Factor 5 Wii engine 'does everything the PS3 did, and then some'
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Feb 12th 2008 at 12:55PM }
According to Eggebrecht, the engine for the Wii title is nearly complete and, according to him, "does everything the PS3 did, and then some, quite frankly." The title is described as being technically impressive, pushing the Wii hardware further than most will expect it to go.
Though further details are scant, Eggebrecht does emphasize Factor 5's focus on the controls, specifically the Wii remote's ability to act as a pointing device. We'll have to wait and see how the Wii title will manage to outdo Factor 5's PS3 development (insert snide remark about Lair's abysmal critical reception).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 12th 2008 11:19AM
Haha. You're a great self-promoter Eggebracht. But there's just no way. Lair may not have been the most impressive game on PS3, but what it does is not technically possible on the Wii.
Pretty funny to hear a company whose main failing is they couldn't master motion controls to be pinning their hopes on the Wii..
WhoMe @ Feb 12th 2008 1:39PM
Bullshit.
He's probably talking features and not technical proficiency.
4cr JaXs @ Feb 12th 2008 3:24PM
Do Not underestimate Factor 5. One one the best looking games for the cube is from Factor 5, Rouge Squadron II was a launch title, and they went from concept to launch in nine months.
qo_op @ Feb 12th 2008 6:37PM
"What we sucked at on the ps3, we do better on wii" who gives a shit. Dont develop for ps3 then , its that simple.
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2008 12:59PM
Eggebrecht... it's yout last chance...
You was one of the first person who starting bashing Nintendo, complaining about the mediocre graphics and mediocre sound...
You said that you only work with high end consoles...
So, we are giving you a chance... don't screw the new game.
t_m @ Feb 13th 2008 8:24AM
He also compplained repeatedly that current Wii devs weren't using the platform to its full potential... so it's hardly his last chance.
It is however time for him to put his money where his mouth was...
FidliousWong @ Feb 12th 2008 12:59PM
And engine is just that, an engine. How it handles data, graphics and such. So hearing their engine runs on Wii isn't all that suprising. However the challenge will be working with that 64MB of RAM.
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2008 1:00PM
88MB of RAM.
Ethan @ Feb 12th 2008 1:33PM
Ooh, don't forget that 3 MB of embedded GPU texture memory!
Rollins @ Feb 12th 2008 1:36PM
Oh c'mon people, don't vote Fernando down for an honest attitude-less correction.
dan stabbingworth @ Feb 12th 2008 1:49PM
I assume he meant MPH, not MB.
deaftly @ Feb 12th 2008 2:04PM
1.21 gigawatts?
FidliousWong @ Feb 12th 2008 2:18PM
For all intents and purposes for art assets and such, it's 64MB. Normally they push the engine and phsyics as well as gameplay to about 24. So the assumption and the watermark artists push for is the 64MB limit. And frankly, even 88MB isn't enough for todays graphics. Or did you forget how in Spiderman 3, at a certain height, the entire city loses it texture because Wii just can't handle it.
For previous gen ports, 64MB is just fine. But for anything in the future, especially when scaling down from PS3 and 360 projects, Wii is just too damn limited. Which is why you see the upporting and not the other way around.
Vegnagun bwf @ Feb 12th 2008 4:08PM
66 gigglebites
Evan @ Feb 12th 2008 5:45PM
The Wii is plenty powerful enough for future gameplay, even if it can't handle future graphics. Motion-recognition, AI, and some physics algorithms are extremely complex, but they generally only have to be processed once per frame. Overall, that's a lot less processing than graphics, whose algorithms are far simpler, but have to be processed millions of times per frame! Almost all the processing in next-generation games is graphics or particle physics, but gameplay could still be handled by a last-generation console. Even the DS can handle handwriting recognition. Even the Dreamcast could handle an open sandbox driving game.
mr mobius @ Feb 12th 2008 1:01PM
Give me Goldeneye or Mario 64 with their archaic engines any day over some mediocre crap with a brilliant engine.
A game makes an engine, not an engine making a game.
LesbianHam @ Feb 12th 2008 1:28PM
Wht are you talking about? Sure an engine doesn't make a game, but a game does NOT make an engine. Lol, I know what you were trying to get at, but that just didn't make sense.
