Factor 5 is No more

[Wellscha]

Looks like another Studio has gone down under. And its Matt Casamassina (http://gonintendo.com/?p=67019)this time.

Hi Matt,

How have you been? Haven’t seen you guys since E3. I hope that you’re doing well!

[Edit] wanted me to contact you with some late breaking news. We just learned from inside sources that developer Factor 5 has officially closed their doors as of today. That’s some pretty big news considering that those guys have been around for quite a while. It’s definitely a real shame! I hope that this information is helpful to you. Take care, and please say hi to Bozon for me.

I guess it takes only a single bomb these days to bring everything crashing down.

[Grifter]

Lair was a pretty big fucking bomb though, I can't think of a bigger one this generation.

[JayVe]

Again, the unstable tower of high-profile next-gen expensive blockbusters tumbles due to one ill-received game. Next-gen game development is more expensive and risky than it should be.

My thoughts and feelings go out to everyone affected by this closing. :(

[jeffbax]

I'm not going to mourn over their loss. Lair sucked, and they haven't really ever done anything good besides Rogue Squadron on the N64. People give id shit for being all about graphics, but F5 was always 80000x worse in my book.

[OUX]

For some reason I read that as Level 5. Whew

[bean]

Lair was a pretty big fucking bomb though, I can't think of a bigger one this generation.
Haze maybe. . .

It's a shame about Lair too. I like ambitious projects, and I'd love to read the post-mortem on that one.

[Disgustipated]

Rogue Squadron II and III were awesome.

[Grifter]

Haze maybe. . .

It's a shame about Lair too. I like ambitious projects, and I'd love to read the post-mortem on that one.

Haze was just painfully average though wasn't it? Where as Lair was actually a shitty game, the hype just made it that much worse.

[Squidbot]

The hype and the guide on how to review lair that got sent out.

[rein]

Again, the unstable tower of high-profile next-gen expensive blockbusters tumbles due to one ill-received game. Next-gen game development is more expensive and risky than it should be.

You bring up an excellent point. How much worse is it going to get? Blockbuster budgets are getting huge and one failed blockbuster pretty much means the end for small to medium sized companies.

[Talon]

And we move closer and closer to the movie industry...

[menage]

They'd should have made a new Turrican a la Bionic Commando. I would have bought that. Or 2 even more.

Best games I played on the C64.

[RandoM51]

Too bad for the employees but the company hasn't proven itself capable of making anything other than one reskinned rogue squadron after another.

[JayVe]

Funny how people will eat up a one-trick director like Michael Bay, but not a one-trick development shop.

Each core Pokémon game is essentially the same. Each core Tetris game is essentially the same, but it sells. Each Gears of War is essentially the same mechanic, over and over. Racing games are picking a car and going around a track faster than others. Soul Calibur IV is a shiny version of the original Soul Calibur, released in 1999.

The problem isn't that it is a one-trick pony. The problem is that the current state of the gaming industry has turned each game that isn't a AAA blockbuster into a bank-breaker.

[Virtual Machine]

Funny how people will eat up a one-trick director like Michael Bay, but not a one-trick development shop.

Each core Pokémon game is essentially the same. Each core Tetris game is essentially the same, but it sells. Each Gears of War is essentially the same mechanic, over and over. Racing games are picking a car and going around a track faster than others. Soul Calibur IV is a shiny version of the original Soul Calibur, released in 1999.

The problem isn't that it is a one-trick pony. The problem is that the current state of the gaming industry has turned each game that isn't a AAA blockbuster into a bank-breaker.

Amen, Brother.

[Narradisall]

Funny how people will eat up a one-trick director like Michael Bay, but not a one-trick development shop.

Each core Pokémon game is essentially the same. Each core Tetris game is essentially the same, but it sells. Each Gears of War is essentially the same mechanic, over and over. Racing games are picking a car and going around a track faster than others. Soul Calibur IV is a shiny version of the original Soul Calibur, released in 1999.

