I have decided to write this blog on Lair.. this is a game that i have followed since the beginning and being a fantasy fan anything dragon related be it books movies games etc has always interested me and this was no exception.. as time went on the game was looking better and better and the control scheme seemed a rather interesting and unique way of playing the game.

previews came and they seemed to be quite good some said the controls needed tightening up but they were not deemed to be useless.. the game started to be delayed for various reasons with one delay being after a not so good Review of the game now this is where things get interesting. Reviews started arriving claiming that the game was a mess that the controls didn't work, with Gamespot giving the game a 4.0 and various other sites giving similar scores, now this did put me off the game i thought just as many others did that based on those reviews it would be dire which was a shame for a game that looked so promising.. However once the game was released for retail i started to hear and read on various sites of those that had ignored the reviews and went and got the game, they stated that there were no such problems with the controls that the main Site reviews were complaining about, I was skeptical at first but more and more of people started to claim the same thing, I still wasn't going to the game just in case it was just fans looking to cling on to some false hope of it being good.

It was then that a friend of mine imported the game and called me to go over to his place to see the game myself, I got there and saw that all the comments and reviews from gamers that had been mentioning the retail version were correct the controls were nothing like what they were reported to have been by all the various reviews sites and mags, i found the controls to be quite easy after i little practise, they were not perfect but they worked and the game was actually fun, So i ordered my own copy.. what i didn't get was why all the main gaming sites and mags were slamming Lair into the ground and giving such low scores it didn't make sense based on what I and many others had played. now this is where things start to get a little more interesting than before.

It seems that the main sites and magazines got their review copies based on a build dated 1st of August, but the retail games are using a build dated end of August.. the 27th I think it is.. anyway it seems that the controls in the retail version were vastly updated and is the reason why they seem to work and the review copies don't.. now Remember the last delay that there was for the game just after the first Review came out, Factor five said it was to do with fixing bugs on the on-line leader boards etc.. well it now seems that this was actually because of the recent 1.92 firmware that was just released.. Sony were meant to have this available for Lair's Original August release but they couldn't get it done in time So the game was delayed until September 5 which was the new date the firmware was due to be released.. what has this got do with anything you may ask.. well the firmware update was for updating the blue-tooth signal from the controller to the PS3 which improves button and tilt response times thus giving better and faster control.. did it work yes it did.. my copy of lair arrived yesterday and the update did indeed improve the tilt controls Lair is smoother and faster in response than the retail version that i had played at friends house he agrees as do many others that have installed it.

why haven't Sony made this clear i hear you ask.. well only they can really answer it i guess they don't want to admit that the blue-tooth signal wasn't good enough for Lair to work as it should.. Factor 5 wouldn't have been able to say anything about it either due to NDAs.. Should the Reviewers be blamed for low scores and the hating of the game, well no.. you cant really blame them for using the review build of the game for their reviews after all it's what they are for but they should know that review builds are not perfect they don't always equal what the retail version will be so they could have waited for the retail version for their reviews, then again Sony is at fault for not telling the Sites and mags that the retail version works where as their review builds don't although a recent letter from Sony to various sites etc seems to state the difference. what will all this do for Lair I don't know it seems to much damage has been done, unless the Main sites and mags re do their reviews based on the retail and firmware update, but what are the chances of that happening. all i can say is play the game for yourself rent it if needs be, the game is not perfect but for a first attempt Factor five have done a great job it's worth at least an 8/10.

Well Gamespot has done another PS3 v 360 feature and once again it's poorly done.. Why Gamespot feel the need to limit the PS3 is beyond me.. they did the test at 720p using component cables now the issue isn't with component cables as such they are able to produce quality to that of HDMI if the component cable is of good quality.. what i do have a issue with is the limiting of the resolution now you can argue all you want about most people dont have 1080p TV's but that's not the point if the PS3 is capable of supporting that res as well as the game being tested then it should be shown in that res, you don't compare a Ferrari and a Porsche and limit the Ferrari's top speed and acceleration to that of the Porsche just because the Porsche cant match the Ferrari no you show what the Ferrari is capable of that's the whole idea, the only reason i can see that Gamspot would do this is they don't want to show what the PS3 is really capable of why they feel this way i dunno I'm not gonna go on a MS owned rant because i don't believe that for one second.. but i do believe they have something against the PS3 and it's rather tiring and sad to see they still haven't learned after their previous poor comparison.

Well i have been trying out the new features of the new 1.8 PS3 firmware and so i thought i would post my thoughts, I have to say i'm quite impressed with what it can now do, the upscaling for DVDs and PS1/PS2 games works a treat although it's more noticeable with DVD's than games, the printing option for photos is no good for me i have a HP printer and the PS3 only supports certain epson printers no idea why Sony chose them, i dont have a PSP and i dont see a reason to get one so the remote play option is not of use to me.

