Key Retro Studios staff leave company

There are a number of things that leave a gamer inconsolable. One is Sony announcing any PS2 owner wanting to buy it's highly anticipated predecessor will have to fork out $600. Another is Microsoft fanboys realizing that Halo 3 isn't exactly what it's cracked up to be (say what you want chumps, the whole campaign mode screams average). But henceforth is the day when Wii owners across the planet are scorned to a pulp, as Retro Studios loses three members of staff pivotal to the critical acclaim of their critically acclaimed Metroid Prime series. Rumours were rife about the debacle a couple of days ago, but now it has been confirmed that Mark Pacini (lead designer), Jack Matthews (engineer) and Todd Keller (art director) are no longer serving under the orders of Retro.

Just one of the masterpieces created by the art team for Metroid Prime


No other information is available at this time about the reasons for the sudden departure, but it is unlikely that management at the company terminated their contracts early (ie, they probably weren't fired), but it's strange for several influential figures from a developer to leave purely on an coincidental basis, so there is a chance that Pacini, Matthews and Keller are planning to start up their own company.

In the mean time, Retro is NOT SHUTTING DOWN and will continue to develop great, AAA games for Nintendo. Some of the maestros behind the Prime behemoth may have left, but one thing remains the same, and that's that Retro Studios' next title will be one of Wii's most anticipated.

OMGZ, le mature game for teh Wii?!!

High Voltage Software is a humble video games developer. Chugging along quietly for 15 years, their library consists of no bolshy blockbusters or cult classics. But now, they just may be the saving grace for hardcore Wii owners everywhere.

IGN recently scored a world exclusive with the Illinois-based team on their next game, and it looks set to hit the big time. FPS "The Conduit" has been secretly in development for around a year now and it seems to focus on graphics - something with may seem unimaginable to 99% if Wii devs. Working on a completely ground-up engine going by the name as Quantum3, The Conduit is a futuristic shooter set in Washington DC. It looks to sport many Halo-esque mega-beam-weapons-of-death but the whole thing seems to have more of a Half-Life air to it; with action scenes ranging from big, open spaces to quiet, heart-pumping, deserted trains.




Herro!

As many a Wii owners know, their beloved white box has been incredibly deficient of FPSs; bizarre considering that Medal of Honour: Heroes 2 proved that the genre could easily blast any console counterpart out of the water in terms of control. High Voltage knows this, and also understands that many 3rd party titles are severely lacking in the technological departments:

"We think it's a real shame that publishers and developers aren't taking advantage of the technical possibilities of the Wii platform. Most Wii games don't even look as good as the later day PS2 titles and that's a real slap in the face to consumers" says Kerry Ganofski CEO. It's a true joy to see a serious publisher voice what so many hardcore Wii gamers have been fighting to say over the past few months. The Conduit looks to not only appeal to those craving some AAA shooter action, but also wants to quash the perception that Wii can't house games that look no better than last gen titles.

If you're wondering how HVS' much flaunted Quantum3 engine expects to achieve this, below is the official tech demo video:

So there you have it. Could The Conduit be a real pioneer for future mature Wii games that actually have effort put into them? Who knows? It can certainly be a big pay-off if you're the first one to get your idea out there: look at the runaway success Guitar Hero 3 on Wii has become.

For all the available screens and full info/press release on The Conduit, visit the IGN page here.

France vs Children

Imagine for a moment, if you will, a full A4 side of French gobbledygook. Add 5 questions on top of that concerning that piece. Then add another 50 random questions and answers all in french. Then consider the prospect of having to memorize all of that in five days. That is basically the task that haunts every second of my life until Friday. Apparently, "they" are getting rid of this curse in the coming years. Yay.