If you have ever wondered what a woman in a spiky outfit playing MadWorld with producer Atsushi Inaba looks like, now you know.

アッキーナを始め豪華ゲストが彩った"チュンソフト×スパイク 大収穫祭09-10" - ファミ通.com [Famitsu]

The "blood-soaked" game was released outside Japan last March by SEGA, which has a publishing deal with the title's developer, Platinum Games. Due to its violent content, the game experienced controversy in the UK and Germany — the game has not been released in Germany. Nintendo has even caught heat for MadWorld by groups unhappy with this adult-skewed game.

MadWorld will be released this Winter in Japan. Interesting to note: The title will not be released by SEGA, but by publisher Spike.

『マッドワールド』日本上陸！ [ファミ通.com]

Only on his new job for about two and a half weeks, Mike Hayes is the man who now oversees Sega West, the combined domain of Sega of America and Sega of Europe and the man who I asked yesterday to define, if such a term is possible, "Sega-ness."

Hayes, who formerly had been running just Sega of Europe and years before that was at Nintendo, was taking meetings in New York on the penthouse floor of a midtown Manhattan hotel. Based in London, he was paying the territory added to his portfolio a visit. Around him, in adjacent rooms, a line-up with a diversity that make even Sega's innovative line-ups of its old Genesis and Dreamcast eras look homogeneous was illuminating TV screens. A few doors in one direction were Aliens Vs. Predator and espionage role-playing game Alpha Protocol. In the other, beyond more than half a dozen other distinct games, were Daisy Fuentes Pilates and a Sonic kart-racing game.

Is there an essence of Sega that unifies the company's games? Something that a gamer unaware of the company logos on game boxes might still sense as a unifying aspect of Sega's games?

"In some cases, but not all," Hayes said, answering this early question with the thoughtfulness and lack of diplomatic self-censorship with which he'd field all of my questions. "When we are trying to do core games like Aliens Vs. Predator from Rebellion, I don't think you'll find any Seganess in that. However, there are a lot of games that we do do — whether it be particularly with our old intellectual property, like Monkey Ball, like with Mario and Sonic and … things like Let's Tap — it's that kind of slight risk-taking that Sega was renowned for as innovators that we still do and we still intend to do."

Such a publisher winds up having to field from an outlet like this one questions as wide-ranging as the fate of its Aliens license, its Sonic line and its heritage as a hardware maker. More on some of that later this week, but here's our first batch of updates.

Aliens is one of the murkier Sega topics. The company announced in 2006 that it would publish three games based on the famous chest-bursting movie monsters. Sega showed Aliens Vs. Predator at this event, demonstrating how games can play as a human marines or a Predator. Still under wraps is what playing like an Alien will be like. But this game wasn't expected to be the first Aliens game from Sega. That was going to be the Gearbox-developed Aliens: Colonial Marines shooter or the now-canceled Obsidian-developed Aliens RPG.

"The Gearbox project was moving along," Hayes said, recalling when the decision was made to take Colonial Marines out of the lead position. The game wasn't as far along as Aliens Vs. Predator, which originally wasn't backed by Sega. It was being made by Rebellion for publisher Vivendi, until that support ceased following Vivendi's 2008 merger with Activision. "There was an opportunity for us to take that." Its development progress put Gearbox's game into the second slot, to be released "a good period after" AvP, according to Hayes. The RPG won't be third because "it just wasn't coming along to the plan that we thought."

Might the newly announced, Ridley Scott Alien prequel project be a source of Aliens inspiration for Sega? "We're quite excited about that and buzzing from the news of that," Hayes said. But of the third game, Hayes would only say, " We'd like to think we'll be doing a third project but at the moment we haven't confirmed what the third project will be."

Another hyped grouping of Sega games has been its trio of Wii games targeted to the demographic of gamers that prefers a good headshot or chainsaw kill to an interactive sit-up routine: House of the Dead Overkill, MadWorld and The Conduit. Hayes views their fortunes as mixed. Sales reports don't show blockbuster numbers for any of the games, but, Hays said, "I just don't think, categorically, that you can therefore concludes that mature games won't work on Wii."

