Could Nintendo’s family friendly image serve as a limiting factor with regard to the system’s future titles? If the reaction of the UK-based MediaWatch group to upcoming gore-fest MadWorld is anything to go by, the answer is yes: they claim it will “spoil the Wii”.
The group’s director describes the game as “unsavoury” and hopes that the British Board of Film Classification will refuse to grant the game a certificate when the time comes. The Daily Mail have latched on to the story, and have dubbed it the “most violent game ever” in typically sensationalist fashion.
When asked about the game’s potential to tarnish the Wii’s reputation, Nintendo simply stated: “Mad World will be suitably age rated through the appropriate legal channels and thus only available to an audience above the age rating it is given”. Well said.
I view MadWorld as one of the more interesting titles in development for the Wii, with slick Sin City style visuals, an abundance of ultra-violence and gore, and its tongue firmly in its cheek. The Wii needs to broaden its catalogue of games if it’s to appeal to more traditional gamers, and it’s titles like this that break the tedium of constant party games and other novelty releases.
Here’s hoping that MadWorld isn’t adversely affected by the fact that, in terms of violence, it’s currently without equal on the Wii. Although it’ll soon be joined by Dead Rising, another title that should buck the trend.
What say you reader? Are you interested in MadWorld? Are titles like this welcomed, and indeed needed, on the platform?
YES. I can't deal with one more cheesy party game. In stock terms, Wii needs to diversify it's portfolio.
Games like Mad world, Dead Rising, and The Conduit are just the types of games that the Wii needs in order to appeal to a much larger audience.
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