Recently, much has been made of Wii's expanding audience and the obstacles that face publishers who attempt to sell core games to that consumer group. A few company spokespeople have recently gone on record with comments that blame a variety of factors for sluggish sales performance. There's some truth in those comments, but the ultimate conclusion (that Wii's audience doesn't care for core games), is troubling.

The many core gamers who read such reports know full well that there is a significant audience waiting to make future core titles a success, if only publishers give them reason and opportunity. Publishers truly can enjoy a pleasing Wii payday even without enormous marketing and development budgets, but they have to be ready and able to work for it.

Are you a publisher wondering how to break through to the core audience that lurks behind the grandmas and toddlers? If so, pay attention to the following five-step plan.

1) Don't skimp on the package design. Bad packaging screams "budget effort" and those words generally equate to a bad game. The consumers that you're trying to reach with your core game have been burned enough times that they know to be on their guard. Can you blame them?

2) Give your consumers a reason to purchase your game from day one. Include inexpensive but cool incentives, like soundtrack CDs and art books. Price your product appropriately. If you're releasing a $40 game, don't price at $50 in hopes of snagging a few early purchases. Start at $40 right from the start so that consumers never have a chance to grow accustomed to buying others games instead of yours while waiting for a price drop. That's a hard habit to break, so don't even allow it to form.

3) Use all of your available resources to spread the word, not just a few of the most obvious ones. Whether it's fair or not, many gamers hesitate to trust the established outlets and their mammoth advertising partnerships. Those outlets still matter and can't be overlooked, naturally, but be sure to budget enough review copies for niche sites, respected bloggers and even for prize drawings so that users can play your game and let all of their friends know all about it on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

4) Follow up on point #3 by advertising appropriately through more conventional channels. Don't blow most of your budget on a celebrity. Spend it on a marketing firm that can present your game's attributes in a manner that will resonate with consumers. Ads should show more of the game in action and less of the cute gimmicks that clutter too many commercials of every type for every product. If your commercial can't make someone want to play the game (not just smile at how cute the talking squirrel was), then it has failed. Choose publications and sites that your consumers actually read, as well.

5) Make sure that your game is worth owning. Spend the time and money to remove obvious flaws that core gamers are so quick to notice. Take the time to polish the hundred little things that add up to make or break an entire experience. Use your 'A' team, or give your 'B' team more time to grow into something better during the development process. The results will speak for themselves and positive word of mouth will keep things hopping.

The preceding tips aren't radical. Chances are good that you already put most or all of them into play when releasing projects on other platforms. The trick is to remember that the core audience on Wii doesn't deserve any less attention and resources than the core audience on any other platform. Reward those gamers for their dedication with the respect that they want (and deserve) and in response you'll receive the retail payday that you need.