Wii Is Better Than PS3? So Says Eggebrecht

Oh how easily the tides have turned. From Factor 5’s humble beginnings on the PS3, turning Lair from what appeared to be a AAA effort into a critical flop. We now know the developer has switched tracks to develop an upcoming Wii title, we also know Factor 5 was one of the best developers on the Gamecube, pushing the hardware with its launch title that still remains fairly unchallenged. But just how much power does the Wii truly hold? Factor 5’s engine is nearly complete, and he feels that it holds a lot more than you’d expect.

“We’re pretty much at a state where we’re almost done with the engine. At the same time, we’ve also been working on content quite a bit because we had enough running very quickly on the platform that we were able to. But the biggest milestone or mark right now is that we’re almost done with the engine and it does everything that the PS3 did and then some, quite frankly. So we’re pretty happy with that.”

Obviously that is a slight exaggeration, as there is no way we’ll be seeing their next title outputting 1080p, but it does peak interest in what their upcoming title could truly hold. On that note, Julian understands that the focus on the Wii in not just about the graphics, but about the control, and figures he has it all figured out.

“But one of our main focuses is the innovation around the controls. Everybody is always talking about the motion control, but I think people are overplaying that a bit. I really, really love the pointing aspect of the remote. Although we’re going to use everything for what we have in development, I think the pointing stuff is probably the biggest innovation which we’re working on right now.”

I would have to agree with Julian on that point, so far we’ve actually come to realize that one of the biggest features the Wiimote has to offer, which so far has been somewhat underutilized in the IR functionality. Somewhat merging that bridge between the PC and consoles. Hopefully Julian can produce as good as the way he seems to be able to talk it up, and we don’t have another Lair on our hands.