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[Ysiadmihi]

Not really upset about this. The only good that could have come out of it was a 60fps remake of the first game. 2 and 3 were pretty awful to play, even if they looked beautiful at the time.

 

[EatChildren]

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.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Is there a Youtube link? IGN video player sucks ass.

 

[User 479360]

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.

 

[brainpann]

Well, as sad as this not getting released sounds, there's always the extremely slim chance that is gets released on back channels somewhere.

..but I doubt it.

 

[Dragonborn]

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.

They were friggen awesome.

 

[majik13]

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.

stil doesnt change that the game was never announced. Wich is very rare.

 

[Elfforkusu]

No.

No.


Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[Mozz-eyes]

Some of the most criminally overlooked amazing games out there.

I bought a GameCube rather than a PS2 because it had Rogue Leader. Never looked back once.

 

[Aaron Strife]

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.

Seriously. Force Unleashed sold great on Wii.

This is fucking bullshit I hate this industry so much

 

[atr0cious]

Had to check out the Superman footage he talked about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLrc6o1s0I

This is the first time I've thought a Superman game could be done.

 

[popeutlal]

Here's a glimpse of the Lair engine on Wii https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNvQ_EkXZW4

 

[SegaShack]

So sad. Rebel Strike had its flaws but was still a lot of fun.

Reminded me of this image from 6 years ago:

 

[liquidtmd]

- Pour money into a project
- Pour time and resources into a project
- Complete project
- Cancel project and blame financial crisis
- Remove pants
- ?????????
- Profit

This coupled with this being unnanouced and undetected for seven to ten years? Errrm. Not convinced this article is 100% accurate

 

[Anony]

so what's stopping any of the devs from leaking it, anonymously obviously, assume someone of the team has a full copy of the game
hard to imagine fully completely a game and have no one enjoy it, i would rather have it out in the wild at that point

 

[runnin_blue]

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!

You guys really need to learn how to spot a troll lol.

Also if an ex Factor 5 employee with access to this code is reading this, pleeeeeeeease leak it on the internet!!!!! I'll take the blame for you!

 

[jetjevons]

Tell us more!
Any noticeable graphical improvements vs. the GC games? Online multiplayer? Improvements to 3rd person on foot missions?

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*

 

[brainpann]

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.

 

[jetjevons]

These were from the game. Flight Club I believe.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/15/leaked-images-from-factor-5s-wii-flight-game/

 

[Lo-Volt]

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?

 

[jetjevons]

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.

 

[Turrican]

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.

Plus the dynamic realtime atmospheric light scattering that after all these years now finally DriveClub does. And volumetric clouds...

 

[JigglesBunny]

- 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

Oh dear lord in heaven, why would they let his precious darling get canned.

 

[Stalfos]

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.

As a huge fan of the Rogue Squadron series (except for III), I was very interested in trying it out. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it much at all and I think I played it without the motion controls.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Im guessing this was around the time the new lucasarts management ran free radical into the ground.

lol, Free Radical ran itself into the ground. The BF3 debacle was all on FR. The only thing you can really pin on LEC was that they didn't ditch them sooner and find an alternate dev for it.

 

[jmizzal]

Nintendo should revive it

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Dang I would have like those updates.

 

[TAJ]

These games looked and sounded amazing but they were terrible to play, god awful.

Yup. Pretty much two axis flight with aggressively self-righting fighters and invisible barriers errywhere. Such a huge step down from X-Wing.

 

[Zero-Crescent]

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.

Aye, it indeed depends on what definition of "complete" they're using.

Granted, even if the RS trilogy only needed QA, marketing, and production, I could still see Lucasarts' (very risk-averse, especially in the last few years of LA) execs shelving it for a few reasons. 2008 was also the year that Star Wars The Force Unleashed was released for every platform, along with Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels on the Wii. SWTFU sold very well (1.27m on 360/PS3, 600k on Wii), while SWTCWLD apparently bombed quite hard (couldn't find any data on its sales, but it looks like it didn't even make the Top 20 in the November 2008 NPD). Performance like that, coupled with the uncertainties brought on by the financial crisis, might make the execs wary about supporting another Wii-exclusive title, instead of "safer" multiplatform bets like SWTFU and tie-in/licensed games.

EDIT: Ah, saw the part where F5 put their own money in the project for a bigger cut. Since they needed to recoup their investment, that would limit their options when negotiating with potential publishers.

 

[clem84]

appropriate gif

:_(

 

[Disorientator]

What a sad story.

This part makes it even more painful.

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].

 

[darthbob]

Had to check out the Superman footage he talked about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLrc6o1s0I

Looks like 'QTE - The Game'.

appropriate gif

:_(

That's a .jpg

 

[Persona7]

That would have been cool.

 

[@MUWANdo]

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.

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.

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?

It wasn't about finding a deal to publish the game, it was about keeping the studio alive. Other published had expressed interest but no-one was willing to commit fully in the timeframe required to keep them around.

F5 had two other projects running in parallel to the Wii compilation: a multi-platform Superman game and a Pilotwings-style game for Wii, but the publishers for both those games collapsed in quick succession and F5 blew through all their money by keeping the Superman staff on their payroll while they tried to find another publisher.

Rogue Leaders Wii was self-financed by F5, so when they asked LucasArts for help they were declined because LA knew they'd get the game back when F5 died anyway, so it wasn't worth the money to bail them out. Why they didn't release it is anyone's guess.

 

[BlazinAm]

Plus the dynamic realtime atmospheric light scattering that after all these years now finally DriveClub does. And volumetric clouds...

Hard to read anything into the tech demo video as we can't tell the scale of the assets and the level of geometry.

 

[ugoo18]

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.

I always thought they had been absorbed into other devs like Crytek for some reason. I suppose it's too much to hope that Nintendo would ever resurrect Factor 5 seeing as at least based on the words of their former president they seem to still love Nintendo as a whole.

 

[ugoo18]

Hard to read anything into the tech demo video as we can't tell the scale of the assets and the level of geometry.

Didn't Factor 5 at one point have a method for 720p gaming on the Wii.

 

[Tamanator]

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.

Not to mention didn't the first the Force Unleashed game sell well on the Wii? There was definitely a market for Star Wars games on the Wii.

 

[jetjevons]

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.

 

[tauroxd]

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.

You're making me depressed

Spoiler

But at the same time I love that you're sharing all that!

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Completed and canned? Oh boy.

Though that sounds really weird to me. How do you complete a game yet never announce it? How complete are we talkin' here then?

 

[LOCK]

:/

I'm saddened. This needs to be resurrected somehow.

 

[Chubear]

They should've made this for PS3 instead of Lair.

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?

 

[RoboPlato]

I...I don't even know how to react to this.

A collection this awesome was completed and then just not released? I hate everything.

 

[foxuzamaki]

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.

starwars in general is known to sell very decently on nintendo systems

 

[RedSwirl]

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.

 

[foxuzamaki]

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*

Excuse me while I cry again.

 

[Chindogg]

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.

Come on now.

EA has zero interest in making games that we want to play. They'll reskin BF4 as the new Battlefront then spit out one mobile game after another.

 

[uncredited male]

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

Oh wow people are actually believing this.

The mythical Wii game that everyone wanted was completed but yet somehow still ran out of money. And then no one wanted to take a chance on a Star Wars Wii game in 2008-9. And it had all the features everyone wanted at 60 fps.

 

[jackal27]

Someday this will leak onto the Internet. I feel it in my bones.