Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
GameCube (Games) Entertainment Games

Factor 5 Moves Away From GameCube Development 42

Posted by simoniker from the biting-and-the-dusting-and-the dept.
Thanks to IGN Cube for its article discussing Star Wars: Rebel Strike developer Factor 5's official confirmation that they won't develop any more GameCube titles - apparently, "The studio is currently creating software for other platforms", and, although formerly having very close ties to Nintendo, "at the Game Developers Conference 2004 [Factor 5 president Julian] Eggebrecht was spotlighted as one of the studio heads very keen on Sony PSP development."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Factor 5 Moves Away From GameCube Development More

Factor 5 Moves Away From GameCube Development

Comments Filter:

  • Misleading headline (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 15, 2004 @04:21AM (#8867046)
    Factor 5 is stopping development on *all* current-generation consoles, not just the Gamecube.

  • Guessing.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Thursday April 15, 2004 @04:27AM (#8867062) Homepage Journal
    ... Rogue Squadron 3 didn't do so well for Factor 5. Losing money perhaps?

    • Re:Guessing.. (Score:3, Informative)

      by iainl ( 136759 )
      Only sort of. The real core software for Factor 5 is their MusyX middleware. As this is reasonably stable on the current platforms, and their Star Wars games could do with a rest for a year or two, they are now concentrating purely on building up middleware solutions for XNA and the other next-gen platforms.

      So no more Gamecube games, but no PS2 or XBox ones either.

  • Real Story from Gamespot (Score:5, Informative)

    by cbirdsong64 ( 410584 ) on Thursday April 15, 2004 @04:49AM (#8867133)
    For the second time in as many days, a GameCube-exclusive studio has revealed it is developing games for other consoles. Yesterday, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes creator Silicon Knights announced the end of its second-party deal with Nintendo, but stressed it was still on good terms with the publisher.

    Today, similar noises could be heard emanating from the offices of San Rafael, CA-based Factor 5. Word leaked today that the creator of the Rogue Squadron series--the GameCube's premiere Star Wars franchise--had ceased development for the console. Even though Factor 5 was technically not second-party developer--"We've never been a Nintendo shop," president Julian Eggebrecht told GameSpot--the studio was perceived as such. Its last non-Nintendo game was 1999's Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D for the PC.

    However, Eggebrecht was quick to dispel any "doom" that might surround Factor 5's announcement. Echoing Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack, he emphasized his enthusiasm for Nintendo's future console efforts. "We are extremely excited about both DS and GCNext, so any talk of us abandoning Nintendo platforms altogether is just not true," he told GameSpot.

    According to Eggebrecht, the only reason Factor 5 has stopped making GameCube games was that they've abandoned current-generation hardware altogether. "It is simply because we have moved into next-generation development," he said.

    As for which future console Factor 5 was creating games for, Eggebrecht was unspecific, saying only "there might be a surprise [announcement] coming from us."

    -

    Man, I hate the media spinning stuff like this into gloom-and-doom Nintendo stories.
    • According to Eggebrecht, the only reason Factor 5 has stopped making GameCube games was that they've abandoned current-generation hardware altogether. "It is simply because we have moved into next-generation development," he said.

      If I had mod points, I'd mod you to the roof for posting this before the usual "death of Nintendo" thread appears (no doubt see below). So they've stopped making games for the GameCube (or any other platform) because they're concentrating on the next generation. And they expres

    • The tone of the Silicon Knights deal suggested to me that they'd gotten a really good offer to do one game for some other platform, and that this required a suspension of their exclusivity agreement. And that both they and probably Nintendo were compensated well for this.

      Perhaps they were taken onboard for work on another Metal Gear game.
    • I doubt it really has a thing to do with Nintendo at all.

      Factor 5 has always seemed to me to be one of those groups that just wants to be on the cutting edge, all the time. Good for them! It means I may well have an extra high-quality title at-or-near launch time on consoles in the future.

  • Shocker! (Score:5, Informative)

    by DarkZero ( 516460 ) on Thursday April 15, 2004 @06:03AM (#8867356)
    As usual, IGN is slightly off the mark. According to GameSpot's article [gamespot.com], Factor 5 isn't just moving on to "other platforms", which most people would reasonably identify as the PlayStation 2 or the Xbox. Instead, they're moving onto the next round of console and/or portable systems.

