Factor 5 Ditches Xbox 360 for PS3

[Koopa]

According to a story on C|Net, Julian Eggebrecht, president of Factor 5, has confirmed that the company will no longer support the Xbox 360 and instead it will create games exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The following paragraph is an extract from the article:

The choice boiled down to performance, Eggebrecht said at E3 in Los Angeles. His company has worked with Microsoft's Xbox 360, but found PlayStation 3's 3.2GHz Cell chip offered more processing power. The additional performance allows the gang at Factor 5 to more easily simulate the real world for a better game experience, he said.

The San Rafael, California-based game developer and middleware provider is better known for the development of two titles of the Rogue Squadron series.

This announcement comes as a bit of a surprise because Factor 5 was one of the early supporters of the XNA development tools, as this page shows.

We were unable to contact Mr. Eggebrecht for further comment but we’ll have more on Factor 5’s switch to PlayStation 3 development as it develops.

Source TXB

I really hope this is not a bad sign...but then again, one has to remember that the Factor 5 guys sided with Gamecube during the current console race...

[thunderkiss2k1]

My reaction to this is: Who Cares? Judging by the console that they chose to support prior to this, it's clear that Factor 5 is kind of off the mark.

[Koopa]

but they make good games, and they would have been a great addition to the x360 lineup...I'd take Rogue Squadron 4 at launch any day=)

[OC Noob]

but they make good games, and they would have been a great addition to the x360 lineup...I'd take Rogue Squadron 4 at launch any day=)

So we miss 1 decent game. They haven't made a great game since the early RS games and I'll bet Sony paid them to be exclusive and told them to make that statement.

Its ridiculous to say that the PS3 has enough power to really make a difference in their games with only a 360 alpha kit and probably (if they even have it) a PS3 alpha kit.

This is just Sony buying a cheap developer trying to make their system look good.

I'd like to have RS4 too, but its nothing I'll lose sleep over. RS1, now that was a game! I had to upgrade my Packard Bell to 8 mb of ram from 4 just for that game. It was about $150 for 4 mb of ram. Heck, they didn't even have a name for it back then. EDO was what... 60 ns and I think this stuff was 70 ns. Ouch, that wasn't my best bang for the buck purchase

[Koopa]

So we miss 1 decent game. They haven't made a great game since the early RS games and I'll bet Sony paid them to be exclusive and told them to make that statement.

Its ridiculous to say that the PS3 has enough power to really make a difference in their games with only a 360 alpha kit and probably (if they even have it) a PS3 alpha kit.

This is just Sony buying a cheap developer trying to make their system look good.

I'd like to have RS4 too, but its nothing I'll lose sleep over. RS1, now that was a game! I had to upgrade my Packard Bell to 8 mb of ram from 4 just for that game. It was about $150 for 4 mb of ram. Heck, they didn't even have a name for it back then. EDO was what... 60 ns and I think this stuff was 70 ns. Ouch, that wasn't my best bang for the buck purchase

you could've just bought an N64

but hey, i enjoyed RS2 (although RS3 not so much), and its true that they seem to be a one-trick pony....but i still like it. besides, they know how to push a system graphically....look at what they got out of the gamecube

[Salmonaitor]

I was under the impression that the "Cell" processor was not viable yet, and that they were only running emulators as to what the Cell might put out.

[TheCovenant]

I was under the impression that the "Cell" processor was not viable yet, and that they were only running emulators as to what the Cell might put out.

me too.

as for factor 5, i didnt miss em on the current console, i won t miss em on the next. It snot a bad sign that a company that has never made games for you, suddenly doesnt want to make games for you...

[Koopa]

its a bad sign when a few months ago they were talking about how much they loved microsoft and XNA.

http://www.microsoft.com/xna/support_sheet.aspx

"We are extremely excited about XNA, both as a middleware provider and as a game developer. Tools are the only chance for future success in this industry, and never has this been more true than now. As we move into next-generation development, the expectations of gamers and the abilities of hardware open almost limitless possibilities for content creators. Without the right tools, developers will not be able to keep up with the pace - XNA is what the industry needs right now."
- Julian Eggebrecht
President
Factor 5 LLC

[TheCovenant]

its a bad sign when a few months ago they were talking about how much they loved microsoft and XNA.

http://www.microsoft.com/xna/support_sheet.aspx

"We are extremely excited about XNA, both as a middleware provider and as a game developer. Tools are the only chance for future success in this industry, and never has this been more true than now. As we move into next-generation development, the expectations of gamers and the abilities of hardware open almost limitless possibilities for content creators. Without the right tools, developers will not be able to keep up with the pace - XNA is what the industry needs right now."
- Julian Eggebrecht
President
Factor 5 LLC

oh im not doubting they didnt love xbox and xna or what not. I appreciate the proof (i had read it already though) but again i must just reiterate what ive said before.

They never made a game for xbox. They never have too. Being upset that they arent making games for xbox is like being upset that nintendo hasnt made any xbox games. Regardless of how much they claimed to love xna, they just havent proved their grounds on the xbox. Rogue squadron was an interesting shooter on the cube, but had it debut on the FPS console, would it have faired as well?

[StudioAlex]

I'm sure it came down to money, guys. Why do you think Rockstar gives a time exclusivity to the PS2, because they hate Xbox?

[Nurb]

Midway announced they aren't supporting 360 at launch now either... whats with these dev teams jumping ship? I'm guessing its because they wanted to 'play around' on a new system before ps3

[Koopa]

Rogue squadron was an interesting shooter on the cube, but had it debut on the FPS console, would it have faired as well?

with online play? hell yeah!

[skorp]

It's hard to care about Factor 5's reasoning for not developing on the 360, more so Nintendo.

Not enough proccessing power? I don't know about that based on their games this gen, compared to other companies. As far as I know, they're actually not releasing Bungie, Ubisoft or Valve type games....

Well, I hope they blow me away this coming next-gen....

[skorp]

Oops.... double post.

[StudioAlex]

Midway announced they aren't supporting 360 at launch now either... whats with these dev teams jumping ship? I'm guessing its because they wanted to 'play around' on a new system before ps3

They won't have games ready for launch. Not exactly jumping ship.

But I tried really hard to think of a midway game I liked and I couldn't think of a single one.

[TheCovenant]

Midway has 7 games in development for the 360, as midway took back their statement, and confirmed a more positive stance on its position on the next gen consoles.

[OC Noob]

you could've just bought an N64

but hey, i enjoyed RS2 (although RS3 not so much), and its true that they seem to be a one-trick pony....but i still like it. besides, they know how to push a system graphically....look at what they got out of the gamecube

lol, I wish N64's were out back then. I would have grabbed one WAY before 4 mb of ram.

Geez, that was before PS1 and may have even been before the SNES, but I'm not too sure about that (the SNES). It was for my first 486 (25 mhz with no math coprocessor even).

Damn, I must be thinking of Rebal Asault...

D'OH! n/m, lol