PRESS RELEASE — SEGA of America, Inc. today announced a worldwide partnership with High Voltage Software to publish and distribute the Wii home video game system-exclusive title, The Conduit. The first-person shooter garnered multiple awards at E3 2008, including Best Wii Game by GameTrailers and three awards from IGN: Best Shooting Game (Wii), Best Graphics Technology (Wii) and Best Overall Wii Game. The Conduit is a stunning, futuristic title powered by a new game engine technology that delivers remarkable visuals and effects, as well as a rich interactive experience that is unlike any other title on the Wii.
“The Conduit is one of the most talked-about Wii games this year and High Voltage Software has only scratched the surface of the game in terms of what they have shown so far,” says Simon Jeffery, President of SEGA of America, Inc. “They have proven that graphical and technological innovation can be exciting to the Wii market, and SEGA is thrilled to partner with a team that truly shares our belief in the Wii’s gaming potential beyond the casual market.”
“High Voltage Software’s partnership with SEGA to publish The Conduit represents an important milestone for this studio,” said Kerry Ganofsky, CEO and founder of High Voltage Software, Inc. “SEGA shares our vision for the title and its tremendous potential, which is why we chose them from a long list of potential partners. With their support, we are confident that The Conduit will deliver the definitive shooter experience that Wii fans have been waiting for.”
The Conduit takes players into a dark story in Washington D.C. after a vicious alien invasion has rocked the country. An organization called the Trust has sent in Secret Service agent, Mr. Ford, to go up against the insect-like alien race known as “The Drudge.” Armed with an array of futuristic weaponry and an intelligence-gathering device simply called the “All-Seeing Eye,” players follow an intricate storyline filled with conspiracy, shady government activity and terrifying aliens.
The Conduit’s detailed control system allows players to customize and configure look sensitivity, turning speed, the dead zone and much more. As players delve further into the mystery behind the extraterrestrial invasion, shocking details reveal that the invasion may have been brought on with help from the government itself.
Powered by High Voltage Software’s groundbreaking Quantum 3 engine, The Conduit ensures that players will experience single and multiplayer gameplay with graphical fidelity never seen before on the Wii. The Conduit will also support the recently announced Wii Speak peripheral, allowing online multiplayer gamers the ability to chat as they destroy aliens in each terrifying level. Additionally, the game will take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus for optimal control.
The Conduit, exclusively for the Wii, is slated to ship in spring 2009. For more information on the game, please visit www.conduitgame.com. For screenshots and art, please visit the SEGA FTP site at http://segapr.segaamerica.com.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooooooooo
hv ftw.,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
who else smells a cameo by shadow the hedgehog?
Sega is lame, Nintendo should have picked this game up.
Cool. Now if only Sega would give some of that Aliens Colonial Marines loving to the Wii.
Yeah EthoSoccer, I just know they are going to some stupid thing like that to mess it up. I wish Nintendo would’ve got this one.
@RoyalRook:
What’s interesting is that the Sega representatives at PAX said the same thing to me! They wanted Nintendo to pick it up as well!
I’m willing to bet that they’re not going to screw this up with any Sonic stuff. FYI, it said SEGA, not Sonic Team.
If anyone messes up this game, it will be High Voltage. Publishers have some say in a game, but this thing has lived and died on the words and development of High Voltage. I imagine they used that point as leverage in the negotiations with Sega, and this game will remain a relatively High Voltage-only affair. Sega will help distribute and market it, and take their cut, and that’s it.
The fact that Nintendo did not pick this one up still troubles me, though, for a variety of reasons.
While I’m excited for this game…it looks more than similar to Metroid Prime 3. Could the graphics really prove to be better? If not then everything they say about the visuals is flub. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Atleast we’ll have another good looking FPS to play…something Wii seriously is lacking…and with multi-player too.
While I’m here…why was I so rudely banned from the forums? I did nothing other than discuss real world issues…maybe you guys can’t handle that.
That’s probably the kind of question you would want to post in the forums somewhere.
@Joltman
Right? How cool it would have been if Nintendo just stop being the big bad N, and throw a good will party for this game instead of today’s Sega. Which doesn’t even add hype for this game, anymore. If Nintendo had picked this game up, I can see a million copies sold in a period of six month, no sweat.
@TWhite
i like to debate about real world issues as well, but in case you didn’t know it’s a Nintendo site.
maybe sega can use the engine for it’s own games on the wii.
I’m not worried that Nintendo didn’t pick it up. I think Sega is more than capable of showcasing the title in the manner it needs to be, and I only wish they’d pay some more attention to their Sonic titles (though as someone above mentioned, we should largely blame Sonic Team for that).
However, it would have looked really good for Nintendo had they picked it up, and I’m a bit puzzled by the non-decision. But whatever.
While Nintendo publishing the title would have been great, it’s obvious that if they did, some third parties, maybe even Sega, would have silently bitched them out for “yet again proving that only Nintendo games sell on Nintendo systems.” Nintendo has absolutely no possibility of pleasing these third parties, who will set up pathways to blame Nintendo for their failures, regardless of their efforts.
Despite the myth that Nintendo has been bad to third parties, it’s actually quite the opposite. In the past, Nintendo has:
1. Neutered their own titles for the DS American launch, literally delaying the translation of simple titles like Pokemon Dash and Jam with the Band (which never came out here) just so third parties would have a shot, and they still failed against a port of SM64, citing the “desire” and “excitement” of the PSP. *chuckle*
2. On many occasions, actually developed their own third party games. Sword of Mana was developed by a Nintendo Second Party named Brownie Brown, Heroes of Mana as well by the same, Dragon Quest Swords was made by Genius Sonority, and was even the most successful “third party” console game in Japan until MGS4 came out. Most infamous of all is Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. This game cost Nintendo their second party Silicon Knights, and Konami didn’t even run ads for it because they didn’t want to “confuse” potential MGS3 buyers. Hell they pretend the game doesn’t even exist, but those two awful PSP games and the CARD games do.
