The Conduit officially announced
Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 2:04am by Jake
High Voltage software has earned my respect. This little company comes out of no where and puts forth a development effort that goes beyond the current quality of third party titles which is something far too rare these days. Today the developer rolls out an official statement of their highly anticipated Wii FPS, The Conduit. For a game still in the alpha stage…it looks sweet! Hit the jump for the press release.
Hoffman Estates, IL – June 10, 2008 - High Voltage Software, Inc., one of the world’s largest independent developers, today officially announced The Conduit, a stunning first-person action shooter that promises to provide some of the best visuals seen to date on Nintendo’s Wii gaming console, for Q1 2009 release.
Using their proprietary Quantum 3 Game Engine technology, the team at High Voltage Software is fusing fast and fluid gameplay with an advanced set of visuals intended to squarely establish the Wii as a true next-generation gaming platform. The first-person shooter boasts a competitive online multiplayer component and a thrilling single-player campaign. Advanced graphical features include dynamic environment mapping, interactive water with real-time reflection, and four-stage texture composition including gloss, diffuse, and bump mapping.
“Too many Wii owners have been told that the Wii is a casual platform with no room for serious games or top-tier graphics,” said Eric Nofsinger, Chief Creative Officer at High Voltage Software. “With The Conduit, we intend to prove that theory wrong by providing gamers with the kind of title they imagined back when the platform was first announced.”
Featuring terrifying alien creatures, an advanced Artificial Intelligence System, and a rich, conspiracy-laden story, The Conduit has more than a pretty face. “The Wii has tremendous potential,” said Kerry J. Ganofsky, CEO and founder of High Voltage Software. “We’ve invested heavily in our technology to make certain that potential is realized with The Conduit.”
The Conduit’s control scheme was carefully designed from the ground up with the Wii in mind, as were each of the weapons in the extensive armory, providing gameplay not possible on other platforms. As Secret Service Agent Ford, you must learn to master each of these weapons as well as the special “All Seeing Eye” device to defeat enemies, solve puzzles, and unravel the game’s mysteries.
“Conduit was especially designed for the Nintendo Wii” states Matt Corso, Creative Director at High Voltage Software. “From the weapons to armory and graphics, we tailored everything to the Wii which sets this game play apart from anything else on the market right now.”
Publisher excitement and interest in The Conduit has been overwhelming. High Voltage Software will continue to search for the perfect partner to ensure The Conduit’s success.
The Conduit is tentatively scheduled for release in Q1 2009 exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.
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June 12th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Western third parties should be ashamed. They should have been doing this and more on Wii 2 years ago.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:18 am
yes that is true jeff, but maybe the wii is like a pandoras box, if you succeed of opening it, you will have lots of power innit. i dont think that wii is a crap machine, it just need to be un-mystified, or something like that.
the screens look good btw, but maybe we can have something bigger ASAP?
June 12th, 2008 at 3:27 am
back:
check this out: http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/14248157/the-conduit/videos/conduit_trailer_051608.html
i may be late on this, but i have seen it before and i thought some1 else like would appreciate this one
June 12th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Just the fact that the big publishers are being shamed by a company that made shovelware last generation.
Oh well, guess they’ll get disrupted too.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:25 am
I’m all over this. This guys deserve a huge success with this title because thay’re really putting lots of effort in it. And in their other titles too, look at Gyrostarr!
On the other hand we have Protothea by Ubisoft, and you can really tell the difference.
Ubi is dead for me, until they come back to their senses and stop using the Wii as a shovelware garbage bin.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Holy crap those screens look good.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Yeah. Like I’ve said before. I will be supporting this by buying it simply because of the amount of effort that these guys are putting into it, that and it is shaping up to be a pretty good game especially where looks are concerned.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Wow, just announced and already first quarter next year? Definitely keeping an eye out for this one.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am
DANG! This game looks like it can be a REAL SWEET kick @$$ FPS for the Wii. At first when I saw the game pic on Infendo’s homepage, I thought for a split second that it was being made by Bungie. It would be sweet if this was a Halo killer.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Amen… finally a developer with huge ballz to put in the time and effort to make a quality FPS for the Wii… with the best controls for Shooters of all Next/New Gen systems. They talk big and bringing it too. We Wii owners must support them to the fullest. Success of a quality AAA title will make others open their eyes and stop the bullsh*t shovelware.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:31 am
All I can say is FINALLY! Metroid is great but Wii needs more of what it is perfect for. I have high hopes for this game and if it ends up being what they claim I will definitely pick it up. Now the next step is to make a FPS using the Balance Board to move and the Zapper to shoot…man that would be sweet!
June 12th, 2008 at 10:52 am
…and unlike Nibris, they’ve actually got proof that they’re really making something.
Burn!
I definitely have a hankering for a good FPS (you know, one that isn’t set in any kind of World War) and this just might be it. Glad to see them supporting the console, and even if the game isn’t a complete hit, that engine could definitely be given to others to have them make pretty Wii games for once.