The other big part of the update is the media streaming it's a great feature and one i welcome the problem is it doesn't always work very well.. the PS3 has no problem finding my Media server which is my Pc running Tveristy  ( tversity  allows the streaming of video formats that PS3 doesn't use ie Divx,WMV etc by converting them in real time and  then streaming them something WM11 doesn't do) anyway when it comes to streaming one moment the PS3 is fine and happy the next it will come up with a error usually unsupported format or cant find server check settings even if there is nothing wrong with them, it happens mainly for stuff that is streaming online not sure if it's a PS3 thing or Tversity which is still a beta at this stage although i hear some have similar problems using WM11 and streaming media the PS3 does know so it may be a PS3 problem, will have to wait and see if Sony add better supports or a patch in the next update.  

In regards to the update to the HDMI output in giving a full RGB i have to say it improves the quality quite well i have noticed that the texturing in games like Oblivion is more sharp and have a better colour including the lighting and shadow, i did have to adjust my Tv's settings but once that was done it was great what's strange is why this wasn't an option from the start and why Sony haven't mentioned it much in reagrds to the features added,

The 1080p 24fps for blu-ray playback and the superwhite option are not much use at the moment as my TV doesn't support 1080p nor superwhite but it's good they are there for when the time comes and i get a TV that does support them.  All in all Sony have done a good job with this update. I would still like wallpapers and the ability to access the XMB while in game and i'm sure Sony have plans for those at some stage, I wonder what Sony has planned for the next update will have to wait and see. 

Hi to everyone or anyone that is reading this.. I thought I would post about Guitar Hero on the PS3.. now at first GH wasn't supported by the Euro BC software but with the latest update 1.7 it now is, great i thought i'll get an adapter for the GH controller and have good times again.. well that was the Idea but alas it's a no go.. i purchased a adapter made by logic 3 the adapter allows you to get by the PS home button issue so i thought it would work but no.. the adapter pairs with the controller but it can't map the fret buttons.. when the game loads the red and green fret buttons that are used for confirm and cancel are now the blue and yellow.. and when it comes to playing a song only the Green and blue fret buttons work and even them they are not mapped correctly pressing green works blue and pressing the blue works orange and none of the other frets work at all.. i emailed logic 3 to see if they have any answers but they havn't emailed back yet and i have a feeling they wont have any answers.

I did a little look in regards to the Nyko adapter as they said it worked with the GH controller, but it seems that Nyko have cancelled it as it didn't work.. why did they say it did in the first place if it didn't even at GDC they said it would it seems a bit fishy to me anyway Nyko blamed Sony for the problem claiming that the firmware of the PS3 prevents them from being able to get the controller working..If that's true then it looks like only Sony can sort out the problem the question is will they... :(  

Well it's been a while since my last blog so i thought i would write another one, not much going on but i do have a little moan i would like to get off my chest, it's in regards to the Sony PS3 store and the fact you can't just add the amount you want to your wallet i bought Super Rub a Dub which has a price of £3.49 but the wallet only allows increments of £5.00 to be added meaning i have money left over in my wallet i had already £1.50 left over from when i got Lemmings so now i have £3.00 left in it that i can't use because I still dont have enough to get anything else so i would have to put another £5 in it just to get somthing that i only need 50p for, who's big idea was it to do it this way, you don't go to a store and pay more just to get something less I heard if the price is over £5 you can choose your amount not sure about that as i haven't bought anything over that amount but i dont see why it should be the way it is for less, that's the moan over and done with.

Oh by the way Super Rub a Dub is a great game quite fun didn't think i would enjoy it and the reviews it got were not great but when i played it i found it to be addictive so i dont see why the bad reviews i guess it's all about gears of war graphics etc and fun doesn't matter.. oh well i liked it and that's all that matters to me.

Here's my second blog post and as i stated in the first i'll post my thoughts on Oblivion, well i have to say it's a great game and every bit as engrossing as other players have said, i haven't been playing for long but i have enjoyed the time i have spent so far. I went with being a dark elf it seemed to me to be a well balanced character, I then chose Warrior as my star sign and Rouge as my class, seems to be a good setup so far will have to see later on if the choices i made work out.. One thing though is i'm currently a Vampire not sure why that happened just rested and was told i was bitten and woke up as one not sure if this is a good or bad thing yet.. i also joined the dark brotherhood which i guess goes well with being a Vamp.. anyway that's it for this blog i'll post more when i get the chance.

Well i thought it was about time I started kepping a blog although i don't know if i will have time to make it a daily thing or not will have to see, anyway this morning my import copy of Oblivion for the PS3 arrived it's not released here in the UK until 27 April, it was ment to be a Euro launch title but Ubisoft delayed for some reason and they have yet to state why so i thought forget that i'll import and i'm glad i did, it only took three days to arrive and was cheaper than i would have had to pay had i waited for the UK version, just got to find the time now to play it most likely this weekend so i'll post my thoughts on it in my next blog post. :)