If anything, this is partly Nintendo’s fault, but not in the Nintendo-actions-in-the-80s way. They’ve been taking undue abuse from these third parties and turned every cheek available. And the reaons is because if they were to even raise one word in complaint or resistance, they would be skewered by the waiting IGNs, bitter that their predictions of a PSP and PS3/360 rout of Nintendo fell flat.
Nintendo has bent over backwards for these third parties and they’ve been kicked in the nuts every time. The prime example was the free Metal Gear Solid 4 advertising Nintendo did with their premier flagship core game, SSBB. Did Konami return the favor? With anything? At all? No.
They were told last generation that their userbase was too small for any real support, technology be damned. This time, suddenly technology is way more important than userbase. What a cowinkydink that happens just as Nintendo grabs the mantle as ruler. And thus Nintendo’s had to grovel on the ground to get games they should be getting just because they are the market leaders.
Normally this would just be a Nintendo fan’s lament, but this is dangerous ground these third parties are treading on. Nature abhors a vacuum, and if third parties don’t care about their reputations on the market leading console, that’s just more money and revenue for Nintendo and any young upstart that wants an open playing field that would normally be shut by one of these giants. This gives Nintendo more money, better market position to introduce new technology, and nearly unconditional support from new 3rd parties and publishers about to die. And the current snobby third parties will find themselves irrelevant to the majority of console gamers, and wonder why Microsoft and Sony simply can’t afford to give them moneyhats anymore.
Wow Jeff! A little pissed off at the state of the industry today? I understand. When I read the Bethesda comment on another site about how they are not interested in the Wii, it baffled me. Not only is the Wii the market leader, it will soon have an installed base as great as the 360 and PS3 combined. And still there are companies that say “I’m not interested”. Go figure. Anyway I’m happy Sega are picking this up. They are publishing a slew of good Wii and DS games. They are the third party that excites me the most for 2009.
Sega is publishing Madworld and the new House of the Dead. There’s nothing with the publishing aspect of Sega, just their excessive need to make Sonics for money.
i really can’t wait for this game. Sega is really supporting the Wii a lot, go Sega.
DAY1
“SEGA is thrilled to partner with a team that truly shares our belief in the Wii’s gaming potential beyond the casual market.â€
I am loving that sentence.
To be honest, I’m not overly arsed who publishes this so long as it does actually get released, thankfully now that’s certain to happen and I can’t wait.
Day 1 for as well ECC but me living in the UK will probs mean that my day 1 is your day 250
.
Nature may abhor a vacuum, but the industry is just fine with them, much to my personal and professional dismay.
I love Sega, I have since I was a kid, but in the recent post-Dreamcast years they’ve lost a lot of their luster. Lately, everything they’ve touched has turned to garbage by and large, and while I doubt that will happen here, I’m still concerned with Sega taking over publishing chores for this game.
Jeff hit the nail on the head, the chest, inner thigh and parts of the ass.
I love you Jeff.
@Jeff
Well, no one is arguing that Nintendo is not the one and only TRUE first party of the entire video game industry, hahahaha, I am not joking, think about it.
Loved your post btw.
@ Richter and any other “disbelievers”: fear not, SEGA won’t touch this game as it won’t touch any game made by Platinum Games!
They are simply producing it and marketing it, just like they do with Football Manager (made by sports interactive) here in Europe!
Thank goodness for that.
Now if this game is a success, we FINALLY will have a game to point at and say
“LOOK, 3rd party core games sell on Wii, and do better if you put effort in. Now you have no excuses left. Ignore us at your own peril”
Even better, maybe we’ll see Sega tap into some of the Quantum3 engine goodies.
All we have to do now is buy it. I’m going to, are you?
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but Sega publishing this game actually makes quite a bit of sense. It fits into Sega’s current line up nicely, it fits with Sega’s support of the Wii and lord knows Sega is always in need of a decent game or two to keep their public image out of the basement. Heck, if this does well there’s no reason there shouldn’t be a Conduit 2 or 3.
I’m of an opinion that Sega is still on relatively shaky ground. The company is in fairly good shape, but if they’re not careful too many slip ups could be disastrous. Shenmue 3, for example, would be way too much of a risk and it probably wouldn’t pay off. A game like Conduit, though, seems like a much safer bet. No, it won’t be a bajillion but it will probably cement Sega’s image as a company that publishes enjoyable, if not really killer, games.
I think that it’s great that Sega’s publishing The COnduit. Yeah it would be great if Nintendo published it but as what’s been stated before, Nintendo needs high quality third party titles.
I am excited about the supported features their giving the game. Inclusion of Wii Speak, and Wiimotion+. First the Wii Speak; it would be awesome to just sit there playing a game solo and yet still be able to talk with friends over WiiSpeak and also that same ability to talk smack in the middle of a deathmatch. That’s great all in it’s own. As for Wiimotion+, I still don’t know what to make of that. How will it be used, that’s my second biggest concern for The Conduit.
My main concern however is multiplayer. Mainly, will Sega use Nintendo’s Friend Code system? Or will Sega use their own server to have multiplayer run on so as to avoid that crappy system? Either way, at the moment The Conduit is the game to watch for Wii in the coming months. It’s probably going to do the most for the core gamers on Wii. I will certainly pick this up as soon as possible.