    According to Eggebrecht, the only reason Factor 5 has stopped making GameCube games was that they've abandoned current-generation hardware altogether. "It is simply because we have moved into next-generation development," he said.
    • Yes, but Nintendo is dying, remember? So everyone is required to spin any news in the console market as being bad for Nintendo.
  • When Nintendo will die - only Sony and Microsoft will produce consoles. I think it will be very sad years... AFAIK console market was started by Atari. Winners are companies which had no experience in this area at all... Both Sega and Nintendo failed.
    Only invested money matters?

    • Re:Sony and Microsoft only? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 15, 2004 @07:45AM (#8867662)
      Well... Nintendo aren't dead yet, and I don't think they'll actually "go bust" any time in the immediate future. However, I think Nintendo pulling out of the non-handheld hardware market if their next gen console doesn't do substantially better than the GC did isn't totally implausible.

      It's a little unfair to suggest that only invested money matters. Sure, Sony and Microsoft have been able to throw a lot of money behind their consoles and this has helped, but I don't think it's the only, or even the main reason. Sony and (to a lesser degree) Microsoft have been more successful at making use of the benefits of modern technology, taking the console market in new directions and branding themselves to fit a rapidly aging gaming audience. Nintendo, quite frankly, give me the impression that they'd much rather we'd never moved on from the SNES generation of consoles. They're still making essentially the same games, pitched at essentially the same audience (an audience which is perhaps beginning to move on to other things). They've failed to keep many of their second and third party developers interested, so the only big exclusive titles we can look forward to on the GC are basically remakes of 10 year old games.

      Of course, competition is a good thing and it'd be sad if the number of major console hardware players was reduced from 3 to 2. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3rd contender appear. I suspect that when Sony are eventually dethroned, it might come from an unexpected direction (who, at the height of the SNES generation, would have believed that Sony would be the company to smash Nintendo's dominance?). Microsoft will probably establish their console family as moderately strong competitors to the Playstation series (the X-Box's first couple of years haven't been great, but MS are learning... and FAST), but I don't see them unseating the PS brand.
      • You're certainly not the only one doing it, but I have to say that I am really getting tired of the "Gamecube is for kiddies" rhetoric that gets rolled-out each and every time Nintendo is brought up. When I play RE, or Eternal Darkness, or MGS - Twin Snakes, etc; I see all the blood, gore, and so-on you would expect from a "mature" game.

        And before anyone goes on about how Nintendo's first-party games are for kids, let's analyze that for a sec. What do you want Nintendo to do - Grand Theft Mario? Mos

        • Re:Sony and Microsoft only? (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Believe it or not, there's a whole "middle market" out there between the so-cute-it-makes-you-want-to-hurl stuff that Nintendo churls out and Grand Theft Auto. In fact, the vast majority of games don't fall into either of those categories. Just because a game isn't "for kids" doesn't mean it's an ultra-violent slaughter fest.

          What I want to know is where are the Gamecube's answers to Gran Turismo, the "proper" Final Fantasy games, KOTOR, MechAssault etc? Excluding remakes (Resident Evil, MGS), the only two
  • Frankly, I don't think this will matter too much. Factor 5 does great on the technical side of things - their graphics and sound are fantastic - but from my own experience with Rogue Leader, and from what I've heard of RS3, I know that gameplay isn't quite their forte. I've heard particular outcry against the on-foot segments of RS3 for their poor controls... Maybe they're better off creating engines/software for other companies to use, as they did when they developed DivX for the Cube.
  • However, Eggebrecht was quick to dispel any "doom" that might surround Factor 5's announcement. Echoing Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack, he emphasized his enthusiasm for Nintendo's future console efforts. "We are extremely excited about both DS and GCNext, so any talk of us abandoning Nintendo platforms altogether is just not true," he told GameSpot.

    They're still doing development for Nintendo, they've simply ceased dev on all current hardware, Nintendo or otherwise.

    The anti-Nintendo fanboyism gets
    • The anti-Nintendo fanboyism gets a bit thick around here, sometimes.

      Are you serious? I find the pro-Nintendo fanboyism is about 100x thicker. "Nintendo makes the best games, gamecube is the best console, Xbox sucks, etc."

      Everytime I've posted about the GameCube, I've been modded as troll or flamebait by fanboy mods.

      I've said it before and I'll say it again: Nintendo may make good games and have good hardware but the Gamecube's current rep is looking a lot like the Sega Dreamcast.

      I realize that in this c

      • Re:Headline is highly misleading... (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Amen to that.

        Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a good example of what I suspect is Nintendo not knowing when to leave a project around. Of course, for all I know, it might be that SquareEnix really, really fouled up on this one, but I find it implausible. What I do know is that we ended up with a kiddified game, stripped on pretty much any depth and with the exact same graphical look as 99% of other games on the GC (with the honorable exception of Eternal Darkness and a very small number of other 2nd/3rd
      • Factor 5 isn't a publisher, they're a developer. A developer who has only made 2 games for GCN in it's 3-4 year lifecycle so far. Along with the two Rogue Squadron games, they've also developed the MusyX software for the GCN sound hardware.

