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Factor 5 Moves Away From GameCube Development
Thanks to IGN Cube for its article discussing Star Wars: Rebel Strike developer Factor 5's official confirmation that they won't develop any more GameCube titles - apparently, "The studio is currently creating software for other platforms", and, although formerly having very close ties to Nintendo, "at the Game Developers Conference 2004 [Factor 5 president Julian] Eggebrecht was spotlighted as one of the studio heads very keen on Sony PSP development."
Factor 5 Announces Decision to Focus on Next Gen Hardware
"We're excited about future Nintendo consoles," says CEO.
I have a lot of opinions about Cyborgs and Architects
Amen to that.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a good example of what I suspect is Nintendo not knowing when to leave a project around. Of course, for all I know, it might be that SquareEnix really, really fouled up on this one, but I find it implausible. What I do know is that we ended up with a kiddified game, stripped on pretty much any depth and with the exact same graphical look as 99% of other games on the GC (with the honorable exception of Eternal Darkness and a very small number of other 2nd/3rd party titles). Sure, it was bouncy, but the singleplayer game was a joke and, despite my housemates having enough GBAs and link-cables to get some 4 player games of it going, we find ourselves returning to BG: Dark Alliance 2 on the X-Box just because it has more depth to it (even if it's only 2 player).
I appreciate the bright, happy, cartoony look in Nintendo games, but when it's the only look you have in your repetoire, it starts to wear thin awfully fast.
Please don't degrade the Dreamcast by comparing the GameCube to it. The DC had a much more innovative lineup overall, as it's manufacturer wasn't just crapping out rehashes of the same three games ad naseum. They were crushed by justified consumer doubt in SEGA's competence after the 32x, SEGA CD and Saturn fiascos, coupled with the advance info for the PS2 making the DC look underpowered.
Check out my foes list to see who is so retarded that they can't use the signature line!!!
Believe it or not, there's a whole "middle market" out there between the so-cute-it-makes-you-want-to-hurl stuff that Nintendo churls out and Grand Theft Auto. In fact, the vast majority of games don't fall into either of those categories. Just because a game isn't "for kids" doesn't mean it's an ultra-violent slaughter fest.
What I want to know is where are the Gamecube's answers to Gran Turismo, the "proper" Final Fantasy games, KOTOR, MechAssault etc? Excluding remakes (Resident Evil, MGS), the only two "middle market" games exclusive to the Gamecube I can think of that are worth playing are Metroid Prime (which I think is over-rated anyway and crippled by the GC controller) and Eternal Darkness (which is undeniably brilliant).
I know that Nintendo's licenses are cutesy by nature. This stems from the fact that when Nintendo were in their heyday, gaming was seen as something that only kids did. But what's to stop them creating new licenses? I'm not aware of any grand edict that nobody was allowed to make new licenses after about 1995 or so. To be honest, while Nintendo remains so married to its core licenses and keeps churning out endless sequels which might as well be remakes (eg. Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash), they're not going to do themselves any favours. Gaming audiences are older now... the original generation of gamers have aged and "new" gamers are as likely to be over 20 than under.