High Voltage Software Talks Again ..

...

"The motion controls of the Wii are perfect for FPS games, yet really good shooters on the Wii were few and far between. Also, the graphics we saw on the Wii were much less than what we knew was possible. Developers and publishers kept saying the Wii was underpowered. We're showing that it was underestimated." - Rob Nicholls, Lead Game Designer at HVS

And my thoughts are ... I'll believe it when I see it.

... and thus far, I has not seen it.

If they truly want to push Wii's hardware, they need to stop making games they think are "awesome" just for the sake of being awesome.

They need to make visually appealing games by finding good art direction - not just having art direction the way it is because, like I said early, its awesome.

The movie 300 wasn't good because it was "AWESOME!" it was good for other reasons. Gladiator A.D. looks like 300 for the sake of looking like 300 - probably because HVS thinks its an awesome film because of the gore and the violence, so its 'awesome'.

Seriously. I'm tired of them talking so big. When I see a game that I can actually say LOOKS good for the console - and finally looks better than Super Mario Galaxy, I'll give them the respect they deserve.

Until then, I'll keep telling them they're wrong .. because they keep talking about how they're the saviour of the Wii.

They're a small independent dev their just trying to market. Do you get angry at every E3 presenter or person in an interview who says that their game will be great?

They're a small independent dev their just trying to market. Do you get angry at every E3 presenter or person in an interview who says that their game will be great?

webbut

Haziq, I can see why you're angry at HVS for being so cocky and I agree it is a bit much but honestly, could you name another third party developer that is at least stating that they are trying to push the Wii's hardware? I say, at least they're trying. It's because of that kind of thinking that we lose great companies that have potential to at least try and make a decent game.

Truthfully, if they want to believe that they are the so-called "savior" to the wii, let them. All that will come from it if everybody keeps shunning them is that we'll lose a good developer. I also have to disagree with you because I think Gladiator A.D. does indeed look good while not as good as they're claiming. I can agree with you that the blood and gore in that game is excessive but what kind of true Roman Gladiator battle has no blood and/or gore? They fought to the death for crying out loud, it's supposed to be bloody.

You are entitled to your opinion and I respect that and you are right about them talking so cocky but it's really not that serious. They're just a company trying to get their name out there. Can't be mad at that.

I think you are exaggerating their claims, at least in this particular case.

"The motion controls of the Wii are perfect for FPS games, yet really good shooters on the Wii were few and far between." True. There are two.. Call of Duty and Medal of Honor.

"Also, the graphics we saw on the Wii were much less than what we knew was possible. Developers and publishers kept saying the Wii was underpowered." True. There are some really good looking games, but alarge majority of them do not push Wii hardware at all.

"We're showing that it was underestimated." True. The Conduit has better visuals, technical or otherwise, than a large majority of Wii games. Also, I see no reason why The Conduit won't live up to the likes of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor on Wii, which are infact really good games.

i think the only reason why big devs like valve, epic games and bungie don't brag about themselves and their products is because they don't really need to anymore. they are already stabilished. they already stand on their own. they're already THE valve, THE epic games, THE bungie. we know their next games will rock because, well... they are making them. i see HVS as a tiny salesman trying so hard to sell his product to us, their possible clients, that it gets a bit annoying sometimes, but you can't really blame them. they ARE trying, and that's a fact. had they started serious business along with the aforementioned big badass companies back in the day, instead of the licensed stuff they use to develop, they too would be big today.

personally, i don't think they'll save the wii with their oh so awesome games (since the wii doesn't need to be saved from anything) but i believe they can become a fine developer if they deliver what they're promising. if they don't... well. shame on them.

1- i thought the conduit discussion was allowed only on the official sticky thread 2- what i've seen of the conduit's textures is nothing close to surprising. but gameplay looks fun.BrunoBRS

stop hating hvs for trying sure they're being a bit arrogant but confidence ensures sales afterall, would you let a very arrogant doctor who says he aced all his exams by trying very hard to get where he is and who says he's awesome treat you or would you let a shy doctor who's nervous about their abilities treat you? arrogance can be good occasionally if the conduit sucks, then you can start complaining at themAdmiralWolverin

Unfortunately, HVS isn't the same as this doctor that has aced all of his exams. They're pretty much that doctor that has had a few nice sessions and just as many, if not more, sessions that have made a patient worse. There was nothing wrong with 90% of that statement, in all honestly. The problem comes when they try to put themselves so much higher than every other Wii developer, even though they've also had a hand in some pretty poor efforts for the system. Nothing wrong with confidence, but what HVS is aiming for is beyond that now. They're just being flat-out blind with arrogance and self-hype, from where I stand.

