Every year around this time, I do my annual budgeting for the next year. It consists of these three steps:
1. Look at the release list for the next few months
2. Cry
3. Order a year’s worth of bulk ramen
Historically, the release of the Nintendo spring schedule alone doesn’t get me to step two. This year it has, but it’s not my fault—the only totally unjustifiable thing I will probably haul out of a store in the spring is Coraline, which will go directly into the “stupid things I’ve bought because of an unhealthy and often inexplicable love of Neil Gaiman” pile.
No, it’s Sega’s fault. Look at the entirety of the publisher’s Nintendo lineup: a new House of the Dead game. MadWorld, the latest post-modern brawler from the creators of the last, and only, post-modern brawler, God Hand. And a…Sonic game. But those are usually slightly better on Wii!
This got me looking at Sega’s Wii lineups both new and old, which taken together paint a picture of a publisher that is throwing full support behind the Wii while not falling into the pit of making endless cheap-o party games. In fact, Sega’s Wii games cater almost exclusively to the core. There’s the upcoming first-person shooter The Conduit, as just one example. Looking back, the company has put out, amazingly, new Nights and Samba De Amigo games. And Sega’s cheap-o output has largely been ports of super cheesy arcade games like House of the Dead, Ghost Squad, and Sega Bass Fishing, games old timers like me greatly appreciate. The only casual minigame collection in there is Let’s Tap, and that’s a game where the controller is also the box it comes in. Not all of these games were successful at what they intended to do, but all the same, this is not typical use of the console!
So congratulations Sega, you’ve learned something that it took other companies till this week to figure out: that the Wii is big business, a lot of people have them, and maybe some exciting, top-tier content on it would be good. Extra bonus points should be giving for picking up the ball Nintendo dropped and actually focusing the brunt of the effort on longtime fans.
A couple other choice picks from the Nintendo release list after the break.
Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers – America finally gets the schlockiest series in Japan’s Simple game lineup. Why it took this long for a game about a blood-splattered bikini girl with a sword and a cowboy hat to get to this country is beyond me. Is there really a chance this won’t sell?
Major Minor’s Majestic March – The return of the Parappa team, complete with artist Rodney Alan Greenblat, to the world of music games is a delightful turn of events.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – A classic adventure game with timeless hand-drawn graphics. I’ve now played this on PC, PlayStation and GBA, but will happily buy it again on DS or Wii.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix – You played Puzzle Quest. You know why you want this.
Suikoden Tierkreis – The Suikoden franchise continues to coast on the success of Suikoden II and III. Fortunately, those games had more than enough success to go around. I’ll get this even though I don’t know really anything about it.
Flower, Sun, and Rain – One of the earliest games from crazed designer Suda51, this game will not be fun. But it will be a strange look behind the veil, straight into the mind of a madman.
Related Links:
The Untold Story of Sega Killing Their Own Hardware Business
Independent at a Price: Sega and Platinum Games
Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog Returns: Sega and Prope Making Game For Penguins