Factor 5 Returns

[Nester the Lark]

According to IGN, Factor 5 is currently working on an unnamed game for the Wii.

Well, isn't this a fascinating bit of information? I don't want to come down too hard on Factor 5, but they've had horrible luck. I got the impression that they were tired of their games not selling well enough on the GameCube, and so made what seemed like the smartest decision at the time: to develop for the PS3. After all, they tend to like high-end technology anyway. And then what happens? The PS3 ends up in third place, and their big game, Lair, gets hammered by critics and poor sales.

On the upside, Julian Eggebrecht has been very vocal about the poor technical quality of games on the Wii, pointing out that Factor 5 was pulling off better graphics on the GameCube at launch (with Rogue Squadron II). It'd be nice to have someone upping the ante for graphics on the Wii and really showing us what the system can do.

Let's just hope the game is good.

[Da Robot]

Maybe they will finally make that Pliotwings sequal we heard about so many years ago in the GCN generation.

[Fryguy64]

I have been very surprised with the lack of quality graphics on the Wii. If the architecture is really as similar to the Gamecube as everyone suggests, why is nobody utilising that, and putting out sub-PS2 graphics?

Sorry... I've just been playing Pokemon Battle Colosseum, and the graphics in that are BALLS! In fact, aside from the obvious trinity of Galaxy-Twilight-Resi4, I can't think of a single Wii game with half-decent graphics. And even two of those were late Gamecube games.

I hope Factor 5's re-evaluation leads to some awesome Wii gaming. I loved the Rogue Squadron games, and really hoped to see them tackling an N64/Gamecube Pilotwings sequel.

[TV Eye]

Yeah, Wii graphics seem to throw out "hardcore gamers". My biased friend actually bought a PS3, just because the Wii graphics suck.

Anyways, hopefully these guys take advantage of the hardware.

[missingno.is back?]

tveye said:

Yeah, Wii graphics seem to throw out "hardcore gamers". My biased friend actually bought a PS3, just because the Wii graphics suck.

Anyways, hopefully these guys take advantage of the hardware.

That's really stupid, the PS3 barely has any good games to offer.

[Nester the Lark]

admin said:

Sorry... I've just been playing Pokemon Battle Colosseum, and the graphics in that are BALLS! In fact, aside from the obvious trinity of Galaxy-Twilight-Resi4, I can't think of a single Wii game with half-decent graphics. And even two of those were late Gamecube games.

Don't forget Metroid Prime 3. I thought that game was gorgeous.

Anyway, here's an interview from February 2007 in which Eggebrecht talks about the Wii a bit.

5. Resident Evil 4 was a beautiful GCN title. Rogue Squadron was doing things at launch that developers still haven't done on Wii. Why do you think that is? Are studios getting sloppy on Wii?

Julian: Yes. I'm so disappointed knowing exactly what the Wii can do -- and I still think nobody knows it better than we (no pun intended) [laughs]. I really have to say, boy, am I disappointed! They all have finally figured out, five years into the hardware's life cycle, how to do at least basic shaders and a rim light, but that's what everybody does. But I still don't see enough bump and normal-mapping, if any. I still don't see enough post effects, although you would have insane fill-rates with Wii. I don't see any of that. I was digging out Rebel Strike the other day and was looking at it, and we had some people who were visiting ask, "Why isn't anybody else doing this on Wii?" And I am at a loss. I really am.

IGN mentioned that they don't think it's Pilotwings. It's also probably not Rogue Squadron IV. Kotaku speculates that it could be a new Turrican. In fact, they link to another article from April 2007 in which Eggebrecht likens it to Metroid Prime: "I was looking at Metroid Prime's reinventing of a franchise that had been out there for quite awhile, and we're facing the same thing with Turrican."

[Smashchu]

admin said:

I have been very surprised with the lack of quality graphics on the Wii. If the architecture is really as similar to the Gamecube as everyone suggests, why is nobody utilising that, and putting out sub-PS2 graphics?

Sorry... I've just been playing Pokemon Battle Colosseum, and the graphics in that are BALLS! In fact, aside from the obvious trinity of Galaxy-Twilight-Resi4, I can't think of a single Wii game with half-decent graphics. And even two of those were late Gamecube games.

I hope Factor 5's re-evaluation leads to some awesome Wii gaming. I loved the Rogue Squadron games, and really hoped to see them tackling an N64/Gamecube Pilotwings sequel.

