God hand ,god hand ,god hand.Its the closest game.it sold much worse on the ps2, and much slower. It would hardly sold better, at best a few thousand units more.For the development costs it would have had(marketting and graphical overhaul), it would have been a horrible loss for the studios.
On the shooters topic :
Sales of waw were OK but not stellar because it was a port and it competed with HD versions of itself.
Sales of RS were Ok but not stellar because it was a crappy ugly non online game.
Sales of Mprime were ok but not as good because its not a pure fps nor has online replay.
TC is gonna be a benchmark in sales for wii fps if Sega wises up and starts tv advertisments.

I'm getting sick of it being called "niche" as it's reason for selling badly. What is niche about an action/adventure beat em up?

I'll have 2 disagree with that.They have Ninja Gaiden 2(and 2 sigma),Devil May Cry and stuff like Heavenly Sword.Gears is also gory though its a shooter,not a hacker.But let's face it,it might have sold less on HD consoles.Nintendo gamers are usually more willing to try new stuff than HD gamers.Not every HD gamer is a core gamer.Many of them are 'casuals' by my book.My definition of casual isn't girly or babish,because some babish games are hardcore,my definition of casual is the typical stereotype boy in my country.They don't LOVE games like I do.They play Soccer(for 90% of their game time),GTA,driving games,DMC & GOW and war games.

Then a few dat like games a bit more than the average guys will add a few very AVERAGE adventure/action  games to their library because the boxart looks 'mature'.They miss out on all babish hardcore games.They even miss out on RPGs completely and games like Zelda.Now,with this being MY definition of casual,many casual HD gamers would never give madworld a chance.Okami and Deadly Creatures are also examples of how niche or unusual games sell.The fact that Okami sold way better on wii shows dat nintendo gamers are generally more open minded.The fact that Windwaker sold well means that using a very popular name for a new game helps.If Deadly Creatures was called Resident Evil:Deadly Creatures or some other popular name,it would have sold more.

So there.My opinion.Besides,I don't have a single HD-playing friend dat liked Madworld after I described it & showed em pics.They didn't even WANT to see the vids!

@tolu619

You do know that Rol was being sarcast... Never mind.

it would have sold better on the PS2 , not sure on PS360 , cause its pretty straight forward, tho if its on PSN or XBLA then it might get a chance.

Please do not call it niche.

It was popular. If you saw E3, you know about it. If you went to IGN anytime in a month before its release you would know about it. They advertised it a lot. There was tons of hype towards MadWorld.

Niche is a word this game is not. I do admit people turning away because of black and white and length but not because it is niche. I do not care if a game I get is niche, but if it is good.

It had nothing to do with hardcore vs casual, etc.

It was too artsy a game. The game wouldn't have looked much different in HD. It was too drastic of an art direction. In a world of super detailed graphics, millions of colors, black and white graphics just don't lure people in. They took a shot in a strange direction, and it didnt go off as planned

It would sell more, but would flop even more too.
That game for PS360 should be 3 or 4 times more expensive to produce.

Exactly WHY is MadWorld supposed to rake in BIG sales? What in here is why it is supposed to?
1. Is it an established frachise with a base?
2. Is the game supposed to be some brilliant post-modern comment on society that adds huge depth to discussion and fits real well, at least to the level that Bioshock was a critique of Objectivism?
3. Is the violence and gore so fantastically awesome it screams "Buy me" being this era's version of Mortal Kombat?
4. Is the "Black and White (and red all over)" artist style both some slambang AWESOME that it generates critical praise for its art direction, while looking so cool, that it generates massive appeal on the part of gamers all over?
5. Does the game feature AWESOME replayability that people will play it over and over again, speaking highly of how awesome it is?
6. Like point number 2, is the game supposed to be some AWESOME story that hooks players in and gets them all excited?

What exactly is there that says this title would translate over to being a multi-million game seller on the 360 and/or PS3? I don't see it. I see it gets hyped because it is a rare M-Rated game on the Wii, that supposed "hardcore" gamers who have a Wii (either as their main console or only console) will have the world see the light that the Wii is more than just party games, so that EVERY SINGLE THIRD PARTY TITLE ON THE 360 AND PS3 must also be ported to the Wii, because the market is there.

MadWorld looks like a niche title to me, one that will get a niche following for it, that will sing its praise, and some critics who will praise its art direction and style. These individuals will get furious at the world for not lining up to see the brilliance they are seeing in it, and buying it.

And yes, I may be excessively blunt here, but I have seen MadWorld praised for months by some individuals to a level that goes beyond the game, to also include crusading for the Wii in it.

@richardhutnik
7. Because 3D Beat 'Em Up's have been selling really well lately?