Monday, January 14, 2008

Factor 5: From Breakups to Makeups

How Factor 5 left, and then returned to once again suckle upon Nintendo's teat.


Hey baby, maybe we should take a break and see other people?

April '04: Factor 5 announce no more software to be made for the Nintendo Gamecube

Hey baby, maybe we should take a break and only see other people.

May '05: PS3 exclusivity announced
"I was shocked by how powerful the new consoles are. They should really free our development."

Meet my new girlfriend, isn't she beautiful?


July 2005: Lair is announced at TGS

The sex wasn't that great... that's why I left.

Oct '06: Julian Eggebrecht suggests Wii is Gamecube 1.5
"When I heard what was going on at Nintendo, I cringed. It's audio is relatively mediocre. It's essentially GameCube 1.5, which is fine because all the motion-control stuff they're doing is pretty radical. That's precisely why the 360 wasn't exciting to me, because it didn't have the jump there, even though it had everything else."

Your new boyfriend is an ass, all he wants is your money.

Feb '07: Julian Eggebrecht criticizes developer's 1st gen Wii games
"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."

"I love the Wii, absolutely. As I've said many, many times, the perfect combination of consoles to have at home is a PS3 and Wii. Everybody really should have one. Will we make something for the Wii? Well, obviously we would have an extremely powerful engine on it with our work on Rebel Strike, but for right now we certainly haven't planned"

Somebody told me she was kissing another guy at the office party.

July '07: Mediocre early reviews for Lair.

E.G.M Scores: 5/10 5.5/10 6/10

A friend told me they found her sextape while they were surfing for porn.


Sept '07: Mediocre reviews all round for Lair
How to mess up a game in which you ride a dragon is quite simple. You make the control of that dragon answerable to motion-sensing technology that can’t distinguish subtle or even very forced gestures in anything like the detail required. [Edge Magazine Nov 2007, p.90]

She apologized for the kiss.

Sept '07: Sony teaches reviewers how to play Lair
"Open your mind and hands for something very different!"

She assured me that wasn't her in the sextape.

Sept '07: Sony reacts to poor Lair reviews
"At the end of the day, I'll be interested in the consumers' response, because the consumer awareness for this title was so huge. I've spoken to any number of people who really like it, and there's other people that find it a challenge. What really matters is whether or not the consumers are having a good experience, because they'll tell us on the [PlayStation] blog."

She was young and foolish, she was surrounded by a hardcore crowd, that's why she made the tape.

Sept '07: Julian Eggebrecht attempts to explain Lair's poor reception by the media
"The Sixaxis motion control itself feels a lot more organic and free-form than the rigid controls of other flight games and does much better for casual players, as we saw in focus tests. It does seem to alienate some reviewers who are at the top of the hard-core crowd and seem to have a passionate hate for all things motion."

Baby...please take me back.

Jan '08: Factor 5 reveal development of new Wii title
In a phone conversation with IGN Wii this morning, company president Julian Eggebrecht confirmed that the studio is underway with at least one all-new Wii project -- and it's not a Virtual Console game. Beyond that confirmation, Eggebrecht was mum, but he did note that the new title would not simply re-use old Rogue Squadron tech; whatever it is, significantly updated or even completely new tech has been developed to help accommodate it. [IGN]

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