Sort awnser
It's easy to do away with good graphics.

In some way, Nintendo (and others) have reinforced it with games like Wii Sports that have little graphical detail. Although, it still had quality.

[Fryguy64]

Yes, but a great game with great graphics is more impressive. Wii Sports has a functional style of its own that works quite well... but the same can't be said of most Wii games.

In fact, laziness has prevailed in graphics and gameplay for the majority of the Wii and DS game catalogues - even from first party releases. It's a shame that these two consoles represent Nintendo's return to mass profits and sales... as we were already knee deep in awesome a year after the Gamecube's release: Pikmin, Smash Bros., Eternal Darkness... hell, even Star Fox Adventures looked gorgeous, even though it was a pile of ass to play.

What's ironic is that this can't be because I'm growing up and getting too old for this videogame malarkey - because that would make me Nintendo's target market! I'm a gamer, and I like playing games. But I don't like RPGs or FPSs... so I have no other console to turn to.

Whoa, off topic. Factor 5! Whooo!

[Sqrt2]

admin said:

Sorry... I've just been playing Pokemon Battle Colosseum, and the graphics in that are BALLS! In fact, aside from the obvious trinity of Galaxy-Twilight-Resi4, I can't think of a single Wii game with half-decent graphics. And even two of those were late Gamecube games.

I'd add Metroid Prime 3 to that list. As for Battle Revolution, yes the pokemon do look awful (I suspect that they're based on Pokemon Stadium's models/graphics). And as for that announcer....arrghhh!

Anyway, I can't wait for what F5 have got in store, although I must confess I can't name a single game that they've done.

[Dasher Misire]

Factor 5 won me over with Rogue Leader. They lost me for Rebel Strike albeit I loved having Rogue Leader stuff in there, multiplayer especially. Lair won me over but lost me as soon as I heard the final boss is a flucking volcano and the controls were unpleasant.

If they're doing something on the Wii, I hope it leads to a fourth Rogue Squadron. But it needs to be in the lines of Rogue Leader, none of this on-foot single motion lightsaber stuff.

[wanderingshadow]

Here's an interesting tidbit for you guys. According to Kombo.com (who have it from what they consider a crebible source), Factor 5 is working on a new Kid Icarus for the Wii. They say that the game's engine will be a new engine. If Kid Icarus spends any amount of time on foot, this is a good thing. Of course, this is only a rumor at the moment.

[Da Robot]

A rumor has popped up saying that Factor 5 is making Kid Icarus for the Wii.

Link

[Nester the Lark]

I think there's some legitimacy to this. I was listening to IGN's "Wiik In Review" a few weeks back, and Matt Cassamasina mentioned that a long-forgotten Nintendo franchise would be making a comeback, and that Nintendo fans would be excited about the developer working on it. He couldn't be any more specific than that due to a non-disclosure agreement.

My first reaction upon hearing his tease was Kid Icarus and Retro Studios. I later heard a rumor (it my have been at Kotaku) form the infamous "Surfer Girl" that there would be brand new Earthbound games announced this year for both the Wii and DS, and I thought maybe that's what Matt was referring to. However, the Kid Icarus/Factor 5 idea certainly fits the bill.

[Nester the Lark]

IGN has posted some new and fairly lengthy comments from Julian Eggebrecht about Factor 5's new Wii project. He doesn't really say anything new, but he does reiterate that they intend to push the Wii's graphical capabilities as far as they can:

But a lot of it is about exploiting the uniqueness of the Wii. I mean, on the graphical side, we're going to try and do everything to outdo everything else on the platform, the same as we did for the Star Wars games back on the GameCube.
. . .
Whatever we're working on will at least blow you away in a lot of the technical aspects. We're really trying to do everything to squeeze the maximum out of the machine. I'm also hoping we're going to pay respect to what the console is all about, which is the innovation in terms of controls, in terms of accessibility, new experiences, things like that. We're really, really trying hard. I hope it's going to pay off.

He also talks about the circumstances surrounding Factor 5's switch to PS3 development. Basically, the studio couldn't afford to wait for Nintendo to decide which direction to go in, so they moved ahead with a console they were able to start developing for right away.

[Da Robot]

This might be a disaponment for some (like me) but in IGN's most recent podcast they say that Factor 5 is not making Pliotwings for the Wii but they are interested in making a flying game.

Source.