With Sony and Microsoft engaged in sales deathmatches across India, Nintendo fans, upset at having to forage at gray market outlets for their Wiis and its games, may have some good news coming their way soon.

Eager to test the Indian gaming market for Wii titles, Milestone Interactive – one of the biggest distributors in the country, in addition to being Sony Entertainment India’s right arm – will be bringing in Alone in the Dark for the Wii, alongside the PC and the Xbox 360 versions later this week. While we seriously question the logic in field testing the Wii games market with a title like Alone in the Dark, which we feel seems to be the equivalent of testing shark-infested waters with a rubber ducky, we welcome the fact that someone is at least trying to break the iron grip the gray market has over Nintendo hardware and software in the country.

While a lot of gamers would see this as some sort of divine sign that the Wii would soon be available officially in the country, Milestone has categorically denied rumors that they will be the ones to finally tie the bell around the giant Ninny cat. According to Milestone execs, the launch of Alone in the Dark (Wii) is purely to see how well the Indian gaming market responds to Wii games being available through official channels instead of having to hunt for overpriced imports in the gray markets.

Even though HCL was originally rumored to import the Nintendo Wii for sale in India, insiders have pooh-poohed that by saying HCL was already a Microsoft partner and would not be involved with the Wii import at any time in the near future. Which, conveniently, neither confirms nor denies anything, leaving Nintendo fans to flock to modded Wiis and Play-Asia for their fix. With Nintendo never having an official presence in India, even though the GBA and the DS are hugely popular in the country (the GameCube being non-existent here), it remains to be seen whether the Japanese giant will finally see sense and follow their competitors into a burgeoning country full of rising incomes and fat, assertive kids.

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• GoNintendo » Blog Archive » India gets Alone in the Dark for Wii…but not Wii- What are you waiting for? Says:
  Friday, July 4th, 2008 02:00 am GMT +5.5 at 2:00 am

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• Cruiz Dwyer Says:
  Friday, July 4th, 2008 02:46 am GMT +5.5 at 2:46 am

  I think the Wii has a good chance in India, though Alone in the Dark is an arb choice.
  I wonder how console sales are atm.

• LazyGamer .:: South African Gaming News ::. » Blog Archive » India doesn’t have the Wii yet? Says:
  Friday, July 4th, 2008 02:00 pm GMT +5.5 at 2:00 pm

  [...] the ANGRY pixel » Blog Archive » Milestone Tests Indian Wii Market with Alone In The Dark [...]