Nintendo Not Sure Why Hardcore Wii Titles Don't Sell

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. 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.

Asked by Wired why third-party, hardcore games such as SEGA's MadWorld and The Conduit are seeing disappointing sales on the Wii, Kaigler was a little oblivious. "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", she said.

Kaigler explained that this curve shows a long tail of continuing sales, compared to many games that start with big sales then drop right off.

Of course, the problem could be in Kaigler's statement that, "I’ve played both. I’m not a core gamer, and I found that they were challenging and fun." (Our bolding).

Still, Nintendo's keeping its fingers crossed. "But it’s our hope that the games will pick up in popularity and they’ll continue to sell". So... Ninty's hoping for the best. That's encouraging for the hardcore...

Probed on the fact that some analysts are predicting a Wii price cut before Christmas, Kaigler showed her masterful grasp of question evasion. "I’ve been reading those same reports", she said. "We’ve all been reading those same reports. (laughs) But we have nothing to announce on that at this time."

On MotionPlus vs Sony's Motion Controller vs Natal, Kaigler pointed out that "Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus, are here today, now."

So, there you go.