If you take three sub-par action titles that didn’t do well on the Wii because they weren’t really all that good to begin with, and then package them into a three pack with the word “violence” on the cover, will they sell better and be received warmly by the enthusiast gaming press?

Multi-part answer: No, and *probably* not, depending on who’s writing the article.

Also, bonus question: Will the publisher that brought these games to fruition use said multi-pack’s inevitable failure as an excuse to further blame the platform and not the games themselves? Answer: Depends. This is Sega we’re talking about, and their track record on Nintendo platforms over the past three years has been a mixed bag, to say the least. I’m chalking this up to simple inventory cleaning.

During its most successful years, SEGA marketed itself an extreme, edgy games-maker that catered to the hardcore tastes of the market.

It worked once. Why not try again?

In an interview Wednesday with IGN, SEGA of America president Simon Jeffery made it clear his company is making an effort to reach the hardcore Wii gamer.

“SEGA is making considerable investment in core games for the Wii,” says Jeffery. “We strongly believe that games like Mad World and House of the Dead Overkill have a great place on the Wii — and Nintendo of America shares our belief. Everyone is churning out wide market and family-friendly fare for the Wii platform, but there are millions of core gamers being underserved right now.”

This philosophy was one of the factors behind SEGA’s decision to publish The Conduit, High Voltage Software’s anticipated shooter.

“The Conduit is one of those games that ignites a frenzy of interest across the gaming community. We really liked the way High Voltage was promoting and presenting the game. They had us at ‘The…’”

As reported on Infendo last month, rumors persist that High Voltage Software has already begun working on a sequel, and Jeffery seems enthusiastic about its potential as a exclusive Wii franchise for SEGA.

“We are currently only talking about the first game, but we have every belief that HVS is building something awesome here.”

Eric Nofsigner, Chief Creative Officer of High Voltage Software, has long been an advocate of better gaming on the Wii. “Most of the games on the Wii look like crap.” Nofsinger told IGN last April, “We want to change that. …Our goal is to be the most technically innovative Wii developer on the planet.” High Voltage has spent the last year developing The Conduit, the much hyped independent first person shooter that seems to be pushing Wii graphics to the limit.

At Nintendo’s Fall Press Summit, Eric Nofsinger and I talked about how important fan feedback was to the development of The Conduit.  “One of the things we’ve really done at every one of these shows is gotten feedback from folks, from press, from fans, and that’s been awesome.” Nofsinger says, “We write up a list of all the stuff, and we go back to the studio and put it on a punch list – not all of it gets on there, but a lot of it does.” This kind of fan involvement is almost unheard of in the industry, as we approached the demo unit I asked for details. “Can you show me an example?”

“Absolutely.”

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Last week, Nintendo held it’s Fall Media Summit, dropping bombshells like the Nintendo DSi, a new Punch-Out!! for Wii, and the arrival of Club Nintendo to U.S. shores. I was lucky to be on site to mingle with Nintendo staff, talk to developers, and sample unreleased games. Keep an eye out for previews, hands-on impressions, interviews, and speculative analysis of the event in the coming weeks.

Hit the jump for some initial gameplay impressions on Animal Crossing, the Conduit, Call of Duty, and more!

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High Voltage continued its one-of-a-kind marketing blitz for The Conduit this evening with a new contest. It’s a pretty simple, pretty cool little contest that effectively gives you, the gamer, a chance to map the game’s controls.

Update: High Voltage’s Eric Nofsinger wrote us to clarify the prize: “The prize is getting your name in a videogame, e.g. the Jack Loftus control scheme. =) We will likely send a lot of other junk too (T-shirts, etc) but the real prize is credits / bragging rights,” he said.

More from the release, including contest rules, below the fold. (more…)