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Fill the void with The Conduit developer interview
Let's face it -- most of the gamers who read this (or any) gaming blog aren't the audience Nintendo was targeting during their E3 2008 press conference. Many long-time members of the Wii camp felt betrayed by Ninty's "major" announcements -- that's why we thought we'd try to buck-up your spirits with a GameTrailers developer interview for a title that's been gathering quite a bit of attention from fans of the pint-sized home console: High Voltage Games' The Conduit.Voltage's Chief Creative Officer, Eric Nofsinger, doesn't exactly dish any new dirt about the title in the above video, though the gameplay shown looks solid, and fairly attractive by the standards of its designated console. Whether or not it's worthy of the hype surrounding it, we'll have to wait until the first quarter of next year to find out. In the mean time, you'll just have to feign excitement over the Wii's thoroughly unexciting Noise Creation Engine.
The Conduit really connects with the Wii
Expressing interest for The Conduit is good for the Wii. Why, it's even good for gaming in general. The latest press release from High Voltage Software describes the vision for this unique shooter, and CCO Eric Nofsinger is going right against the grain, saying "Too many Wii owners have been told that the Wii is a casual platform with no room for serious games or top-tier graphics."That statement gets our hopes up for the exact opposite of everyone's favorite Wii word -- shovelware. The Conduit looks to be entirely original and crafted with the utmost care, as evidenced by the gorgeous trailer, drooled over by many. Nofsinger wants to avoid the casual stigma entirely, "by providing gamers with the kind of title they imagined back when the platform was first announced." Best of all, the release window has been confirmed for Q1 2009. That's less than one year, which is practically heaven considering some developers often jump the gun and leave us hanging with their tantalizing announcements.
Lay your eyes on The Conduit and fall in love
Following up the screens and tech demo we all got to check out (and get excited over), High Voltage has now released a rather lengthy trailer for their proposed FPS The Conduit. What do we have to say? Well, much like you will be after seeing the video above, we're in love. We need this.Everything from the amount of on-screen action right down to the badass weapon used in the beginning has us pumped. What say you all?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
WiiWare goes live!
As we anticipated, Nintendo waited until the last possible moment to reveal the details on WiiWare's U.S. launch. In a press release which describes WiiWare as the "most democratic environment in industry history," Nintendo confirmed the six titles that launched with the download service today -- and it looks like the leaked information from the weekend was spot-on: LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points Pop -- 700 Wii Points Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points So it's finally up -- hurray! Monday mornings haven't felt quite this optimistic in some time! Have any of you lot already downloaded yourself some WiiWare? %Gallery-16505% %Gallery-12067% [Via press release]
Nintendo reveals WiiWare launch List
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Nintendo_reveals_WiiWare_launch_List'; The North American WiiWare launch is almost upon us, and instead of the stealth releases that we thought were coming, Nintendo's press release of WiiWare games debuting this Monday (along with their point values) was recently leaked. While we can't be sure this list is 100% valid, it looks like we can expect the following: Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points Pop -- 700 Wii Points V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points Although we're disappointed by the lack of Dr. Mario, this looks like a pretty solid launch list to us. It'll be difficult to pick and choose exactly which titles we want, but there are definitely some that stand out more than others. How about you? Do you plan on downloading any of the above, or are you going to wait for impressions and reviews first? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Animales de la Muerte set for WiiWare
It generally doesn't take much more than a "zombie" descriptor to pique our interest in a game, but High Voltage Software (the folks behind The Conduit) went even further than that for Animales de la Muerte. Not only are they making a WiiWare game about the undead, which they aim to release in September, but even better (or at least, different) -- it's about zombie animals in a Mexican zoo.High Voltage summed up the premise of this cartoonishly zany game more cleverly than we could by saying, "Now, wandering freely through the zoo, the rotting beasts are no longer content with eating visitor scraps they get tossed into their cages -- instead they prefer to eat the whole visitor."Not only do you have to kill the zombified animals, but you also have to save the poor creatures that have not yet succumbed to the outbreak. Funnily enough, the undead animals drop pesos when you kill them, which can be used to upgrade your weapons. As for the controls, the game is essentially a point-and-shoot action title, putting the Wiimote to good use. There's also a co-op mode where you can play with up to four people, if you're not shut-ins like us.We posted some goodies after the break, including a hilarious trailer, so make sure to take a look.
