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Some info about what went down between Nintendo and Factor 5, along with Pilot Wings

F

Firest0rm

Member
Matt spoke about Factor 5 and Pilot Wings in his latest mailbag.


Matt responds: This is going pretty far back. I wrote an article at E3 2003 about it, actually. Basically, Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage and waxed on about Nintendo's relationship with Factor 5. He proudly showed off the graphically impressive shooter Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike and then said that Factor 5 and Nintendo were working closely together on another exclusive title for GameCube, which would be revealed at a later date. Meanwhile, I had heard and confirmed just a couple days before the event that the title in question was in fact an update to the Pilotwings franchise. As time passed, I was able to talk with some of the folks on the development side and they told me that any such title would in fact not make it out for GameCube -- that instead it was being prepped for Nintendo's next-generation console.

Still with me? Good. There's a little more.

Turns out that somewhere between then and now Nintendo decided to make the Revolution something dramatically different than it had originally intended -- a machine that doesn't quite follow the same structure as those from competitors Microsoft and Sony. Although Factor 5 enjoyed a good relationship with the Big N, it has always been a very tech-savvy company, and I assume that when it learned that technology would be downplayed in Revolution, it got a little freaked out and started to evaluate other options. Meanwhile, in typical form, Nintendo wasn't exactly forthcoming or very helpful in any collaborative effort, preferring to keep every fact of its new hardware top secret, even as specs and details from the other systems began to spill out.

So to make a long story a little shorter, Factor 5 jumped ship. It's now developing games exclusive for PlayStation 3 and so obviously it won't be making any Pilotwings title for Revolution. I have no idea if legitimate work was ever really done on the now-defunct project, nor do I know if Nintendo has since assigned it to another developer. So for now, we have it listed as TBA until we hear something, one way or the other. I wouldn't hold my breath for it just yet.
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Damn you Nintendo and your blasted secrecy. :mad:
 
E

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
I hope Nintendo has some shit in the Revolution that blows everyone away because if not, they're fucked and badly.
 
J

jett

D-Member
Sorry, but this was definitely for the best. Factor 5's flight games are fucking horrible.
 
M

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
I don't have much faith in Factor5's ability to be faithful to the series, and that says a lot since I don't particularly like the series to begin with!
 
S

Speevy

Banned
Nintendo can't maintain an exclusive relationship with anyone. And Factor 5 will make mediocre but pretty games for the PS3.
 
D

Deg

Banned
Pilotwings would have flopped anyway. Who would buy that sort of game nowadays?

Factor 5 are pretty good and their relationship with Sony could really get some great stuff out of it. Its time for them to move on.
 
C

capslock

Is jealous of Matlock's emoticon
gandalf.gif



Nintendo is headed for the abyss.
 
B

bill0527

Member
Let the Factor 5 bashing begin !!!

Until they jumped ship, they were the best damn 2nd party developer in the Big N catalogue.

Cubites used to hold up Star Wars Rogue Squadron II as one of the best technical trophy pieces for that system.
 
D

Deg

Banned
Factor 5 were never actually 2nd party to Nintendo. Maybe Lucasarts. But yes Rogue Leader is a key game for the system and in Europe it attracted many people. Shame GC went kiddier as time went on.
 
F

FightyF

Banned
jett said:
Sorry, but this was definitely for the best. Factor 5's flight games are fucking horrible.
Click to expand...

I agree. They look excellent...but don't play well. Pilotwings doesn't need to look awesome, yet play crappy. It has set really high standards and as such expectations for it's gameplay would be high.

But F5 could have helped Nintendo in so many other ways.

The fact that they jumped ship, may mean many Nintendo fans may jump ship as well. Some don't mind a non-traditional console...but I'm sure many want something more traditional (Ideally they'd want both).
 
G

Gattsu25

Banned
bill0527 said:
Let the Factor 5 bashing begin !!!

Until they jumped ship, they were the best damn 2nd party developer in the Big N catalogue.
Click to expand...
I must have imagined reading and adding to all the hate for each and every one of their GCN games, then =\
 
M

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
bill0527 said:
Let the Factor 5 bashing begin !!!

Until they jumped ship, they were the best damn 2nd party developer in the Big N catalogue.

Cubites used to hold up Star Wars Rogue Squadron II as one of the best technical trophy pieces for that system.
Click to expand...

Rogue Leader WAS one of the most technically impressive launch games I've EVER seen, and to this day, looks marvelous. For that matter, so does Rebel Strike. But, it's not like they've done anything of note this gen beyond those two games, and even those two were flawed. I suppose their MusyX tools were cool, but I mean they haven't done any truly notable GAMES this gen.

I love Rogue Leader, and I like Rebel Strike, but they're rep is overblow and overrated, IMHO.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
bill0527 said:
Let the Factor 5 bashing begin !!!

Until they jumped ship, they were the best damn 2nd party developer in the Big N catalogue.

Cubites used to hold up Star Wars Rogue Squadron II as one of the best technical trophy pieces for that system.
Click to expand...

well technically it was one of the best.

technically.

Pilot wings doesn't NEED factor 5 to still happen does it?
 
F

Firest0rm

Member
bill0527 said:
Let the Factor 5 bashing begin !!!

Until they jumped ship, they were the best damn 2nd party developer in the Big N catalogue.

Cubites used to hold up Star Wars Rogue Squadron II as one of the best technical trophy pieces for that system.
Click to expand...