Just because the employees at HVS speak out more doesn't mean that other developers aren't putting in just as much, if not more, effort into thier products. It doesn't make a certain developers RPG or puzzle game any less signficant than HVS' shooters or super-violent fighting game just because the people behind it aren't speaking hyperbole each and everytime they're interviewed. Something has to be said about being humble and being able to let your work speak for itself, rather than you constantly trying to speak for it. I'll give HVS one thing, though; they've certainly done one heck of a job making themselves at least well-known in this day and age, despite the resume.

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"]1- i thought the conduit discussion was allowed only on the official sticky thread 2- what i've seen of the conduit's textures is nothing close to surprising. but gameplay looks fun.dan_the_menace

anyways, i think they're trying to somehow, intentionally or not, expand the market for the wii, since, like they said many times, the wii lacks (decent) exclusive FPS' and the multiplatforms are (mostly, not always) awful. so if the conduit works, it's their big chance to become something more than just "the guys that used to make lego racers" and try big projects, and obviously make the conduit 2 (with decent textures this time, i hope. the great gunshot effects [read: whatever comes out from a gun] contrasted with the terible textures for everything, including the gun itself, is weird)

...

"The motion controls of the Wii are perfect for FPS games, yet really good shooters on the Wii were few and far between. Also, the graphics we saw on the Wii were much less than what we knew was possible. Developers and publishers kept saying the Wii was underpowered. We're showing that it was underestimated." - Rob Nicholls, Lead Game Designer at HVS

And my thoughts are ... I'll believe it when I see it.

... and thus far, I has not seen it.

---

If they truly want to push Wii's hardware, they need to stop making games they think are "awesome" just for the sake of being awesome.

They need to make visually appealing games by finding good art direction - not just having art direction the way it is because, like I said early, its awesome.

The movie 300 wasn't good because it was "AWESOME!" it was good for other reasons. Gladiator A.D. looks like 300 for the sake of looking like 300 - probably because HVS thinks its an awesome film because of the gore and the violence, so its 'awesome'.

Seriously. I'm tired of them talking so big. When I see a game that I can actually say LOOKS good for the console - and finally looks better than Super Mario Galaxy, I'll give them the respect they deserve.

Until then, I'll keep telling them they're wrong .. because they keep talking about how they're the saviour of the Wii.

Haziqonfire

Old news, old quote

[QUOTE="Haziqonfire"]

...

"The motion controls of the Wii are perfect for FPS games, yet really good shooters on the Wii were few and far between. Also, the graphics we saw on the Wii were much less than what we knew was possible. Developers and publishers kept saying the Wii was underpowered. We're showing that it was underestimated." - Rob Nicholls, Lead Game Designer at HVS

And my thoughts are ... I'll believe it when I see it.

... and thus far, I has not seen it.

---

If they truly want to push Wii's hardware, they need to stop making games they think are "awesome" just for the sake of being awesome.

They need to make visually appealing games by finding good art direction - not just having art direction the way it is because, like I said early, its awesome.

The movie 300 wasn't good because it was "AWESOME!" it was good for other reasons. Gladiator A.D. looks like 300 for the sake of looking like 300 - probably because HVS thinks its an awesome film because of the gore and the violence, so its 'awesome'.

Seriously. I'm tired of them talking so big. When I see a game that I can actually say LOOKS good for the console - and finally looks better than Super Mario Galaxy, I'll give them the respect they deserve.

Until then, I'll keep telling them they're wrong .. because they keep talking about how they're the saviour of the Wii.

bakerk2002

Old news, old quote

I think HVS is doing good at what they'r doing but like you said... they need a little help here and there. Being an artist myself, I can see where one would argue with their "art direction" to a certain extent. The enviroments are rather bland looking, and I've said this a hundred times...but what do you expect Washington D.C. to look like? It isn't the most vibrant of cities on Earth, so I can see why they went that way. The only thing that made me ponder is towhy the put so much emphasis on the character models (which look great for a Wii game) visually. Textures, lighting, etc. all look great, but they almost look to good compared to the enviroments. This is only judging from video clips, I'm hoping it will not be as noticeable when I actually play the game.