Gyrostarr for WiiWare announced, no relation to Gyromite
The Conduit and Quantum3 middleware developer High Voltage Software has unveiled another Wii title in the works, Gyrostarr, this time for WiiWare. The "sci-fi" Tempest-esque shooter offers 50 procedurally-generated tracks, supporting traditional and motion-enabled controls with both Wii Remote and Wii Remote/Nunchuk options.Gyrostarr allows up to four players to compete or work cooperatively attacking the tracks, depending on how they decide to play. Weapons and power-ups litter the stages, and each ship comes equipped with a grapple gun to snatch those bonuses before other players can grab them. Expect Gyrostarr to debut for only 700 Wii Points when the WiiWare service launches.
Introducing a mature FPS in High Voltage's The Conduit
High Voltage Software has been hard at work with the Wii, apparently, as their tech demo above shows. The stuff they've done with the water is especially nice, we believe. But, a tech demo is just a tech demo, right? Correct, but what's interesting is that they are hoping the in-house engine that powers this tech demo will be used in their upcoming game, The Conduit.Now, we say "hope" because The Conduit doesn't have a publisher yet, so there's no guarantee it'll release. And from the tech demo above, and the screens that IGN has (we've tucked a few past the break), we're of the mind that this game needs a publisher. We'd like more than one good FPS on the console.
Wii Fanboy Review: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
What woman is ever going to say, "I wish I could have Chemical Castration?" That's just one of the many soul-searching questions that Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law presents us with. Based on an Adult Swim cartoon, the game combines the Birdman license with "Phoenix Wright-esque" gameplay.Usually, the problem with bringing a license to a different medium (like making a TV show into a video game or vice versa, for example) is that something always gets lost in translation. Fans of the license are often left disappointed because the new version either lacks or overshadows the things that made the original great in the first place. Fortunately, this isn't the case for Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. The game stays true to its roots, retaining all the ridiculousness and humor that fans have come to expect from the series. All this, however, doesn't come without some sacrifices.%Gallery-7527%
Ben 10 coming to multiple consoles and handhelds this fall
One of our guilty pleasures is Ben 10, a very fun anime-inspired show on the Cartoon Network (and we aren't afraid to admit it ... just mildly embarrassed). It revolves around young Ben Tennyson and the bizarre Omnitrix, a sort of an alien watch thingy, that allows him to turn into different aliens to fight the baddies with. Sure, it sounds simple ... but watch one episode and you're hooked. D3Publisher of America has announced that they are developing several different versions of the game that will be released this fall, appearing on the Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the Nintendo DS. What, no love for the 360? Even more exciting is that Ben's nemesis Kevin 11 (we kid you not) will be appearing in the game as well.
Ben 10: Protector of Earth, coming to PSP
A popular Cartoon Network series is getting a videogame adaptation, courtesy of the same team that brought you Family Guy. High Voltage Software is developing Ben 10: Protector of Earth, detailing the everyday trials and tribulations of an average boy-turned-superhero named Ben Tennyson. The game will include favorites from the show, including Grampa, Ben, Max and more. According to Careen Yapp, playable characters will include, "the Omnitrix most popular alien heroes" and, "all new locations and content." A release date is expected this fall, so stay tuned for more information.
First Family Guy gameplay video released
I gotta say the Family Guy game is looking pretty darn sharp with its cell-shaded graphics, and IGN has just released the game's first video, showing off those gorgeous good looks. However, don't get too excited yet because this video has been added to all IGN channels its being developed for. Still, even if it's not the PSP version, it should still look very comparable. Gamespy had the privelage to play an early build and said the gameplay tends to get boring, but the visuals and storyline are very good. Family Guy, which will be published by 2K Games and developed by High Voltage Software is set to ship Oct. 16.
Family Guy previewed
A few years ago, the thought of a Family Guy video game was almost laughable. The series was cancelled and things weren't looking good, but thanks to the success of the series on DVD and immense fan support, the cartoon was resurrected and now things everything is happy, happy, joy, joy.Hoping to cash in on its new-found success, 2K Games and developer High Voltage Software are bringing Family Guy to the PSP Oct. 2.The game, which is cell-shaded and what cartoon-based game isn't anymore, puts players in control of Stewie, Peter and Brian, each with their own storyline.Gamespy says the graphics are nice and the storyline is fun, but the gameplay may get boring to some, and High Voltage Software needs to address some animation and audio problems.(Via Gamespy)
