SEGA Talks The Conduit
The company gives us the lowdown on why it picked up the Wii-exclusive FPS.
October 29, 2008 - Early Wednesday morning, third-party SEGA revealed itself to be the official publisher of The Conduit, the High Voltage Software-developed first-person shooter and one of the most anticipated Wii games of next year. To learn more about the partnership, we chatted with SEGA of America's president, Simon Jeffery. Below, he offers some quick comments on why SEGA decided to align itself with HVS to bring The Conduit out next year.
IGN: First of all, congrats on picking up such a highly anticipated project. What drew SEGA to The Conduit?
Simon Jeffery: The Conduit is one of those few games that comes along that ignites a frenzy of interest across the gaming community. We really liked the way that the developer (HVS) was promoting and presenting the game. They had us at 'The…'
IGN: Why do you think SEGA is a good partner for this game?
Simon Jeffery: SEGA is making considerable investment in core games for the Wii. We strongly believe that games like Mad World and House of the Dead Overkill have a great place on the Wii – and Nintendo of America shares our belief. Everyone is churning out wide market and family-friendly fare for the Wii platform, but there are millions of core gamers being underserved right now – and SEGA was delighted that HVS feel the same way.
IGN: Do you view The Conduit as the beginning of a Wii-exclusive franchise from SEGA?
Simon Jeffery: We are currently only talking about the first game, but we have every belief that HVS is building something awesome here…
IGN: The Conduit is a big game amongst the educated Wii owner, but it's also a new IP – always a hard sell to the general consumer. What kind of marketing /advertising will you back this new game with? How much do you plan to spend to support it?
Simon Jeffery: It's early days to talk about how much we will spend to support the game, but the buzz that HVS have already generated for The Conduit is absolutely outstanding. All metrics indicate extremely high awareness with Wii consumers. We will absolutely put a world-class marketing campaign behind the launch of the game – but we're helped by the fact this game is so good that it sells itself!
IGN: High Voltage Software has not only been a big supporter of Wii, but one of the few third-party developers to really push the system. We happen to know it's already working on major new Wii software. Will SEGA also try to publish the developers other projects?
Simon Jeffery: We have huge respect for HVS and really enjoy working with these guys. We hope they like us back!
IGN: Finally, do you have any words for fans anticipated The Conduit?
Simon Jeffery: Only that everything that you've seen to date is just the tip of the iceberg. When we saw deeper and further into the game, we just got more and more excited. Wii gamers are in for a real//i> treat exclusive to their platform!
