So is there an ideal publisher out there? Who would you have Conduit choose if the decision was yours to make?
There's no ideal publisher "as-is". What HVS needs to do is strike the right deal.
Nintendo could be a great publisher if they'd back off the friend codes and upgrade NWC with a swank lobby system. It isn't something I'd count on, but if they're interested, it's worth trying to negotiate for. HVS has a made a number of references to "working with Nintendo" on various technical feats, and of course, they were invited to show off Conduit at Nintendo's booth at PAX. Hopefully Ninty has the good sense to be a little interested after the lashing fans and press gave them after E3.
I've recommended in the past that EA offer EA Nation access to outside developers and publishers for a fee. Were that access to happen (it won't), Capcom would be an ideal publisher to offer features AND actually help provide excellent quality to the game (rather than interfering with quality control as many publishers would).
I still think EA is the most realistic pick if there's no offers of change on the market. So long as they're willing to offer EA nation access, there's the potential for more features from them than from other publishers (again, as-is). No one trusts EA, and they have a decade long reputation for poor quality. With an EA pick, you'd just have to hope that the details of their contract with HVS gave them very little power while the game is still in development.
While it's best not to make assumptions, the fact they talk about the publisher being revealed the coming month would seem to point to nintendo being publisher.(october is when nintendo holds it's media summit)
I'm just saying it'd make sense if the reason they have been secretive about the publisher is if nintendo was the one to announce themselves as such.
and the month HVS said to expect an announcement is the same as the summit.
and of course I knew it wasn't a definite confirmation, hence the first part of my post.