Topic: High Voltage Software Aims at Wii with The Conduit

[Nick DiMola]

A futuristic first-person shooter that aims to be “a Wii game that looks like a 360 title.”
 http://nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=15812

 The Conduit, introduced by High Voltage Software, is a futuristic FPS that is drawing influence from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, and is being built on top of http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=15811">Quantum3, the engine built by the same team from the ground up for Wii.    

The Conduit takes place during present day and is set in Washington, D.C. The capital has been attacked by extraterrestrials, and it is the job of Agent Ford, our story’s protagonist, to discover the truth hidden behind the attack. The game will be a straight run-and-gun shooter with advanced enemy AI and some simple puzzle solving involving what the studio calls the “All Seeing Eye.”    

High Voltage Software aims to have the game running at 60 frames per second with graphics that parallel those found on the Xbox 360. The company also plans to smash the preconceptions that Wii owners are not looking for great graphics and visceral shooter gameplay.    

There is currently no word on a release date for The Conduit.

[Nick DiMola]

I could go for a nice run and gun on Wii. Glad someone is making one and doing so with graphics that aren't total garbage.

[WuTangTurtle]

I talked to the guys at GDC, nice folk.  I'm glad they are aiming high, however their track record on games don't exactly fall in the category of hardware intensive.

[Tanookisuit]

Yeah, they kind of make shovelware, and I'm not super-impressed with the tech demo of the engine.  But maybe, just maybe they're using those crap games to fund this game, which will be amazing.  Could be.

[Infernal Monkey]

Looks boring. And boring FPS' sell boatloads this generation! Should be a big hit.

[Jonnyboy117]

High Voltage have been around for quite a while and have never made anything remotely impressive that I'm aware of.  I wish them luck but am not surprised that publishers haven't been falling over themselves to pick this up.  It seems telling that IGN has a bunch of "real screenshots of the game" and yet only a video of the engine.  I'd put this one somewhere between Sadness and Red Steel 2 on the credibility scale.

[ShyGuy]

We Wii owner are starved for third party graphics that show some, ANY, technical prowess.

[Shecky]

If they had any major staff changes, that could be a good sign.  Although, normally it's hard to recruit good help when your track record is sub par.  However, this industry is supposed to be insanely cut-throat and also very "demanding" (nice way of saying companies put a lot of stress on and burn-out a lot of their employees).  It could be that a smaller company could look better to them than the bigger ones.

Oh and WuTangTurtle is alive!  I wonder if he has Advance Wars Days of Ruin?  I need to avenge my lack of skill with Pokemon.

[Nick DiMola]

I would say typically track record does matter, but in this case I am willing to set it aside. I'm hoping that what Tanookisuit proposed is the truth of the situation. I guess we'll see how it all pans out, but anyone that is willing to take the initiative to make the graphics better on the Wii is a-ok in my book.

[Smoke39]

Some of the indoor environments look kinda cool, but the outdoor ones look kinda blah.  I could go for a good old fashioned run 'n' gun FPS, I just hope they can give the game enough personality to not feel completely generic and bland.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

If the controls work as they claim, then it's automatically better than Red Steel.

But I still want Geist 2.

[NWR_pap64]

Yes, if there's a game I would love seeing either remade from the ground up or being ported with great Wii controls its Geist. Mock it if you must, but the game had heart and a great concept. Its just needed more polish and better aiming.

[Kairon]

This is extremely exciting. High Voltage software, I believe, is one of the larger independent game developer studios who aren't owned by giant conglomerates. They're based in the Chicago area and next to their office is a motion capture studio. This is probably why I remember Hunter: The Reckoning so vividly, it had some great cutscenes!

Yes, it's true that these guys have been almost pre-dominantly for-hire studio, but that's how you pay the bills when you're not EA and can afford to buy up entire sports exclusivities. These guys are EXACTLY the sort of people I want to see empowered by the Wii, guys who wouldn't have a shot in the old way of doing things, and who now have a chance thanks to Nintendo's market changes to really step up and make their mark. Nintendo systems are great ways for companies to make that leap from indie to established, from small to big, from porting-existing games to developing brand spanking new original IPs. I couldn't be more excited for High Voltage software's efforts at this point.

If they're looking for publishers, they should probably hit up the usual suspects, but I think there might also be opportunities in traditionally non-FPS publishers.

THQ, for example, has been shown to be amazingly aggressive on the Wii with a bevy of games announced in recent months exclusively for the console, from the balance board All-Star Cheerleading to the hardcore-cool Deadly Creatures(seriously, you play a scorpion, seriously). Their recent overhaul in favor of the Wii platform may endear them to other efforts.

And of course, there's also Eidos, who've already gotten behind the Monster Lab concept for the Wii. Ubisoft may also bite, though their larger size may insulate them from the idea, and ViVendi/Sierra... well, ok, I don't know much about them, lol.

Or maybe D3 Publishing America is ready to make their next big move. They recently put out Dark Sector on the HD consoles, and they've supported that game with what must be an expensive ad campaign. This could suggest that while being new to America, they put their wallet where their mouth is when looking forestablishing beach heads into the American market.

Actually.. now that I think about it, maybe they could find a Japanese company that's got a traditionally weak American mindshare. Bandai Namco might like the opportunity to expand into the business of publishing America-esque FPS games as the Japanese market solidifies... Hmmm... I assume they've already talked to Capcom...

[mastro]

The tech demo I saw from IGN did not impress me. Still looked like 2ng gen GC quality to me. But I know lot of people want some good FPS so this could be good if it controls like some of the good previous FPS controls. Said this after seeing IGN leaked specs to not expect graphics to look better than GC and people should still expect them not to. Don't think this will be some amazing engine that brings the Wii close to Xbox360 quality cause it won't happen.

[ShyGuy]

Aw come on, don't be a Negative Nancy Nabob.

Graphics can and already have looked better than the Gamecube.

[blackfootsteps]

Not that it matters coz the GC pumped out some impressive graphics with a bit of TLC