Ties were cut after a leaker wasn't identified

Liam Robertson has done some magnificent work in terms of the preservation of canceled projects, and this late??st story is no exception.

Remember High Voltage Software? The company that rose to prominence as more than a port studio with The Conduit series and later, the canceled project The Grinder? Well they could have had a completely different future if this cartoon shooter actually came out. Following their rise to prominence as a third-party Nintendo studio, the Big N reportedly joined hands with the company and initiated a deal involving a robotic shooter with water guns that would have basically ended up a lot like Splatoon.

Using the 2005 film Robots for inspiration tons of concept art was furnished and the entire production was in full swing except for one major snag -- someone at the company leaked the project and details regarding its relationship with Nintendo. They were allegedly given an ultimatum of sorts -- find the leaker or they'll cut ties. According to the report High Voltage couldn't acquiesce, and the concept was canned after one month of progress. Following the fallout, low sales for The Conduit 2 didn't help their future with Nintendo.

So what's changed, and why is more of? this information coming to light all these years later? Well, Liam Robertson, under the Did You Know Gaming banner, got in touch with the pers?on claiming to be the source of the leak all these years later to close up this chapter for good. The leaker apparently did it due to a disagreement with the working conditions at High Voltage, much to the chagrin of future employees, some of which who saw the act something that doomed the studio as a whole top to bottom for years to come.

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Slightly damaged

With all of the madness that is the launch of the PlayStation VR, I've gone bac??k and discovered a few other projects on the Oculus that I've missed re??cently.

One of those is the shooter Damaged Core from High Voltage Software (so that's what it's doing now ?besides PC ports). And if you miss it too, that's fine.

Damaged Core (PC [reviewed with an Oculus Rift])
Developer: High Voltage Software
Publisher: Oculus
Released: September 1, 2016
MSRP: $29.99

High Voltage isn't exactly known for its riveting shooter setups. The Conduit (and its successor) were basically re-imaginings of Independence Day, and Damaged Core is basically the same just with a far-future sci-fi tint. In short, an AI called "The Core" was created, it rebelled, and now everything went to shit. You're an AI fighting back in turn. That's all you need to k??now!

The idea is that you're "jacking in" to new bodies, with the option to head into an omnipresent, cloaked camera bot at any time to get your bearings. "Peeking" (read: tilting your head) is required, and it can be played sitting down without any need for room-scale VR because you're basically jumping from body to body instead of moving about. You know, like those old-school Mad Dog McCree arcade machines? It even has red explodi?ng barrels!

But that half-measure approach really just serves to highlight Damaged Core's biggest fault, and a meta-reference to the current state of VR right now. While High Voltage could have un-tethere?d itself, and the player, it is instead providing a training wheels type experiment which appropriately plays like a giant training mode.

Yet when it works, it works. Directional sound and the ??isolation of the helmet works in its favor, cutting down on "cheap hits" because you can see (or hear) them coming with a little awareness. There's only several guns to choose from (and they're mostly of the "rifle" and "shotgun" variety), but they have weight to them and the system of using your head to control the reticle is more than satisfactory. Oh, and jacking in behind enemy lines and tearing up unsuspecting enemies is a blast, especially as the hulking Sentry.

Core also has some semblance of depth to it too, as there's different enemy types, like "Jammer" robots, which can prevent players from entering new bodies, making them a priority. For the most part you can get by with a hard and fast "shoot first ask questions later" rule if you're aiming for the head, but you can see what the developers were going for in spite of the ability to brute force their inten??tions.

VR needs more than Damaged Core. It's a good thing to add on top of the pile for people who are already fully invested, but as what essentially amounts to a novelty XBLA game, the asking price is a tad?? high.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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High Voltage Software appears from the woodwork

High Voltage Software is seeking tax credits from the Illinois state legislature, according to a report surrounding a number of companies looking for incentiv??es currently?? stalled by a veto from governor Pat Quinn over a lack of pension reform.

The Conduit developer is located in the state's 44th district, whose representative Fred Crespo is fighting on the company's behalf so the studio can bette??r compete with competitors, most of which are apparently located in Canada.

High Voltage has fallen out of the spotlight in recent years. Following the release of Conduit 2 in 2009, the developer has mostly pursued contracts, tabling development on highly-anticipated shooter The Grinder to work on licensed titles and high-definition remasters for S??ega, Microsoft Studios, and K??onami, amongst others.

Most recently, High Voltage assisted Deep Silver and Volition in producing Saints Row IV.

Veto sessi??on may not be?? enough for tough issues; later session days considered [Herald-Whig via GamePolitics]

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High Voltage Software's zoo animal slaughterhouse coming to iOS and Android

Remember High Voltage Software's Animales de la Muerte? Originally one of the most promising-sounding titles for the then-new WiiWare service, it stewed in limbo for a few years before dropping WiiWare and becoming an XBLA / PSN game instead. Two more ??????????????????????????years went by and... nothing. Nothing until now, that is.

Good news: The game is not canceled and is set to launch in two weeks. Bad news: It's no longer a console title but a mobile release. Worst news: It's been completely overhauled to the point that it no longer resembles the original concept, and it's been renamed Zoombies -- Animales de la Muerte is the subtitle. It now looks more like Plants vs. Zombies, even if doesn't necessarily play the same. The main cha?racters can't even move a??nymore!

