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High Voltage Software Provides Technical Innovation for the Nintendo Wii

by rawmeatcowboy
21 April 2008
GN 1.0 / 2.0

We saw the video demonstration that High Voltage put together last week. Now they have an official press release to discuss their project.

According to The Financial Times, the Nintendo Wii has become the sales leader of its generation. In fact, the system is so popular that even now it can be hard trying to purchase one. Yet, such success still doesn’t change the fact that it is lagging behind in software that pushes the system’s hardware capabilities, especially in terms of its graphics and overall gaming technology.

High Voltage Software, a prominent video game developer, strives to change this trend by creating Nintendo Wii games that look like Xbox 360 or PS3 titles. It is one of the few developers able to accomplish such a feat, since others tend to concentrate more on the system’s unique style of gameplay.

“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. We believe that third-party developers need to step up to the plate and deliver. The Wii platform is capable of a lot more than what consumers have seen so far. We’re hoping to raise a new bar.” Noted Kerry Ganofsky, company CEO, in a recent IGN exclusive.

The proprietary engine used by High Voltage is called Quantum3, one of the most powerful in the industry. The culmination of 15 years development experience, the Quantum3 brings forth carefully architected game creation technology. For High Voltage Software this translates into quicker prototyping and easier content development.

For gamers Quantum3 means a better Wii experience. One can especially see the differences graphically. Through Quantum3, Wii games have better dynamic bump mapping, light effects, glossing and other visual improvements. And the reason why this is so is because Quantum3 uses a 16 TEV stage material pipeline that can blend up to 8 separate texture sources.

Quantum3 also uses advanced processing techniques to make gameplay smoother. Examples of some of these techniques include seamless resource streaming, projected shadows, morphing and much more. This is good news for fans of the Wii.

Several games have already used earlier iterations of the Quantum engine. These include The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Ben 10: Protector of Earth and Harvey Birdman – Attorney at Law. High Voltage plans on releasing 5 Wii projects in the near future which will take advantage of the Quantum3 engine.

GamesPress