The problem isn't that it is a one-trick pony. The problem is that the current state of the gaming industry has turned each game that isn't a AAA blockbuster into a bank-breaker.

Thank fuck I'm not one of those people. Michael Bay sucks balls.

Though you can't release a few good games a decade ago an still continue.

It is getting more and more like Hollywood. Your only as good as the next big film.

[Ravenlock]

Son of a bitch. As awful as Lair apparently was (didn't play it), I did love the Rogue Squadron games, and the rumored Kid Icarus Wii game being developed by Factor 5 was a nice dream to hold onto. That coulda' been really cool.

Oh well. Good luck to those guys landing on their feet somewhere.

[Orca]

Funny how people will eat up a one-trick director like Michael Bay, but not a one-trick development shop.

Each core Pokémon game is essentially the same. Each core Tetris game is essentially the same, but it sells. Each Gears of War is essentially the same mechanic, over and over. Racing games are picking a car and going around a track faster than others. Soul Calibur IV is a shiny version of the original Soul Calibur, released in 1999.

The problem isn't that it is a one-trick pony. The problem is that the current state of the gaming industry has turned each game that isn't a AAA blockbuster into a bank-breaker.

They're a one-trick developer that didn't get better and wasn't targeting children. Ther sales disappeared because nobody wanted the same old game, only worse.

The game series you listed have improved in some way. Racing games are far more advanced than in years past, while Soul Calibur IV puts the original to shame.

Lair, on the other hand, was yet another 'same gameplay' game from Factor Five only it took huge steps back in several areas. No radar meant you had to rely on a mission arrow that routinely disappeared or pointed to a different objective. The framerate chugged. The controls sucked, with an idiotic lock-on scheme making that doubly bad.

You keep wanting to make Factor Five and Free Radical's closings about the high costs of next-gen gaming, instead of admitting that they made shitty games and paid for it. You can't keep making games that don't sell, no matter what gen of console you're talking about.

[JayVe]

You keep wanting to make Factor Five and Free Radical's closings about the high costs of next-gen gaming, instead of admitting that they made shitty games and paid for it. You can't keep making games that don't sell, no matter what gen of console you're talking about.
Not every game is a masterpiece, just like film. In years past, there was a lot more room for AA, A, and B grade titles. not everything had to be a AAA blockbuster. Nowhere did I say Lair was a good game, but I had a LOT of fun with some of their earlier work. Haze wasn't a good game either, but I had a lot of fun with Free Radical's work. It is a shame that the big, high-cost titles are what causes a decent (not awesome) developer to shutter up.

When your business model only relies on AAA games, how do you build a wide base of developer support? If only a few companies can afford the risk to play at such a level, how can you introduce new blood, ideas and gameplay innovations into these development shops?

Shutting out B-grade development shops is not good for the industry, or for gamers.

[Wraitheist]

Very sad...talented group of guys.

[ShivaX]

Not every game is a masterpiece, just like film. In years past, there was a lot more room for AA, A, and B grade titles. not everything had to be a AAA blockbuster. Nowhere did I say Lair was a good game, but I had a LOT of fun with some of their earlier work. Haze wasn't a good game either, but I had a lot of fun with Free Radical's work. It is a shame that the big, high-cost titles are what causes a decent (not awesome) developer to shutter up.

When your business model only relies on AAA games, how do you build a wide base of developer support? If only a few companies can afford the risk to play at such a level, how can you introduce new blood, ideas and gameplay innovations into these development shops?

Shutting out B-grade development shops is not good for the industry, or for gamers.

Well one would hope that it might go the way of the movie industry. Bigger companies would take chances on more "independant" titles and smaller companies would just stick the non-blockbuster titles.

Of course the problem with video games vs movies is that you can make a good movie with a camcorder and people. You don't need special effects or CGI. You can just have two people talk for a couple hours and it can be great. Video games require graphics, an engine for those graphics, lots of coding, etc, etc. Even a relatively "simple" game has a fairly high starting point.

