Factor 5 Aiming to Max Out Wii Graphics

[vashivihan]

The folks behind Sony's Lair and before that the Star Wars Rogue Squadron games on GameCube believe their current Wii project will "blow you away." They also may look at adjusting Lair's controls, Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht said.

Posted by James Brightman on Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Factor 5 Aiming to Max Out Wii Graphics

While the Wii can't really compare to the powerful Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of visuals, the system can produce a pretty picture when pushed the right way. Factor 5, developer of the much maligned PS3 game Lair, is hoping to push the Wii very hard. Considering that the Wii has been called a "souped up GameCube" by a number of developers in the past, and Factor 5 has experience in making great-looking GameCube games like those in the Star Wars Rogue Squadron series, Nintendo's new console shouldn't pose a huge challenge to the studio.

Speaking to IGN, Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht talked a bit about his company's current Wii project. Clearly confident in his studio's ability, he said of Factor 5's Wii engine, "...it does everything that the PS3 did and then some, quite frankly."

"We want to push the hardware. I think for us it's relatively easy for us to push the hardware. It inherently comes. 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," he noted. "But one of our main focuses is the innovation around the controls. Everybody is always talking about the motion control, but I think people are overplaying that a bit. I really, really love the pointing aspect of the remote. Although we're going to use everything for what we have in development, I think the pointing stuff is probably the biggest innovation which we're working on right now."

One of the biggest criticisms levied against Lair on the PS3 was its use of motion controls with the Sixaxis. Perhaps on the Wii, however, where motion controls are often a natural part of developing for the system, the design will come easier.

Later in the interview Eggebrecht once again boasted about his project but wouldn't give away any details: "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. In terms of what we're working on; is it for third-party publishers, is it for a Nintendo first-party, what title is it? I won't give you a clue."

He also detailed Factor 5's move away from Nintendo while they kept the Wii project (at the time Revolution) under wraps. He said that his studio needed money and had to move on, so that's why they signed with Sony for the PS3. But there wasn't any bad blood, and the same goes for Sony now, after Lair. Eggebrecht commented, "We never, ever had any bad break up [with Nintendo], or anything like that. Which is also the case with Sony, by the way. We love the guys at Sony. So if we have another game which we want to work on with them, we would love to and I don't see any reason why not. Things there are a little overhyped on the Internet where people basically think that we all spit into each others' faces, which isn't the case at all."

[UPDATE] On a side note, Eggebrecht (in a separate IGN article) also hinted that Factor 5 may be looking at introducing a more typical control scheme for Lair for those gamers that just couldn't adapt to the Sixaxis controls. Whether that would happen through a downloadable patch or a new game altogether is not clear, but Eggebrecht regrets not offering more control options.

"If we find a chance in the future that would bring Lair to the audience which didn't get any access, that would be fantastic," he said. "I can't say anything quite yet, but there might be something in the works there. We might have a chance yet to bring those back to the table and hopefully, if that should happen, they would give the game a second chance Nevertheless, we definitely took a long look at the results and learned a couple of lessons. If you're on a platform where this whole motion control is something new and not being pitched as the main feature of the platform, you should probably give the choice between having different control schemes, there is absolutely no doubt about it."

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[T3kNi9e]

Factor 5 will show people what Wii is capable of

 

[bruceleroy]

Factor 5 will show people what Wii is capable of

Don't get your hopes up. I'm pretty sure Mario, Metroid, and Brawl maxed out the graphical capabilities of the wii. If you don't think that those games looks nice then I don't think the rest will be any better.

 

[Budo]

Using this as a selling point is a very bad idea when dealing with the Wii. Maxing the Wiis graphics out is in no way going to impress graphics whores, and won't matter to the others who just want gameplay.

Factor 5 seems to making another Lair as opposed to a Rogue Squadron, but I could be wrong.

 

[T3kNi9e]

Don't get your hopes up. I'm pretty sure Mario, Metroid, and Brawl maxed out the graphical capabilities of the wii. If you don't think that those games looks nice then I don't think the rest will be any better.

Well if history tells us anything, I think it will be better than SMG/MP3/Brawl

Factor 5 made the best looking game on N64 and Gamecube over Nintendo games. Im confident they can do the same with the Wii.

 

[Caliko]

Well if history tells us anything, I think it will be better than SMG/MP3/Brawl

Factor 5 made the best looking game on N64 and Gamecube over Nintendo games. Im confident they can do the same with the Wii.

I'm sorry non beleivers, but he's right. Unlike %90 of recent Wii developers Factor 5 is not a lazy developer.
Rougue Squadron for Gamecube still looks beter than half the stuff lazy developers are pushing out on Wii. Expect a "finished game".

 

[jimbo]

never heard of them but by looking at above post's im guessing ill be happy with game as long as it is good (gameplay etc) what kinda games do they make ?

 

[CantGetAWii]

I am quite excited for this.
I always love hearing developer talking about wanting to make good games, and I am sure we will be seeing more of the same this year.

Rumored titles include a new Kid Icarus game, but who knows?

 

[Transfixed]

Man if Factor 5 made the new Kid Icarus.....holy $#!t.
I firmly believe that the Wii's graphics are excellent, and purposely pushing them to their limits will produce some great stuff that will surprise some people. Remember when people thought the Gamecube's graphics were kinda crap, then out of nowhere Resident Evil 4 stunned us with it's beauty?!?
The same thing can easily happen again. And let's remember that different KINDS of games can allow for different levels of graphical beauty. A game where not TOO much is happening on screen at once can allow for some EXTREMELY good graphics, whereas a game with a million things flying all over the place simply can't hold up AS well. So it'll depend on what type of game they're developing.
Art direction is just as important too. Like in Metroid Prime 3, the graphics were great, but it wasn't because they were "high-def" or anything like that, it was the actual creations WITHIN the game ITSELF, artistically, that made the graphics great....there's a lot to consider when judging graphics, so I hope people don't knock them just because they're not XB360 quality sharpness.

 

[Giga-Dragon]

Yes! This is just what wii needs! I'm so annoyed by the crap developers have been making for nintendo. I can't wait to find out what game Factor 5 is doing.

 

[Mii Bro.]

Something that poeple need to keep in mind is that the Core Game itself is what makes a video game fun. The graphics are a nice side dish to have but poeple generally don't enjoy games just becuase they look pretty.

I do congratulate the Factor 5 developers. The feel that the Wii's full potential needs to be exploited. Not like those lazy developers (remember Marvel Ultimate Alliance on Wii? It's fun but looked worse than a ps2 game).

Basically, even if you made an absolutely Beautiful version of E.T. from Atari 2600 it would still be a horrible game nonetheless. Playability comes first.

 

[AoWFraggit]

fee fye foe fum...

...i smell GALACTIC BATTLEGROUNDS.

:yesnod: