Just looking at screens of the upcoming Wii shooter The Conduit will have your trigger finger itching. It looks like it could be pushing the limits of the Wii. A recent interview with lead designer Rob Nicholls gives us a little more detail about how things are going with this amazing new title and what we might see in June, its expected release window.
Speaking to Hdwarriors.com, Nicholls had this to say:
Gameplay-wise that’s where I think we have our shot at competing against big titles like that, (Empire Total War, and Killzone 2)… we really take advantage of the Wii’s motion control system, which we’ve maintained throughout this development is just begging for a First Person Shooter game. Somebody to get it done right…The Conduit is fun, it’s easy to use, it’s customizable moreso than those other titles.”
He also addressed the lack of split-screen local multiplayer due to loss of graphics quality in favour of online multiplayer. He says they’ve milked the system for all they can in terms of dynamic shaders, real time shadows and bump mapping. “We’ve basically proved that you don’t have to do the stylized graphics, you don’t have to do the cartoony graphics.”
High Voltage/Sega has a press event April 15 that will offer, in Nicholls' words, “…multiplayer play, multiplayer etc., here it is. We’re not planning on hiding anything.”
He also speaks in defence of Nintendo’s rigid online restrictions, saying that:
1. They’re very concerned about the people playing their console, because many Wii gamers tend to be much younger than 360 and PS3 gamers.
2. Is that I think the online component of the Wii has caught them off guard a little bit and they didn’t expect consumers to want to use it as extensively as, for example, we intend to make our system. So we’ve noticed in our development that their servers seem to work much better for small numbers of people, but when you start getting up there in higher numbers, things become more problematic.”
Sega's official website also claims that the game will use the Wii Speak peripheral during online play, though there is no mention of this in the interview. If true, it seems like a large unknown at this late stage considering the restrictive environment that Nintendo has fostered, so it’ll be interesting to learn more details after the upcoming press event.
Check out this great interview at the link below for what looks like may be one of the best Wii shooters yet, and we'll be back with more details when the dust settles after the event.
[source hdwarriors.com]
Comments 23
I hope this will be just as good or better than Prime 3.
Lack of split-screen for the sake of graphics? What a lame excuse. It's like they don't realize what system they are developing for. I had high hopes for this. Oh well, it still looks worth a rental.
I just want it to support the Classic Controller.
Hate using the Wiimote to play FPS.
@Adam - I would take online multiplayer over splitscreen anyday of the week, + if it means they could squeeze a little more out of the game graphics/gameplay wise then im all for dropping split screen
I really don't care about splitscreen. I don't think my younger sisters would want to play with me anyway.
@Stevie
"graphics/gameplay"? They aren't squeezing more out of game play, but rather less since it involves the lack of a big feature. They just said that it was a graphical problem, which seems to me a bad excuse on the one console that chose game play over graphics.
theres already peopofile - what? I presume you mean "paedophile"? James - issues on ps3 home and "assorted paraphernalia" like that NINTENDO IS JUST BEING CAREFUL
BUT WITH PARENTAL CONTROLS BUILT INTO Wii why the codes also IS A GOOD ARGUMENT
SOME KID GETS BUMMED AFTER A WII MEET NINTENDO WILL BE BLAMEDI think he meant to say, "should some young gentleman fall into a spot of bother following a collection of Wii gamers, one might be justified in assuming that Nintendo would shoulder the brunt of the blame from offended parents as well as other lobbyists". - James
Looking forward to it. Personally, I think the Wii's first person shooter controls totally trumps those of all other systems. There's so much hype around this game, though--hope it doesn't dissapoint.
I'm looking forward to this, though I wished they'd included splitscreen, suffering graphics or not.
Still can't wait for this game.
Lack of Split-screen is disappointing but acceptable.
I mean for us to get the kind of online play they are promising I don't give a crap about local multiplayer.
I hope this is good.
But HV titles tend to "Hype, then turn up "good not great"", but I hope this is better.
Split screen wouldn't be a good fit for this type of title anyway. Can you imagine 2-4 people lined up, all trying to point at their tiny slivers of the screen? Sounds like a massive hassle.
I agree with thewiirocks. Split-screen would be a huge hassle unless you had a 42" or above TV to work it on.
As long as it works with Wii Speak I might be forced to buy this and the Wii Speak mic.
@thewiirocks-Worked fine for me and my buddies with Red Steel, which is a great game when you take out the swords.
I might get this when I'm sick of Halo 3...but then again, this is a lot like Halo, so I don't think I'd want to play something that's a lot like a game I just got sick of. You know what? Screw it, I just won't get it.
@mickeymac: Meh, I hated Halo's mutliplayer (not enough sounds, made me sleepy), but I love CoD4, so Ill pick this up when I reach rank 55
I wonder if they'll develop an FPS for Wiiware?
Like Objection Blaster says, split screen with Wii controls for FPS has already been proven to work. Yes, Red Steel had control issues, but they had nothing to do with the split-screen. I played four-players on a small screen with no problem, and we had a lot of fun.
At least we still have Red Steel 2 to look forward to for split-screen fun, OB. Hopefully that gets released this year, too.
Wow i just can't wait for this game looks very good .
Lake of split screen doesn't disapoint me as most of the time i play single player .
This game is over the charts for the graphics since it is close to the preferred style for the XBOX 360 and PS3
Meh, never liked COD4. I don't want to play a multiplayer game that makes me play with a bunch of crappy weapons for G-d knows how long before I can get the good.
@Neomega
They already made one, it's called Onslaught, and it's awesome!
I think it was a wise choice for HVS to pick graphics over split-screen at least for now.
Reasons
1.) They wanted to prove that their software would be the best graphic quality for the wii console.
2.) Showing off the graphics can attract eye-candied-gamers who are crazy for graphics.
3.) This can help them get more consumers and will eventually lead them to..
4.) Some sort of upgrade for the Conduit(2) and like how they said that they discovered new techs and could possibly include a sequel for the Conduit with split screen multiplayer
Conduit 2 is gonna have split screen though!
The full 8 page original article, along with 30+ screens/artwork are available at http://www.darktechnet.webs.com/
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...