Rumor: Factor 5 working on new Kid Icarus
Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 8:00pm by Derek
“A new Kid Icarus game.”
Without doubt or rival, it has become the long-sought Holy Grail of Nintendo gaming. Even the slightest possibility of its eventual existence - and, as the stubborn would argue, inevitable brilliance - has fueled the unswerving, seemingly hopeless desires of fans for almost 20 years.
It may have been an entire era ago, but fans never forget. And finally, it seems the relentless pleas of the dedicated faithful have amounted to more than just arbitrary post-E3 speculation from Shigeru Miyamoto.
Take it as you will, but Kombo dropped this bomb earlier today:
“Kombo has learned from a credible source that said Wii game is in fact a new installment in Nintendo’s cherished Kid Icarus franchise. According to sources, Factor 5’s Kid Icarus title is being developed ground-up for Wii. It will not use one of the developer’s previous GameCube graphics engines. Unfortunately, at this time, no other details have been provided to us for publish.”
It is worth noting that this potentially Earth-shattering information should be considered a rumor until confirmation is offered.
However, while hopes for Pit’s return have been irrepressible among the Nintendo masses for years, the prospect of a new Kid Icarus game seems to have gained plausibility over the last few months given recent developments.
In a Nov. 30 “Wii-k in Review” podcast, IGN’s Matt Casamassina confidently stated a classic Nintendo franchise would be returning on Wii.
“What I can tell you is that a major, classic franchise will be returning to Wii. … I think Nintendo fans, people who were around during the last couple generations, are going to be pleased as punch about this one. … You are just going to be very happy with the franchise returning and the people involved.”
Levi Buchanan of IGN Wireless, a guest contributer to the podcast, was slightly more revealing when he claimed the franchise is one “many of you have been begging and hoping for.” And associate editor Mark Bozon hinted to the age of the franchise, stating that gamers “older than, like, 12″ would remember the series and be especially pleased.
In what very well could be the last piece of the puzzle, Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht confirmed in a Jan. 14 phone call with Casamassina that his studio is “underway with at least one all-new Wii project.” And as Blake has suggested, Factor 5 is certainly intent on “sweating” the Wii’s capable hardware.
The planets seem to have aligned. Coincidence?
January 20th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
What Matt said was only a 2008 prediction- here you have it:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/846/846421p10.html
January 20th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
But do remember Matt can be full of it sometimes as well.
Anyway, I hope they DON’T make Kid Icaris.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
This is the franchise i had in the back of my head when i heard Matt C. hint at this. There’s no other Nin-franchise that’s been rumored or clamoured for. Is the original avaliable as a VC title? hmm.
Also, Matt’s eyes always seem strangely close together.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I don’t doubt that there is an upcoming Kid Icarus game, but I doubt Factor 5 is working on it.
I always thought Kid Icarus should be given to Retro-since they also revived Metroid after a long hiatus- and give Factor 5 Star Fox or Pilotwings, since they are good at flight games (unless they make graphics a priority).
Makes a lot more sense.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Factor 5 making Starfox would make perfect sense, but so can this. I personally want to see a Kid Icarus game that plays a lot like the Maximo games on PS2. Is anyone here a fan of the Maximo games because I just love them. I think Kid Icarus would be really well suited as a sort of “Maximo with wings” game.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
As long as this version of Kid Icarus doesn’t have the angelic hero riding a poorly controlled dragon that fights in a dull, lifeless world I’m all for it.
More Infendo coverage of Kid Icarus before the Factor 5 rumor made it cool again:
http://www.infendo.com/wii/how-would-you-remake-kid-icarus/
http://www.infendo.com/nintendo/five-franchises-in-need-of-a-wii-boot/
January 20th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I think it could turn out well if Factor 5 was involved.
January 20th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
They say “Kombo has learned from a credible source” as if Kombo, in turn, is a credible source.
Also, if Bozon were trying to drop a hint with that “like 12″ line, it points to Pilotwings more than Kid Icarus, what with the last Pilotwings being 12 years old now. And weren’t Nintendo showing off a demo of a flying game that was originally going to be part of Wii Sports but they pulled it to flesh it out a little more?
I think Kid Icarus is still wishful thinking.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:50 am
Nintendo are masters of bringing their franchises into 3D.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:07 am
I don’t think this should be left to factor 5… They are awesome developers and rogue squadron was one of the best release titles on Gamecube but I really don’t think they would be very well suited to a game like kid Icarus. I agree that they would be better suited to created the Wii iteration of Starfox, bring back the awesome arcade style dog fights of Lylat Wars any day. I’ve still yet to download Kid Icarus’ NES game on Virtual Console so I could probably wait till they find a more suited developer. I don’t think factor 5 is the way to go…
January 21st, 2008 at 10:58 am
Would a Kid Icarus remake work? The gameplay was awesome, I just don’t think many people outside of niche nintendocores would be interested in playing as cupid…
January 21st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I think it could work. I remember the original was stated by many to be like a combination of Zelda, Mario, and Metroid: you could pick up items like Link, you could jump like Mario, and you could shoot like Samus. Mash those up again and you could make for some interesting gameplay.
A more vertically-themed platformer would be a dream, I think. My favorite type of game is the Platformer genre, and since Mario is the only one filling that position (correctly) right now, I’d love to see a new iteration of Kid Icarus.
And honestly, for those of you who don’t think that Factor 5 can do it because they are “better at making flight games,” I think that’s a little close-minded. To assume that a developer or studio is only good at one particular genre is unfair and shows that you are pigeonholing an otherwise very talented group of people. I have high hopes and expectations if in fact that rumor does turn out to be true. And besides, I love Nintendo-made games, but we NEED some higher-quality 3rd party-created titles. Wii is starting to look bad on that front.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I was hoping Retro would be taking on Kid Icarus. They did such a good job bringing Metroid from 2D to 3D. I think they could work wonders for Kid Icarus. If Factor 5 did take on this title, you can be sure Nintendo will be watching it very carefully to make sure the end product is a good one.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I’ve tried the NES ver. It took me about 20 min. to see you can move to right and end on the left when you leave the screen…