Soz b!
Vidikron (FU) @ Feb 12th 2008 2:28PM
OR you could trying getting a good engine with a good game? Good graphics and good gameplay are not mutually exclusive.
mr mobius @ Feb 12th 2008 7:24PM
What I am getting at is that it is possible to have a good game on a poor engine but it is also possible to have a bad game on a good engine. If the game utilises the engine and has a good, fun, entertaining design then it works. Good engine doesn't mean a good game though.
E.J. @ Feb 13th 2008 3:23PM
Metroid Prime 3 is a great example. Sure, it didn't have the ultra-realistic graphics like that of shooters on other platforms.
But the gameplay and fantastic art design made it a beautiful and smooth-playing game.
aaron_k7 @ Feb 12th 2008 1:01PM
If Factor 5 releases a AAA title for the Wii after dissing the PS3 with shoddy, motion-controlled, dragons...
my feelings will be hurt
a lot.
Huey2k2 @ Feb 12th 2008 1:02PM
Well considering how Lair turned out on the PS3 (graphics aside) they would have to do a much better job on the Wii to make it good.
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2008 1:04PM
"... the Wii remote's ability to act as a pointing device."
That's what Im talking about! For me, the best feature in the Wiimote is the IR Pointer...
Just imagine that they are doing a new Star Fox, with graphics pushing the Wii limits (Factor 5 are very good in the graphics aspect). And using the analog stick to control the Arwing... and with the Wiimote, you use the IR Pointer to aim and move the camera (ala Metroid Prime 3)... shoot with A and bombs with B.
Perfect!
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 12th 2008 1:09PM
Fernando you crack me up, you should seriously look into working for Nintendo buddy. =)
Ron Smith @ Feb 12th 2008 1:12PM
I would more count on another Rogue squadron game than starfox from factor 5. Hopefully more like 2 and lelss like 3. (And a note: please no Hoth, Hoth has been beaten deader than Dick Cheney's former heart/blackhole.)
FidliousWong @ Feb 12th 2008 2:22PM
Working for Nintendo is a hell of a hard thing to do. For most positions, they require at least 10 years of industry experience. Trust me, I looked into it. But then again, getting Nintendo to even talk to you as a possible developer is impossible since they essentially laugh you off and send you a Digipen brochure.
Meanwhile, we're currently in talks with both Microsoft and Sony for our digital distribution debut... amazing how that works.
James @ Feb 12th 2008 2:29PM
Fenix, that's the 3rd time I've heard you bring up other peoples working habits. Is your arguing (it's not even a discussion) technique always going to be recycled?
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 12th 2008 2:47PM
Awwwwwwwweeee
It appears that I have somewhat of a stalker =) Oh James, you and your cute little avatar I'm flattered.
James @ Feb 12th 2008 4:56PM
Don't flatter yourself. You just obnoxiosly stand in the way of valid comments with this immature concept of discussion. Even annoying your own fanboy base it seems.
How's life being straightedge? Or are you just stealing the name style because putting X's beside names is "in"?
And another example. You believe you have a stalker because you stand out enough like a sore thumb? Using your argument I suppose you're stalking Fernando, or me by asking "what my job is".
Bloody moronic 360 fankid.
Abuzar @ Feb 12th 2008 7:22PM
Dude relax, his comment was not insulting, but your comment are.
koehler83 @ Feb 12th 2008 1:05PM
After they criticized Warhawks use of SIXAXIS controls and now saying they can produce a better engine on Wii than on PS3, I seriously have no time for these wastes of human resources...
billychaos @ Feb 12th 2008 1:08PM
I personally believe if any company can make that statement and it be true, it is Factor 5. They truly did push the Gamecube more than most developers out there did.
I remember even reading a statement were Factor 5 said there was still more power the gamecube had that even they didnt take advantage of.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 1:27PM
The first rogue squadron on Cube was capable of running in 1080i with the cube hardware. I have high hopes for what their engine might be capable of on wii.
upz @ Feb 12th 2008 2:14PM
But was that native or upscaled? GT4 ran at 1080i, but it was just an upscaled 480p image. Usually the 'i' is a dead giveaway, but I don't know enough about the game to say for certain.
