So much for the PS3 "launch window" closing anytime soon.
  • You know, between 'LAIR' and 'THEY' apparently trying to muscle their way through using all big letters, I'm starting to loose all faith in mankind.

    I'm hoping that the game is still _called_ Lair (sans all caps), because that trend is definitely not something I want to be a part of.

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