Hayes deemed profane Grindhouse-style in-rails shooter House of the Dead: Overkill a "big success in Europe," even though it performed less spectacularly in America. Hayes said the game's budget-priced Wii predecessor, which compiled two earlier games in the series, continues to do well, suggesting there's a future to this line. "We're still very keen on the House of the Dead franchise."

Conduit can also be deemed a success, Hayes said, qualifying its performance as a solid one in a summer that has seen a pre-Holiday Wii hardware and software "dip." The company has shipped 300,000 copies of the game worldwide and sold through more than half of them to gamers, about 100,000 in the U.S., according to figures from Segaof America v.p. of marketing, Sean Ratcliffe who attended our interview.

It is the mostly black-and-white, hyper-violent MadWorld that Hayes dubbed a "disappointment" for reasons he can't yet nail down. "It could be the consumers didn't like the art style," he said. "It could be the consumers had enough Mature-rated games to play on 360 and PS3 and didn't need a new experience on Wii."

Hayes sums up the mixed success of those titles with a sanguine recognition that any grouping of games will have its hit, its flop and some in-between performers. "That's video games," he said. And it's not the end of this Wii gamer narrative from Sega. " You will see more — I wouldn't say Mature as in M — but you will see more definitely more hardcore games from us on the Wii platform."

MadWorld was part of a second grouping of Sega titles, those developed by Platinum Games, the company led mainly by former design stars at Capcom. Bayonetta, now releasing in early 2010 in the U.S. will be the second, along with DS game Infinite Space. Hayes said there will be at least two more Platinum Games titles published by Sega beyond that, but wouldn't provide details nor confirm if either of those is the previously-announced game being developed by heralded Japanese game maker Shinji Mikami.

One of the biggest hits for Sega in Japan has been its Yakuza series, a line of story-driven brawlers set, mostly, in modern Tokyo and crafted with the help of a Japanese crime novelist and Toshihiro Nagoshi, the classically eclectic Sega developer who also dreamed up the kid-friendly Super Monkey Ball. Yakuza may be the Japanese series that most closely matches the urban antisocial vibe of the Grand Theft Auto series, but its two PlayStation 2 releases in America have sold poorly. A third PS2 Yakuza was not brought to America. A current-gen game, Yakuza 3, made its mark in Japan in February. The third is absent from Sega's announced U.S. release schedule. "We're looking into it," Hayes said, remarking that it would require "massive localization" work and that, yes, he's aware of the dedicated fans here clamoring for its release.

Hayes answered that Yakuza question outside of our interview, truth be told. We'd wrapped up. I was at the other end of the penthouse, preparing to play Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics after commandeering Luigi on bobsled I saw Hayes and had to ask. Imagine the ability to transition from playing character-mascot Olympics to a discussion of a crime-filled city adventure, all without leaving the same publisher's demo hotel suite: Maybe that is the definition of "Sega-ness"

According to Nintendo's Denise Kaigler, "You know, I don't know. It's hard to say. It could be titles have the same type of sales curve that a lot of Nintendo titles have. A lot of Nintendo titles don't follow that traditional sales curve where they launch big and then that's it. Our titles have a long tail. They build in popularity, and this could be the case with MadWorld and The Conduit. I've played both. I'm not a core gamer, and I found that they were challenging and fun."

In its first month on sale, action title MadWorld sold around 66,000 copies. Meanwhile, first-person-shooter The Conduit sold 72,000 copies from its June 23 launch to the end of the June sales period.

Thoughts?

Q&A: Nintendo's Kaigler on Slowing Wii Sales, Hardcore Games [GameLife via CVG via VG247]

But that doesn't mean SEGA has given up on mature Wii titles.

"You have to push boundaries and explore," says SEGA Europe's Gary Dunn. "I think whilst MadWorld commercially didn't sell what we were expecting I wouldn't say it's game over for mature Wii titles from Sega."

Continuing Dunn adds that the company is looking at its resources it has now. "We've got money to invest in development," he says, "we're just considering where to invest it next." But is there an audience for mature Wii titles?

Sega: It's not game over for mature Wii titles [Games Industry]

House of the Dead: Overkill only sold 45,000 copies in its first month. MadWorld sold 66,000. The numbers paint a dismal picture, but as Sega's MD of European Development Gary Dunn explained to GamesIndustry.biz, the first month is but a few strikes in the overall profitability painting.

