The Grinder Gets a Release Date; Goes Multi-Platform

[castlezelda]

According to wii.nintendolife, The upcoming game The Grinder isn't just for Wii anymore, its now for multiplatforms.

Coming Halloween 2011!



No longer Wii exclusive, coming next year

High Voltage software has revealed a lot of information about anticipated team-based horror FPS The Grinder including a new trailer and the announcement that it will be shown off at this year's Game Developer's Conference.


No publisher is mentioned in the interview, but there's some other interesting new tit bits including the possible inclusion of versus multiplayer (the game has only been developed for team play to-date), revamping of character models and plans for downloadable content. The target release date is Halloween 2011 which might prove a disappointing wait for some, but the reasons for this are made pretty clear by High Voltage's Kerry Ganofsky and Eric Nofsinger during a recent interview with IGN:

IGN: Is the plan still to keep Grinder a Wii exclusive?

Kerry: Our secret is out! Grinder is no longer a Wii exclusive. We plan to ship on Xbox 360, Sony PS3, and PC as well.

Eric: Bringing our third internal IP to all the current-generation systems allows us to show off what our company can really do and get it into the hands of the most gamers.
​

No doubt this will disappoint many, though it bears keeping in mind that work started out on the Wii rather than being a downgraded version of something that started out on another platform, and in the present economic climate publishing a title on a single platform can seem a risky proposition - especially if you're a 3rd party publisher on the Wii.
Fingers crossed that High Voltage can deliver the same quality of experience and features to all four platforms when the game comes out next fall.

heres the link uk.wii.ign.com

 

[DBloke]

I wasnt gonna get it till it was cheaper anyway, but next year?

Thats a long way to go

In before stickmode not understanding and misspelling words

 

[raisinghelen]

I don't really see how just releasing a game on the Wii is risky. The games only need to sell about 200k to make a profit, so as long as you don't expect a huge amount of sales in the first month it'd do fine.

Now on the HD systems I'd guess that number would be a lot higher, probably around 400k. There's a lot more FPS on the HD systems too, so The Grinder will be competing against the Halo's, LFD's etc. With it going up against the established franchises I can see it flopping badly, especially if Sega publish it as they don't have good sales records on those platforms when it comes to mature games. Look at Bayonetta, it's a fantastic game (except on PS3) but it has sold under 200k on the 360 so far. I know that is only for a month and perhaps some people were waiting for Mass Effect 2 before picking up Bayonetta but 360 sales tend to have a big opening period and then dwindle away, so if its sales don't pick up more it will end up being less profitable than Madworld was. I wonder if Sega will come out and say that 'mature games don't sell on the HD platforms'.

It sucks that the game is being held back so that they can do the HD versions too. Why not release it on Wii first and then release the HD versions? Wii games tend to come out later so why not the other way?

 

[YoungLad]

The point of releasing a Wii exclusive on the technically superior PS3 & X-Box 360?

Idiots.

 

[Maximo]

Was Sega even confirmed to be the publisher?

anyway..I wonder which is being used as the lead sku? is the Wii version still the lead sku ,and they are just porting up from there. I'm still getting the Wii version because i already have L4D on 360 so i want something thats unique for wii not something thats the 100th version of what i already have on 360.

I think if anything the multiplatform approach in this instance is to help fund more wii projects because its unpredictable how much you'll sell on Wii ,but 360/PS3 is almost always a guaranteed a couple 10k. They are basically going to make a lil risk dumping out more money for HD development to try to break better than even.

I'm not upset that they are going multi...disappointed yes ,but not upset. I'm just pleased that they didnt forgo the wii completely they at least are keeping the content on the system.

Although I don't understand why the wii can't be a timed exclusive since its probally already furthest in development ,and its the HD consoles that are extending the development time.

 

[stickmode]

Well, I'm disapointed for this!!

Always, I will preffer the Wii version over the PC version!!

But, is good for HVS to release multiplatform games. They need to survive this dificult time in the game industry, also they can learn how to improve even better the graphics on the Wii making it as close possible to the HD versions (or far better).

Good luck HVS!!

 

[Caliko]

I don't really see how just releasing a game on the Wii is risky. The games only need to sell about 200k to make a profit, so as long as you don't expect a huge amount of sales in the first month it'd do fine.

Now on the HD systems I'd guess that number would be a lot higher, probably around 400k. There's a lot more FPS on the HD systems too, so The Grinder will be competing against the Halo's, LFD's etc. With it going up against the established franchises I can see it flopping badly, especially if Sega publish it as they don't have good sales records on those platforms when it comes to mature games. Look at Bayonetta, it's a fantastic game (except on PS3) but it has sold under 200k on the 360 so far. I know that is only for a month and perhaps some people were waiting for Mass Effect 2 before picking up Bayonetta but 360 sales tend to have a big opening period and then dwindle away, so if its sales don't pick up more it will end up being less profitable than Madworld was. I wonder if Sega will come out and say that 'mature games don't sell on the HD platforms'.

It's all corporate bull, something a lot of people don't understand. Ahhh.... Reminds me of the "why couldn't Street Fighter 4 be ported to Wii" arguments....