People born in the Year of the Snake are deep. They say little and possess great wisdom. They never have to worry about money; they are financially fortunate. Snake people are often quite vain, selfish, and a bit stingy. Yet they have tremendous sympathy for others and try to help those less fortunate. Snake people tend to overdo, since they have doubts about other people's judgment and prefer to rely on themselves. They are determined in whatever they do and hate to fail. Although calm on the surface, they are intense and passionate. Snake people are usually good-looking and sometimes have marital problems because they are fickle.

• 28Dec 09

  The Conduit: Why It Should Have Waited

  

  Do you remember the Conduit launch? In the months leading up to its release, High Voltage Software released numerous videos displaying what their graphics engine was capable of and what to expect from their upcoming sci-fi shooter. As a result, The Conduit probably had more hype behind it than any other third party title this year. However, the game was met with mixed reactions from critics and fans alike. What went wrong?

  Reviewers complained about the game's claustrophobic environments, dumb boss AI, inconsistent graphics quality, and somewhat unstable framerate and they have a point. At times, The Conduit does seem half finished. However, these problems could have been worked out with a few more months of development time. A delay would have produced a better quality product for gamers, but there are also other missed advantages.

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  Cold Steel

  Not long after The Conduit launched, Ubisoft decided to pull Red Steel 2 from the holiday lineup. Unlike its predicessor, Red Steel 2 runs at a stable frame rate and makes use of the new motion sensing technology in Wiimotion Plus to create more accurate sword fighting mechanics. This stylized shooter would have dealt a blow to The Conduit's sales. Its absence left a void for the core gamers that High Voltage could have filled.

  No Competition

  The only first person shooter from third parties this holiday season was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex, which quietly slipped on to the market in the shadow of Modern Warfare 2. There were a few lightgun shooters, such as Dead Space and Resident Evil, but many core gamers look for a typical FPS experience. Had The Conduit came out during the holiday season with the same hype and ad campaign, it would have been a top seller among the third party titles.

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  Had High Voltage and Sega waited, they would have enjoyed better sales, and gamers would have a better product. The downside is that the extra development time would be costly to High Voltage and Sega and Wii would have a drought of quality titles during the summer. However, there is an old saying that good things come to those who wait, and had they waited, we would have all had a better experience with The Conduit.
  

  • Posted Dec 28, 2009 12:27 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 0 Comments
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