Gladiator A.D. is not something I'm interested in personally, but it might end up being alright in the end. The same applies to this game as to what I mentioned above about the Conduit. Certain parts (armour, weapons) look very attractive, but the character's skins look very ugly. The enviroments are better looking this time around though. The only real problem I had with any of the footage I've seen, is the blood effects. That looked like N64ish to me.From what I know, this game is still in early devlopement, and hopefully they can polish things up.

We'll have to wait and see

Do you really need to start yet another thread on this? You're starting to sound like a broken record. They've already proven it. They are doing many things graphically that others can't and the Wii controls are perfect for FPSs. Personally, I like the "art" direction of The Conduit. Not every game needs to look like a comic book. You complain about The Gladiator, yet you give Red Steele 2 a free pass for going out of their way to force what they think is awsome on you (bashing doors with your sword repeatedly to open because they think hitting things for the sake of hitting things is awesome, and shooting switches or locks to open gates because they think shooting things is awesome -- they admitted both in the dev walkthrough) . Other third parties are hyping their games just as much as HVS.psychobrew

I actually think those things in Red Steel 2 are pointless and not needed. And those are minor things when compared to HVS's idea of awesome, which is implimented throughout the whole game in different areas.

And no - other developers don't hype their games as if they're the best thing to hit the Wii. They say what they're trying to do - they don't act as if they've already done it.

I actually think those things in Red Steel 2 are pointless and not needed. And those are minor things when compared to HVS's idea of awesome, which is implimented throughout the whole game in different areas.

Haziqonfire

To me, it's the little things that make or break the game, and every game is somebody's idea of awesome.

And no - other developers don't hype their games as if they're the best thing to hit the Wii. They say what they're trying to do - they don't act as if they've already done it.

Haziqonfire

Maybe not, but that's because most third party devs just started caring about the Wii (the hype train from other devs are most definitely ramping up though). Every developer hypes their games as the best thing ever on 360 and PS3. It's pretty much normal.

Old news.

You've already said many times the types of games your into, stick with those and stop crying about High Voltage? It's really just making it look like they ran over your dog as a child and your out for revenge:-/

Ok HVS is a little big headed but I'd rather have them being big headed about making good Wii games than being too arrogant to even touch the Wii.

I'd say they have something to brag about, that looks really good.

My biggest problem with HvS is that they lack any sense of creativity.

Ok HVS is a little big headed but I'd rather have them being big headed about making good Wii games than being too arrogant to even touch the Wii.

I'd say they have something to brag about, that looks really good.

umcommon

[QUOTE="webbut"]

They're a small independent dev their just trying to market. Do you get angry at every E3 presenter or person in an interview who says that their game will be great?

Haziqonfire

Ok HVS is a little big headed but I'd rather have them being big headed about making good Wii games than being too arrogant to even touch the Wii.

I'd say they have something to brag about, that looks really good.

umcommon

Thanks! I've never seen that video. I watched a few of that person's Conduit videos and I gotta say, the AI looks really improved since I last saw it. The agents still look stupid though as in they don't seem to move much. Only real problem I see visually is some textures seem half-assed and could use some lighting work, but I won't complain. Still gonna buy this game.

You know whats getting even more tiring? People whining about HVS, what do you expect them to do come out and say "oh yeah our games crap, we poored millions into it but you probably shouldn't play it" Lets be realistic, if someone asks about thier games they are going to talking positively about them. Also toss in the fact that they are doing two FPS, these games generally don't have an awe inspiring artsytle, no they are just heavy on the effects, have nice looking set pieces, in laymens terms they have nice graphics, thats it. So why should they do any differently, when that has obviously made people happy? If you don't want to buy thier games, don't buy the games, but please stop coming on here to cry about them doing what everybody else does. Sepewrath

metroid prime 3 corruption > the conduit in every EVERY single aspect

except the controles and the online even if metroid had the best controles for fps it still didnt have the costumazation that the conduit offers.

the graphics on mario galaxy and metroid are better then the conduits

metroid prime 3 corruption > the conduit in every EVERY single aspect

except the controles and the online even if metroid had the best controles for fps it still didnt have the costumazation that the conduit offers.

the graphics on mario galaxy and metroid are better then the conduits

DeadEndPanda

metroid prime 3 corruption > the conduit in every EVERY single aspect

except the controles and the online even if metroid had the best controles for fps it still didnt have the costumazation that the conduit offers.

the graphics on mario galaxy and metroid are better then the conduits

DeadEndPanda

Galaxy graphics are overrated. It may be visually pleasing due to the art style, but let's be honest – the game has a limited color palette and practically no textures. The Conduit is technically superior to both Galaxy and Metroid.

