• by Shankar Gupta , May 8, 2009

Apropos of the column my fellow Gaming Insider Josh Lovison wrote a short time ago about "hardcore" titles being released on "casual platforms" (in this case, "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" for the Nintendo DS), GamesIndustry.biz posted an interesting interview with Glenn Schofield, general manager of Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores), developer of the horror-survival hit "Dead Space," which is currently being adapted for the Nintendo Wii -- not a platform often associated with gruesome horror titles.

Schofield is optimistic about "Dead Space"'s chances on the Wii (as any good general manager ought to be), but the utter flop that was "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" might prove prophetic. The "Dead Space" franchise, which was so well-established by EA's monster marketing blitz during its release cycle, is a complete 180-degree shift from what's been traditionally successful on the Wii -- titles like Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart Wii. "Dead Space" doesn't even come close to fitting that profile.

Schofield's hope -- and the point that Josh made in his earlier piece -- is that with such an enormous installed base (Schofield predicts 50 million Wiis will be in circulation by the time "Dead Space: Extraction" hits the shelves), there have to be at least some fans of the genre who'll be curious enough to check it out. And it's not entirely an issue of hard-core gamers vs. casual gamers in this case; "Dead Space: Extraction" certainly sounds like a far more casual game than its Xbox 360/PS3 cousin. It's becoming in part an expectation of what kind of content is going to be found on platforms like the Wii and the Nintendo DS, versus what's going to be seen on the 360 or the PS3. The Wii has become the platform of bright colors, energetic music, and party games, while the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are the platforms of mature themes.

Clearly, it remains to be seen if "Dead Space: Extraction" can break through these expectations, but it's pretty clear from what happened with "GTA: Chinatown Wars" that they're not easy expectations to surmount. Will "Dead Space" fans cross over to the Wii to try this latest iteration? We'll see soon enough.