With the recent announcement of Dead Space being ported to the Wii console, could it be true that the Wii and Nintendo in general is becoming more mature? Dead Space adds to the (slowly) growing number of mature titles that Nintendo has in there line ups. Also on that list is Dead Rising; Chop Till You Drop coming to Wii, Mad World also on Wii’s list, and Grand Theft Auto; Chinatown Wars.

Nintendo, it seems, is certainly trying to put more mature games into the already overstuffed line up that is aimed at kids. The Wii sells like hot soup in the middle of a blizzard let’s face fact, but aside from it being the fastest selling console out there, it doesn’t have a lot of staying power. I have a lot of friends that have a Wii (myself included) and don’t play them. If they are playing the Wii they are usually playing old school games that they downloaded through the Virtual Console. Is giving a game the “M” rating going to be the shot in the arm that Nintendo needs to get people playing again? 

Shovel-ware is by far what is hurting the Wii the most. Parents faced with a decision of buying games strictly based on box art and price generally lean towards games that are cheaper and flashy-er. Parents that aren’t gamers like myself don’t know that what they are doing is necessarily a bad thing. They just think that the box looks pretty and the price is right, my kid will probably like this game. They don’t know that in essence they are only contributing to the problem of horrible games being pushed on kids. You can’t rightly blame the parents. They don’t know any better. That is why sites like What They Play.com were created. To educate parents so that they know the difference between a game like Mario Party and Family Party. As most people in the game media will tell you, if you stop buying really bad games and their sequels, they will stop making them. 

The Nintendo DS, is another beast all together. It has sold well since launch, and doesn’t look like it shows any signs of slowing down. There are a TON of games on the DS that are wonderful, original, and fun all in one. There are still many shovel ware games on the DS but they don’t seem to stick out as much as the Wii. One major difference is that people are still playing their DS’. I see kids and adults alike playing the DS all the time. You can also read about great games coming out all the time. Why is the Wii so different then? In my opinion i think it is because the DS has been around long enough that the publishers that tried to take advantage of the systems supply and demand have started to dwindle. Due largely in part to the fact that people have stopped buying every game that comes out for the system. Now that doesn’t mean they have all gone away. That is horribly apparent when you look at all the “Petz” games that come out every month it seems like.

Mature games mean mature buyers, essentially, if you abide by the rules. Mature buyers usally means educated buyers. So this could possibly be the right course of action from Nintendo and their publishers to get better titles, and more long term franchises on board. The more you educate your public the more they will demand better quality product. As long as they nail the presentation and don’t try to shoe-horn in the use of the Wiimote or the touch screen controls for the respective systems things should pick up quickly. Gamers, true gamers, know what they like, and they don’t hesitate to tell you what should and should not exist in a game of a certain type. Developers and publishers just need to take into consideration the person that plays the game more than the person that is paying them to make it. I know that is a ridiculous concept but it’s true.

What is your opinion on the matter? Do you think that Mature titles belong on the Wii and DS? Do you think that this will help the Wii build an even larger fan base?