"House of the Dead: Overkill was a profitable title for us...Whilst it had a rather sharp tail at full price, they do bubble away at a lower price point for a long time. You get your money back and a bit on full price, but over the years, if we do the final product return on investment, profits come from the lower price point."

His response to MadWorld sales is a bit less chipper, but nonetheless hopeful.

You have to push boundaries and explore. I think whilst MadWorld commercially didn't sell what we were expecting I wouldn't say it's game over for mature Wii titles from Sega.

I don't know. If I were Sega I'd be developing a bit of a complex by now. They create Sonic-themed drek we claim we don't want and it sells in droves, while games like MadWorld that we seem to enjoy barely make a drop in the bucket. What exactly is it we want from Sega?

Sega: It's not game over for mature Wii titles [GamesIndustry.biz]

The company that's been riding high on its own Wii and DS successes has recently had some trouble convincing people that marquee games from publishers other than Nintendo can do well on Nintendo's machines.

Sega's hardcore-hyped MadWorld launched on the Wii with 66,000 copies sold in the U.S. in March, according to the NPD group.

Take Two's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars — the best-reviewed game on the DS — launched that same month with fewer than 90,000 copies sold in the U.S.

"There is no magic number that says x = profitability," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Kotaku during our E3 interview last week, further clarifying earlier comments on the matter.

Two non-Nintendo games he expects to perform well are Sega's The Conduit and EA's Dead Space Extraction, both first-person games with a darker tone that Nintendo's standard. "I am really optimistic about The Conduit," he said. "I think it looks great, plays great. I think Dead Space Extraction is going to be fabulous given the early builds that I've seen. So, I do think that we will continue to see not only great titles, but great sales, on higher-rated M and T type of titles on our platforms."

Fils-Aime addressed the seeming struggles of some of those M-rated games on Wii and DS from earlier this year.

As other Nintendo reps have said before him, Fils-Aime thinks Chinatown Wars may have been counted out too soon by people focusing on its launch numbers. "In the handheld space, with Nintendo platforms specifically — whether it's Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS — the fact is that first month sales really don't matter," he said. "You have a title like Mario Kart, in its first month, a holiday month that did just over 200,000 copies. New Super Mario Brothers, which launched in the summer, did over 150,000 in its first month. Those are not huge numbers, yet both of those have gone on to sell more than four million units apiece and to be in the top 10 total industry titles for the last two years running. So, first month doesn't matter in the handheld space as long as it's a high-quality game, which Chinatown Wars is, has some continuous level of marketing support — whether its retail marketing, consumer marketing, online — as long as you keep the buzz going it will continue to sell millions and millions. And that's my expectation for Chinatown Wars. As long as the team at Take Two and Rockstar give it a long life, it will do very well."

Reggie said he would have liked to have seen higher sales for MadWorld but doesn't think its launch counts out other M-rated Wii games. "The challenge with home console is that for a 'gamer game' you need to have the buzz and the expectation early and you need to support the title for a number of months to drive the sales. On both of those fronts, I'm not sure MadWorld was able to do that."
It's not an M-rated Wii game, but EA Sports Active just had a blockbuster debut of supposedly more than 600,000 copies sold in its first two weeks, according to EA.

Those are the arguments. Don't count Wii and DS third-party games out for 2009 yet, Nintendo says. There will plenty of high profile games to test that.

The Conduit is out this month. Dead Space Extraction ships in September.

Both MadWorld and The House of the Dead received praise from game reviewers, but the sales for both titles we rather abysmal, especially when considering the Wii's massive install base. Speaking to VideoGamer.com, Nofsinger explains why High Voltage isn't concerned about suffering the same fate with The Conduit.

"This is something that gets brought up quite a lot," he said, "but we're not concerned at all. Those games, and you can point to a few others as well… I think they're great games, but they're mature games. I think there's a nomenclature that you need to be certain on. Those games are gory and they are aesthetically niche. They're boutique games. They're great games and I love them, however I know that they're not accessible and they're not the kind of titles that are going to tap into both core and mainstream [audiences].

