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Sega thinks M-rated Wii games are still worth making photo

It's a common theory that mature games just don't work on a Nintendo platform. Both the DS and the Wii have had some rather big M-rated titles join their libraries, yet fail to rack up the immediate success that was expected. Nevertheless, Sega is still committed to giving mature Wii gamers some blood n' guts, believing that slow-burn sales are still good for business.

"House of the Dead: Overkill was a profitable title for us," says European development MD Gary Dunn. "Whilst it had a rather sharp tail at full price, they do bubble away at a lower price point for a long time. You get your money back and a bit on full price, but over the years, if we do the final product return on investment, profits come from the lower price point.

"You have to push boundaries and explore. I think whilst MadWorld commercially didn't sell what we were expecting I wouldn't say it's game over for mature Wii titles from Sega. We're taking a look at the resources we have now. We've got money to invest in development, we're just considering where to invest it next."

Hats off to Sega for delivering something more "adult" on the Wii. The firm's been putting out some solid stuff recently, going some way towards making up for a few years of rubbish. Here's hoping the publisher can continue to provide the Wii with something a little less twee than the system's main library.


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22 comments | showing # 1 to 22

Discarded Couch Sandwich's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 18:33
Discarded Couch Sandwich
I've not yet brought any of Sega's 'adult' Wii games, but they're both ones I'm very interested in, and will inevitably at some point end up in my library. If they continue to make good games, they will have an audience. Simple as that for me!
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 18:37
Kyousuke Nanbu
Perhaps if M-rated on the Wii games went beyond buckets blood and people saying fuckhead, more people might care, as it stands now most M-rated Wii games are just juvenile crap.

Note to developers, an M-rating can be many things, don't just focus on blood, gore and cursing.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 18:49
Dexter345
I'm glad they're not too discouraged to keep at it.
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 18:54
Holyetheline
Nintendo needs to take the Wii's library more seriously and stop letting so much crap hit shelves. I don't see shit raping the PS3 and 360 games section...
EdgyDude's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:00
EdgyDude
@ Kyousuke Nanbu: QFT
The-Excel's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:13
The-Excel
More powar to them. Also what the Kyousuke Nanbu said.
ChronosWing's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:24
ChronosWing
@Platypus

Then GTFO and stop commenting if you hate it here so much.
VGFreak1225's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:26
VGFreak1225
Its good to see some publishers are still supporting the Wii.

@Nanbu:
I'll agree with you, but there have still been games that went beyond that. No More Heroes spent its time being satirical. The House of the Dead: Overkill pointed out the silliness of those cliches rather than simply embracing them like so many other mainstream games (I'm looking at you Gears of War).

@Platypus: I'm sorry, what?
Corak's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:37
Corak
Its good to know they aren't giving up. I also like how platypus basically called himself a farting asshole with his comment. Trying to ridicule people by criticizing a community when you are part of that community is rather funny.
Steel Brotha's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:39
Steel Brotha
@Platypus
go suck a fat one.
@ Kyousuke Nanbu
your absolutley right.
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 19:42
Jonathan Holmes
I agree with Nanbu, sort of, in that three of the most high profile, M-rated Wii games (HotD:Overkill, MadWorld, and No More Heroes) are comedies, and that's not what a lot of "hardcore" gamers want.

It's certainly what I want though. I love all three of those games, and it's all because of their sense of humor, something you don't see as much of on the PS3/360. Other than MGS4, I can' think of one of retail PS3 game that has made me laugh.

That said, Resident Evil games aren't funny either, and they've turned a huge profit on the Wii. I guess that's evidence "serious" M-rated Wii games can also sell, as long as the consumer believes in them.
VGFreak1225's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 20:00
VGFreak1225
@Corak: Absolutely. My favorite is when I'd read comments like those on the Nintendo NSider forums. The cherry on top is that you needed to register, like eight Nintendo published games to post there. True hipocracy.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 20:42
Kyousuke Nanbu
@Holmes

I don't really care about the hardcore debate, the problem I have with most M-rated Wii games is that they lack substance.

NMH and Mad World are incredibly repetitive brawlers and HoTD while hilarious is short and bound to get repetitive(course you can say this about most guncon type games).

I simply think devs can do more with the M rating that just what they've done.

Look at GTAIV, its the tamest M-rated game ever BUT the M-rating is used to tell a gripping story, they can do that with the Wii easily.
VGFreak1225's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 20:49
VGFreak1225
@Nanbu: That sounds like a complaint at the gameplay itself, rather than the mature content. GTA IV had a mature storyline, but some people still argue that that worked against the game rather than for it.
DinnertimeNinja's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/30/2009 22:34
DinnertimeNinja
@VGFreak

Who's arguing that?

That makes no sense. GTA wouldn't be the popular game that it is right now if it weren't for the mature, controversy-laden, air of deviousness that surrounds it.
K1NG J0RDAN's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 00:24
K1NG J0RDAN
what sega needs to understand is that all wii owners are either little kids or senior citizens. So M rated games are not the right thing to try and sell. Maybe they could use the money from those games, and make there sonic games worth playing! :)
georgiom's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 01:52
georgiom
Wait, M rated Space Chanel 5? I like where this is going.
GoldenGamerXero's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 02:14
GoldenGamerXero
No More Heroes was perfect nuff said and yes I would like to see some more games like that by companies as long as (Like No More Heroes) it feels like it could work without all the so called "maturity" I hate games that just feel like crap as soon as you take out all the swearing and blood. Swearing and blood don't make the game. They make it better.
Tye The Czar's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:29
Tye The Czar
I think I might forgive Sega for ruining most of their franchises if they keep up the good stuff.
GohanGVO's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 12:03
GohanGVO
@DinnertimeNinja

I think he meant that past GTA's would take a comical, almost satirical slant to its "mature" stories whereas GTA4 went too far away from the fantasy into "reality" (note: I have not played GTA4).

Anyway, this does touch on something I have been thinking about for a while - is the "Mature" ESRB rating a bit misleading because of what the word means versus consumers expectations FROM a M-rated title? Or should folks recognize that the "M" is talking about content and not context?
B-Radicate's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 20:00
B-Radicate
Too bad Mad World wasn't worth playing.

Zing.
Cadtalfryn's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/02/2009 18:30
Cadtalfryn
Sega, you keep publishing titles like Madworld and the Conduit and I'll keep buying them. No House of the Dead for me though, I'll stay with Umbrella Chronicles.
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