The Conduit Struggles to Sell Well on Nintendo Wii

The Conduit is the latest hardcore third-party game to not sell well on the Nintendo Wii. It joins other similar titles like MadWorld and Deadly Creatures.

The Nintendo Wii launched in North America during late 2006. It managed to achieve record-breaking sales due to successful penetration in to the casual gaming market. Because of that however, the audience on the Nintendo Wii is different than your typical video game system. Games that targets the casual audience usually ends up selling well. On the other hand, hardcore titles, especially those made from third-parties, have a tough time on the Nintendo Wii.

The Conduit is the latest and probably most ambitious third-party game yet. High Voltage Software developed The Conduit using the Quantum3 engine,which maximizes the visual prowess of the Nintendo Wii. As a result, the game is littered with many high-tech visual effects.

Furthermore, the Nintendo Wii exclusive game also takes advantage of the online multiplayer features of the Nintendo Wii. Because of their family-friendly image, Nintendo severely restricts online gaming on their system. As a result, not many companies try to include online play in their games. Fortunately, this did not stop developer High Voltage Software from including robust online multiplayer support for up to 12-players in The Conduit.

Their effort proved to be for naught unfortunately. The Conduit was released on June 23 exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. In nine days, it just sold about 72,000 copies in North America. Despite all of the pre-release anticipation and positive press, it barely made a dent in the mass market.

One possible reason for the low sales is that The Conduit is a first-person shooter. Many hardcore gamers place huge emphasis on visuals. Even though The Conduit is one of the best-looking Nintendo Wii games, it still doesn't hold a candle to similar titles on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Not to mention that the Nintendo Wii exclusive game also suffered from merely good review scores. This is a far cry from the anticipation that follows the impressive looking title since it first debuted. Since many hardcore games use reviews score as a purchase indicator, The Conduit did not fare well in this department.

Fortunately, this isn't stopping developer High Voltage Software from stopping development on the popular video game system. They are developing three more exclusive games on the Nintendo Wii in addition to another multiplatform title. So while The Conduit may not end up being a breakout hit, High Voltage Software won't stop trying to bring hardcore games to the Nintendo Wii.