But what does Nofsinger mean by core and accessible?

"When I say that we're core, I mean that we have a level of detail and depth and customisation and variety that core gamers demand. When I say that we're accessible and that we're also aiming for the mainstream, that is why we specifically chose the art style we did, and the setting. The theme is very much in the mindset of going for that Hollywood blockbuster feel.

If you ask me, the main difference lies in the ratings, at least in North America. There's a world of difference between a T-rating and an M-rating, especially on the Wii.

High Voltage: Conduit won't suffer MadWorld sales fate [VideoGamer.com]

Treyarch's return to World War II is the latest Steam Weekend Deal, marked down 50% on Valve's digital distribution service. That translates to an asking price of just $24.99 USD for Call of Duty: World at War. A temporary steal for the PC version.

Also newly cheap is PlatinumGames' MadWorld. GameStop is chainsawing prices on the Sega title, blowing it out for just $29.99 USD. Given that the Wii game sold a seemingly paltry, but still Sega-expectation-meeting 66,000 copies in its first month on the market, one might think that's a reaction to underperforming sales.

But MadWorld is simply joining a long list of Sega titles that get heavily discounted weeks after their release, a proud tradition that includes Sega Superstars Tennis and Golden Axe: Beast Rider.

Oh and Empire: Total War, which GameStop is also selling for just $29.99 as of this weekend. Granted, these deals have almost no relation to a mini-mall, but they're still good!

Call of Duty: World at War [Steam]

"I personally have no fear (about sales of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles), Resident Evil is a massive brand on a worldwide scale and you can't really compare it to MadWorld," he said. "Personally I do like MadWorld, I think it is a very unique game. I think we should be happy to be able to play a game like this. It's kind of disappointing that it didn't sell."

Kawata added that some of the design staff or MadWorld used to work for him and that they're friends and wished them the best.

Resident Evil, Kawata, said, is such an established franchise that even casual gamers know the name.

"Most if not all gamers know the Resident Evil name," he said. "It's that powerful a game.

"These games have been around for ten years, there are also the movies as well which also expands that to reach casual gamers."

Kawata said that in Japan the franchise is so successful that when a television station does a story on it their viewership rises signiicantly.

"I've had TV stations and channels thank me because their viewership goes up," he said. "So it is a very powerful brand name."

And MadWorld isn't the only example of hardcore gaming on the Wii, Kawata pointed out. Last year, he said, his favorite game was Dead Space and now it's heading for the Wii as another light gun game.

"With that game coming out we feel it is going to be a very nice competitor, help us push our limits and raise the bar for light gun games.

"There is potential in these types of games,"

While Resident Evil maybe a hardcore franchise, Kawata says he thinks The Darkside Chronicles will also reach casual gamers.

"The Wii has a lot of casual gamers and we didn't want to leave anyone behind."

Using the recent release of Madworld as an example, research firm GamePlan Insights reveals that, despite IGN naming it "as the Wii game with the highest level of unique interest, and by extension purchase intent" amongst its readers, and despite overwhelmingly positive review scores, there was a reason it sold only 66,000 copies in March.

And that reason was that the kind of people who were getting really excited about MadWorld - excited enough to not just talk about it, but buy it - were a teeny, tiny fraction of the Wii's install base. The game made a lot of noise online, yes, but it made a lot of noise amongst a small group of people.

According to GamePlan Insights' own polling data - which reportedly canvasses "1,000 gamers on a weekly basis" - MadWorld wasn't the most-anticipated Wii game on the horizon. It was the 41st, behind a string of "casual, music and puzzle" games like Wii Sports Resort and Trivial Pursuit.

Which ended up pretty close to the mark. Probably because, unlike the impression we get reading up on a game in the enthusiast press, GamePlan's 1000 gamers are drawn from "hardcore gamers, casual gamers, and everyone in between", including Gamefly's rental customer database.

Of course, this isn't news. Anyone familiar with the old "great game, poor sales" argument will be familiar with this scenario. But then, just like it's helpful sometimes to gaze into the night sky and ponder the scale of the universe compared to your tiny sack of carbon and water, it's also helpful to remember findings like this every time you feel like wailing "why the fuck is Wii Fit outselling Zack & Wiki?"

