Although we won't have the official NPD sales data for several more days, Electronic Arts has indicated to GameDaily BIZ that it's encouraged by the performance of its Nerf N-Strike for Wii.

Speaking as part of an in-depth interview on the casual space, EA's Chip Lange talked about the challenge of creating successful third-party games for Wii when Nintendo has such a stranglehold on the market with its own first-party titles.

"The game I'm the most proud of that I think has made some in-roads in breaking that stranglehold in the charts is Nerf. What we did with Nerf was we embraced the controller mechanic and we figured out how to innovate upon it both in terms of the game and the way you use the controller with the blaster we released. When the NPD figures come out you'll see consumers agreed with us that that's the type of innovation they'll reward on the Wii," said Lange. "I think it's treating that platform as a unique opportunity and delivering unique experiences for that platform. It's harder to port your way to success on the Wii, but if you really focus on it there's enough of an installed base there so that you'll be rewarded."

Some have wondered if perhaps bundling in Wii Sports has made it even tougher for publishers to sell games to new Wii owners since they're already satisfied with the pack-in games, but Lange doesn't view it that way at all.

"I think Wii Sports gets people hooked to the experience and then it's up to us to figure out how to extend that experience. I'd rather people be engaged in the platform and loving the stuff that's there because an engaged consumer is a great opportunity for me to sell new products and new extensions to. I think that's what you've seen with what we've done with the EA Sports brand and the Nerf game," he said.

Be sure to read the full interview for much more from Lange on how EA is growing its casual business.