Before straddling a winged lizard and doing a nosedive, developer Factor 5 was the source of one of our favorite pastimes: the unrelenting obliteration of aliens, robots and the occasional Sasquatch. Our memory's a bit hazy when it comes to Super Turrican 2, so there may well have been a robotic alien Sasquatch in there somewhere.

• Super Turrican 2 (SNES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points): Factor 5's destructive bullet dispensor arrives on the Virtual Console this week, challenging players to foil "the menacing hordes of ... The Machine," who may or may not be Galactus. Check out some videos after the break and become hypnotized by that spinning "2" in "Super Turrican 2." It's like, three dee and stuff!

Factor 5's Lair is getting a rather timely update. As reported by IGN in a rare moment of headline snark ("Will this push the score past 5?"), the game will finally support analog controls. The patch, coming out in Japan on April 17 (and likely everywhere else, too), also includes DualShock 3 rumble support, the appearance of a targeting icon and the ability to download the Wind Dragon and Poison Dragon for use in all stages.

As the old adage says, analog controls don't grow on trees. Well, it turns out they do, and that's why it took until Spring to see them bloom and the update to arrive. We expect a resurgence of interest in the title starting ... um ... guys? Are you still here?

Brash has an unrelenting love for games based on movie IP, and as if patterning its business model after a remake of Freaks, the publisher has convinced yet another developer to become one of us. The latest studio to sign on the dotted line is Lair dev Factor 5, which according to Brash involves an unspecified title to be revealed "around the E3 Expo" in July.

The news follows the announcement yesterday of a deal between Brash and Folklore Dec Game Republic on another secretive movie-to-game deal. While it's true that film-games have earned their place as everyone's favorite whipping boy, Factor 5 co-founder and president Julian Eggebrecht seems pleased as punch about the whole affair, stating that "because the filmmaker is a game fan who is really excited about how we want to expand on the story of the film, we've been given a lot of latitude." Let's just hope this time they leave any motion-sensitive controls up to the professionals.

We first heard about Factor 5's Wii project about a month ago, and with DICE 08 comes some new details about the title. IGN spoke with Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht about the game, and learned a bit about the impressive engine being built, which Eggebrecht claims rivals their work on the PS3.

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).

The shoddy SIXAXIS controls may not be Lair's only problem, but it's certainly the one that's taken the brunt of the criticisms pointed at the game. Throughout it all developer Factor 5 has insisted that motion-controlled dragons were the only way to go, but it seems that they may finally be softening.

Recently, the company's president, Julian Eggebrecht, told IGN "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." Now, as much as we'd like to see a patch, we get the sneaking suspicion he's hinting at a sequel. What does it sound like to you?

[Update: More of Eggebrecht's quote added.]

[Via PS3F]

Factor 5 – the once-fondly remembered studio responsible for the popular Rogue Squadron series back in the good ol' Gamecube days – is working on an all new Wii project after their first PS3 outing failed to find an audience. Even though Factor 5's Gamecube releases graphically outshine almost every Wii release to date, we're heartened to read that their Wii project is not going to be powered by their existing Rogue Squadron tech, instead opting for a "significantly updated" or even completely new engine. Now, what that fancy new technology is going to be used for is anyone's guess. As long as it's got a tow cable lying level, we'll be there.

[Thanks, Fernando and John]

Factor 5's Lair, much-ballyhooed in North America and Europe for its unfavorable control scheme (and Sony's subsequent response), has debuted in Japan with enough sales to crack the top 10 for weekly sales, according to Media Create (via GamesIndustry.biz).

The game, known there as Rise from Lair, landed in the number seven spot with 22,000 in sales, likely helped by Famitsu's positive review. For comparison, Project Gotham Racing 4 received the same Famitsu score and only charted at 25, the highest rank for an Xbox 360 title and a big drop in Microsoft's presence following the console maker's triumphant one week at the top with Halo 3 (59,000 unit sales).

Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent for Nintendo DS debuted in the top spot this week with 61,000 in sales. Dragon Ball Z: Sparkling! Meteor for PS2 and Gundam Battle Chronicle (PSP) took second and third place, respectively.