GamePlan: MadWorld Demonstrates Tenuous Link Between Web Hype And Sales [Gamasutra]

Despite a respectable Metacritic score of 82 percent, the M-rated MadWorld didn't exactly explode off of the shelves when Sega released it last month. The stylishly violent first offering from Platinum Games only managed to push 66,000 copies. Not a huge number, but still higher than Sega's other M-rated title, House of the Dead: Overkill, which saw 45,000 copies sold in its debut month. Still, Sega seems pleased with the results, telling Venture Beat:

House of the Dead has done very well and has absolutely met our expectations. The first set of data for Mad World is very encouraging, as well.

I suppose when you are releasing an M-rated title on a console that's been embraced by the American family you've got to keep those expectations realistic.

Wii's M-Rated MadWorld Sells 66,000 in the U.S. [Gamasutra]

It's pretty much perfect. The angular sculpt matches the Wii's low-res textures, he comes with two chainsaws, and ebooze's paintjob gets the two-tone mix just right.

ebooze [deviantART, via Go Nintendo]

Its intended audience is the core audience, which might feel somewhat spurned by the more popular Wii titles. According to SEGA marketing person Sean Ratcliffe, "If it resonates with the audience, yes, we absolutely want to make that into a franchise. I think it's unique, and there are many aspects of that game which are sort of pushing boundaries."

We're pretty sure SEGA is hip to turn any game that resonates into a franchise. It's not a charity, you know.

Read our review of MadWorld here.

Sega shows off next big Olympics game, targets Wii and DSi [VentureBeat]

As soon as the first black, white, and red all over screenshots of MadWorld first surfaced, everyone knew this wasn't going to be your ordinary Wii beat-em up. The game's art style neatly sums up the main goal of the title - to get the red on the inside of your enemies to the outside, where it can no longer do them any good. Its tongue-in-cheek approach to a violent reality game show coupled with its striking visuals made MadWorld a game to watch on the Nintendo Wii.

Well now we've watched, and played, and the collected game reviewers have had their way with the game. Do they cheer MadWorld on, or has it left a red smear on the Wii's pristine white surface?

VideoGamer
Kids across the world are likely to be salivating over this gore extravaganza, getting their fill from YouTube, just as kids gathered around the arcade version of Mortal Kombat back in the early 90s. Any game in which you can skewer a string of ninjas onto a long spike shish kebab-style or drill a man's face clean off as he comes hurtling back to earth is bound to attract attention. The violence here is so over the top you'd be hard pushed to find someone who is truly repulsed by what's shown, though, with even the most squeamish person more likely to raise an unexpected smile than run to the nearest toilet. It's the gore that's going to bring in the punters, but it's the gameplay that's likely to leave a few people wanting more.

GameSpot
Jack is a fascinating antihero, easy to root for yet not exactly likable, and a cutscene in which he cuffs a smirking narcissist across the room is as shocking as any of the game's outrageous scenes of dismemberment. The grittiness of the story is further enhanced by MadWorld's graphic-novel looks. Aside from the copious spurts of red blood (or blue alien goo), almost everything is rendered in black and white, and for a while, it's hard not to be awed by this unusual presentation. Nevertheless, that style comes at the occasional expense of visual clarity and comfort; in time, it becomes increasingly difficult to see important items such as health drops within the busy environments. The game is at its best when played in short chunks, if only because you'll need visual and emotional relief from time to time.

G4 X-Play
The locations are deceptively larger than they first appear with different routes crossing the arena and hidden areas filled with more weapons, items, and enemies to eliminate. Even after replaying sections, I found myself finding new places and new ways to kill wandering zombies or fleet-footed ninjas. Each section feels new and different than the one before it, never copy and pasted. What MadWorld does right is allow for exploration and experimentation when it comes to killing. There's only a brief mention of some of the areas of interest at the beginning of the level before the game sends you on your way. There's very little in the way of hand-holding except for special sections that allow for an instant death.