It could be a good game, but I want to know what the hell happened. Anybody at HVS willing to share that story? In the meanwhile, Animales de... I'm sorry... Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte will arrive on iOS devic?es on April 18 with an Android version set to appear next month.

Preview: Animales de la Muerte becomes Zoombies [TechnologyTell]

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Has multiple purchasing options

The Conduit HD, a high-definition re-release of High Voltage Software's Wii-exclusive first-person shooter, is now available for Tegra 3-optimized Android devices on Google's Play Store. Along with the visual upgrade, the game f?eatures "innovative touchscreen controls and gameplay that has been re-balanced for tablet play."

"Our goal with The Conduit was to bring a hardcore game experience to a 'casual' market," said Kerry J. Ganofsky, CEO and founder of High Voltage Software. "I believe we have reached that goal again with The Conduit HD!"

The purchasing options for The Conduit HD are rather strange: The f??irst two levels are free, and the full game is $4.99. However, each half of? the game can also be purchased separately for $2.99 each, so if you've ever wanted to go that route, there you go.

The post The Conduit HD now available for Tegra 3 devices appeared first on Destructoid.

I completely forgot about this game

I won't blame you for only vaguely remembering The Conduit, the Wii-exclusive first-person shooter that developer High Voltage Software claimed would be so technologically proficient that it would demonstrate just how little other studios were pushing the Wii hardware. This great white hype didn't do much at retail, and even though ??it earned dece??nt review scores, it wasn't the big game-changer that HVS hoped it would be. But I respect the attempt!

Though I got bored of the game very quickly, perhaps you had a more positive experience than me. You might be happy to learn that a portable game is just around the corner -- and I'm not talking about the 3DS version. HVS will be bringing an HD remaster of The Conduit to Android devices powered by NVIDIA?'s Tegra chip some time this quarter. The first two missions wi??ll be free, and you can buy the remaining levels in two packs for $2.99 each or all of at once for $4.99.

So that's an unexpected thing, but if it w??orks out for HVS, more power to them.

The Conduit HD [TegraZone via GoNintendo]

The post Wii FPS The Conduit is going HD for smartphones appeared first on Destructoid.

Conduit 2 developer High Voltage stands accused of attempting to "Amazonbomb" a man's book in retaliation for a negative Conduit 2 review. Michael T. Murdock called Conduit 2 "appalling" and trashed ?the graphics, voice acting and story -- ev??en revealing a big spoiler in order to tear it apart. ;

High Voltage took notice, and art director Matt Corso thought it would be fun if the Conduit 2 team looked up Murdock's book, The Dragon Ruby, and provided a litt?le criticism of their own via Amazon's user rev?iew system. ;

"Michael was kind enough to recently provide us with a Conduit 2 review," said Corso in a staff email. "And so in tur?n you all should feel at liber??ty to (of course read it first) and then return the favor by writing a reader review for Michael’s book for him."

Such reviews were provided, though if it was an attempt to Amazonbomb, it was a bad one. Four reviews popped up, all at the same ti??me, and one of them was quickly removed after the ac??cusations started flying. Since the story broke this week, more negative reviews from trolls have popped up, but not enough to do much more damage.

High Voltage Chief Creative Officer Eric Nofsinger confirmed with Wired.com that Corso's ema??il was genuine, but denied that it was a serious attempt to cause trouble. 

"I think he wrote it in a very tongue-in-cheek kinda way," he told Wired. "We would w?ant to never ?attack anyone for their opinions on a game."

Corso said he didn't mean any harm, and sincerely wanted to check the b??ook out: "My mind really wasn’t in that dark of a place when I wrote that. In fact I seriously considered buying the book myself. I wanted to know how good it really was that this guy felt so in the right to trash our game and give away the ending like he did. And then post a plug to his book at the end, implying that we suck and he is totally great."

Meanwhile, Murdock? isn't buying it, and thinks High Voltage is trying to bac??ktrack. 

"They don’t honestly care about what happened, and they’re trying to get their hands out of the cookie jar before they get smacked," stated the reviewer in an email to Wired. "They simply have no remorse for what they’ve done, and they think the industry and everyone else will just laugh it off. I hope that doesn’t happen. A game company shouldn’t just keep ?shooting themselves in the f?oot, hoping their limp goes away."

Whatever way you look at it, Murdock's been punished for giving his opinion of a videogame. Be it through High Voltage's chicanery or the trolls that have attempte??d to stir sh??it since the story blew up, a man's book was trashed not because of its quality, but because people were angry over a videogame review. That's pretty pathetic, whatever way you slice it. 

Makes me scared to finish my book ... available in all good stores soon!

Conduit 2 Developer Calls for Internal Retaliation Against Author of N??egative Joystiq Review [Marooner's Rock]
Leaked E-Mail Suggests ??Retaliation f??or Negative Game Review [Wired]

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During GDC I had the chance to speak with Eric Stoll, game designer at High Voltage Software, the developer's upcoming year. They seem to be hitting many angles with from digital downloads like Animales De La Muerte, first-person shooter Conduit 2 for the Wii, and perhaps a Conduit for the Nintendo 3DS on the horizon. 

I got a?? chance to check out all three titles and came away impressed with that High Voltage has in store. I also came away with some sweet swag... High Voltage always has great swag. Check out the interview with Eric "How many Eric's work at High Voltage?" Stoll, and see out some games we got to play with. *cough* Nintendo 3DS *cough*.

The post Eric Stol??l of High Voltage Software reveals Conduit 3DS appeared first on Destructoid.