The only reason HVS is getting respect from Nintendo fans is because they saw that people were complaining on message boards about the Wii not having games that they shouldn't have expected to be on the Wii in the first place, and now they're cattering to that niche by creating rip-offs of games that are on the 360. Ok, I'm exhaggerating here, but the point is that the only reason that HVS has fans is because the fans see them as a false savior of sorts. GamerJM

Yeah, you're right in a way. I thought the Conduit was really something pretty special, but Gladiator A.D. and The Grinder were made just because they thought they were, as you said, "awsome". They played Left4Dead, and said "this game is awsome! Let's make this for Wii!", and the same thing with Gladiator and 300. These guys are talented, but I think they need to try to do something a bit more original. So far it seems like they're just spinning off of other's ideas. Like Dreamworks!

[QUOTE="DeadEndPanda"]

metroid prime 3 corruption > the conduit in every EVERY single aspect

except the controles and the online even if metroid had the best controles for fps it still didnt have the costumazation that the conduit offers.

the graphics on mario galaxy and metroid are better then the conduits

psychobrew

Galaxy graphics are overrated. It may be visually pleasing due to the art style, but let's be honest – the game has a limited color palette and practically no textures. The Conduit is technically superior to both Galaxy and Metroid.

Yeah, but from an artistic standpoint, the Conduit is pretty unimpressive. There's more to games than just good graphics. For a game to stand out from the crowd it has to be artistically impressive as well. That's why Metroid Prime 3 is held in such high regard. The art direction is crazy good. Same thing with Mario Galaxy. I'm hyped for the Conduit, but I don't want to be a blind fanboy. Let's be honest--the Conduit is pretty generic in the art department.

My biggest problem with HvS is that they lack any sense of creativity.

shoryuken_

[QUOTE="shoryuken_"]

My biggest problem with HvS is that they lack any sense of creativity.

DaViD_99

Yeah, you're right in a way. I thought the Conduit was really something pretty special, but Gladiator A.D. and The Grinder were made just because they thought they were, as you said, "awsome". They played Left4Dead, and said "this game is awsome! Let's make this for Wii!", and the same thing with Gladiator and 300. These guys are talented, but I think they need to try to do something a bit more original. So far it seems like they're just spinning off of other's ideas. Like Dreamworks!

blankshore

Left 4 Dead is a spin off of Hunter: The Reckoning, which High Voltage developed in the first place. The Grinder is much closer to the Hunter games anyway, but if you must pick on HVS, pick on them for copying an idea that was copied off of them in the first place.

Destructoid on The Grinder

Destructoid said they've never seen anything like Gladiator A.D.

Destructoid onGladiator A.D.

More Destructoid on Gladiator A.D.

Both games are going to be epic.

[QUOTE="blankshore"]

Yeah, you're right in a way. I thought the Conduit was really something pretty special, but Gladiator A.D. and The Grinder were made just because they thought they were, as you said, "awsome". They played Left4Dead, and said "this game is awsome! Let's make this for Wii!", and the same thing with Gladiator and 300. These guys are talented, but I think they need to try to do something a bit more original. So far it seems like they're just spinning off of other's ideas. Like Dreamworks!

psychobrew

Left 4 Dead is a spin off of Hunter: The Reckoning, which High Voltage developed in the first place. The Grinder is much closer to the Hunter games anyway, but if you must pick on HVS, pick on them for copying an idea that was copied off of them in the first place.

Destructoid on The Grinder

Destructoid said they've never seen anything like Gladiator A.D.

Destructoid onGladiator A.D.

More Destructoid on Gladiator A.D.

Both games are going to be epic.

Hunter: The Reckoning was SWEET co-op zombie killing :D The Judge = epic win.

