Lair: PLAY Reviews 9/10

Yes, the review of Lair from PLAY Magazine is in. And what did they give the game? They gave it a 9/10. They also shed some light on how EGM did not review the whole game, read it:

We (Play) received the same review copy that I assume all the other mags did, which had optimized frame rates in the earlier missions, but poor frame rates in the last few missions and several bugs. We contacted Factor 5 and asked for all known issues and Julian himself replied with a detailed list, promising that the later levels were being optimized for frame rates, the bugs were being fixed, and that one aspect of the control would be improved. They said they would have a gold master candidate ready by our ship date, so I wrote the review on the assumptions that their promises would be kept, got the gold master candidate right before we went to press, and played that version for a few hours to confirm that they had addressed the issues. That gold master candidate was dated roughly a month ago, and as far as I know represents the game's final optimization.

I'm not sure what version the OP played—ours were never labeled "Preview Code", but a print mag's Review Code is sometimes a web site's Preview Code. Our last-received version of the game does not run at a rock-solid 30 fps, but I did not consider the frame rate problems to be an issue at all. I don't mind a few frame rate dips into the 20's here and there, if it's for the purpose of making an otherwise amazing looking game. I'm certainly not as sensitive to frame rate issues as the OP, but I don't think the average game enthusiast is either.

Just something to point out to the people who want to hate on Lair here—Sony and Factor 5 went all out to make sure the print mags got review copies as early as possible and frequent updates so that they could have reviews out before the game's release (which was at that point supposed to be August 8th, I think). Companies do NOT do that when they don't have a lot of faith in their games, so clearly both Factor 5 and Sony thought they had a critical hit on their hands, and any suggestion that they're trying to bury it or "send it out to die" is absurd. And having written the 9 review, I (obviously) agree.

THPG Demo on PSN around Thanksgiving

According to PlayFrance, the demo for the upcoming game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground will be on the PlayStation Store a little before Thanksgiving. This game is looking good at its stages now, and a demo would really butter us up for the full title. The title is coming out for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 and is slated for release the fourth quarter of 2007.

[Via PlayFrance]

Japan PlayStation Home Trailer

The Japanese PlayStation Home trailer was released today, and it sure is looking good. It shows us more of the new Home Square Harrison showed us at E3 2007 and of how you can look like Phil Harrison (suit).Everything seems to be going great for the progress of PlayStation Home. I personally cannot wait for the release of the free download,along with LittleBigPlanet. View the gallery, or follow the link for the video.

[View Japan Home Trailer]

The Agency: First Gameplay Footage from Fan Faire 2007

The Fan Faire 2007 has Sony Online Entertainment bringing us the first gameplay footage of their upcoming The Agency game for the PC & PLAYSTATION 3. This title is due out in 2008. It certainly looks good.

MGS4: Guns Of The Patriots 15 Minute Gameplay!

Kojima has finally done it, and it's beautiful. It aired at the Metal Gear Solid 20th Anniversary party. Leave your comments and such. I think it's just great.

Metal Gear Online Beta Sign-Up Guide!

Well, if your mad that you cannot get in the Beta to Metal Gear Online, be mad no more. Right here is a guide to sign-up for the online beta. Follow the steps and be in heaven, first go here:

http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/mgo_beta/

I signed up, took while though, had to figure out how to make a Konami ID, Google Translate everything, you know the story. But in the end, I was able to sign-up for the Beta. Me having a Japanese PSN account helped too, you need one. I hope I get in, if I do, I'll videotape my gameplay for you guys.

Here is the guide posted below:

1) Make a Japanese PSN Account
2) Make a Konami ID: https://id.konamistyle.jp/konamiid.jsp (left button always)

• Field One: ID Field (lowercase only, at least 8 letters)
• Field Two & Three: Password + Confirmation
• Field Four: Secret Question Selection (select any)
• Field Five: Secret Question Answer: (any Japanese letters)
• Field Six & Seven: E-Mail + Confirmation
• Field Eight & Nine: Surname + First Name (this is tricky, I had to try a bunch of different names, use Google Translate to translate an American name and use it for both fields)
• Field Ten: Male or Female
• Field Eleven: Birth Date
• Field Twelve: Postal Code (use Google to find one)

3) Go here: https://id.konamistyle.jp/konamiid.jsp

• Field One: Konami ID User Name
• Field Two: Konami ID Password
• Field Three: PlayStation Network ID

4) Answer the survey after you enter using Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
5) Click the left button to confirm everything.

onAXIS Reviews

Welcome to the onAXIS Review database. This database contains reviews of all the games our friends in the gaming industry were nice enough to send us. The database is small at the moment, but will grow over time.

B

Buzz! The Mega Quiz (PS2)

C

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3)
Contra 4 (Nintendo DS)

M

MX vs. ATV: Untamed (PS3)

N

NBA 2K8 (PS3)

T

Time Crisis 4 (PS3)

U

Unreal Tournament III (PS3)

Section 8: Teaser Trailer

Here is the first trailer for TimeGate's upcoming shooter, Section 8.

Section 8 is a large-scale, futuristic first person shooter that brings strategy and tactics to the first-person shooter genre in a game where players can modify the battlefield on the fly.

The game's name refers to the super elite squad of powered armor infantry that serve as the focus of the single-player content. The squad’s nickname is because of its penchant for taking on suicide missions that no one else will tackle.