I went back to Mario Galaxy and remembered just how pretty even a simple game can be and then wonder why everyone else does nasty-looking titles.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I would bet money that they have already secured a publisher and it will be announced at E3. If I was to guess one it would be Nintendo themselves.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:12 am
if this is a quality title, it will be a good test of whether the wii is a casual platform: it will have to sell.
and i don’t think wii owners aren’t obliged to support/puurchase anything just because it may be a cut above the muck. this isn’t an election, it’s commerce. otherwise i’d own forza instead of evil dead: regeneration, and i’ll tell you, i had a hell of a great time with evil dead, reviews be damned
June 12th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The title still needs a publisher…
June 12th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Yeah, the fact that the game is still without a publisher makes me worry to a certain degree. I passed up the opportunity to work on this game, actually (Gearbox outbid them when I was job hunting last year). I hope that these guys can actually pull this off, though. I saw a video of their tech, impressive stuff for the Wii, but alas already dated looking compared with the 360 or PS3.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I heard about this yesterday and was so exicited. I also can’t wait for their Wii Ware titles to get here.
As far as a publisher, let’s all pray that it’s not EA! That will be the meddling downfall of any future projects from this company.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
If the game comes w/ that Power Glove pictured above, I’m in!
June 12th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
yay
im definatly buying this
June 12th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
@deepthought this is not a test to see if the Wii is casual or not. If people like this game they Will pick up a Wii. Many HD console owners are excited for this and it’s not some moody FPS either. It’s got Wii mote controls and the console is cheap. Any console can become what it wants due to the type of games available for it. There is nothing about the Wii stopping the hardcore from having fun or any one to tell you the truth. No barriers.
Yet if people don’t like it then they don’t like it? Lots of games have come to the Wii but few where main stream hardcore. This game could be a direct hit. Online new weapons and Wii mote controls and every one can buy this system.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
They don’t have a publisher because they don’t need to choose one yet.
They have plenty of offers, but they don’t want the publisher to step in and change their product.
Thus, they are waiting until it is almost done in order to choose a publisher, so they can’t change much.
For example, if they secure a deal with THQ right now, THQ could tell them to scrap the online and ship it earlier(Looking at you Worms Open Warfare)
June 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I’m very afraid this is only marketing shit and the game ends up being crap.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
@RL10
i’m thinking it’s not going to ‘prove’ anything unless it tests something.
let’s see how much room there is for a good wii fps; units sold looks like a good proxy metric here.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Finally something to look forward to.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
[...] Source: Infendo [...]
June 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
This game looks sweet. I still can’t believe I’m being sucked into this type of fps. I know nearly nothing on it, but I want it. it looks sweet, the animation of the gun while moving is a definite improvement over many other games I’ve played as it’s not stiff. The level design doesn’t look bland, and there are more interesting enemies than boring ones so far. Sweet. I’ll be getting it. This is something you’ve gotta play yourself to judge, reviews be damned.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
@deepthought i don’t know about that because if you count units sold and it sells 700,000 units and the Wii sales 700,000 units that month then can you say if the Wii was bough for that game or another? That would actualy say the Wii is building a huge hardcore audience and hardcore player are going out to buy a Wii because of it?
Seriously it’s not an indicator to who is buying what plenty of hardcore bought a Wii and Wii fit LOL. Seriously people will always show up where the fun games are.
Another game you should look at it puroblazer
http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/14245910/pyroblazer/videos/pyroblz_061108.html
and here
http://www.pyroblazer.com/game/screenshots/
Another sleeper that’s going to be great has online play also.
The Wii is getting some serious games now! From an studio out of no where. This is the PS2 all over again people and it’s good!
June 12th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Sega, Capcom, Namco, Konami, EA, Activision, and Ubisoft were just put to shame by an indy dev.
Fuck yeah.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I’m actually really excited for this and I applaud High Voltage for their commendable efforts on the Wii. I can’t wait to see this game shape up, and if nothing else but to support well-made games on Wii (of which there are few and far between), I will probably buy it.
Of course, if the reviews say it’s pants, then I’ll avoid it. But I don’t see that happening.
I also like that High Voltage is choosing their publisher very carefully. According to the IGN podcast (as echoed through an email Matt Cassamassina - did I spell that right? - read to us), High Voltage is waiting to choose the publisher until the product itself is far along in development to help assure that it is not tampered with too much (if at all). That shows they really do care about the game, and that’s important.
Good for you, High Voltage! Show those big-time developers how it’s done.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:48 am
i was saying just count game units sold. no need to compare to console units sold. hardcore sleepers are why publishers are worried about room for serious wii games.
it’s not a perfect test; it’s just a test.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Andrew G. pretty good move by them to wait it out. I’m sure nintendo would write them a check if any one else is silly enough to mess with this. Yet if I was a publisher and you did want some thing changed they better have the assists ready. It works both ways you know. Publishers have tons of modelers and concept artists. I’m sure the deal would include the engine as middle ware also which means way more funding and support.
Ok it’s your test but I get the feeling hardcore are already on board or either waiting to jump on board since this console is change compared to $600 I mean you could get two of them for that.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I’m cautiously optimistic. The end product will must likely be good, but might be hampered if the publisher sticks their nose too much into the development. Also, it’s highly likely that it won’t set the sales charts on fire. But, I’m gonna buy it and enjoy it, being somewhat like an elite Wii player for purchasing games that “no one” plays.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:37 am
I am supporting this effort, but I hope they deliver! I wouldn’t want another Red Steel .. . >.