Game Informer
If you play this game the way you should – by slaughtering victims in the most foul of ways – it ends up being a non-stop highlight reel. The ranked boss battles are especially entertaining – think Mortal Kombat Fatalities with the budget of a Star Wars movie. All of the accelerometer-based shaking and slashing works without a hitch, but the enemy lock-on system is an uncooperative mess, and the grab mechanic, which is used for almost every action, is unreliable, often making the simple action of picking up a club seem like you are attempting it blindfolded with oven mitts on.

WorthPlaying
there's very little not to love about MadWorld. This is exactly the game the mature, hardcore Wii crowd has been craving, and it's just too bad that Nintendo is too busy making the next Wii Play, Wii Fit or Wii Music to put more resources into projects like this. In any case, kudos should be paid to both Sega and Platinum Games, as they have teamed up to bring us a title that stands head and shoulders above the competition. Just don't hold your heads too high; that makes it too easy to lop them off with a chainsaw. If you happen to be a Wii owner over the age of 17 looking for a terrific hardcore title, this is the one. Go buy MadWorld right now.

Kotaku
MadWorld manages to be sexy, shallow, giddy, gory fun for hours, with a simplistic retro gameplay sensibility. Then the game continues for a few more hours, the novelty having worn off a little more than halfway through. Getting to that crescendo, however, having seen chunky thugs eviscerated, amputated and penetrated by street signs is a blast. It's perhaps made more enjoyable for how referential the game is, with not-so-subtle design references to quirky properties like Smash TV, The Running Man, Sin City, Hellboy, and Evil Dead. The game's bosses feel similarly referential, playing up archetypes that would feel at home in a Mega Man or Castlevania game, if those games went in a terribly gory direction.

Everybody enjoys a good bloodbath now and then.

The first offering from PlatinumGames, by way of Sega, the stylized black and white (and blood soaked red) brawler puts the gravelly, pumped-up protagonist Jack in the televised Deathwatch, a kill or be killed game show that's part Smash TV, part The Running Man. It's like a slapstick version of Rockstar Games' Manhunt, minus the stealth, self-preservation streak, and snuff perversion. MadWorld's excessive violence isn't horrific, it's comedic. Enemies are liquefied in jet turbines, decapitated with golf clubs, crushed into crimson goo by gigantic mechanical hands. All in good fun, of course.

Does MadWorld have more to offer Wii owners than the novelty of a bloody fireworks show and a rare chance for an ultra-violent, Mature-rated game for the more family friendly library?

Loved
Blacks, Whites: Despite having a palette that consists of black, white, red and the occasional yellow onomatopoeia, MadWorld manages to remain aesthetically interesting and surprisingly visually legible. There's no lack of style on hand, with distinctly different levels, from city streets to medieval manors, helping to keep things fresh. What's somewhat surprising though, given the limited graphical scope, is MadWorld's non-progressive scan resolution and bouts of annoying slowdown.

Sense of Humor: A good portion of the appeal here is how ridiculous the Deathwatch scenarios can be, some of which we wish we hadn't had spoiled prior to playing. The running commentary has its moments of good humor, which is just as crude and dying to be offensive as the on-screen violence.

Variety Show: PlatinumGames does an admirable job of keeping the action fresh for a long time. The addition of new weapons, new deathtraps and mid-level Bloodbath Challenges help to break up the constant punching and sawing. A couple of driving levels add a dash of variety, but are about as satisfying as driving levels in action games tend to be. You'll probably wind up looking for ways to improvise on your violence, if only to keep the spark alive. Deathwatch Challenges scattered throughout help to spice up the body count.

Satisfaction: MadWorld is oddly satisfying for a brawler. That's atypical in the current generation, where beat 'em ups tend to grow stale almost immediately, as opposed to MadWorld's hours worth of fun.

Deadly Nunchuk: It helps that the use of the Wii remote is mostly so intelligent, not to mention so forgiving. Almost everything you do works without a struggle and the controller is mapped wisely enough to feel almost instinctive. Headbutting, for example, is curiously fun with the Nunchuk. That said, there are a couple of control quirks and extended play sessions, full frantic Wii Remote waggling, can wreak havoc on the more delicate of wrists.

Hated
Where Camera Meets Control: The most maddening aspect of MadWorld is the inability to see where your enemies are and, if you do, throwing a flurry of punches that are in the wrong direction. Trying to pick up weapons or power-ups can be frustrating, as you may find yourself constantly correcting your location in a vain attempt to pick up that damned tire or head-skewering umbrella, then whiffing past your opponent.

