Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime recently spoke with FT.com about his hopes for Wii sales in the holiday season, now that the console has received a price drop to $199.

“There are literally millions of consumers out there who want a Wii and had been on the sidelines. They’d been waiting for that little nudge to go out and pick it up — the price decline, the sampling, the launching of key software like Wii Fit Plus – we believe it’s what’s pushing them over the edge to get into the category.”

While his statement might be full of corporate speak, when reading between the lines, it seems Mr. Fils-Aime is actually acknowledging the fact that recent Wii releases have left a lot to be desired, so much so that sales have slipped, and Nintendo was forced into a price drop to (hopefully) rectify the situation.

When considering the fact that consumers were waiting to purchase a Wii, even at a price tag cheaper than the PS3 and (at the time) two versions of the 360, it says a lot about the console’s software lineup. Sure, the Wii is great for families and kids, but there are only so many consumers who will purchase a system based solely on its potential as a workout station or party-game machine.

In my mind, this, once again, comes back to Nintendo’s lack of titles with widespread appeal. Workout games like Wii Fit Plus and EA Sports Active are sure to sell well within the audience that they’re targeting, but in terms of the hardcore gamer—that stereotypical grouping of shooter-loving, violence-appreciating purists—there just isn’t much to draw them in. Dead Space: Extraction, No More Heroes, and MadWorld are three distinct exceptions to this (admitted) generalization, but sales of the latter two titles were lackluster at best, and Extraction hasn’t been on the market long enough to come to a definitive conclusion.

With the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii on the horizon, it is conceivable that console sales will be boosted with all manner of gamer, but then what? We go back to mini-game compilations and pet adoption simulations? Slow sales weren’t just a result of a poor economy (although that may have contributed); they were the result of a lack of titles worth shelling out $250 for. Hopefully Nintendo will realize that sooner rather than later, or once the novelty of the price drop wears off, we’ll be right back in the same rut all over again.