It still is, gameplay wise its average. Their the best damn graphics developer, when they were 2nd party and I know they will still remain one of the best in that field.
 
S

Speevy

Banned
bill0527 said:
Let the Factor 5 bashing begin !!!

Until they jumped ship, they were the best damn 2nd party developer in the Big N catalogue.

Cubites used to hold up Star Wars Rogue Squadron II as one of the best technical trophy pieces for that system.
Click to expand...



Actually, people used to make fun of Nintendo fans because of Factor 5's Star Wars games. It wasn't a technical trophy as much as it was an excuse for Star Wars fans to rip into a lackluster title.

Coming up with valid reasons to praise Factor 5 on any other points than their technical prowess or departure from Nintendo is something I'd like to see.
 
G

Gattsu25

Banned
Speevy said:
Coming up with valid reasons to praise Factor 5 on any other points than their technical prowess or departure from Nintendo is something I'd like to see.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what their role was, but I thank them for MEGA TURRICAN!!!

KICKASS
920668b.jpg
 
D

Deg

Banned
Firest0rm said:
It still is, gameplay wise its average.
Click to expand...


Yeah yeah. It shat over Luigis Mansion and other launch period games. Its still one of the few GC games i own. If RL was rubbish than pretty much all of Nintendo's output was rubbish.
 
S

Speevy

Banned
Deg said:
Yeah yeah. It shat over Luigis Mansion and other launch period games.
Click to expand...


That's like saying DOA Ultimate is the best exclusive fighter on the Xbox. And Super Monkey Ball is so much better than RS2.
 
SantaC

SantaC

Member
All I gotta say how is it news that factor 5 isn't making games for Nintendo anymore? Oh and Matt is running his usual negative mailbag. How unusual.
 
D

Deg

Banned
Firest0rm said:
IYO, IMO LM > RL
Click to expand...

LM is unplayable. Its that bad. The controls are wonky/stiff and its not enjoyable in any way. Feels more like a tech demo turned into a game.
 
A

Ark-AMN

Banned
I have a feeling this is what happened with Silicon Knights as well. Denis probably thought that the Revolution would be a technical powerhouse that would allow them to make their cinematic works.

From what we've heard of the Revolution, it seems that those like F5 and SK who want to push the graphical envelope wouldn't be so accomodating.
 
O

olimario

Banned
Deg said:
LM is unplayable. Its that bad. The controls are wonky/stiff and its not enjoyable in any way. Feels more like a tech demo turned into a game.
Click to expand...

Feels like a solid, fun, charming adventure title to me with great graphics.
It's lasted longer than SMS for me.

SK who want to push the graphical envelope
Click to expand...

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
 
S

Speevy

Banned
Nintendo doesn't do bad controls.

They're capable of screwing up everything else, but not controls. Not controls!
 
F

Firest0rm

Member
Deg said:
LM is unplayable. Its that bad. The controls are wonky/stiff and its not enjoyable in any way. Feels more like a tech demo turned into a game.
Click to expand...

LOL, thats how I feel about RL. Its fun to stare at the graphics, and thats it.
 
D

Deg

Banned
Speevy said:
That's like saying DOA Ultimate is the best exclusive fighter on the Xbox. And Super Monkey Ball is so much better than RS2.
Click to expand...

You have twisted logic regarding this.

SMB was good but it just wasnt that great enough where you will come back to it. The multiplayer was grossly overrated and poor. Get Mario Party 5 or Wario ware instead. They are much better. Single player was great IMO. DOA just is rubbish.

Speevy said:
Nintendo doesn't do bad controls.

They're capable of screwing up everything else, but not controls. Not controls!
Click to expand...

I expected you to say that because LM controls were worse than the original RE games. :lol
 
S

Speevy

Banned
Yeah I laugh at the SK comments too. Don't get me wrong. I really liked Eternal Darkness. But technically it's an early Dreamcast game.
 
D

Deg

Banned
Speevy said:
No. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt since you're obviously a RS2 fan. Then I inserted my own opinion of the game.
Click to expand...

Well then i gave my opinion of those games too.

I dont really care for Nintendo anymore. I'd rather they go in their own direction and leave 3rd parties on the other two systems. The people still playing nintendo wont care about 3rd parties anyway. Look at RE4 sales.
 
SantaC

SantaC

Member
seriously, who do you rather have making pilot wings. ead or factor5. Since pilot wings always been fun games so...
 
M

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
Deg said:
LM is unplayable. Its that bad. The controls are wonky/stiff and its not enjoyable in any way. Feels more like a tech demo turned into a game.
Click to expand...

WTF? Overreact, much?
 
D

Deg

Banned
SantaCruZer said:
seriously, who do you rather have making pilot wings. ead or factor5. Since pilot wings always been fun games so...
Click to expand...

EAD should focus resources elsewhere. Pilotwings wont sell.
 
D

Deg

Banned
SantaCruZer said:
right. anyone know how many copies pilotwings 64 moved?
Click to expand...


Revolution will sell less than n64 and GC.

olimario said:
Don't care about selling... Care about having another Pilotwings to play
Click to expand...

I think thats the theme nowadays. I am glad F5 arent wasting time on PW. I'd rather they work on RS or on something new. Its been a long time for them on an original franchise. They have been RS only past few years.

Turrican 2 on the Amiga was the biggest one by the way.
 
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