High Voltage setting third-party Wii standard?
Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 8:20pm by Derek
We’ve discussed it on Infendo and analyzed the situation from almost every possible angle, but aside from some sporadic gems and surprises, the state of third-party Wii software remains, well…quite regrettable.
Which makes the recently unveiled Wii projects from Illinois-based High Voltage Software, the development studio behind licensed Wii detritus like Ben 10: Protector of Earth and Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, even more surprising. Only an optimistic few expected such promising third-party Wii software in 2008, and given its mediocre Wii track record, even fewer expected these unlikely games to come from High Voltage Software.
I speak for all of the pessimists; we stand corrected.
It started in mid-April when High Voltage revealed The Conduit, an ambitious first-person shooter with a science-fiction twist exclusive to the Nintendo Wii. Perhaps even more exciting than the game itself was High Voltage’s announcement of its Quantum3 gameplay engine, designed to push the Wii hardware technically further than any third-party had yet attempted. The prospect of future third-party games using this or similar technology to emphatically raise the bar for Wii software was simply too promising to ignore.
Less than one week later, High Voltage pulled back the curtain on Gyrostarr, a gorgeous space shooter designed with an eclectic style for WiiWare. In the exclusive IGN preview, High Voltage said Gyrostarr challenges up to four players “to fly through a twisting, turning techno-plasma canal in space, collecting energy to penetrate an alien portal and warp to the next conduit.”
While the announcements of The Conduit and Gyrostarr were more than enough to garner High Voltage some serious attention, the company then revealed yet another captivating Wii project. Two days after showing off Gyrostarr for the first time, High Voltage revealed a second WiiWare project due for a tentative Sept. 2008 release: a bizarre top-down shooter entitled Animales de la Muerte.
The game takes place “down in Mexico,” where players assume the roles of young Marco and Maria Mendoza, the grandchildren of a zookeeper with a serious problem; the animals in his zoo have turned into bloodthirsty zombies. Utilizing a classic top-down view similar to that of SEGA’s Wii shooter Alien Syndrome, Marco and Maria must explore the decimated zoo to save the remaining animals and massacre the zombified ones with a brutal arsenal of weaponry. Animales de la Muerte utilizes a colorful, cartoony style that complements the absurd bloodletting remarkably well; think Wind Waker if Link sliced Moblins in half with his Master Sword.
Given that each of these projects is still in development, gamers could be setting themselves up for disappointment by assuming they are the ushers of a new era in Wii development. But there is at least something to be said for intuition; unlike most third-party Wii efforts, there is an inescapable feeling of pure excitement surrounding these three projects, however inadvisable such expectations may be.
Could High Voltage be setting a new third-party standard for Wii software? Maybe. Of course, we could be witnessing three more Red Steel-like disappointments in the making. But at the very least, there seems to be some sincere effort behind the development of these three unique games. Perhaps High Voltage’s efforts could show other developers that creating exciting new content for Wii is not only a noble artistic decision, but a wise business one, too.
A little hope never hurt anyone, and in terms of truly great third-party Wii games, hope is really all we have. Expect more on High Voltage and its potential Wii “holy trinity” in the coming months.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:27 pm
“I speak for all of the pessimists; we stand corrected.”
No.
Not yet.
But I HOPE when the games are out, and if they are good, I hope then to be stood corrected.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I myself, CAN NOT wait for Animals de la Muerta!!
May 1st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I’ll be downloading Gyrostarr no matter what any review or public opinion says. That is one of very games to win me over with beautiful graphics. I love stuff like that. It looks a bit like F-Zero GX meets Audiosurf visually. The ameplay sounds very promising. I will try it since I playing is believing.
Ack, no one better remember this post, I usually don’t pick games out like this.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:03 pm
It’s only a standard if others aspire to it.
That’s not happening, and without a publisher, their non-WiiWare titles don’t actually exist in any meaningful sense.
In fact, such a promising piece of tech and not having a publisher indicates that the 3rd party industry has no interest in supporting the Wii in any real capacity at any point in the near future.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:05 pm
high voltage ??? man the last game i played from the was lego racers and not the crumby N64 version i’m talkin bout the pc version.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Yeah those games in there past are what people call paying your dues in the industry. Those where not original projects. After doing that for a while you realize how hard it is to make some thing else cool while wearing handcuffs.