[RandoM51]

When your business model only relies on AAA games, how do you build a wide base of developer support? If only a few companies can afford the risk to play at such a level, how can you introduce new blood, ideas and gameplay innovations into these development shops?

Shutting out B-grade development shops is not good for the industry, or for gamers.

Which console's business model only relies on AAA games? I'm not really familiar with that platform.

Wii has plenty of shovelware that seems to be doing well enough to keep those developers/publishers fed/busy.
PS3 has PSN.
360 has XBLA.

There is plenty of room for the developers who don't want the risk of AAA development. What there isn't room for is developers who put out B titles on AAA budgets.

[Orca]

Not every game is a masterpiece, just like film. In years past, there was a lot more room for AA, A, and B grade titles. not everything had to be a AAA blockbuster. Nowhere did I say Lair was a good game, but I had a LOT of fun with some of their earlier work. Haze wasn't a good game either, but I had a lot of fun with Free Radical's work. It is a shame that the big, high-cost titles are what causes a decent (not awesome) developer to shutter up.

When your business model only relies on AAA games, how do you build a wide base of developer support? If only a few companies can afford the risk to play at such a level, how can you introduce new blood, ideas and gameplay innovations into these development shops?

Shutting out B-grade development shops is not good for the industry, or for gamers.

Shutting out B-grade development shops? Yet when people make top 10 lists of 360 games they really liked, you consistently see Earth Defense Force on there - and it's a game people would love to see a sequel for - yet it's solidly B-grade at best.

If studios consistently put out poor games, they close. End of story.

[Gorvi]

There is plenty of room for the developers who don't want the risk of AAA development. What there isn't room for is developers who put out B titles on AAA budgets.
But if Lair was even a B grade game they'd probably still be ok. The problem is, Lair was utterly awful. The concept was great, and even if it had only been Rogue Squadron but with dragons I think most of us would have been okay with it.

That wasn't the case though, Lair had graphics that were only good from certain angles, in all other cases they looked like they were pre-alpha. Targeting and camera control were also inexcusably terrible, and the game just played like crap. Lair was not just a mediocre game, not just a bad game, but an incredibly bad game. They fucked up big time and now they've paid for it. The game needed another year in the oven at the very least judging by the state it was in.

[Narradisall]

I think the problem is your all going on about Lair. A what, year (well under) old game? What did they release before that?

Looking at their releases it seems they hadn't put much out good in quite some time.

Development times are long, granted, but most of the developers people love seem to at least churn out a good game every few years (and maybe some less than good in between).

[bean]

Funny how people will eat up a one-trick director like Michael Bay, but not a one-trick development shop.

Each core Pokémon game is essentially the same. Each core Tetris game is essentially the same, but it sells. Each Gears of War is essentially the same mechanic, over and over. Racing games are picking a car and going around a track faster than others. Soul Calibur IV is a shiny version of the original Soul Calibur, released in 1999.
This is why a game has to meet a few criteria for me to actually purchase it instead of simply renting it. It either has to have a great story (Tales of Vesparia, Fallout 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, etc.), outstanding multiplayer (CoD 4, Gears of War 2), or gameplay I enjoy (Top Spin, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (occasionally, I love to just swing around), Project Sylpheed, Burnout: Paradise, Earth Defense Force 2017).

I think the Pokemon games continue to sell really well because they are marketed at very young children so effectively. Kids buy a ton of them, but as many copies are sold to young adults who played the first versions as young children (I used to be one of them. . . Pokemon was a major reason for picking up my second DS). They are definitely the same game with very little iteration, and personally I've moved on, but I absolutely understand people buying them for nostalgia and if (god forbid) I have children, I'll buy Pokemon for them someday.

This can be said about all of the Nintendo first-party titles. I read people complaining that they didn't innovate the staple titles. . . and instead just re-released them with a new coat of paint. Honestly, I think this is what people want (nostalgia obviously sells, and as many people express joy over the retreaded first party titles), but that Nintendo needs to also make new and innovative IPs rather than just remaking their old ones over and over. At the very least, they need to create an environment for 3rd party developers to thrive on their platforms.