Topic: What happened to High Voltage Software? (Grinder, Conduit 3, Conduit 3DS)

[Oblivion]

I loved and adored The Conduit and Conduit 2, and I was so pumped for The Grinder. And hell, I was even excited for what they were putting on the 3DS. What happened? Are they not doing anything for Nintendo anymore?

[broodwars]

Hopefully, they're off somewhere learning how to make a good game rather than just a game you don't see much of on a given console.

As for The Grinder, well...

 :P:

[MegaByte]

They recently released a bunch of mobile stuff (I am actually wearing a Animales de la Muerte T-shirt today). I last talked to them at GDC and they're still looking at Nintendo, but weren't ready to announce anything. I imagine the mobile stuff would be great on Wii U eShop.

[azeke]

Didn't they just released a port of Mortal Kombat on PC?

[Kytim89]

They upgraded Zone of the Enders to HD.

[Keebler]

Yeah i was wondering about that too cause when they made the first Conduit game the created a brand new engine optimized for the wii and seemed very much behind makeing the most out of the hardware

[TJ Spyke]

They still develop a lot of games for Nintendo consoles, mostly just shovelware though. Since Conduit 2, they have developed Captain America: Super Soldier for Wii and 3DS, Nicktoons MLB for Wii (and 360), Country Dance for Wii, Country Dance 2 for Wii, Nickelodeon Dance 2 for Wii (and 360), and Victorious: Taking the Lead for Wii. They also did the Zone of the Enders HD Collection for 360 and PS3, and the 360/PS3 versions of Toy Story Mania! (Papaya Studio did the Wii version).

[MegaByte]

Yeah i was wondering about that too cause when they made the first Conduit game the created a brand new engine optimized for the wii and seemed very much behind makeing the most out of the hardware

The problem is that doesn't help them a ton with Wii U -- they licensed the Infernal engine for 360 and PS3 games rather than build out their own.

[Pixelated Pixies]

I can't speak to Conduit 2, but the original Conduit was terrible. It was certainly an ambitious game for a developer of that size, and at the time I really appreciated the fact that any third party was even trying to create something for Wii, but both the single player and multiplayer were really quite bad.
 
I remember Cass and Boz talking about Animales de la Muerte on Wii-k in Review. That was way back in the day when hardcore Wii fans were still trying to convince people to buy Zack & Wiki and Battalion Wars II (the former of which was really good, the latter of which was not).

[BranDonk Kong]

Never played more than 5 minutes of Conduit 2, but the original was pretty terrible. The engine was solid, especially for the Wii, but it would have been better if they just made the engine and let some other developers make a good FPS.

[Mop it up]

I liked the original The Conduit, it had a few differences from the modern shooter to make it fun. But then Conduit 2 ruined things by copying everything from Halo and Call of Duty. If they make a 3 (which I hope they do eventually), then they need to go back to trying to establish a unique identity instead of just copying what's popular. No one wants a copy of Halo or Call of Duty when they can get the real thing, and The Conduit was a good alternative, and could be an even better one.

[Oblivion]

I liked The Conduit. It may have had a terrible story, but I loved everything about it, the good and bad. Conduit 2 changed everything about it though.

[Kytim89]

I always thought that Conduit 2 was much better than the first game.

[pokepal148]

I haven't played them but I know what the ending for the second one was and you can't leave us hanging after that,  its unethical

[Ymeegod]

High Voltage Software is co-developing with Volition Inc. to make Saints Row IV.

[ejamer]

Never played more than 5 minutes of Conduit 2, but the original was pretty terrible. The engine was solid, especially for the Wii, but it would have been better if they just made the engine and let some other developers make a good FPS.

I don't really know what the engine quality was really like, but was left the the same overall impression. High Voltage seemed like a studio who were more technically adept than they were good at designing fun/compelling games.


That's not meant to be as damning a statement as it probably sounds... there are lots of "idea" studios who couldn't make technically proficient games to save their lives, and Wii had no lack of games with interesting ideas but seriously flawed execution.

[the asylum]

Sounds like I'm in the minority who like both the first and second Conduit game

I thought the reason why they made the Conduit in the first place was to take advantage of the Wiimote. Now that we've got a pad instead of a remote, (and have heard exactly ziltch about anything Conduit for years), I think the series is pretty much dead for now

[Kurtis the Red]

The Conduit is definitely something I can see happening on the Wii U. High Voltage Software has made some great strides with the IP and to see where they take it is something to watch out for. 


For the sake of full disclosure, I haven't played either of these games...but I was listening to a podcast lately, and someone..somewhere mentioned the Conduit series.  This peaked my interest enough that I stated to seek out was this series was all about.  What I found was a competent FPS that was exclusive to the Wii console. That alone was enough to wet my appetite, enough so that I'll probably end up pick up one of these titles, or maybe even both.


What I think is exciting is the prospect of where the series could go on the Wii U.  With a more powerful system, a plethora of control options, and HD graphics, Conduit could look better than ever.


Plus take into account that HVS helped with development of Saints Row 4 (which is about to release BTW).  A franchise that has really come into it's own as a hilarious and over the top, open world game.  If they can take even a slice of that tongue-in-cheek humor and make a cohesive narrative, I think they might have a great game on their hands. 


All the above are my opinions. Nothing more than my own thoughts, impressions, and projections were used in the creation of this post.


~Kurtis the Red