Yet another downloadable title ditches the WiiWare platform for the (apparently) cozier confines of the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. This time it's High Voltages crazy-looking top-down shooter, Animales de la Muerte.

Originally announced as a WiiWare exclusive, the game will be hitting PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade for realsies in... okay, the the developer isn't saying just yet. But High Voltage isn't messing around anymore, and have shown the game to IGN, who sai??d the d??eveloper "has enough going on here to make for a memorable experience."

Caveat: apparently the game is still "very much a work in progress," and "the game's graphics won't blow you away" despite running on a new engine to take advantage of the new platforms. If you recall, the game was first announced in 2008, making it the Duke Nukem Forever of downloadable games featuring zo?mbie walruses.

Still, we're talking about zombie walruses here. That's worth the wait, right?

The Animales Are Coming [IGN]

The post Animales d?e la Muerte rises from the grave for XBLA, PSN appeared first on Destructoid.

High Voltage Software has declared that its long-forgotten shooter, The Grinder, is still alive and waiting for a publisher. If you can't remember what it is, it's a first-person shooter for the Wii that is also a third-person shooter for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. It features four-player co-op and it's about vampires, which makes it different from Left 4 Dead.

According to level designer Eric Stoli, the game is on "vertical slice status" and the studio isn't quite sure what the final product is going to be like. Apparently High Voltage is waiting to see if it'll need to change the game -- like add more action or RPG elements -- in order to make publishers happy, a?nd that's why we haven't seen it in a while. 

Such talk is rarely a great sign, but here's keeping our fingers crossed. They're good peopl??e, those Voltage chaps!

The Grinder Is Wa??iting For A Publisher, Final Product Could Have RPG Elements [Siliconera]

The post High Voltage: The Grinder is still alive appeared first on Destructoid.

Oh look, it's a multiplayer trailer for Conduit 2! This video gives you a taste of the twelve-person online combat, not to mention the four-player splitscreen mode. This is definitely ??looking like the best online first-person-shooter on the Wii ... and I almost made myself laugh typing that.&?nbsp;

Seriously, I'm looking forward to checking this out. The first Conduit had serious potential but was held back by some stodgy pacing and a total lack of aesthetic originality. Hopefully Conduit 2 feels faster and more varied. It's been a while since there was a good FPS on the Wii.

The post Conduit 2 trailer shows off the multiplayer appeared first on Destructoid.

Conduit 2 developer High Voltage has praised the 3DS' technical power, claiming it to be more mighty than the Wii. I'm not sure if being more powerful than the Wii is something one can be proud of, but alright.

"In some ways, it's even more powerful than the Wii," said creative director Matt Corso. "The amount of power dedicated to the small scr?een opens a lot of possibilities, an??d the shading and texture ability is superior."

Producer Keith Hadlik added his ??surprise that the system could do what it does: "From our internal testing we have been incredibly surprised at what the little system can do. From a strictly visual point-of-view, it is impressive. We are able to pull off many advanced lighting and textu??re techniques much more easily than on the Wii. That doesn't mean that there isn't a cost to doing them, only that they can be done more easily."

After seeing the NGP's software in action, I don't think harping on about the 3DS' graphical power is the way to go. In fact, it kind of looks silly to do so in light of the NGP's terrifying abil?ity. The 3DS is going to be a big hit, but it won't be because of the visuals. 

3?DS more capable than the Wii? De??veloper commentary [HD Warriors]

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Conduit and The Grinder developer High Voltage has criticized the prevailing attitude that videogames need to sell over a million in order to be considered a success, calling such a believe "preposterous" and declaring that the i?ndustry wouldn't survive if such a believe were true.

“People look at it and they say, if it’s not a million unit seller it’s a flop. That’s preposterous,” said CEO Eric Nofsinger. “If that really were the minimum bar for a success, the game industry would be gone in under a year.? There are thousands of games released that don’t sell a million units. There are like ten games a year that sell over a million units. But if you can sell a few hundred thousand copies -- 300, 400 thousand copies, which is in the range ?that we did -- we made money off that. We did well.

“If it costs you less to make than you end up making off the thing, you make profit. As long as the profit margin is strong enough, then you get enough of a return and you can make another. If we sold the exact same number of units [of Conduit 2] as we sold with Conduit 1, we’d be? high-fiving each other. But I t?hink we’ll do better.”

So there you?? go. Next time you say a Wii game has "flopped", check out how much it cost to make. It may have been more successful than you think. 

1 million sales benchmark "preposterous [Eurogamer]

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High Voltage Software, developer of the upcoming Wii shooter Conduit 2, is already working with Microsoft's motion camera, Kinect. Chief Creative Officer Eric Nofsinger revealed the project to Eurogamer, although details are scarce.

"It's not?? announced yet," he said, while basically announcing its existence. He went on to confirm vague details?? on the title, including the fact that it's a licensed title, and that it works both with and without Kinect.

"It's supported as a device, so if you hav?e the device it works very wel??l, but I don't think it's this brilliant, genius idea," he said.

Well, at least he's honest. Nofsinger expects the game re??veal to come "around GDC," which is right around the corner in ear?ly March.

Conduit dev making Kinect game for 2K [Eurogamer]

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High Voltage's upcoming first-person shooter for the Wii is looming on the hori?zon, and we at Destructoid got some early, exclusive cove?rage.

