Mature titles on the Wii like MadWorld and The Conduit didn’t exactly bust out of the gate in the selling department.  That isn’t stopping SEGA from pushing forward to bring more M-rated games to the casual console.  Platinum Game’s MadWorld was a depressing showing at your local retailer, but a lot of factors could be at play for why MadWorld just didn’t sell all that well.  Too extreme?  Some just weren’t a fan of the art style?  All of these things SEGA is looking into and studying.

MadWorld was actually on my game list of “must-buy” titles before it was released with its extreme over-the-top blood and gore, as well as trying to figure out the best way to kill or pummel an enemy in fun, creative ways.  What zapped it off of my list was its short playing time of less than 8 hours.  The Conduit on the other hand was one of those titles that I originally had pegged for “buy to support”.  In other words, buy the game in order to support the shrinking mature game catalog for gamers on the Wii.  If gamers don’t buy the title, game publishers will lose interest and resort to lighter titles like Kidz: Basketball, or yet another Rig Racer game.  I personally don’t want to see another Rig Racer game after they released Rig Racer 2.  Hell, nobody does.

The Conduit up until now has sold 150,000 of its 300,000 released copies, and continues to sell in a downtrodden economy when Wii games have took a hit.  Mike Hayes, Sega President and COO, calls that a success.  With the Nintendo install base pegged at around 34 million across Europe and the US, you would think SEGA would shoot for higher sales numbers?  Out of all of those UK and US gamers, how many do you think already own a 360 or PS3 and get their core games that way? Hayes says that after all is said and done, they still have around an 8 million Wii-only gamers who would be into the market for a core game.

The development costs for pushing out a AAA Wii game are significantly less than pushing out the same type title on the other next gen consoles.  This is why we saw the blow up of Wii games in the span of last year.  Developers and publishers don’t need to see the same type of sales numbers as those seen on the 360 and PS3.  Cost to develop the game is low, so it doesn’t take much selling to get the title into the positive for the studio.  SEGA will continue to work on and release more mature games going forward to those 8 million or so people in hopes of catching more core fans out there.  Wii owners continue to evolve day after day, getting their fill out of titles like Wii Sports and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but eventually moving on to heavier titles like MadWorld and The Conduit.

I plan to buy MadWorld now that it’s cheaper and I see the value in it.  The Conduit, not so much.  I was really excited about hearing about the game in the beginning, but after hearing a few reviews I feel it isn’t for me.  After all, I personally just don’t see spending 50 dollars on a Wii title that might get one play through.  Maybe that’s just me?  I finally got around to getting No More Heroes on the Wii, so maybe SEGA just needs to put the game out now and wait a few years to get Justin McCullough’s money to add in to their profits.