Joseph Merrick
Member
someone buy and give it to manfred trenz ffs. and also pay for a new proper turrican game. you're up for this, Enk? do it. you have my permission.Enk said:
did they ever thrill audiences? be honestRidley327 said:
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Factor 5 now completely dead
- Thread starter Shiggy
- Start date
Joseph Merrick said:
You know what's funny? Manfred Trenz registered "Turrican" in January 2011, but in August "FACTOR 5 - Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR" raised an objection. It's somewhat confusing as "FACTOR 5 - Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR" also has an approved registration of the Turrican trademark. But then a third party appears, there's also an objection proceeding against Factor 5 by Fabio Serena who's got the Turikan trademark.
But well, this means that there still is a Factor 5. "FACTOR 5 - Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR" was registered in May 2011. So they got all Factor 5 GmbH trademarks now.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Hadn't they been working on a new Turrican for years? That was basically what Thornado was before it was canceled way back in the early GC days.
Joseph Merrick
Member
bah. what garbageShiggy said:
Cow Mengde
Banned
Holy shit, Left Field is dead too!?
And Left Field made a pretty damn good Excitebike for the N64 along with a Kobe Bryant games for the N64. They were good (like around 8.0) games from what I've heard.
And Left Field made a pretty damn good Excitebike for the N64 along with a Kobe Bryant games for the N64. They were good (like around 8.0) games from what I've heard.
A Black Falcon
Member
Factor 5's collapse was just so sad, they were one of the best action game developers for several generations (Super/Mega Turrican, Rogue Squadron series, Battle for Naboo...), it was awful to see them go down like that. Sure, it was sort of their own fault -- they made a mistake in leaving Nintendo, like they did -- but it's really sad that it brought them down. I know it's been mentioned in the thread, but yeah, what in the world happened with the Rogue Squadron Trilogy thing... mostly finished, easy sell for probably lots of sales... why didn't that happen? 
(To say nothing of Pilotwings, etc.)
I would say that in the N64 and GC generations Factor 5's graphics and audio were consistently better than their gameplay -- the games are great, sure, but they're fairly simple arcade-style games -- but the gameplay was more than good enough to make the games lots of fun. Oh, and yes, I did enjoy Rebel Strike. My main complaint is that it's too bad that the versus modes were two player only, not four (like, say, Crimson Skies for Xbox). As for the on-foot parts, sure they were bland and simplistic, but most of the game was good, so one weaker part certainly didn't ruin the whole game. The vehicular parts (ground or air) were as good as ever.
(To say nothing of Pilotwings, etc.)I would say that in the N64 and GC generations Factor 5's graphics and audio were consistently better than their gameplay -- the games are great, sure, but they're fairly simple arcade-style games -- but the gameplay was more than good enough to make the games lots of fun. Oh, and yes, I did enjoy Rebel Strike. My main complaint is that it's too bad that the versus modes were two player only, not four (like, say, Crimson Skies for Xbox). As for the on-foot parts, sure they were bland and simplistic, but most of the game was good, so one weaker part certainly didn't ruin the whole game. The vehicular parts (ground or air) were as good as ever.
Excitebike 64 is one of the greatest racing games of its generation, yes. That is by far Left Field's best game though.Joseph Merrick said:
Shiggy said:
This company is called FactorY
http://www.factory-gmbh.com/
I hope they are already working on WiiU titles to free them from the Nintendo curse.
The Turrican license was always a tricky issue, since the trademark was owned by different companies in Germany (Softgold) and US (Factor 5). With Factor 5 closing down in the US, I'd assume that Funsoft GmbH (who bought out Softgold) now owns the trademark outright.Enk said:
Shiggy said:
Huh? Crazy shit. What are they planning to achieve with all these companies?
So we have former Factor5, FactorV and FactorY on the address in Cologne and the Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR in Harsum.
http://trademark.markify.com/trademark-owner/ctm/factor+5+-+eggebrecht,+engel,+schmidt+gbr/453046
Also TouchFactor Inc. in Novato (CA)
http://jobs.gamasutra.com/JobSeekerX/ViewCompanyProfile.asp?CompanyProfileID=4723
This is where I'm not getting it anymore. :-/Shiggy said:
Which Factor5 is (now) actually dead? Is it FactorY? Is it this - never heard before - Factor V? Or what else?!
I mean, I tought Factor5 GmbH actually was/became FactorY ( many people probably remember the infamous job posting --> http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=25467182#post25467182 ), but now I'm really confused.
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
That's what happens when you spend your entire tenure making shit games, good riddance.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
wsippel said:
Heh, funny, cause they won't be lasting long either. After Saints Row 3 bombs, they'll probably be on the verge of bankruptcy.
Either someone will buy them outright for cheap, or they'll sell off their IPs (which is what they're real value comes from), so Turrican will be up for grabs by anyone soon enough!
WrathOfOtaibah said:
Prey, tell, what "shit games" did they make? Because they've made some of the most lauded games of all time (Rogue Squadron series, Turrican series etc) Just because they made one bad game (Lair), doesn't wipe out all the good that they did.