Eric Nofsinger, the Chief Creative Officer of High Voltage Software, allowed us some hands-on time with this highly-anticipated Wii title, and revealed some new details about Conduit 2, as well as some other "secret projects."

From what I've played, Conduit 2 is an improvement from the original in perhaps every way possible. High Voltage listened -- everything that fans asked to be improved was improved. The shooter features more weapons, both classic and Wii Motion Plus support, upgraded audio support, a better in-game achievement sys??tem, and a more mature version of the developer's impressive Quantum 3 engine.

Having the chance to play the multiplayer mode, I can attest that High Voltage is trying to establish this as the premiere FPS on Nintendo's console. Conduit 2 trumps its predecessor by now featuring splitscreen and cooperative play, 12 multiplaye?r maps and a whopping 14 multiplayer modes. Having attended a community event run by SEGA, I walked away quite impressed by the robust sui??te of multiplayer options shown.

I was also able to check out the campaign mode for Conduit 2, which also has also seen many improvements. It now features a longer campaign, with 16 missions, whereas the original only had nine. I just got to check out a small portion of the campaign, but from what I experienced, I'm impressed with the work that's been done. Conduit 2 has more locations, more ??enemies, epic boss battles, and more buried secrets. 

It's?? clear that High Voltage has put some time and effort into ma?king this game superior in all ways to its predecessor. Add the fact it's on a console that is not known for its high quality first-person shooters, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what the final version of this game will be like.

Eric also disclosed some info on the possibility of the Conduit franchise appearing on another platform. I can only reveal so much, but make sure to watch the video to get some more details on Conduit 2 and future High Voltage projects.

Oh, and for the hell of it, I am giving away a signed The Conduit concept art book to my favorite Conduit 2 related comment on this post. Good luck!

The post Preview: Conduit 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm posting this for two reasons. For one, I totally forgot about Animals de la Muerte. Seeing this post over on GoNintendo reminded me of its existence, and I'm happy for that. Secondly, I think it's worth noting the sad trend for announced WiiWare titles to see the cancellation, potential cancellation, or worse, to be forgotten about entirely.

On the topic of Animals de la Muerte (the once WiiWare exclusive now slated for release on XB??LA, PSN and Steam), and on WiiWare in general, High Voltage's Eric Nosfsinger has this to say-

It could very well be for WiiWare, as well. We did some WiiWare stuff (Gyrostarr, High Voltage Hot Rod Show) and it did okay. We didn't lose money on any of that. But I would say it wasn't encourag?ing enough that we would be doing a ton of stuff [on WiiWare].

Despite the fact that the Wii has outsold the PS3 and 360 but such a large margin, it's commonplace to hear 3rd parties to state that they feel WiiWare isn't working for them. It's just another example of how Nintendo has both won and lo?st this console generation, a?nd that bums me out. Why do you think it's so common for 3rd party developers to voice disappointment in WiiWare, and how do you think that could change?

Anim??ales de la Muerte still alive...probabl??y not coming to WiiWare [GoNintendo]

The post Animales de la Muerte esta muerto para WiiWare? appeared first on Destructoid.

SEGA has announced that its upcoming online Wii shooter, Conduit 2, is getting a modest delay. Originally slated for March, the game will now hit N??orth Am??erica on April 19, with the European version arriving April 22. 

To tide you over, however, a batch of new screens for High Voltage's title has hit the Internet. The shots look pretty damn slick (yeah, I know, for a Wii game) and I'm hoping this one will be a little more exciting than the last. Destructoid's head office played the game live and seemed to like it, so t??hat's a good sign.&nb?sp;

Anybody interested in picking this up?

The post Conduit 2 delayed to April, but have some screens appeared first on Destructoid.

We have very exciting news! Destructoid Chill Bros have the exclusive pre-release, two months early for Conduit 2, one of Destructoid's most anticipated games for the Nintendo Wii in 2011. We will be playing the game live with SEGA and the developers of Conduit 2, High Voltage. Join us TODAY on Wednesday, January 26th at 3PM Pacific for this very special edition of Chill Bros live stream on Justin.Tv/Destructoid to win exclusive giveaways. You will also have the opportunity to directly ask questions to the creators of Conduit 2, Eric Nofsinger Chief Creative Officer and Matt Cor??so Art Director.

Hang out with Destructoid Chill Bros on Justin.Tv/Destructoid every weekday at 4PM Pacific and 12PM Pacific on weekends. Check out Venom, Carnage, and Pico's wild videos that happen live everyday from the Destructoid headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Do you want a chance to win a Nintendo 3DS? Just follow us here and we will be giving away a Nintendo 3DS in March, along with many other prizes daily.

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I get the sense that a lot of people are skeptical about Conduit 2. First, it's a Wii game, which is already enough to upset some people. Second, the original Conduit received a lot of pre-release hype, but failed to live up to the expectations of a lot of gamers. It was a good game, but it wasn't a fully featured as similar games on other consoles, which left a lot Wii-on?ly console gamers feeling bitter and jaded, convinced that High Voltage and other 3rd party developers "just didn't care about them".

I really hope those same gamers are willing to give Conduit 2 a chance. From what I've gather from talking to the game's developers, they really care about their fans, and are working non-stop to add as many features to the game as possible. The multiple weapons featured in this trailer are just the start of it. I've only played the game once, but from what I could tell, it definitely had more going for it than Goldeneye or Black Ops, let alone the first Conduit.

