Third party support for the Wii seems to be slowly pulling away from its overly casual stigma. The most recent announcement of No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, the follow-up to the odd, violent, and very enjoyable Wii game joins a growing list of upcoming hardcore offerings from third-party developers and publishers.

Among the list are Tenchu 4, the Conduit, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes, and MadWorld.

This rare lineup of hardcore titles from companies other than Nintendo may signify a better understanding, on the developers’ and publishers’ parts, of the capabilities of the Wii. In less than two years, the little white console that could has already been clogged with countless quick-fix, low-quality, mass-produced shovel ware titles, something which could spell trouble for the company.

While the lineup of games may be some consolation for hardcore gamers, the titles still have to worry about the casual audience of the Wii. A game like the 2007 Carnival Games, for instance, has sold over 2 million copies worldwide – more than anticipated core titles such as Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Resident Evil 4. A sequel (due out this fall) has been announced following the success, which goes to show that casual mini-game offerings can be churned out in less than a year AND sell much more than core titles that take years of work.

The first No More Heroes sold less than half a million copies worldwide.  

It’s an uphill battle for games targeting the traditional gamer, that’s for sure. But, a No More Heroes sequel was announced because the first one apparently “sold well,” which suggests that the developers of these games have lower expectations than they should. Perhaps with more Wii titles aimed squarely at the hardcore, though, the Wii will (slowly) shape up to be a friendlier place for third party developers of the traditional sort.