        They put a lot of time into their projects. IGN [even though it was the IGNCube channel] is horribly swayed against Nintendo. They think every decision they make is a bad one. They view every story negatively.

        Please /., get your news from a better source.
      • Please don't degrade the Dreamcast by comparing the GameCube to it. The DC had a much more innovative lineup overall, as it's manufacturer wasn't just crapping out rehashes of the same three games ad naseum. They were crushed by justified consumer doubt in SEGA's competence after the 32x, SEGA CD and Saturn fiascos, coupled with the advance info for the PS2 making the DC look underpowered.
        • Hey, you don't have to tell me, I love my Dreamcast! I just see them both falling to the same fate.

          But, dear lord, there were some great games for the dreamcast. It's the only system I own!

          • I don't know about you, but my heart aches every time I play the Nights pinbal ub-level in Sonic Adventure. A DC Nights would have been a system-seller. The original is the only reason I regret losing my Saturn to the pawn shop. Sometimes a company Not wanting to risk repeating itself is a sad thing.

    • The anti-Nintendo fanboyism gets a bit thick around here, sometimes.

      Are you joking? Please tell me you're joking!

      Slashdot.org is about the most PRO-Nintendo website I've ever seen in my life by far. I don't know who submitted that story but, hell, if you make a single comment that *maybe* Nintendo made a mistake by doing X, or that the "double screen" sounds like a dumb idea, and you get modded into the basement.

      And God-forbid you post something about the XBox having a good game, or the XBox contro

      • He said the exact same thing I was thinking, mainly since I've actually posted things like "*maybe* Nintendo made a mistake by doing X, or that the 'double screen' sounds like a dumb idea" in the past, and gotten modded/shouted down for it.

        I'll be the first to admit that I have a bit of an anti-Nintendo bias, mainly because of how badly I got screwed by the N64. But I realize that I have a bias and try to moderate my comments accordingly. I don't think most of the Nintendo fanboys on /. realize that they

  • Astroturfing.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by zulux ( 112259 ) on Thursday April 15, 2004 @08:54AM (#8867981) Homepage Journal


    Microsoft is known for paying people to try to sway public opionion: info here [astrian.net].

    It this why, in the last 6-months, Slashdot has had a rash of "Nintendo is Dying" stories?

    I'll really know we've been astroturfed if I see a "poor beleagured Nintendo" story.

  • Oh, I'm sorry, you must have meant (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Snowmit ( 704081 ) on Thursday April 15, 2004 @09:06AM (#8868042) Homepage
    Factor 5 Announces Decision to Focus on Next Gen Hardware
    "We're excited about future Nintendo consoles," says CEO.
  • So yet another console generation passed without a Thornado release? I have been waiting for that game since the N64 days, kind of sad to see that it won't get a GameCube release.
  • Why is it that gamecube developers announce they won't make any more gamecube games after they release a poorly rated game or have a string of bad games? They all seem to be blaming nintendo for their lack of creativity. Look at Rare, bought out, but they hadn't had a good game in years. Silicon Knights, one good game. It was a great game, but what have they done since then? Nothing. Now Factor 5. The latest Star Wars game sure looked pretty but it was just more of the same, nothing original or creat

  • I seriously was wondering what IGN was smoking.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by GaimeGuy ( 679917 ) on Thursday April 15, 2004 @05:04PM (#8874846) Journal
    Their "news" is perhaps the most slanted single-report I have ever read or heard in my life. In fact, they used the same type of slanted title with the Silicon Knights story, which they headlined "Silicon Knights breaks up with Nintendo," which would give the impression that they were jumping ship, and it did. Except Silicon Knights isn't leaving Nintendo, and Factor 5 isn't halting relationships with Nintendo or jumping ship, either.

    Silicon Knights went 3rd party, and Factor 5 has halted production for all three current generation consoles (They did say they were working on games for the other systems a couple of months back). It doesn't take a genius to see it: Factor 5 is shifting it's focus to next-generation hardware development, not abandoning Nintendo.

    It's no wonder Nintendo has a bad image, with the media slanting press releases and news articles the way they've been doing it, I'm amazed they even call themselves GC news sites.

    I wish the media would get off of Nintendo's backs. Maybe then, the gaming community would, too.

Slashdot Top Deals

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

Close