The game is coming out in mid-March in the U.S., Europe and Australia. As long as Sega and High Voltage can work out some proper anti-piracy measure?s, I think they ??could have a hit on their hands.

The post New Conduit 2 trailer is packing heat appeared first on Destructoid.

The Conduit 2 is coming to the Wii on February 15 and I'm somewhat looking forward to it. The original game was alright in that really sneery meanin??g of the word, so I'm eager to see ??what improvements have been made.

The trailer doesn't show a whole lot of new stuff, but it should get you in the mood if you're looking forward to it. Is anyb?ody else looking forward to it? I need to know these things!

The post Watch a Conduit 2 trailer if you like appeared first on Destructoid.

Things are happening with the Conduit 2. Unfortunately, I can't tell you ??what I mean by that. All I can tell you is, if you do your homework and play your cards right, you could see somet??hing; something big.

Depending on how squeamish you are, you might not be prepared with what you find. Like a kid who's turned over a rock to find a nest of centipedes, I was not fully ready to deal with what I uncovered in Conduit 2. Luckily, I had a gun that s?hot flesh eating flies with me. I may not have been ready to deal, but th?ose flies sure were.

Read on for my full impressions of the Conduit 2.

The guys at High Voltage talk a lot of sh*t about The Conduit. At one point during my recent hands-on with the game, I actually told Eric Nosfinger (Chief Creative Officer on The Conduit  and Conduit 2 ) that it sounds like I enjoyed his old game more than he did. Due to a mysterious technical failure with our recording equipment, I can't give you an exact quote on his response, but I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of "Of course I don't hate The Conduit, but it's not the game I wanted i?t to be. Not even close."

The Conduit wasn't the game I wanted it to be either. I really like parts of it. Its controls, its weapons, and its They Live-style ??storyline are all great. From there though, it just seemed like High Voltage ran out of time and/or money. Some of the selling points that are pretty much standard in the modern Sci-Fi FPS (huge bosses, in-your-face storytelling, large battlefields) were largely missing, while a lot of the other things that game could do well (enemy variety, advanced texture mapping, voice-acting) it only pulled off some of the time.

All of that seems to be fixed with Conduit 2. It may go on to be known as the Evil Dead 2 of videogames, as it feels like both a sequel and a remak???e of the original at the same time. 

As soon as you boot up the game, you're treated to a big budget CGI recreation of the last moments of the original Conduit, giving us the climactic ending that the first game should have had. Then you're dumped onto an oil rig; a cooler looking, more exciting battlefield than just about any place in the original game. That would have been enough for me, but right after that, a giant, laser breathing sea serpent popped up and started destroying everything. This is a boss fight; a real boss fight against a force many times larger than the player, with an old-fashioned health bar an everything. These are the blockbuster videogame moments that I waited for the entire time I was playing Conduit 1. Almost like an apology, Conduit 2 gave me all of that right away. Less than ten minutes in, and I could already tell that Conduit 2 wont be just a sequel. It's a reparation.

The game has so many additions and improvements, it's hard to even know where to begin. Just looking at my notes on is overwhelming. First off, High Voltage actually rewrote the way that the Wii outputs sound in order to make the Conduit 2 sound better than any other Wii title. Then there's the little style tweaks, like the additon of the ever popular "healing factor" health regeneration and universal ammo systems found in many of today's FPSs. Then there's the previously reported, but still awesome, news that the game will addition of Wii Motion Plus and Classic Controller support. Then there's the plan for headset support; a first for a Wii game. Also, the enemies A.I. has been re-written to include multiple new attack and defense maneuvers, there are over 100 different death screams for fallen enemies, there is an entirely?? new set of voice actors; the list goes on and on.

I wanted to spit those little details out before they got swallowed up by Conduit 2's bigger changes and upgrades. For instance, the game's whole structure has changed. There is now a central hub where you select your missions, create new weapons, and interact with non-playable characters. Mr Ford (the game's protagonist) is no longer alone in his battle against the secret society of aliens and ex-presidents that are trying to take over the world. Now he's got a home base, in the middle of Atlantis no less. That's where he gets help from an attractive, armor clad super model-looking lady who also wants to keep us safe from aliens and politicians. When Hamza Aziz first saw her, he let out an audible "Whoa…", a sound that the HD loving Halo fana?tic rarely makes when checking out a Wii ga??me.

Thanks to the hub zone, we now have the option for non-linear progression. Sometimes you can choose what mission you want to take on next (Mega Man style), while other times you're given the option to back-track to previous levels. Returning to old places may open up new areas, weapons, and missions. High Voltage is planning on piling on tons of additional content beyond the approximately 12 hour long campaign mode. This isn't just to give you more bang for your buck. High Voltage's real goal with this feature, and the game in general, is to make the world of the Conduit feel like a, real, tangible place. In the real world, there is never just one "mission" or just one problem to solve. The same goes for Conduit 2. No matter the situation, there's always optio?ns.

This time, those options will take you all over the world. In my play-through, I got to see a level that takes place in China (complete?? with creepy alien statues that come to life) that introductory level (with the gigantic, laser breathing sea monster and destructible environments), and Washington D.C. stage (which has become a war zone between aliens and humans, with you caught in the middle). I'm told that's just a fraction of the new areas that the game has in store.

There are also plenty of new ene??mies and weapons. One new gun (of alien origin) allows you to shoot some sort of disgusting, airborne alien insects at rapid speeds. Hit someone (or something) with a bug, and that plants a tracer into their body. From there, you can shoot bugs from around corners, cro?uched under cover, wherever you want, and they'll home into whatever unlucky thing has that tracer planted in it's body. It's an evil, malicious way to take out an opponent, and it's really fun.

