The Grinder Gets a Fresh Perspective on Things

[Doctor Setebos]

The history of The Grinder has kind of gone through the grinder a bit, itself. High Voltage Software teased the action-packed 4-player Wii FPS game last year following a disappointing arrival of Wii-exclusive FPS The Conduit. We learned a while back that The Grinder would actually be hitting ALL the consoles: 360, PS3, and the Wii. High Voltage also claimed that all the versions, including the Wii, would share many of the same assets. But more recently we have learned that the game has now undergone a drastic change from FPS to top-down action game.

"We don't want to upset our fans, but this is something we need to do," Dolan said when asked about the somewhat dramatic shift between a Wii first person shooter and a top-down co-op shooter for the 360. "We need a presence in the next-gen community."

Various High Voltage big wigs have been very reluctant to talk about the Wii version of the game -- they have only been using 360 assets to show it off at GDC -- leading many to speculate that the shift to high-definition visuals means the original Wii version of the game may be dead and buried.

Source - Gamepro (h/t Co-Optimus)

[Mike Kelehan]

I'll take a top-down co-op shooter on the 360 over a Wii FPS any day of the week. I can't really think of any successful disc-based ones, though. Perhaps this will be a bigger XBLA release?

[Laughing Penguin]

The original Hunter: The Reckoning game was a surprising amount of fun, if they can capture some fo that I think I'll be pretty happy with this.

[Generation ABXY]

I may still keep an eye on it, but I think it's safe to say my interest has waned a bit in this now (I was really looking forward to another Wii FPS).

[Kielaran]

If they do it right a top down shooter would be a ton of fun, especially co-op.

[Hawkzombie]

Originally Posted by Generation ABXY

I may still keep an eye on it, but I think it's safe to say my interest has waned a bit in this now (I was really looking forward to another Wii FPS).

I wasn't so much looking forward to another Wii FPS as I was this FPS. The way it was portrayed, and the way it seemed to be shaping up was quite impressive.

Now my interest in it has tanked to 'meh, bargin bin' instead of 'Huh, gonna get that week one'.

Plus, the line 'we have to do this' and 'we need a next gen presence' just seems like an ultimate cop-out. I mean, sure, they could be doing it to hurry up and get a product out and not go bankrupt or something, but I dunno. I was really looking forward to a L4D sort of game with demons werewolves and vampires. I could care less if it was on the Wii in the end, as long as it was fun.

Color me disappointed.

[MosBen]

You know, I was a bit confused by the phrase, "top-down shooter" in the post, but if they mean something like Hunter: The Reckoning, then I understand a bit better. "Top-down shooter" just reminds me of 1942 or Ikaruga. It seemed like it'd be hard to go from a FPS to something like Ikaruga. I am, however, always on the lookout for something like Marvel: Ultimate Origins, Gauntlet: DA, or Hunter: The Reckoning.

[Generation ABXY]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

I wasn't so much looking forward to another Wii FPS as I was this FPS. The way it was portrayed, and the way it seemed to be shaping up was quite impressive.

...

I was really looking forward to a L4D sort of game with demons werewolves and vampires. I could care less if it was on the Wii in the end, as long as it was fun.

I suppose I can agree on that. It was more what this game was, and what it was on (again, I simply prefer first-person shooters on the Wii now... as opposed to other consoles, that is), that had me so interested. Well, that and it looked damn fun as it was.