What Am I Doing? Oh, Right. Points. Some level objectives can be confusing or unclear, leading to the excessive beating of respawning enemies while you search for the next objective. Unfortunately, sometimes that objective is simply "Score more points."

Ad Nauseam: Constantly running commentary isn't easy to do, but even after an hour, the dick jokes and "What's in that Mad Juice, anyway?" questions grow tiresome. The game's looping soundtrack is similarly grating, especially when you're doing the same thing over and over again in-game to acquire more points to move on. Losing all your lives during a boss fight, then having to restart the entire level can compound the tedium quickly.

MadWorld manages to be sexy, shallow, giddy, gory fun for hours, with a simplistic retro gameplay sensibility. Then the game continues for a few more hours, the novelty having worn off a little more than halfway through. Getting to that crescendo, however, having seen chunky thugs eviscerated, amputated and penetrated by street signs is a blast. It's perhaps made more enjoyable for how referential the game is, with not-so-subtle design references to quirky properties like Smash TV, The Running Man, Sin City, Hellboy, and Evil Dead. The game's bosses feel similarly referential, playing up archetypes that would feel at home in a Mega Man or Castlevania game, if those games went in a terribly gory direction.

Minor technical issues can interfere with the experience, but not to the point where it renders the game unenjoyable. The game's plot line also overstays its welcome after a surprising "Hey, there's going to be a story in this game!" moment. So don't be afraid to jam A + B simultaneously to skip this stuff and get back to the more satisfying aspect, the theme park of violent fun. MadWorld is worth, at the very least, a rental and, more than likely, a purchase, if only to see what disgusting fun one can have with the Wii for a few days.

MadWorld was developed by PlatinumGames, published by Sega for the Wii, released on March 10th in North America. Retails for $49.99. Played single-player game to completion, tested multiplayer modes.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

The bad news is that you can't buy these, the good news is that Sega plans to give a few of them away to fans. They haven't announced how yet, but expect the details soon.

Seems NIMF missed the release of Manhunt 2, No More Heroes, and The House of the Dead: Overkill, as Dr. David Walsh bemoans Sega's MadWorld, which "brings violent videogames to a once family-friendly platform." Pfft. No one who has seen the atrocities performed in Escape From Bug Island has any illusions about the Wii being family-friendly anymore!

IGN's write-up of the press release—which we can't actually find on NIMF's web site or the usual press release hiding places—warns parents about the game's many decapitations, eviscerations and bisections, all performed with Wii Remote motion control.

We also don't see NIMF mentioning the actual publisher or developer of MadWorld, Sega and PlatinumGames, respectively, in the quoted release.

Hopefully, though, concerned parents will notice the "M for Mature" rating on the cover, just to the left of the dude wielding a bloodied chainsaw.

NIMF Disappointed with Nintendo [IGN]

Leading off the list of North American releases on Monday are two new "New Play Control!" remakes for the Wii, Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis—now with waggle! Wii releases dominate, with the multiplatform Trivial Pursuit and MySims Party sure to line the pockets of Electronic Arts.

The week ends with the Friday the 13th release of the long awaited Resident Evil 5, a game we suspect will be on plenty of What Are You Playing This Weekend? thread responses. For the full list, read on.

Monday (Mar. 9)
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Wii)
New Play Control! Pikmin (Wii)
My Pet Shop (DS)

Tuesday (Mar. 10)
Madworld (Wii)
MySims Party (Wii, DS)
Eve Online Special Edition (PC)
Docomodake BOING! (DS)
Trivial Pursuit (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2)
Avalon Code (DS)
Codename: Panzers Cold War (PC)
ZUBO (DS)
SBK: Superbike World Championship (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP)
Mana Khemia: Student Alliance (PSP)

Wednesday (Mar. 11)
Marble Saga: Kororinpa (Wii)
NCAA 09 March Madness Edition (XBLA)

Friday (Mar. 13)
Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Well... who's gettin' what?

These 13 screens seem to be giving us a glimpse of some of the bosses for the Wii brawler.