In order to get this new weapon, you have to snag it from the cold, dead hands of an alien. I didn't catch the name of this particular extra terrestrial, but I do recall that he had the face of a giant spider, and the confidence of a T-1000. I managed to take him out, but only because he was battling some humans at the same time. Of course, after he was down, the humans turned their sights onto me. It was a good thing that I had just picked up a new gun that shoots giant, ravenous alien horseflies. Those poor bastards didn't know ??what hit (and then ate) them.

Beneath all of these new features and experiences is an air of unpredictability and mystery. That feeling was present in the first game as well, but it feels much more intense and complete this time around. The ties to real life history have been intensified, the stakes have gotten higher, and the depth of the conspiracies at work is on a scale that wasn't this clear in the first game. The creators of Conduit 2 know things. There is a reason why they included real life transmissions from The Conet Project in the original game.? I ?wish I could tell you those reasons, but they'd just scramble me if I tried.

There is so much more that I'd like to say about Conduit 2, but I've got to bring this to a close. Rest assured, there is more to come. High Voltage collected a noteboo??k full of suggestions from their fans at PAX ??2010, and they're planning on implementing as many of those suggestions as they can before the game comes out early next year.

My suggestion was that they add a 8 bit or 16 bit version of Conduit 2 in the game to unlockable bonus, maybe at an in-game arcade or something. With the addition of huge bosses (complete with life meters), a hub world, and other traits commo??n in classic gaming, it just seemed to fit. High Voltage didn't promise anything, but they didn't say no either. ??That seems to be the High Voltage way. These guys are 100% focused on making their fans happy.

I can't wait to see how that turns out for them, a?nd ??for us.

The post Impressions of Conduit 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Bad news for Wii owners and first-person shooter fans -- High Voltage's sequel Conduit 2 has been pushed? out of this year and in to 2011. The game will now see release? in the first quarter of next year.

The good news is that you'll now be able to play the game using a Classic Controller or a Classic Controller Pro; fans of dual analog shooters should be happy to hear about their inclusion as a control option. The original Conduit had High ??Voltage doing a pretty great job of re-defining how you use just a Wii Remote and Nunchuk to play a first-person shooter, but it wasn't for e??veryone. It was previously announced that the sequel would take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus for more accurate controls.

Conduit 2 should be on the floor at PAX this week;?? we'll send our ninjas to find ou??t more about the delay, and we'll see if we can try the game out with the new Classic Controller scheme.

Conduit Hits Delay, Coming in 2011 [Nintendojo]

The post Conduit 2 de??layed until 2011, getting?? new control options appeared first on Destructoid.

You remember back in the nineties when we had the fighting game boom? Dozens of "me too" titles with increasingly silly premises, all vying for a piece of the one-on-one fighter pie. Rise of the Robots, Primal Rage, Eternal Champions, they? all came out of the woodwork with their own absurd concepts and ?varying degrees of quality. 

Tournament of Legends reminds me of those days. 

Strangely, I don't mean that as a bad thing in the least. Read on for the full review of Tournament of Legends.

Tournament of Legends (Wii)
Developer: High Voltage
Publisher: Sega
Released: July 6, 2010 
MSRP: $29.95

I stopped playing fighting games after the 16-bit era, mostly because they had outpaced me by miles. I could no longer perform the increasingly intricate combos, I paid no heed to L-cancels and hit boxes, and eventually I just became terrible at any one-on-one fighter that appeared. It's no fault of the genre, I l?ay the blame entirely on my own lack of ability and willingness to learn. Of course, it means I get to miss out on a lot of cool fighting games.

Tournament of Legends takes us back to a more humble age, whe?n games could be ??shamelessly silly, characters were allowed to look or sound stupid, and fighting games didn't require ten-hour long button combos in order to be considered enjoyable. High Voltage's Wii fighter is nonsensical, pointless and simple, and that's what I really appreciate about it. 

The premise involves twisted quasi-mythological characters beating the crap out of each other so that they can fight Thanatos, the God of Death. You have Marcus, the arrogant gladiator, Narcia, the Gorgon, and Jupiter, the golem who thinks he's a God, among other equally asinine warriors??. Each character is one of three classes -- Strong, Rugged or Lithe. Strongs are slow but powerful, Lithes are weak but fast, and Ruggeds are in the middle. It's all fairly elementary stuff. 

Characters can be customized with the weapons of any other character they defeat, and can also equip enchantments that bestow special abilities when activated during battle. Vampire, for example, replenishes healt?h with each attack, while Lethal does extra damage and Shock randomly removes an opponent's health. 

The combat itself has been designed entirely for the Wii in a 3D combat arena. Obviously, this means that things are somewhat stripped down, but again that is something I really appreciate. Basic attacks are performed by swinging the remote or the nunchuck, while block-breaking strong attacks require players to ?hold down Z while swinging. Weak projectiles can be thrown with C, and characters can block with B. In addition, each character has four special moves, three unique to their character, one unique to their weapon. These attacks draw from a refillable power meter, and are performed by holding the A button while pushing the nunchuck stick up, down, left or right.

Every attack is absorbed by four pieces of armor that protect the arms, head and body of each character. The armor sustains damage with each hit absorbed and eventually comes off. It's rather cool to see the armor littering the? ground after each match, especially when some of that armor involves entire robotic heads. 

