I only played the first Rogue Squadron (and loved it). How were the sequels?
Speaking of which, Nintendo Power still owes me my free Rogue Squadron guide for renewing my subscription.
Remember that most of this game already existed either on GC or on XBOX.
It's not that far fetched to believe the additional content and control settings were in a functional state, especially considering Factor 5 were pretty fast workers.
Seriously. Force Unleashed sold great on Wii.I'm sceptical as to how "complete" the project actually was, but if it was indeed complete it's a pretty confusing move by then LucasArts to shelve the project. Not that third party sales on the Wii were all that great, but Star Wars is a known brand and should naturally move a good few units among kids and parents. Being a recognisable franchise among Nintendo faithfuls is the cherry on top.
This is the first time I've thought a Superman game could be done.
Tell us more!
Any noticeable graphical improvements vs. the GC games? Online multiplayer? Improvements to 3rd person on foot missions?
I am with Mr. Lemonardo here - give us details! So that the pain of never having a thing I didn't know I wanted can be even more acute!
Tell us more!
Any noticeable graphical improvements vs. the GC games? Online multiplayer? Improvements to 3rd person on foot missions?
To really rub salt in wounds Factor 5 also did a Pilot Wings Wii vertical slice that was absolutely gorgeous. Is that public knowledge? It had real world continents (Europe, America, etc.), approximated versions of popular cities (Paris, New York) changing time of day, etc. It even had a Johnny Lee style head-tracking mode. F5 made a prototype wireless headset with the wii motion-sensing bar tech built in. As you flew you could look around the screen and it would track with your line of sight naturally without changing your vehicle's course.
*sigh*
WHAT?
It wasn't as far along as Rogue Squadron. But F5 got their Lair terrain tech running on Wii.
Oh, I found a leaked vid.
http://www.unseen64.net/2009/02/01/lair-engine-wii-tech-demo/
Yeah the clouds and shadows were insane for Wii.
- all control schemes were supported, including GameCube controller and various peripherals
- you could even use the Wii wheel to control your X-Wing, using the balance board for pedals
- revamped content included speeder bike racing levels, third-person action sequences, and lightsaber battles
- lightsaber battles used 1:1 motion controls
- all-new graphics engine running at 60 frames per second
- the project was completed, but then cancelled
- cancellation is blamed on the financial crisis of 2008
- other publishers tried to help out
- unfortunately, financial hardship, legal snafus and budgetary restrictions killed the game
Sort of off topic but is Lair worth playing? I heard it was patched later so you could play it without the motion controls which made it much better.
Im guessing this was around the time the new lucasarts management ran free radical into the ground.
These games looked and sounded amazing but they were terrible to play, god awful.
I'm sceptical as to how "complete" the project actually was, but if it was indeed complete it's a pretty confusing move by then LucasArts to shelve the project. Not that third party sales on the Wii were all that great, but Star Wars is a known brand and should naturally move a good few units among kids and parents. Being a recognisable franchise among Nintendo faithfuls is the cherry on top.
Believe me, if you ever saw it running on the Wii at 60 [fps], it is by far - and I think I'm not overstating that - the technically most impressive thing you would ever see on [Wii].
appropriate gif
:_(
So what are these guys doing now with all their talent?
I'd hate to know they are just sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. There're plenty avenues out there these days if they want to stay in the game. Kickstarters, contract work/programming, specializing in ports, or simply seeking work at another company(anyone would be glad to have such expertise onboard).
Of course, if Nintendo were playing hard, that would've been an easy acquisition, for relatively cheap, for a team that loves working with them(providing Factor 5 actually wanted such a deal). Having another overseas company that they can farm out projects to(ala Luigi's Mansion 2) - while they oversee the quality - is just the thing Nintendo needs right now, with their virtually nonexistent 3rd party support.
Something doesn't adds up in here....
So are you telling me Factor 5 a company with such a rich story with Nintendo that not only goes beyond providing key titles but also extends to technology and tools support, couldn't strike a deal to publish an already finished Wii project?
