This Spring the Wii is (finally!) getting some more core games. But is it too late? Are all the core players now on HD? Will Wii owners want any of these games?
Give your impressions of which will be hits or misses and why:
Rygar
Tenchu 4
Dead Rising: Chop 'til You Drop
House of the Dead: Overkill
MadWorld
Deadly Creatures
The Conduit
Sin & Punishment 2 (no release date yet)
Little King Story
My thoughts:
Rygar - Port of an OLD PS2 game that was good in it's pre-God Of War day but wouldn't hold up now even on PS2. No creative use of motion controls dispite Disk-armour potential. With better games out at the same time the audience for this is limited indeed. MISS - 200k
Tenchu 4 - Flopped badly in Japan. Even on the HD consoles I think this game's appeal would be limited. However it does offer some nice use of motion for ninja kills and that's got to count for something. BARELY PROFITABLE - 250-300k
Dead Rising - Semi-port of old 360 game. Won't get good reviews because of the comparison to the original but will be fun in it's own right. Easy concept for masses to grasp. Empty mall will be an issue. MODEST HIT - 500 - 750k
House of the Dead: Overkill - On-rail shooters are a proven commodity on Wii. RE:UC did about 1.5m and HoTD2&3 is closing in on 1m. Over the top killings will be a hit with adults and teens (and pre-teens) alike dispite M rating. HIT over 1m
MadWorld - NICHE!! The black and white art style will immediately turn off the mass market and even many core gamers. Ultra violent motion based killings will get lots of negative press. Anyone who thinks this game will sell 1m is fooling themselves. HIT!! 400-500k. Small but dedicated fanbase will find this game and love it. Too bad there's no online.
Deadly Creatures - A bug? Are you kidding me? Okami failed 'cause no one wants to be a dog (yes I know it's a deity...) and they are going for insects? Not even cute A Bugs Life insects but icky insects? Reminds me of the InSectors fiasco in the 80's. Kids like to torture bugs not be them. COMPLETE MISS!! Will barely make top 200 even on launch. Under 200k
The Conduit - The poster child for Wii core games. Can it possibly live up to the hype it's created for itself? No f---ing way! Will it still be a fun FPS on Wii. You bet! Reviewers (except IGN) will flog it because it can't compare to CoD4, Halo 3, Resistance or Crysis which are the FPS standard barers now. Mediocore 1st week sales will have people laughing at the Wii fanboys. But Conduit players will love the game even if it isn't as good as some others and will LOVE the controls. They'll all tell 2 friends to buy it who will love it and tell 2 friends.... HIT!! 1-2m (but it'll be slow. Think RE4 or CoDWaW sales) Expect Conduit 2 by 2010 holiday season.
Sin and Punishment 2 - Despite the VC release of the original Japan only S&P this is basically an all new IP for NA and Others. Nice graphics but a little too 'Japanese' for most western shooter fans but it's a Nintendo title so it's guaranteed not to fail. MODEST HIT! 500k-750k
Little King Story - Odd title. Honestly I have no idea. If it's a hit it'll be a sleeper hit for sure.
