High Voltage Software

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High Voltage Software
Independent video game developer
Industry Video games
Founded 1993
Founder Jared Schulz, CEO
Headquarters Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States
Products Hunter: The Reckoning series
Conduit series
Owner Kerry Ganofsky, CEO
Number of employees
 95+
Subsidiaries Red Eye Studios, FLAME-SIM
Website high-voltage.com

High Voltage Software is an American independent game development company located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Established in 1993, High Voltage Software is known for Hunter: The Reckoning video games and the creation of the major self-funded Wii titles The Conduit, and its sequel.

History

Wii development

In 2008 interviews, High Voltage leadership expressed interest in improving the quality of contemporary third-party Wii games. Founder Kerry Ganofsky was quoted as stating "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."[1] According to Chief Creative Officer Eric Nofsinger, "Our [High Voltage Software's] goal is to be the most technically innovative Wii developer on the planet."[2]

Quantum3 is a Wii-specific game engine developed by HVS.[3] The engine itself had been used in several previous titles made by the developer, but was heavily upgraded for higher performance on the Wii.[4] This engine allows for "full 16-TEV stage material pipeline using up to eight texture sources and a host of innovative blend operations," and "allows the developer to create graphic effects normally seen on other consoles with vertex and pixel shaders." These effects include bump-mapping, reflection and refraction, light and shadow maps and projections, specular and Fresnel effects, emissive and iridescent materials, advanced alpha blends, gloss and detail mapping, motion blur, interactive water with complex surface effects, and animated textures, among other things.[5] The Quantum3 engine also includes advanced artificial intelligence, allowing for NPCs and enemies in a game using the engine to possess "human-like behavior."

Mobile titles

Le Vamp, the company’s first mobile title, earned an Editor's Choice selection by Apple.[6] The company's second title, Zoombies, was also released for iOS devices.[7] The company's last mobile game, Conduit HD (a mobile port of the original game, The Conduit) was released for Android devices in 2013, to some praise.[8]

Recent work

Since that time, High Voltage Software has been active in Generation 8 software, co-developing Injustice: Gods Among Us, Mortal Kombat X and Saint’s Row: Re-Elected[9] – as well as primary development on Saints Row: Gat out of Hell. Recent titles have been larger in scope than previous titles by the company. This larger size is indicative of the sizable investment to develop on the newer consoles.

High Voltage Software remains focused on emerging technology and new markets. At E3 2015, High Voltage Software and Oculus VR announced the development of Damaged Core. A playable demo was available at the Oculus booth, featuring hands-on gameplay which showcased the first-person shooter genre on the Oculus hardware. The title is planned for release in 2016. [10]

Awards

The Conduit, in particular, was hailed as a break-out game for the Wii Console, and won numerous awards both prior to, and after, launch. [11] The game eventually spawned a sequel, Conduit 2, which was also released on the Wii. In 2009, High Voltage Software earned a top spot in Into the Pixel’s annual exhibition. The piece selected was titled “Ford Pursued,” by artist, Bob Nelson. [12]

Subsidiaries

Red Eye Studios

Red Eye Studios, a motion capture facility, is a wholly owned subsidiary of HVS. The 5000-square-foot space is located across the street from the main Hoffman Estates building, and utilizes Vicon T160 cameras. [13] [14] Red Eye Studios has worked on both High Voltage Software products, as well as motion capture for television and movies. Some of its credits include: Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Spider-Man 3, Call of Duty, BioShock, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Gnomeo & Juliet, Human Weapon and multiple NBA titles.

FLAME SIM

FLAME-SIM is a training simulation software developed in 2007 which allows fire departments across the US and Canada to create virtual scenarios in which to train their incident commanders and firefighters. The real time, dynamic environment simulates the stress, obstacles and decision points that arise on the fireground in order to better prepare incident commanders. [15] Studies conducted on the effectiveness of the software have shown an improvement of test scores of 20% for incident commanders that trained using FLAME-SIM as opposed to traditional training methods. Additionally, firefighters and officers that trained with FLAME-SIM liked the training and felt more confident when acting as incident command. [16]

HVS NOLA

In 2014, High Voltage Software announced that a sister studio, HVS NOLA, would open in the New Orleans area. The company committed to the creation of 80 jobs over the course of three years. The studio opened in January 2015 featuring Altair Lane as the first employee. With the new studio, the company is actively focused on developing new technology and IP’s for the newest console generation.[17]

