For just $4.99 you can live like a celebrity in a two-story mansion perched atop the Hollywood Hills. Invite up to 11 friends at a time into one of your two home theaters and watch clips from some of your favorite movies, trailers, Minisodes and exclusive content from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Releasing and Crackle. Throw a party by the sprawling infinity pool, lounge in the Jacuzzi, and take in the million-dollar views – all in the Hollywood Hills House, available this Thursday from the Estates Store in PlayStation Home.

Music lovers rejoice! This Thursday the London Pub Radio (LPR) takes to the airwaves – a free update to all London Pub owners. Every month LPR will be pumping tunes courtesy of a hand-selected group of featured artists into a radio placed in the London Pub personal space (first up from LPR are four tracks from RedderStare – an up and coming four-piece band from London, UK).

That’s not all – LPR is also launching a website where independent musicians from our community will be able to submit original music for a chance to have their tracks broadcast into London Pubs all around PlayStation Home. Head to www.veemee.com/thelondonpub/radio to upload tracks and learn more about this exciting new program!

The PlayStation Home Mall receives a large update this Thursday with items from Capcom’s Lost Planet 2 (look for the Jungle Pirate and Nevec Soldier costumes), nDreams’ “Party Props” and “Black Robe” items, and a some truly awesome additions to our line of original costumes (check out the pics below for a taste of what is in store this week).

“Scion’s “Take on the Machine” activity returns to the Central Plaza this week. Log in to PlayStation Home this Thursday to join the challenge and unlock special rewards. Then head to TakeOnTheMachine.com for additional information on the all new Scion tC and to find a dealer near you.”

Finally, we’ll debut a new series this week in the mega-popular PlayStation Home Community Theater. Come out and watch the premier of Replay with Doc. In episode 1, the Tester star interviews Brett Norton, lead designer of TimeGate Studios, and they discuss the upcoming Section 8: Prejudice as well as digital distribution in the gaming industry. After you watch Replay with Doc, stick around for GamerIndepth’s “Shoutouts” and learn how not to appear “N00Bish” in Central Plaza and catch an interview with the team behind Lair.

See you in Home!

Hello, it’s Ryan again and I have some exciting news about Lair’s music.

First, it was announced last week that the soundtrack for Lair received a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Video Game Award nomination for best Original Score! Hopefully some of you have now unlocked and experienced all of the high-fidelity surround sound music in the Concert Hall within the game’s Extras, and can agree with the nomination. If you haven’t listened to the music in the Concert Hall, you’re really missing out—it’s fantastic in showcasing all of the nuances that John Debney so masterfully weaved into the score.

And second, for those of you that would like to be able to listen to the music outside of the game, we now have Lair’s official soundtrack available on Apple iTunes! Just search for “John Debney Lair” in the iTunes store and it should come right up. I think it’s amazing how different the music sounds outside of the game setting and how well it works on its own, and yet how reminiscent of the game it is and how much it adds to the gameplay experience. Happy listening, and hope you enjoy! (BTW, we’d love to hear about your favorite tracks, so please post comments below letting us know…)

Related Posts:
The LAIR Score: Part One
The LAIR Score: Part Two

Following up on my entry earlier this week, without walking you through the whole score, I wanted to call out a few tracks that stand out as prime examples of the principal themes contained in the score for LAIR. When you hear the elegant strains of the “Civilization” theme (Asylia theme), you’ll notice hints at the scope and power of the Asylian culture. It is high culture indeed, yet there is a dark side here.

“Crossing at Dawn-Bridge Battle” is an example of some of the more brutal and textural musical colors. Using primitive skin drums and ethnic woodwinds such as the “Makruna” and “Phillistine horn,” the ethnic side of Lair is revealed. This is a world we have only dreamed of, and for me, listening to the score, it comes to life. Musically, we must experience the majesty and scope of this world, and highlight its many sounds.

I could go on for quite a while describing the beauty of, for instance, Karen Han’s incredibly moving Erhu solo on “Mokai theme,” but that’s enough from me for today, so I’ll step back and let you the listener enjoy for yourself the amazing world of LAIR.

Composing the music for LAIR has been an incredible creative experience. The teams at Factor 5 and SCEA, gave me great freedom and latitude to develop something unique and perhaps unprecedented. Creating new, original themes for this primal world has been one of the most stimulating experiences of my career, something I will look back on and cherish. The overall tone of the work can best be described as operatic, ethnically rich, lyrical, elegant and, at the same time, tragic. From the heroic strains of Rohn’s theme, to the darkly powerful sister themes, Prophet/Diviner theme, we have a musical landscape both unique and glorious. Some of the finest vocalists and instrumentalists in the world are prominently featured in the score. It was a treat to be able to work with these great talents, and I’m sure you’ll appreciate the scope and the power of what we were trying to accomplish. It is ambitious to say the least, and we are so fortunate to have had the London and Royal symphony orchestras with their virtuosic and impassioned performance.

