An Undersea Trip That Leaves Gaming Home

Novickas cited the success of a quiz game for the Nintendo DS, called Brain Age, as a title that helped open publishers' eyes. "We realized there is a market out there for nontraditional games and people looking for an experience that is a little different," he said. The publisher might decide to release this type of title for other consoles down the road, depending on sales.

Aside from the large consumer base for the Nintendo systems, there's at least one other reason game developers might want to try out such nontraditional titles on the Wii first. Game publishers have often said developing software for the Wii is less expensive, because it requires less computational horsepower under the hood than the competition. By comparison, budgets for cutting-edge games designed for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are up to 10 and 20 million dollars these days; such costs tend to make game publishers risk averse.

I like the idea of getting hooked on games that push education or self-improvement. But it's still too early to tell where this is going, or how big of a phenomenon this might turn out to be.

David Riley, a director and game industry analyst at research firm NPD, says "exploration" titles like Endless Ocean have already existed, though they have usually reached only niche audiences.

Still, Riley said he thinks the Wii's mainstream audience might help turn Endless Ocean into a big seller for the Wii system. He bought a copy for himself, in any case, and gives the title a thumbs up. In addition to the game's built-in appeal as a change of pace from the usual video game fare, Endless Ocean also stands to benefit from its $30 price tag, which makes it $10 to $20 less expensive than the average new Wii title.

Up next for Nintendo is a Wii controller that users stand on, shifting their bodies to control their in-game characters. Tentatively called the Wii Balance Board, the package will come with software, called Wii Fit, that offers balance-related games and yoga lessons.

That package is already on sale in Japan, where it has sold more than a million units since December. The controller is set for a U.S. release in the spring, though Nintendo has not yet announced a price or release date.

Based on early looks at video game industry trade shows, some think the controller will be another hit for Nintendo -- and one that appeals equally to both serious gamers and the mainstream. Boyer, the EGM editor who found Endless Ocean to be a bit of a bore, said last week that he's looking forward to Wii Fit. "It's going to be huge, no question," he said.

Riley agreed. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that one's going to sell well," he said.