Games developed

Year Title Publisher Platform(s) Genre(s) Rating
2016 Damaged Core Oculus VR PC FPS N/A
2015 Mortal Kombat X (with NetherRealm Studios) Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment PC Fighting game 76% [18]
2015 Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (with Volition) Deep Silver Xbox One, PS4 Action-adventure 64.50% [19][20]
2015 Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (with Volition) Deep Silver Xbox One, PS4 Action-adventure 74% [21][22]
2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (with Beenox) Activision 3DS Action-adventure N/A
2013 Ben 10: Omniverse 2 D3 Publisher Wii U, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 Fighting game 33% [23]
2013 Injustice: Gods Among Us (with NetherRealm Studios) Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment PC, PlayStation 4 Fighting game 80%[24]
2013 Saints Row IV: Enter the Dominatrix (with Volition) Deep Silver Xbox One, PS4 open world 68%[citation needed]
2013 Mortal Kombat (with NetherRealm Studios) Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment PC Fighting game 82%[25]
2013 Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte High Voltage Software iOS Shoot 'em up 79.67%[26]
2013 Le Vamp High Voltage Software iOS Platformer/Endless running game 71.98%[27]
2012 Victorious: Taking the Lead D3 Publisher Wii Adventure/Exploration N/A[28]
2012 Nickelodeon Dance 2 2K Play Wii, Xbox 360 Dance 40%[29]
2012 Toy Story Mania! MicroProse, Disney Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Party 31%[30]
2012 Zone of the Enders HD Collection Konami Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Action, Third-person shooter 77.27%[31]
2012 Kinect Star Wars LucasArts / Microsoft Studios Xbox 360 Action 53.32%[32]
2012 Country Dance All-Stars GameMill Publishing Xbox 360 Dancing game N/A[33]
2011 Country Dance 2 GameMill Publishing Wii Dancing game 60%[34]
2011 Country Dance GameMill Publishing Wii Dancing game N/A[35]
2011 Nicktoons MLB 2K Play Wii, Xbox 360 Baseball game 65%[36]
2011 Captain America: Super Soldier Sega Wii, Nintendo 3DS Action 58%[37]
2011 Conduit 2 Sega Wii First-person shooter 66%[38]
2010[39] Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (video game) Red Wagon Games Wii, Nintendo DS Adventure 15%[40]
2010[39] Tournament of Legends Sega Wii Versus fighting 49%[41]
2010 Iron Man 2[42] Sega Wii, PSP Action-Adventure 51%[43]
2009 The Conduit Sega Wii First-person shooter 72%[44]
2009 Evasive Space Akinai Games WiiWare Shoot 'em up 58%[45]
2009 High Voltage Hot Rod Show HVS WiiWare Racing 69%[46]
2008 Gyrostarr HVS WiiWare Shooter 71%[47]
2008 V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack HVS WiiWare Casino game 49%[48]
2008 Go, Diego, Go!: Safari Rescue 2K Play PlayStation 2, Wii Adventure 72%[49]
2007 America's Army: True Soldiers (with Red Storm Entertainment) Ubisoft Xbox 360 FPS 44%[50]
2007 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Ubisoft PSP Shooter 63%[51]
2007 Ben 10: Protector of Earth D3 Publisher PlayStation 2, Wii, PSP Action-adventure 58%[52]
2007 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law Capcom PlayStation 2, Wii, PSP Visual novel 62%[53]
2006 Family Guy Video Game! 2K Games, Fox Interactive PlayStation 2, Xbox, PSP Adventure 50%[54]
2006 Blitz: Overtime Midway Games PSP Sports 61%[55]
2006 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Midway Games GameCube, PlayStation 2, GBA, Wii Fighting 60%[56]
2005 Codename: Kids Next Door – Operation: V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. Global Star Software GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2 Platform 53%[57]
2005 Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (Content Port) Activision GameCube FPS 79%[58]
2005 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition Vivendi Games PSP Action 54%[59]
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Global Star Software PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, GBA, GameCube Action-adventure 39%[60]
2005 Zathura 2K Games PlayStation 2, Xbox Action-adventure 45%[61]
2004 Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Sierra Entertainment PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox Adventure 61%[62]
2004 Duel Masters Atari PlayStation 2 Collectible card game 65%[63]
2003 The Haunted Mansion TDK Mediactive PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube Action-adventure 69%[64]
2003 NBA Inside Drive 2004 Microsoft Sports 75%[65]
2003 Hunter: The Reckoning: Redeemer Vivendi Universal Xbox Action, Hack and slash 73%[66]
2003 Hunter: The Reckoning: Wayward Vivendi Universal PlayStation 2 Action, Hack and slash 68%[67]
2002 Hunter: The Reckoning Interplay Xbox, GameCube Action, Hack and slash 72%[68]
2002 Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 Disney Interactive PlayStation 2 Action 63%[69]
2002 NBA Inside Drive 2002 Microsoft Xbox Sports 78%[70]
2002 Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction Ubisoft PC Vehicular combat N/A[71]
2002 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (Content Port) Interplay GameCube Role-playing video game 79%[72]
2000 NFL Quarterback Club 2001 Acclaim Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 Sports N/A
2000 All-Star Baseball 2001 (with KnowWonder) Acclaim Nintendo 64 Sports 85%[73]
2000 Ground Control: Dark Conspiracy (with Massive Entertainment) Sierra Studios PC Real-time tactics 81%[74]
2000 NBA Inside Drive 2000 Microsoft PC Sports 74.85%[75]
1999 LEGO Racers LEGO Media Game Boy Color, PlayStation, N64, PC Racing 66%[76]
1999 Paperboy Midway Games N64 Action 67%[77]
1997 NCAA Final Four '97 Mindscape PlayStation, PC Sports 46%[78]
1997 World League Basketball Mindscape PlayStation, PC Sports 65%[79]
1996 Tempest X3 Interplay PlayStation Arcade 63%[80]
1996 Tempest 2000 Interplay Sega Saturn, Macintosh Arcade 78%[81]
1996 NBA Hangtime Midway Games PC Sports 57%[82]
1996 Fight For Life Atari Atari Jaguar Fighting N/A
1996 NBA Jam: Tournament Edition Midway Games Atari Jaguar Sports 69%[83]
1996 NHL Open Ice Midway Games PC Sports N/A
1995 Vid Grid Jasmine Atari Jaguar, Macintosh Puzzle N/A
1995 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Starship Bridge Simulator Interplay Sega 32X Simulation N/A
1995 Ruiner Pinball Atari Atari Jaguar Arcade 40%[84]
1995 Thea Realm Fighters Atari Atari Jaguar Fighting N/A
1995 White Men Can't Jump Atari Atari Jaguar Sports 50%[85]

References

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External links

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