Let's Make A Game, High Voltage Style!
Want an insightful look into what it takes to develop a hardcore FPS on one of the most family friendly consoles ever created? Eric Nofsinger and Matt Casamassina over at IGN recently had a pow-wow with the nice people over at High Voltage Software to discuss their upcoming shooter, The Conduit, to give us a little bit of a peak into the game's very unusual development cycle.
As a game that was largely self-funded throughout the majority of its production, The Conduit's road to retail is a strange one. After giving readers a general overview of how games are usually made (pitch, pitch, pitch, sign with publisher, make game with publisher, profit?), the guys over at High Voltage talk about the ups and downs of what it takes to make a game without the partnership of a publisher. Who needs a steady paycheck when you've got artistic integrity, right Mr. High Voltage?
Now, we know some of you are thinking that this sounds awesome, and it was a very awesome thing, but let us tell you, it also comes with some healthy fear. As a company, we were investing our own dollars into a project without a guaranteed future... Hell, we had been explicitly told, by many companies, that it was a loser, it had no market, and none of the people that own a Wii would want it. So, while it was so truly awesome, in many ways, it was a big weight on the team's shoulders, and it was a big show of faith from the management of our company regarding the team making The Conduit. To say we bet the farm on this project may be an understatement, but then again, sometimes you just gotta roll that hard six.
While it's not the first time something similar has happened to open-minded third party developers over a Wii game, I certainly feel their pain. Head on over the rest of the article to check out some nifty pieces of concept artwork, new screenshots, and other looks into the development process.
[Making The Conduit] IGN
Game-Boy
Posted to Video Games on 3 February 2009
Other stuff like this: hardcore games, high voltage software, picky publishers, sega, the conduit, wii