The score for this game is unique also in that it truly presents a large scale symphony in three acts. Quite simply, to give you a sense of the scale of what we did, the music alone in this game would fill three complete movies! Thus was the task; to create a work richly melodic, deeply passionate and savagely primal, all to fit right in with the theme, tone and dramatic elements of LAIR. With that said, I hope this audio clip gives you a taste of what’s to come in LAIR. I’ll be back later this week with another sample, but click below to hear “Diviner’s Theme,” which describes the treacherous, evil villain in the game. If Darth Vader had an evil cousin, this would truly be him. Enjoy!

Related Post: Inside the Developers Studio: Julian Eggebrecht

Given all the content and interest here on Lair, I figured you guys would also be interested to hear that the North American version of Lair has completed its development and is now in manufacturing! That means that we are on track for our August 14 release date. It goes without saying that we’re eager to get this out to those of you that have been waiting so patiently (or not!) for it to arrive. Considering the new PS3 price and now Lair, hopefully there’s even more of a reason to scoop up a PS3 if you haven’t already!

For us, there’s still a bit of work to do, as we have localization to finish up for Europe, Japan, Korea, and more, which will all hopefully follow very soon. Once those are out, our leaderboards will truly be global, and then we can see once and for all who the best Lair players are out there! The gauntlet has been thrown, and North American players are getting Lair first, so don’t give that advantage away…

We also have some great updates for the official Lair site that will be live soon, so keep an eye out for those …

2. Describe it in five words or less.
Dragons. Combat. Flight. Fight. Done.

3. Tell us more about your game. What’s the story?
The story is about Rohn, a dragon pilot and elite member of the military. The world is being thrown into chaos by natural disasters, the government is taken over by fanatics who exploit this, and Rohn has to fight a war that makes him question his moral stance. The story starts out very black and white, but it becomes grey and triggers a lot of questions, both for the hero as well as, we hope, the player. It’s not your typical video game story.

4. What did you do on this game that you couldn’t do on another platform?
The combination of traditional controls and radical new usage of motion control is certainly something only possible with the Sixaxis. That then combined with the 1080p graphics and 7.1 hi-def sound, I wouldn’t know of any other platform offering that combination. The PS3 and Lair complement each other rather perfectly.

5. Do you have any “firsts” in this game that have never been done before?
A lot, actually. There never has been an action game that goes seamlessly from the 10000 foot point of action to the very intimate on the-ground battles. There has never been a game that uses motion control and classic controls to bring visceral combat to life – and that in many different gameplay mechanics. And I think even in terms of story we are breaking new ground for video games as a more sophisticated
storytelling device with larger and very contemporary themes.

6. What do you think is the coolest aspect of this game?
The control of the dragon. All these new things to experience that no game has done before. Well, that and the epic feeling of everything. Epic vs. controls, I am torn which one is cooler.

7. If you could sit one person in front of your game for an hour, who would it be?
My Mom. The last thing we played together on a TV was Warlords on the Atari 2600 so she needs to catch up.

8. What game do you most want an hour to sit in front of yourself (besides your own)?
Least of all my own. I hope to spend some quality time with Uncharted and Ratchet, especially since my kids are the biggest Ratchet fans on the planet. And let’s see how far Kojima-san’s newest Metal Gear has come. Outside of all things PlayStation I am a sucker for Mario Galaxy.

9. How many E3′s does E3 2007 mark for you?
All of them. I am so old that I attended CES before E3 came about.

10. Describe the pre-2007 E3 experience in five words or less.
Finishing Lair. Lot’s of sleep.

11. Most over used phrase or expression during E3 season.
“Do you have a ticket for the Sony party?”

12. You are asked to make suggestions for an E3 survival kit- what three items HAVE to be included?
A ticket for the Sony party. Something for headaches. A friendly cab-driver

13. What advice would you have for someone who has never experienced E3?
It’s much better experiencing it now than it was before. Less bare flesh and more quality game time.

14. Describe what you anticipate from 2007′s newly formatted E3 in five words or less.
Less Crowds. More Focus.

15. What’s your favorite part about developing games for a living?
Sharing the results with my children. They recently got into some of my older games and it’s so cool experiencing the games again through the eyes of my kids. And that would be a close tie with the perks of the workplace here at Factor 5, most of all fresh imported German beer on tap!

Also See
Lair Nears the Finish Line, Full Speed Ahead!

I’ve spent every free moment I’ve had lately playing this game, looking for bugs and places to add polish. And yeah, I know I’m biased, but I have to say, the more I play this game the more fun I’m having, which certainly speaks to the depth we’re achieving with the gameplay. Plus we’re getting screenshots like this one of our Spiderwasp boss above, and the game is just looking gorgeous. I love the sense of scale that you get in this shot, and that the Spiderwasp itself has so much detail. In order to get this guy in the game, Factor 5 created a physical model (or maquette), had it scanned to the nth detail and then worked from the scans to get it modeled and textured digitally. A long process to say the least, but the results were worth it and speak for themselves… and wait until you see it move! In fact, you won’t have to wait much longer, as Lair is set to launch on Aug. 14th. In the meantime, you can whet your appetite with some brand new videos and other cool content that’s on our recently updated official Lair site.