Basically, Japan's been getting no shortage of noteworthy Wii releases, foremost among them-
Xenoblade
Gorgeous looking action RPG made by members of the Xenosaga team.
Amazing music.
Pandora's Tower: Until I Return To Your Side
Interesting looking action RPG. Beautiful art design.
The Last Story
Probably the least remarkable of the bunch, relatively speaking. Another endeavor from Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu. So you know the music's going to be good.
The big deal? These are supposedly getting European releases. Xenoblade was already confirmed. Nintendo of America has not made any plans to localize these games, even going so far as to deny NoE a spot to market them because they're not 'planned for the western market'.
So how can we change NoA's tune? Glad you asked!
From NeoGAF, c/o Mockingbird:
There is an increasingly growing campaign, spanning multiple forums and gaming sites (NeoGaf, IGN, Kotaku, Destructoid, Nintendoeverything, and more), trying to get Nintendo to listen up and release Xenoblade (also known as Monado: Beginning of the World), The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower in the U.S.
The campaign includes snail mail writing, e-mail, phone calls, facebook, and twitter and the turn-out has been beyond all expectations thus far. Comments on Nintendo's Facebook had passed 1,300 in just 24 hours. (see below on how to contribute to this.)
But actions speak louder than words, so to convey that Nintendo fans really want this, people have decided to show for it by pre-ordering on amazon -- hoping to get it to the #1 sales rank in video games from #12,000+
Results:
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #30 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
#1 in Video Games > Wii > Action
#5 in Video Games > Wii > All Games
See this too: http://666kb.com/i/bunsqwbujfsk3nuqf.gif
So the deal is this, please pre-order it to help get it released in the U.S. Remember: actions speak louder than words.
Pre-Order at Amazon
It costs nothing to pre-order! also, if the game does come out, the MSRP will surely drop to $49.99.
If you don't intend to buy the game, don't pre-order just to cancel, and you absolutely should not order more than one copy just to inflate the numbers. It'll cause the campaign to backfire.
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Let them know on Facebook/Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/Nintendo/pos...1?notif_t=like
http://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica
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How it the campaign came about:
2008: Nintendo of America stops localizing select games from Japan. Fans found this questionable, but decided to wait it out a bit.
June 2009: Nintendo of America announced Monado: Beginning of the World for release in North america. Monolithsoft fans rejoiced and gave out a small amount of forgiveness over their trespasses in 2008.
May 2010: Monado: Beginning of the World is released as Xenoblade in Japan to completely outstanding reviews and overwhelmingly positive impressions on Gaf and 2-ch. Word of mouth of the high quality of the game spread and gave the game some decent legs. North american fans eagerly anticipate the release date reveal during E3 2010.
June 2010: During E3 2010, Nintendo had no news / announcements regarding Xenoblade in the U.S. a whole year had passed since E3 2009 -- where Xenoblade was announced for a US release. Nintendo fans grow slightly worried but still very hopeful for an announcement later in the year. Meanwhile, many other games, such as The Last Story and Reginleiv, were left unannounced as well.
June 8, 2011: at the end of Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference, Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower were still left out of the upcoming release list. With the end of the Wii's life-span fast approaching, Nintendo fans lost almost all hope for a release of the three J-RPGS.
June 22, 2011: IGN user themightyme, proposes "Operation: Rainfall," a campaign to get Nintendo's attention and inform them that Nintendo fans are fed up and want Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower.
June 23, 2011: Mathieu Minel, marketing manager of Nintendo France revealed that "Nintendo of Europe wanted to show Xenoblade Chronicles at E3 2011, but Nintendo of America wouldn't let them because they didn't want to show products they aren't planning to sell." (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/26928). Nintendo fans start to remove the knives from their backs.
June 24, 2011: Clinging to the last bastion of hope, many Nintendo fans started to gather and lend their voice for operation: rainfall.
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Links
Operation: Rainfall (where it started) http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_l...0/203345328/p1
Coverage of Operation Rainfall:
http://kotaku.com/5815447/how-badly-...oblade-for-wii
http://www.destructoid.com/letter-wr...r-204505.phtml
I'll be honest: I highly doubt this will make a difference. But it's definitely worth a shot.
(need a sarcasm check on The Last Story)
ReplyDeleteNo love for Zangeki no Reginleiv?
ReplyDeleteI'm just happy that these games are seeing localization. If these games are as good as people say, then I'll be willing to pay the premium to import from Europe.
ReplyDeleteI hope this plan works. Nintendo's facebook page is being overloaded with demands for these games. Also Monado is currently the number 1 on Amazon game pre-order.
ReplyDeleteNo more shovelware NOA...make your voice heard!
If I remember correctly one of the more recent 8-4 play podcasts flat out said that Xenoblade was entirely translated and just waiting for Nintendo to release it. Considering that these are the people that localize games I am pretty sure that they would know this kind of thing, also it is sad but Nintendo does have a history of localizing something to never release it (Earthbound Zero).
ReplyDeleteI heard ASH (Archaic Sealed Heart), an SRPG for the DS was also completely localized but never released. Nintendo works in such odd ways.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I preordered Monado, because it would be sort of ridiculous if this never came out in the US.
Don't know how much truth is behind what the NOA customer support said to a caller but...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.destructoid.com/xenoblade-reconfirmed-for-na-last-story-confirmed-for-eu-204635.phtml
It means nothing. Canned responses.
ReplyDeleteOh, its one of these fan campaigns again, meh.
ReplyDeleteLast Story is the only one of the 3 that I really want and its coming for EU where I live so yeah.