5. Lair for Playstation 3
The Playstation 3 needed a strong exclusive title to really compete with the Xbox 360, and Lair appeared to be it. Lair was developed by Factor 5 and published by Sony. Players control a kight named Rohn who belongs to the Asylian peopl’s elite dragon-riging force.
Lair had great graphics, and there hasn’t been a creative gameplay dynamic like it in a long time. The game made use of the motion control features of the PS3’s Sixasis controller, which promised innovative gameplay like the Nintendo Wii. The player flies the dragon by tilting the controller, with additional moves also using motion sensing; one such example is fighting a dragon by tilting the controller to match the enemy dragon’s flying height, and then slamming the controller left or right to knock the dragon sideways and out of the battle.
There was alot of hype over Lair, mainly over its mind-blowing graphics. However, once it was actually released it was seen as a critical commercial failture and reviewed very negatively. The artwork and graphics were great quality, but the control scheme (such as the impossible targeting system) made the game pretty much unplayable.
4. Windows Vista
Let me get one thing clear: I love Vista. Unfortunately, the industry doesn’t have the same love affair that I do with the new Operating System. Part of the problem is that there just wasn’t industry support when the OS launched. Many people had software that worked great on XP, but no longer worked on the Vista platform because of its new architecture. Software vendors weren’t keen on providing a “free” upgrade because you updated your OS, which meant that many people had to purchase new versions of their software (if it had even been released).
Microsoft has done a great job by introducing some great new technologies into Vista. They have the marketing muscle to nudge the industry into the 64-bit computing world, and have made the OS very compatible with existing software, inspite of its updated architecture. Unfortunately, the consumers decide the fate of software, and they vote with their wallets.
Most of the problem is the industry not being ready for Vista. The new architecture means that vendors have to develop both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of their drivers, and drivers may be buggy because they have to re-learn how to write them properly.
The fact of the matter is that alot of hardware and software didn’t work with Vista at first. Vista is stabilizing as vendors deliver better drivers and software, but it had a very rocky start. Service Pack 1 for Vista is expected to fix alot of customer’s woes, so it appears that 2008 will be the year that determines if Vista is a true flop or not.
3. Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2 is a video game developed by Rockstar Games, who made a name for themselves with the Grand Theft Auto series. Even though 2007 brought us many overhyped games like Halo 3, Manhunt 2 caught alot of media attention because of its censorship in the United Kingdom for being too violent. Rockstar announced a modified version of the game to satiate the ESRB, but was again rejected.
One would expect a game with such hype to be worth waiting for, but the game has received mediocre reviews. The gameplay can be similar to “stealth-action” games like Splinter Cell and Thief, but the game just isn’t that fun. The over-the-top brutal killings are disturbing but really not as graphic as one expected based on the media hype.
