Why The Conduit Will Open New Doors For The First-Person Shooter Genre

When the Nintendo Wii was released in 2006, it was immediately dismissed by many first-person shooter developers, who believed the system had neither the power, nor the technology to produce a great shooter. Though this belief has arguably been disproved more than once, next year's "The Conduit" may cause many developers to completely rethink their position.

Conduit has the potential to be superior to the majority of most competitors on the rival and often-touted "most powerful" systems, the X360 and PS3. Here are a couple of reasons why. These conclusions are based upon what data we can glean from the game developers and the demos they have released thus far.

First of all, The Conduit's visuals will be almost as technically proficient as shooters on "graphically superior" consoles, if not more so. The developers of Conduit have created what is called the Quantum3 engine, capable of utilizing features that gamers have come to expect from the X360 and PS3. Examples include: bump mapping, material based bloom, dynamic water effects, and color gloss maps.

You may not know what many of those expressions mean, but apparently neither do many Wii shooter developers; so this is in many ways a big and much-deserved step for the console. When the game was presented at press conferences, gamers could not tell the difference between the graphics in The Conduit and in other Xbox 360 games. Secondly, and probably most importantly, The Conduit will have better, more precise control. This is a point that should not require much explanation. Not only will the game utilize the WiiMotionPlus attachment for more accurate aiming, but the game's controls themselves are completely up to the gamer. An example of what this means is that at any point in the game, the gamer can pause and edit pointer sensitivity, or map button controls.

Far too many games developers focus on graphics and therefore have not invested as much in developing games for the Wii as they have for the rival consoles, the Xbox 360 and PS3. When a representative of the first-person shooter developer Epic was asked whether or not they would be developing for the Wii, their answer was, "Why? That would be like a step backward!" This reveals an imbalanced emphasis on graphics, an area where the Wii is perceived to be at a disadvantage.

If developers such as Epic would put themselves in the shoes of gamers, they would recognize that graphics is only one piece to the gaming puzzle. Also important are the visuals themselves, and the gameplay. Gamers know that when developers focuse on making better and better graphics, they are prone to completely overlook opportunities for innovation in gameplay. Developers who realize that the gameplay is ultimately all that matters will find themselves rewarded in the marketplace.

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Getting the most out of your Nintendo Wii

Considering the Nintendo Wii shortage, chances are that you have worked hard to get your own. So, now that you finally have one, do you want to get the most out of it? Here are a few ways to do just that.

First, and perhaps most importantly, get some rechargable batteries and a battery charger. Any even better solution is a charging station for directly restoring power to the batteries through the Wii Remotes.

Here's why this is important: the WiiMote's battery power runs dry at about 60 hours of use; less than half that time if you're using a Nunchuk. Recharging your own batteries will save a lot of time and effort, versus running to the store to buy fresh batteries every several days, and running out at inconvenient times. Of course, a good recharger and batteries will also save you some money too.

Second, buy yourself some component connector cables for the Wii. It may be hard to believe, but by merely replacing the original cords, your image quality will improve dramatically. This improvement is definitely worth the money, wouldn't you say?

Third, you can pick up a wireless sensor bar. The cord for the initial sensor bar is weak, flimsy, and gets in the way and can get tangled in other cords. All of these drawbacks of the original sensor bar interfere with your playing experience.

Fourth, plan to get a Wii SD memory card. The Wii's internal memory is quite roomy, but eventually you'll need to start storing files on an external drive; especially if you want to download classic games on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Fifth, you may want to consider buying one or more organizing cases for your Wii. These can be very helpful for keeping all of your Wii gear together, especially if you pack it from one place to another.

Sixth, the Wii controllers come in different colors that might be interesting to you. For example, you can buy a pink controller and Nunchuck combination.

Seventh, there are numerous specialty controllers designed to enhance your enjoyment and playing experience of many games. For example, you can buy a pair of boxing gloves. Also available are ping pong paddles, racing car steering wheels, the sport pack (which includes a tennis racquet, golf club, and baseball bat), laser swords, numerous guns and rifles, guitars, fishing rod, dance pad, drum pads, as well as upgrade or specialty versions of the WiiMotes or classic controllers.

Investing a little time and money into getting the best Wii hardware suited to what you like to play and how you like to play it will reap huge dividends in your enjoyment of your Nintendo Wii.

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