Even as Nintendo is reaching out to "casual" audiences, Nintendo is known for their "hardcore" style games anyway; the Metroids, the Zeldas, the Smash Bros., the harder set Mario Karts... sure, Wii might look like a bad omen for hardcore styles, but honestly, Nintendo usually has a good support and applaud for harder core games; just as a first party, they usually aren't bloody (whoopie?).
I hope SEGA invests more in to the Nintendo machine, even more than they lately have. Both have a different spirit for games.
Numbers: Checker Players > Halo Players
Checkers Age and replayability > Halo Age and replayability
Therefore, Checkers > Halo
So, Checkers is a better game than Halo.