The Wii isn’t exactly known for its vast library of m-rated titles like Grand Theft Auto or Epic’s brutal third-person shooter Gears of War. One would think it’s geared more towards party titles like Mario Party 8, or “casual games” such as Ubisoft’s Petz series. But with Rockstar Games bringing GTA: Chinatown Wars to the DS later this year, it could open up the gates for other developers to create more games geared toward the maturer Wii audience. In response to an analysts question, Take Two CEO Ben Feder praised the Wii’s install base, but still argues that some of their best content isn’t suitable for the Wii:
“We’ve got a bunch of sports titles that will take advantage of the Wii. Some of our best content really isn’t appropriate for the Wii. That said, “Carnival Games” has been a massive success for the company. We’re looking, in a disciplined way, of extending that brand to other areas. All of our sports titles are looking at the Wii as a potential platform. And, frankly, even the M-rated content that we think is much more appropriate for the PS3 or 360,w e have to look at the Wii as a viable platform across all our labels. You just have to because you can’t ignore the installed base. You just can’t. We’re going to do a lot of learning with “GTA: Chinatown Wars” on the DS in terms of bringing that kind of content to a Nintendo platform. Our partnership with Nintendo is as strong as it’s ever been. We’re really excited about it. We talk to them all the time. They provide great feedback for us. We’re highly focused on it.”
Wii games, just like any other titles released today on any console, go through the ESRB’s rating system. Why shouldn’t it see some of Rockstar’s “best content”?