Of course, it wouldn't be a Wii game without some token waggling, and Tournament of Legends provides. When a character is knocked out, they have a chance to regain their strength and keep fighting up to two times, while the current victor can restore their powers. The downed player must sh??ake the remote and nunchuck up and down to refill their health, while the one left standing performs QTE-style prompts to regain their powers. In addition, various mythological beasts can randomly attack the combatants during a match, requiring QTE motions in order to avoid taking extra damage. 

If a round of combat goes on too long, each opponent must restore health and armor in a minigame before fighting again. Rotating the nunchuck restores the health and waving the remote up and down fixes armor. While a nice idea, it does get in the way of the fighting and AI opponents seem to get an unfair advantage, licking their wound??s at a far greater pace. 

On the normal difficulty, Tournament of Legends isn't the toughest game around, and players will likely only feel a hint of challenge when facing their obligatory recolored selves and Thanatos. Tournament of Legends is a fighting game anyone can play, and while elitist hardcore f??ighter fans will doubtless be turned off by this, I personally think High Voltage did a commendable job in making such an accessible title that works really quite well on the Wii. 

Of course, there are problems, the major one being that Tournament of Legends often doesn't feel responsive enough??. Dodging, blocking, attacking and especially the QTEs can sometimes feel too sluggish, and this is especially frustrating against AI opponents who don't see??m to suffer the same problems. The game manages to remain fun in spite of this irritation, but it's an irritation nonetheless and one that can sometimes cost precious character health. 

Tournament of Legends isn't the prettiest Wii game, nor is it the most deep and engaging. What it is, however, is a good little fighter that makes good use of the console's interface and truly brings bac?k the feeling of playing a fighting game in the nineties. It??'s no Eternal Champions, but it's easy to get into and provides just the right amount of innocent, unpretentious fun. For under thirty bucks, that ain't too bad!

Score: 7.5 -- Good (7s are solid games that definitely have an audience. Might lack replay value, could be too short or there are some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.)

The post Review: Tournament of Legends appeared first on Destructoid.

The first Conduit game gave Wii gamers exactly what they were waiting for with a solid, point-to-shoot FP?S. High Voltage's game fit the bill nicely, but both the developers and gamers knew that there was so much more that could be done with the franchise and technology.

This upcoming sequel, Conduit 2, seems to  work in many of the possibilities we saw in the first game, and also includes technical upgrades, lik??e the incor??poration of Wii Motion Plus capabilities.

Conduit 2 picks up right where the first game left off, story wise. I'm not sure how far our hands-on demo was into the g??ame, but we started off by working our way through a heavily armed ship, blasting anyone ??that came around a corner all while taking cover behind tables and watching our backs.

While this is the only stage we saw, it did feel a bit more roomy in t?erms of environments, despite being in a ship. Hallways gave way to wide-open control rooms, and they were manned with well-placed enemies. It was easy to appreciate that they've worked on some smarter level design.

Later, in a separate demo section, we eventually made our way outside, and on deck where we fought an epic boss battle ??with a massive water beast. We were al??most too busy manning turrets and to notice the lovely stormy water effects off the side of the ship.

While we expect that we'll get a better sense of story later, the improved technology in Conduit 2 was immediately noticeable. Aiming is much more smooth, and the movement control is much more tight.  The feeling that this sequel is a better experience is apparent from the very first movements of your Wii Remote and Nunchuck. Some of this improvement is thanks to the included Wii Motion Plus support, which provides better tr??acking and pointer control.

Also improved are the visuals, which now come from a beefed up engine. We were told that this engine provides better geometry and higher quality texture maps. The combined result of all of this is a better looking, smoother-playing Conduit. 

There's plenty of new weaponry to play with in this sequel. Several weapons that came from alien technology  were mentioned, including one called Shield Gun. This gun sucks up all fired projectiles into one little bal??l and then throws them back into an enemy. A larger gun lets yo??u use a remote control to view and aim from it while being in another place, behind cover. There will be over 20 weapons in the final version, we're told. 

As with any FPS, multiplayer is an important component, and High Voltage knows this. The previous game had some issues with security, but they assure us that the code has been tightened up. Of course, there's going to be up to 12-player online modes, but you can also go at it GoldenEye style with four-player split screen!

High Voltage told us that a new multiplayer mode called Team Invasion will be featured in Conduit 2. Anywhere from two to four p?layers can go at it together, online or locally, working through missions coop?eratively. They're also bringing back full Wii Speak support for online chat. 

So many people said that they enjoyed Conduit, but were hoping for a bit more. Judging from High Voltage's work on the sequel, it s?eems like they knew that. It also seems like they listened to some of the concerns we had from the first game.

While we only played one stage, it already feels safe to say that if you liked Conduit, you're going to find much more to like with Conduit 2. We expect to?? see even more polish added to the game between now and its release, which is scheduled for fall of this year.

The post E3 10: Preview: Conduit 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

SEGA shot us over some information about Conduit 2. Specifically, information on whether the first-person shooter would incorporate Wii MotionPlus controls. In the event you were wondering, Conduit 2 will support Wii MotionPlus? but it will be optional.

I found The Conduit impressive in terms of how much control they gave to the player in terms of sensitivity and HUD. The game itself, however, didn't really capture my attention for long. While I appreciate the addition of?? another game which uses the peripheral that I bought and never actually use, I didn't have a problem ??with sensitivity in the first game and can't imagine why I'd need more sensitivity in the sequel.

