Nintendo clueless about "hardcore" Wii games

Posted by Aharon Etengoff

San Francisco (CA) - A Nintendo VP has admitted that she does not know why "hardcore" Wii games such as MadWorld and The Conduit have generated disappointing sales.

"You know, I don't know. It's hard to say. It could be titles have the same type of sales curve that a lot of Nintendo titles have," Denise Kaigler told Wired. "A lot of Nintendo titles don't follow that traditional sales curve where they launch big and then that's it. Our titles have a long tail. They build in popularity, and this could be the case with, as you mentioned, MadWorld and The Conduit."

According to Kaigler, Nintendo was "hopeful" that the titles would catch on, as they were "deep experiences" and "challenging" games.

"It's our hope that the games will pick up in popularity and they'll continue to sell," added Kaigler.

Nintendo Wii Conduit

Others, however, disagreed.

"The Wii isn't a hard core gaming platform. Anyone will tell you the Wii is a casual gaming and social gaming platform," wrote Shane McGlaun of I4U News. "This side of Rock Band I have never played the PS3 or Xbox with a group and even women I know who hate games will sit and play the Wii with exuberance. The Wii just doesn't draw the same sort of gamer."

A Spong writer opined that the "problem" was made evident by Kaigler's statement that she was not "core gamer" but found the titles "challenging" and fun.

"Maybe you're unclear on why hardcore games that don't come out of Nintendo studios don't sell startlingly well on the Wii. That's fine. It's not your job to know," stated Spong . "You would expect Nintendo to have some strong ideas on the subject, though. You would expect someone like Nintendo of America's VP of corporate affairs, Denise Kaigler, to know. Your expectations would not be met."

As TG Daily previously reported, hardcore gamers have reportedly shunned the Conduit FPS (first-person shooter) for the Wii. Sean Ratcliffe of Sega attributed the lack of enthusiasm over such games to the Wii's relatively "new" mature audience.

"The system has traditionally targeted families and kids and not the more mature hardcore gamer. We recognize that when you are trying something new, it may take awhile for the consumer to jump on board with it," said Ratcliffe.

Nintendo had hoped that the Conduit - along with upcoming titles such as The Grinder and Gladiator AD - would help convince veteran gamers that the Wii is more than just a glorified exercise machine.