Something has to be said about being humble and being able to let your work speak for itself, rather than you constantly trying to speak for it. Madmangamer364

When someone insists on something that should be self-evident, it calls into question the validity of it. In other words, they only say it because otherwise you might not even consider it. Imagine your friend is a musician and he just composed a new song. Rather than just letting you listen to it and say what you think, your friend insists that this piece is his best yet and better than most other songs in its genre. Yet up to that point, all of his music had been mediocre at best. Then when you actually hear the song, it's better than his old stuff but nothing amazing. Think about how your reaction would be different in this case than if your friend had just flipped on the song without talking it up so much.

High Voltage would've been better off letting their work speak for itself. I understand the argument that they needed a publisher, but if the game had really been so great, publishers would've been jumping at it just by seeing it; they wouldn't have needed all the hyperbole. The fact that they had to talk it up so much is a tribute to it not being as great as they said, and that's simply disappointing.

You are making accusations way to soon.

Just wait, only 4 more days until the Conduit is released.

Only after you play it for a decent amout of time will you be able to back up your claim that these games are going to suck.

I have no interest in gladiator AD anyhow, but I can't wait to see what is in the grinder.

BTW, if you email HVS your ideas for the Grinder and how to make it a good game, they will actually take it into account.

They mentioned that someone has already sent them a request to have a Cross Bow in the game, and they are going to put one into there.

I will also be senting ideas to them concerning what I want to see from the grinder:

- Ability to use the iron sights like in games such as COD and MOH

- Flamethrouwer, Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Sniper Rifle, and a deployable Mini-gun FTW!!!

- include more times of monsters than just warewolves, vampires, zombies, and those slashers (Jason Voorhees like baddys)

- Sprint. Almost all FPS games these days has a sprint feature, and the grinder should have one too.

[QUOTE="webbut"]

They're a small independent dev their just trying to market. Do you get angry at every E3 presenter or person in an interview who says that their game will be great?

Haziqonfire

and the 3rd party publishers are flooding the Wii with great press, great beliefs in the success of their product, adding 13 game modes for online multiplayer, including online voice chat that nintendo can't even inlcude in their software, a 3rd party developer does all this, of course with a prooud sense of accomplishment for what they've developed, and screams it from the roofs (yea coz 3rd parties scream Wii FPS, TPS, RPGs, action games from the roofs all the time with their superb marketing!)

of course they think their the best thing on Wii, they've officially put more into a FPS for Wii than any other 3rd party ever. and that is sad. (great effort but its pathetic wii gets its first Wii built FPS nearly 3 years later)

Your very wrong Jordan. Like I said before people shouldn't come down on HVS for something that happens all the time. More often than people think, we are simply lead by developers, publishers or the media. First off no matter how good the game is, if you cant make it obvious that it will sell to the masses then you wont find a publisher. The Conduit could be a great game, but if HVS didnt get behind it the way it did, if it didn't create the buzz for the game they probably still wouldn't have a publisher or even if they did the game could be in relative obscurity. Look at Activision with Modern Warfare 2, all thier trying to do is lead the consumer, Naught Dog with Uncharted 2, Ubisoft with well everything they do, even the console makes do it and not just with software, but with hardware as well. HVS is not the only one planting opinions and ideas in peoples heads, its an industry wide thing, that has been facilitated by the growth of the gaming media. Look at Twilight Princess it was talked up by Nintendo and by the Media so it sounded better than it turned out to be for some people, and thats coming off of several consecutive great titles, so it didn't even need to be amped up but it still was.

In this industry you cant let your work speak for itself, its all about the next big thing, spoon feeding consumers what you want to make your title seem like the best possible purchase option. And that holds even more so for the Wii, because people will run out and buy Zelda or Smash Brothers or Mario Kart but a new IP no matter how good it is, if it doesn't go through the typical hype motions, leading the consumer then it will surely fail. Am I wrong? look at De Blob, Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, Madworld, Deadly Creatures and so on. Even games that can just ride on name brand like RE did with Umbrella Chronicles, they still do the same thing HVS is doing to ensure the name carries to large sales. Look at Dead Space Extraction, Megaman 9 last year, yeah sometimes people talk a big game and don't deliver to people standards i.e. Red Steel 1, but then sometimes people talk a big game and deliver i.e. Nintendo and then there are games that don't talk and deliver and then they fail, like the ones mentioned above. So you cant blame HVS for one doing what everyone else does and protecting thier investment.