14 DAY TRIAL // SEGA has quietly offered fans a Christmas present by taking down the price of several of its WiiWare releases. A quick look at the Wii Shop channel shows that titles initially put out for the SEGA Genesis are now priced at just 5 dollars, which is 3 dollars less than their original tag.
The promotional offer is set to last until January 6, 2010 and interested players can pick up games like the first three Sonic titles, which most players consider to be the best in the series, Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage 2, Puyo Puyo 2 and even an updated release of Altered Beast.
It's a smart move on the part of SEGA, which manages to put its Genesis titles front and center as Christmas and the New Year roll around and as players who own a Wii look around for some small titles to download and enjoy, probably with members of their family.
The games look good enough on the Wii, that has never been known for its graphical power, and the controls are sharp and precise, which means that a lot of players who might have missed on these classics are now able to pick them up cheaply and see what they are all about. If the number of videogames sold through the promotion are relevant, then SEGA could probably extend the idea and offer regular promotions for the Nintendo-powered digital distribution service.
SEGA is also one of the publishers that can certainly use the extra income derived from WiiWare. The videogaming business has been doing pretty well in 2009 but the game gallery section has been constantly losing money. In 2010, SEGA will put out new installments of Yakuza in both Japan and the United States, while also releasing Napoleon: Total War from The Creative Assembly.