I stand corrected: Manfred Trenz, the original creator of Turrican, supposedly owns the IP now. He got the rights back in February after THQ's (and Factor 5's?) license expired. Trenz' studio, Denaris, and his affiliates (VIS, IAS) usually develop for PC and Nintendo platforms.Nuclear Muffin said:
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
Nuclear Muffin said:
I didn't like any of the Rogue Squadron games, pretty but shallow with average gameplay. Never played any of the Turrican games, at least not to my knowledge.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
wsippel said:
Ahh good. I was wondering why the Turrican games were still on the Wii Virtual Console, despite the rights changing hands (look what happened with Double Dragon on XBLA and R-Type SMS on the VC!)
scytheavatar
Member
Don't see why it's a mistake for them to leave Nintendo, the big mistake was that they agreed to make a game to showcase the crappy sixaxis controls of the PS3 controller and they didn't have the common sense to tell Sony that the sixaxis is crap. When you release a new IP that's obviously crap you can't expect miraculous sales results, and for such a big project they should have been well aware to the price of failure.
Trenz' studio is named Denaris and he's currently working on Katakis 2 together with VIS and Markus Siebold (original composer of the Turrican II soundtrack), so Factor 5 obviously can't own those trademarks. Also:Celine said:
"DENARIS and KATAKIS are registered trademarks of Manfred Trenz - Denaris Entertainment Software"
And I don't believe it was ever posted, but Trenz released a first Katakis 2 trailer a few months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYsTNsRACAA
EDIT: Shin'en has nothing to do with Denaris or Factor 5.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Sad news. Not that they've been on fire lately.
Mr. Return
Member
It looks like Eggebrecht Parent's live there. Maybe a way to protect the former Factor 5 assets from the running lawsuit against them.
Nugundam0079
Neo Member
Project Aces started work on new Rouge Squadrons? I mean with their over-the-top story telling and the over-the-topness of Star Wars in general Imagine how crazy that sorta game would be!
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
SpacePirate Ridley said:
Me neither. Or the Supes game for that matter.
The Main Event said:
That reminds me, what are those ex-Retro guys up to? Been a while since we heard anything since they joined up with EA.
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
Willy105 said:
You just pick the wrong ones. Kojima Productions here. I don't have to worry until Hideo dies.
Samus4145 said:
It will be really interesting to see if there will be something like this during the WiiU Re-Unveiling next year @E3.
Gamecube unveiling ... never forget
They MUST have something after 3 years of work!
disap.ed said:
Don't do that. That stuff is available for free in Germany, I think. Use the official platform: www.ebundesanzeiger.de - you'll get free access to balance sheets of both Factor 5 GmbH and Factor V Media Production GmbH. It's quite simple to use.
In addition, for more specific information there's www.unternehmensregister.de . As the official platform it should be still cheaper than some other distributors (between 1 and 5 or so).
So just to get things into the right order.
Companies registered in the Unternehmensregister (free information at www.unternehmensregister.de):
FACTOR 5 GmbH, Köln
Formed in 2003
Liquidated in January 2011
Achim Moller
Factor V Media Production GmbH, Köln
Founded: 22.05.2009
Achim Moller
FactorY Media Production GmbH, Köln
Founded: 23.06.2010
Achim Moller/Rene Henke
We also have FACTOR 5 - Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR, who are not registered in the Unternehmensregister though.
Trademarks:
"Factor 5"
Owned by: Factor 5 , LLC 101 Lucas Valley Road, Suite 300 San Rafael California
Expired: 12.07.2009
(There were other Factor 5 trademarks by Rene Henke which expired in 2005)
Whose Turrican trademark was approved?
DE - Softgold -> their trademark was deleted
DE - Manfred Trenz
EM - FACTOR 5 - Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR
EM - Manfred Trenz
Whose Denaris trademark was approved?
DE -Manfred Trenz
EM - Factor 5 , LLC 101 Lucas Valley Road -> approval failed after Trenz raised objection
EM - Manfred Trenz
DE - German trademark; EM - European trademark
All of these trademarks are under dispute due to ongoing troubles between Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt on the one side and Manfred Trenz on the other side.
Any out of work Factor 5 German employees should apply at German neighbours NG Dev Team and see if there are vacancies there.
http://www.ngdevteam.com/
http://www.ngdevteam.com/
Beaten above,
The closest we'll probably get is Gunlord.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohDEQpIRMw
Teknoman said:
The closest we'll probably get is Gunlord.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohDEQpIRMw
There are never vacancies at NG Dev Team. That studio consists of two brothers developing ultra niche games for long dead platforms. They couldn't afford to hire additional developers even if they wanted to, and I'm not sure any professional developer would be interested in developing Neo Geo and Dreamcast games in 2011.Ninja Dom said:
ProfessorMoran
Member
Cow Mengde said:
We're all beaver pioneers at one point or another.
Frankly I'm not all that sad that Factor 5 is gone, they made good-looking games in the last decade that simply weren't all that fun to play.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
And I think this finally puts a rest to Kid Icarus Wii.
Going by the staff list for Rogue Leader it's mostly Factor 5 staff coming from Germany which wasn't credited anywhere outside F5 ever. They really should have made their engine available for licensing... Going by that GbR thingy mentioned before, Schmidt and Engel still seem to be together with Eggebrecht.v1oz said:
It's like a (sad) running gag going on for over two decades. Only in the past Factor 5 seemed to be the more professional side, but now?CO_Andy said:
MaddenNFL64
Member
Rogue Squadron & Rogue Leader are fucking legend games. People need to go play them if they haven't yet.