Plus the dynamic realtime atmospheric light scattering that after all these years now finally DriveClub does. And volumetric clouds...
You clearly didn't listen to the podcast!
The core of the F5 team is now TouchFactor; they've played a major behind-the-scenes role in the development of console VOD services like Netflix and Hulu and whatever else, and they used the money from that work to self-finance their new iOS game (TouchFish) which I'd never heard of before this podcast, but it definitely sounds like they're still pushing the tech boundaries like always.
Hard to read anything into the tech demo video as we can't tell the scale of the assets and the level of geometry.
I'm sceptical as to how "complete" the project actually was, but if it was indeed complete it's a pretty confusing move by then LucasArts to shelve the project. Not that third party sales on the Wii were all that great, but Star Wars is a known brand and should naturally move a good few units among kids and parents. Being a recognisable franchise among Nintendo faithfuls is the cherry on top.
Hard to read anything into the tech demo video as we can't tell the scale of the assets and the level of geometry.
One of the vehicles in the vertical slice was the jetpack. You had to hop, thrust, descend and land on a series of increasingly smaller platforms from high in the sky all the way down to near the ground. Given how high you could go the cities were pretty detailed. They had city landmarks and everything.
Oh and the game could pull from the Wii weather channel and give you real-time, geographically accurate weather for the real-world locations. Twas pretty neat.
Actually, Lair WAS Rogue Squadron only with dragons and motion control. Remember motion control? That thing that everyone wanted a piece of by the middle of last gen?They should've made this for PS3 instead of Lair.
starwars in general is known to sell very decently on nintendo systemsI'm sceptical as to how "complete" the project actually was, but if it was indeed complete it's a pretty confusing move by then LucasArts to shelve the project. Not that third party sales on the Wii were all that great, but Star Wars is a known brand and should naturally move a good few units among kids and parents. Being a recognisable franchise among Nintendo faithfuls is the cherry on top.
Excuse me while I cry again.There was no online multiplayer but yes to better graphics! I remember thinking it was the only Wii game I would actually believe could pass as a 360 or PS3 sku. As I recall they massaged all the game modes, even the ground missions. I didn't sit down and play it all the way through but I believe Julian if he says it was done. Everything I saw and played looked content complete.
To really rub salt in wounds Factor 5 also did a Pilot Wings Wii vertical slice that was absolutely gorgeous. Is that public knowledge? It had real world continents (Europe, America, etc.), approximated versions of popular cities (Paris, New York) changing time of day, etc. It even had a Johnny Lee style head-tracking mode. F5 made a prototype wireless headset with the wii motion-sensing bar tech built in. As you flew you could look around the screen and it would track with your line of sight naturally without changing your vehicle's course.
*sigh*
Fuck. Last gen definitely killed Star Wars as a video game license.
Can't they just... hand the code over to EA (who I understand now has the license to make Star Wars games) and let them repackage it for current-gen consoles or something?
Perfect response to this whole mess.
The trilogy would have included Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, all updated for Wii.
- originally in the works for the Xbox
- Factor 5 became interested in motion controls on Wii
- the team decided to resurrect the Xbox Star Wars Trilogy project for Wii
- the team salvaged the code and started bringing the game over
- the project was 50% done on Xbox
- all control schemes were supported, including GameCube controller and various peripherals
- you could even use the Wii wheel to control your X-Wing, using the balance board for pedals
- revamped content included speeder bike racing levels, third-person action sequences, and lightsaber battles
- lightsaber battles used 1:1 motion controls
- all-new graphics engine running at 60 frames per second
- the project was completed, but then cancelled
- cancellation is blamed on the financial crisis of 2008
- other publishers tried to help out
- unfortunately, financial hardship, legal snafus and budgetary restrictions killed the game
- Julian Eggebrecht, former president of Factor 5 loves the Wii U, but its unpredictable trajectory and licensing troubles in general make a new Star Wars Wii U game unlikely