The post Conduit 2 to support MotionPlus appeared first on Destructoid.

We've all been calling it The Conduit 2, but apparently we're damn wrong. "The" isn't cool anymore, and anybody who uses it is a big square. From now on, High Voltage's sequel to The Conduit is shedding the formalities and will henceforth be known simply as Conduit 2. 

"It's Conduit 2. The 'THE' got a bit clunky -- too much of a mouthful -- and we always referred to it as Conduit 2 internally. It flows better and just ??kinda stuck," explained producer Jason Olson. Efficiency for the win!

As well as clarifying the name, Olson also revealed a little more about the game's multiplayer, explaining how perks will be able to create a variety of classes and switch between two different perk sets during a match: "If I wanted to be a medic, for example, I'd probably pick Reverse Damage (Shooting allies heals them), Field Medicine (Doubles revive times), and Robot Legs (Unlimited sprint) among my perks. If I wanted to be a tank, I'd pick Heavy Armor (Damage reduction at?? a cost to movement speed), Ammo Belt (Two extra magazines), and Improved Bullet Damage."

Sounds pretty hot. Just remember, it's Conduit 2 from now on, kids. 

High Voltage: It's just 'Conduit 2' now [Joystiq]

The post The Conduit 2 is called Conduit 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

High Voltage's The Conduit 2 was revealed only yesterday, but the first bunch of screens have ?appeared onlin??e, giving us a taste of what's in store for fans of the Wii shooter. 

As expected, the game is already looking graphically accomplished as far as Wii games go, although the generic art style that hampered the original seems to be back in force. The designs look a little more original than last time, but I really wish The Conduit could get some striking visuals to stand out from the pack. Simply being a hardcore FPS for the Wii isn't enough to be counted as unique, especially with great games like Red Steel 2 on the market. 

Outside of the art, the game is sounding very promising indeed and I'm looking forward to playing it. Ultimately, the design won't matter if the gameplay rocks, but I would just love to see The Conduit 2 look like more than a Marathon spin-off. 

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (March  31st, 2010) – SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. are excited to announce Conduit 2™, &??nbsp;the new collaboration with High Voltage Software, Inc., developer of  the award-winning Wii shooter, The Conduit. Conduit 2 will be released exclusively for the Wii™ system from Nintendo in Fall 2010.

Building upon the success of the original, Conduit 2 will tak??e players to the far reaches of the world to stop an alien invasion that can be fought in single-player, online multi-player battles, and all-new off and online co-op modes.  ??Armed with advanced and powerful weapons, players can expect massive action in large, multi-tiered levels featuring dynamic environments, cinematic battles, giant boss enemies, and deep customization features.

Con??duit 2 introduces Team Invasion Mode, the new co-op mode where players will be able to battle side-by-side with up to four friends on the same screen. Additionally Team Invasion Mode can be played online.

Conduit 2 also features a new and more expansive 12-player online competitive multiplayer mode with larger and mor??e intricate indoor and outdoor battlefields.  Conduit 2 supports Nintendo® Wi-Fi ??Connection, Wii Speak™ and offers increased multiplayer security for a better online gameplay experience.

“Conduit 2 is an enormous sequel.  Not only does it greatly improve and expand on the original, the online and co-op play modes aim to raise the bar for Wii war ga?mes,” said Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America.

"The Conduit was the first of many original IP’s being developed by our studio." said Kerry J. Ganofsky, CEO and founder of High Voltage Software. "That’s why it gives me g??reat pleasure to announce a sequel with a thrilling and exciting online experience.”

“The support for the original has been amazing.” said Eric Nofsinger, HVS Chief Creative Officer. “The fans have always been a major factor in our development pr??ocess and their continued enthusiasm has helped make Conduit 2 even better.”

Conduit 2 is set to release in Fall 2010 exclusively for Wii with an anticipated “T&rdqu??o; rating. For more information on the game please visit the SEGA website at www.conduit2game.com. Also players are invited to enter the Conduit 2 Get Your Head In the Game Sweepstakes, starting on April 2nd.

The post First screens for The Conduit 2 draw near! appeared first on Destructoid.

High Voltage's The Grinder is weird. On the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, it will be a top-down action game inspired by Hunter: The Reckoning. On Wii, it will remain the concept it originally started life as -- a co-op FPS inspired by Left 4 Dead. Contrary to popular belief, the Wii version was not axed, and basically ?the IP will live as two different types of game. 

"The expansion of Grinder to 360 and PS3 and its subsequent change in gameplay and perspective has bee?n somewhat misinterpreted as a universal change across all platforms," explains the studio. "We still genuinely love the Wii and would ideally like to see a publishing partner pick up both a FPS Wii version and a third-person action version specific to the 360 and PS3.

"We have invested more than year into the Wii; th??e game is extremely fun, and frankly, we wouldn't want to see that work thrown away, but when we decided to add the 360 and PS3 platforms it didn't seem to make much sense to jump on the rainbow chasing treadmill of trying to do the same game for such dissimilar consoles and end up short changing one or the other."

So yeah, weird. My only concern really is how thin High Voltage is spreading itself. It's not the world's biggest studio, but it's got Tournament of Legends, The Conduit 2 and now two versions of The Grinder to work on. I hope these games are all getting the time ?a??nd money they deserve. 

Grinder Stays FPS on Wii [IGN]

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