Game Stooge

Sega, Mature Games, And The Wii

• Scribbled on April 22nd, 2010 by Jordan Lund
• Filed in Features, Game Genres, Nintendo Wii, NPD

So are they or aren’t they?

When Sega development director Constantine Hantzopoulos came out in January and said, regarding Wii development, that “anyone above 12-years-old was playing PS3 and Xbox 360 shooters” and that Sega would “probably not” do more mature titles on the Wii.

It really shouldn’t have surprised anyone who followed the sales numbers. These comments were echoed by Mike Hayes, head of Sega’s Western division when he spoke of MadWorld and said:

“If you’re going to play a mature-rated game, you’re going to get your 360, PC or PS3 out to do so. But you can’t knock us for having a go.”

Which makes it a surprise when the very same Mike Hayes is now saying that Hantzopoulos’ comments were off the mark, saying they “weren’t appropriate or accurate.” He also heavily qualifies future releases on the Wii by saying they’re going after the Wii Teen market rather than the Mature market.

“Is it going to be as big as the Teen or Mature market that exists on the Xbox 360 or PS3 platforms? Certainly not. Is it viable, because the cost of development on the Wii is significantly less than those other platforms? Then, potentially the answer is yes.”

Unfortunately for Mr. Hayes, these new comments seem to exist only as an “if you build it, they will come” style support for their new title Tournament of Legends which comes out in May, 2010.

Sega has had one of the few bright 3rd party spots on the Wii with Mario and Sonic at the (Summer/Winter) Olympic Games, two games which have sold over 10 million copies world-wide. No other 3rd party title has sold as well on the Wii and unfortunately that includes Sega’s other, more mature, Wii titles.

• House of the Dead: Overkill came out in March of 2009 and sold 45,000 copies
• MadWorld launched in April of 2009 with 66,000 unit sales
• The Conduit, which was eagerly anticipated by many Nintendo fans as proof the console wasn’t just for kids, only sold 72,000 copies when it came out a few months after MadWorld, and finished with a meager total of 390,000 sales

So when mature titles sell at a rate that is a fraction of lower quality kids games heavily featuring Mario, the logical assumption is that the attempts at more mature development will be heavily cut back.

There are two key titles coming up on the Wii which the bean-counters are going to be watching very, very closely. The first is the just released Monster Hunter Tri which sold over half a million copies in two days when in launched in Japan. The next is the aforementioned Tournament of Legends next month.

The question is “Will either of these be another Mario and Sonic or will they be another Dead Space: Extraction (EA’s attempt at a mature title that only sold 19,000 copies at launch)?”

Time will tell. Previous Monster Hunter games have not done anywhere near as well in the U.S. as they have in Japan, typically selling around 22% to 23% as many here as they do in the Land of the Rising Sun. But it is being heavily promoted by Nintendo and it’s also being packed with a new peripheral which the Wii fans seem to always enjoy.

Game Average Scores:

• Monster Hunter Tri – 85 Average
• MadWorld – 81 Average:
• House of the Dead: Overkill – 78 Average
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – 76 Average
• The Conduit – 69 Average
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games – 67 Average

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