Factor 5 lives on

I can exclusively reveal that the renowned developer Factor 5 (´Turrican´, ´Star Wars: Rogue Squadron´, ´Lair´) is still in business. The studio is neither bankrupt, being liquidated or has been taken over.

The team has been reduced, though, and the projects developed for now defunct publisher Brash, like ´Superman´, are currently on hold. But development is continuing on other titles. While I was initialy told that an announcement was forthcoming soon, I am now being informed that Factor 5 may not have anything to announce publically until later in the year.

But, it seems, Factor 5 is able to survive on its own following the lay-offs and work on the announced Wii titles is continuing.

´GTA´ developer warming to Wii

Here is a brief update. In relation to some exclusive information I gave you some time ago, my guess regarding Silicon Knights was wrong. Just to make up for it, though, I can reveal that publisher Take 2 and developer Rockstar are warming to Wii.

When developing the DS game ´Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars´, they were very happy with Nintendo's third party support and are considering a `Grand Theft Auto´ on Nintendo's newest. I had asked them last year whether a GTA on Wii was a possibility and they had categorically ruled that out. Now, it simply hinges upon the success of ´GTA: Chinatown Wars´. If the DS title performs well enough, Rockstar will be swayed by its success and bring the franchise to Wii as well. Whether they would invest in an original installment running on a dedicated graphics engine is another question.




On a personal note, please excuse the recent lack of updates. The Falafelkidkid is a lot of work and it is hard for me to find time to write decent articles. I have a number in the pipeline, though, including a lengthy examination of controversial developer Nibris (`Sadness`), which should be online within the next two weeks. So please stay tuned.