MadWorld residents total 66,000 in March

Last week, a Sega representative said the early sales indicators for the publisher's M-for-Mature-rated Wii game MadWorld were "very encouraging." The NPD Group released its monthly sales figures yesterday, and the sales posted by the violent action game in its March debut were perhaps less encouraging.

An NPD representative told GameSpot that MadWorld sold 66,000 copies at US retailers last month. That puts it well out of the top 10 and behind another M-for-Mature game on a Nintendo system, the critically adored Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

MadWorld, the first product from Sega's partnership with Platinum Games, is nothing if not attention grabbing. The largely black-and-white game drops players into a life-and-death gameshow, armed only with a chainsaw and an environment full of sharp points and blunt objects.

As of press time, Sega representatives had not returned GameSpot's requests for comment on MadWorld's sales. Last week, when the publisher's spokesman referred to the early data as encouraging, he added that Sega "absolutely" wants to make MadWorld into a franchise, provided that it "resonates with the audience."