10 Biggest PlayStation Risks (That Totally Backfired)
4. Lair's Early Insistence Of Sixaxis Controls
It seems redundant pointing this out now, some fifteen years and better support later, but Lair was a mess on arrival.
Meant to be Sony and now-defunct Factor 5's big technical showcase for the PS3, Lair instead drew critical derision on its release. Why?
Its massive reliance on the PS3's Sixaxis controller gameplay. Before the Move, the Sixaxis was Sony's way of incorporating motion controllers into its games.
To some degree, it did add a touch of novelty in a few games. But in Lair's case, it was intended to be used throughout the whole game as primary control system.
And you couldn't change it.
Reviewing badly, Sony thought to try and placate those darn stuffy journalists by sending them a book telling them to, "Open their minds and hands" to the experience.
As you can imagine, that went down like a lead balloon tied to a gangster wearing lead shoes. Tell a journalist they're wrong, expect to be called out.
Over time, Lair did get some TLC and controller support. But for the most part, the review scores were in and the damage was done.