The crazy zoo game is a day one buy for me it has the shoot em up factor and craziness that just going to be fun and looks like it’ll be a challeng too but who knows I’m still getting it.
Gyrostarr is some thing I’m buying also becuase of the four player thing and the arcade like shooting fix with a twist.
The conduit? Well it has no publisher yet but you know what? I don’t really care what any publisher says now. If they say that certain effects are not possible on the Wii I will point at the conduit. I has done it job just by existing. I mean it has loads of stuff that people said just where not possible. And normal mapping along with good material shaders is the other one. Then it actually had projected lighting also! Hell at this point they could just do a golden eye remake and I would buy it or better yet port quake 3 using this! What is funny is I will buy this game just to see what they can do on the Wii for my own eyes! Yeah if it rocks then welcome to the big league guys! Here is your pen and your check book… write away they will be so paid! hold up let me get my resume!
May 1st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
@ Runline
I’ve got two words for you: Luigi’s Mansion
You heard me. Go boot it up and you’ll soon realise that the very first released Gamecube game incorperated Bump mapping/EMBM type effects, Specularity, Light shafts, Full Scene Self Shadowing, Multiple local lights, Proper reflection mapping, complex transparency/Bloom effects, cloth physics and many more effects. Quantum shouldn’t impress us, it should shame the industry. These effects should have been standard in 2002. Factor 5 got Normal Mapping working on Gamecube in 2003. Everyone else being lazy doesn’t make this impressive, more a relief.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:21 pm
@elmer you are right yet Luigi’s Mansion wasn’t as demanding texture wise. But you are right, but wait if any thing we should say factor 5’s gen of a game. Booting that game up is like a freak of nature! I still can’t believe that was done on the GC. It just freaks me out! I think that is one of the apples of this system to me too. I’m a tech guy and after seeing where GPU are this thing just totally impresses me by going another direction completely.The giant destroyers where a normal mapping feat on that system! But the reason why this is so big is it’s not nintendo nor factor 5 but yet a developer that many pegged as a nobody. Yes it is a shame to the industry but there is so much more to be ashame of…LOL Then on top of that they don’t have a publisher? WOW huh?
Oyeah capcom got it working on the GC also it would seem. Yet I think part of the problem is they where using textures to draw detail on to the model rather than baking polygon geometry into the pixels which is basically what normal mapping does. I’ve done both and nothing I repeat nothing beats normal mapping for this effect. I think most of these games where using some other form of bump mapping before this… but hey I got models to test it out! We will see before it’s all over. If you can take a model from mubbox or z brush into it and keep the detail then I would have to say that yes this is a break thur. Yes their will be some lowering of textures but hey most people use 256×256 any way.
Also too what happens if Mario galaxies had levels like that in Luigi’s Mansion also? I mean there is a lot of untapped coolness here that maybe the next mario can make good no you know? They have some untapped this stuff in there though. Now what would really put a smile on my face would be a next gen version of mario 3 with all the effects we just talked about and some level like galaxies and some like other games… now that would be epic!
Also I think HVolt problem may be IP related. That was Ubisofts problem with red steel along with the bad melee fighting and cut scenes. Seriously they should fly suda 51 in for this one….LOL and tell him to go with the current theme… I’d bet you get a crazy metal gear like story and if we did that would be cool but with less sneaking and more golden eye like play.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 am
I like their attitude, but really none of it mtters to me till there’s a game that I can play. It’s too easy to get burned by promising loking early videos.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 am
I’m honestly rooting for these guys, especially seeing how most 3rd party publishers are still hesitant on the Wii.
Besides, have you seen the luchador?! He flying-kicks zombies! Also, the padre seems like he’ll kill everything on stage.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
High Voltage doesn’t ahve a publisher yet, but that doesn’t eman theya ren’t getting one. They currently have 10 beating the wood out of their doors.
http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2008/04/23/87599/
August 31st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
[...] this list includes Nintendo’s Wario Land: Shake It! and third-party titles like Mega Man 9, de Blob, Samba de Amigo and this irreverent Animales de la Muerte. [...]