Ben @ Feb 12th 2008 3:41PM
Crono, get your facts straight... From IGN:
A recent feature on Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2 in Popular Science magazine claims that the GameCube title will be capable of running in a 1080i mode. This, in fact, is an erroneous report and was likely confused with the fact that Rogue Leader and many other GameCube titles will support 480p. We spoke directly with Factor 5 president, Julian Eggebrecht, who clarified,
"Rogue Leader can run in two modes. The default mode is a 640x480 interlaced mode for regular TVs. You can switch over to progressive scan in the options menu to 480p, which you need an HDTV for. I don't think it makes any sense for this generation of machines to use 1080i because the fill rate would be so enormous that games wouldn't run at a decent framerate." http://cube.ign.com/articles/097/097336p1.html
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 12th 2008 5:19PM
upz:
GT4 was not upscaled 480p.
It was native 960x540x60p when running in "1080i" mode.
Gamecube's graphics hardware couldn't output 1920x1080x60i. It very possibly could output 960x540x60p like the PS2 could though.
Curmeo @ Feb 12th 2008 1:10PM
hey guys the DS can do everything the PS3 can do like play games, and then some cuz of the touch screen.
Evan @ Feb 12th 2008 5:25PM
The DS can do some seriously impressive shit... like handwriting recognition.
The DS's handwriting recognition and the Wii's golf-swing interpretation deserve a lot more respect than I feel some people give them credit for. They use algorithms like Kalman and Hidden-Markov-Models - the kind of math that people get Ph.D. degrees for developing! It's well outside the realm of what game developers are used to writing, and to make the DS's little integer-only ARM9 processor calculate such heavy floating-point math is truely impressive!
Jamesology @ Feb 13th 2008 1:37AM
Lmao the touch is nice and all but performance wise the DS can't do anything. It cannot even run a Web Browser. touch screens has been around for a while already. Most PDAs have similar games the DS has the only difference is the marketing. Actually, go to Addictinggames.com tell me what games they are similar to. Mind you that most of the games in Addictinggames.com were made over 10 years ago.
joeyg @ Feb 12th 2008 1:15PM
wasn't Fernando bashing factor 5 not too long ago?
wake me up when something good for the wii comes out.
MariosInferno @ Feb 12th 2008 1:23PM
Oh for God's sake...really??
-1
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 12th 2008 1:33PM
Brawl is out in japan. Out here in 3 weeks.
If you're already awake, might as well stay up.
Unless you live in Europe or the UK. In which case, go back to sleep. Government won't let you play games anyway.
Aaron @ Feb 12th 2008 2:19PM
Wow Fernando Rocker still posts here? I thought he would be banned by now for trolling so much.
I agree joey wake me up too when a good wii game comes out.
joeyg @ Feb 12th 2008 2:31PM
crono...
i was never really fond of the SBB series. not sure why it's hyped so much...not my type of game really.
James @ Feb 12th 2008 2:32PM
Incredible Aaron. Not only do you criticise someone for trolling but then you do so too in the same post?
Yet another -1.
Mr.ESC @ Feb 12th 2008 2:34PM
Questions:
Who the devil are you?
Also haven't you hear of a little game called No more Heroes?
There is a good game in the Wii every month or so, can you say the same about the Ps3?
Burned.
I don’t have anything against the Ps3, in fact I’m buying one later with MGS4 and even when PS3 fanboys say you are a hater unless you accept Sony as your personal God, bashing the Wii is a bad idea. Lol that is an argument you won’t ever win.
samfish @ Feb 12th 2008 1:15PM
You stay AWAY from Kid Icarus, Factor 5!
MariosInferno @ Feb 12th 2008 1:17PM
I don't think Nintendo would farm out the development for Kid Icarus. At least I hope not.
Demaar @ Feb 12th 2008 2:03PM
Er, they farmed out Metroid, an arguably much more important franchise.
Loudfiero @ Feb 12th 2008 2:10PM
Retro Studios (developers of the Metroid Prime series) are a Nintendo 1st party studio. No farming here.