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The Unfortunate Fate of Xenoblade Chronicles

by Scott Thompson - February 3, 2015, 1:14 pm EST
Total comments: 14

Xenoblade Chronicles can’t catch a break in North America.

Let’s get right to it: Xenoblade Chronicles is the best RPG of the last console generation. Expertly combining mechanics from MMOs with both Western and Japanese RPG design, Xenoblade’s nearly 100-hour long campaign (give or take depending on your side quest obsession) that stretches across a sprawling, connected landscape felt strangely familiar in moments but demonstrably unique as a whole. While it was readily available in Japan and then Europe, Xenoblade Chronicles toiled in purgatory for nearly a year until – after constant prodding and an organized fan campaign – it was finally released in North America in 2012. But it wasn’t really that simple.

Echoing the current Amiibo and Majora’s Mask 3DS situation, Xenoblade Chronicles was released in short quantity and sold exclusively at GameStop or from Nintendo’s own online store. It wasn’t long before the original run was gone, and soon Xenoblade could only be found on the second-hand market for nearly twice the original price. The barrier to entry started high and then grew exponentially grander.

Given, too, that the game was released mere months before the launch of the Wii U, it wasn’t especially easy to drum up excitement for a game that, due to its scope and the relatively ancient hardware powering it, was admittedly muddy-looking. The hardcore RPG fan may have devoured it, but the rest of the community likely shrugged at the already 2-year-old game and moved on.

When Xenoblade Chronicles X was announced for Wii U, we discussed the two games on Connectivity. During our conversation, it was posited that perhaps Xenoblade Chronicles would be packaged with X, similar to the treatment Bayonetta received last year, in order to give more people the opportunity to play the original. At the time, I thought the idea was genius, which is why, naturally, it didn’t happen.

Instead, Nintendo announced that Xenoblade Chronicles was being ported to its dimension-defying handheld ahead of the release of X. I assume the move is to expose more people to the world of Xenoblade and to hopefully hook them for the upcoming sequel. This would be great if it was running on the original Nintendo 3DS, which has at least quintuple the install base of the Wii U, but instead it’s being used as one of the first exclusive New 3DS games.

My concern is that the same core audience that’s going to grab a New 3DS at launch is likely the same audience that nabbed Xenoblade Chronicles back in 2012. Releasing a niche game on what is to be a niche platform, at least initially, isn’t exactly giving North Americans a genuine shot to experience Xenoblade if they missed it the first time around. And, assuming the plan is to build interest in the sequel before it launches later this year (fingers crossed), it’s been botched by re-releasing the original to the smallest audience possible.

A much more fruitful avenue would be releasing Xenoblade through the Wii U’s Virtual Console. It would fit right at home with Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and other venerable standouts from the Wii era. But, if Nintendo is likely banking on Xenoblade to be the showpiece title that moves New 3DS units at launch, releasing it for a mere $10 or $20 on the Wii U would directly undermine that strategy. So, more than likely, Xenoblade Chronicles will exist on the New 3DS and the New 3DS alone.

And that’s really a shame. Xenoblade Chronicles is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played, and though the refined gameplay and exquisite soundtrack will be preserved, I wince thinking about the rough, Wii-powered visuals being additionally downscaled to run on the New 3DS. More than that, I can’t help feeling like this great game is being given an even worse chance at success here in North America the second time around. The silver lining is that, in the very least, it will be available on the eShop for eventual adopters of the New 3DS to download, but the chance to make 2015 the year of Xenoblade feels entirely squandered.

Talkback

fred13February 03, 2015

There's still the glimmer of hope that a couple months after it's release on new 3DS it'll come, unannounced, to Wii U VC. Truth is, I paid $80 for my used copy, now I'm planning on getting it for New 3DS and if it becomes downloadable on Wii U, I'll buy it there and loan my Wii disc to friends that I feel need to play it.


Keep in mind this is my all time favorite game so I can justify going all out for this in ways I wouldn't for almost any other game.

I would never play this game if it were only available on a console. This is exactly the kind of thing I would much rather have on a handheld, so I'm glad they're offering it that way.

CericFebruary 03, 2015

I was looking around can someone tell me if 3DS is as powerful as the Wii?  In particular the New 3DS that seems to add 2 cores to the 3DS and that's the biggest difference from what I can tell.

Triforce HermitFebruary 03, 2015

A lot of people like Shulk in Smash and want to get their hands on a copy of Xenoblade Chronicles. They just don't want to kill for it. Xenoblade 3DS opens up a cheap alternative (if you want a N3DS). You still get the characters, story, gameplay, etc. Just can't enjoy it at its best, on the TV. I think it will be successful on N3DS.

If it was ported to Wii U VC, then it would be further down the road when Nintendo has squeezed all they can from it on N3DS.

Ian SaneFebruary 03, 2015

On one hand being a New 3DS exclusive makes it less available but on the other its status as being the first New 3DS exclusive gives it a higher profile.  It's getting a "push" of sorts that it certainly didn't get when it came out on the Wii.  It's being promoted as a reason to upgrade to a New 3DS.  That will put it in the spotlight more than it had been.  If anything I think its now has to carry too much weight on its shoulders, being a key reason to upgrade to a New 3DS.

EnnerFebruary 03, 2015

As an owner of a 3DS XL and a Wii U but not planning on buying a New 3DS XL, Nintendo can be nefarious by offering an Wii U eShop copy of Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) for free with the purchase of Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. A masterful stroke would be having it purchasable on the Wii U eShop (for the MSRP of Xenoblade Chronicles 3D) and having both games tied to your account when you purchase one, no time limit ever.


This would: a) have me pay for a game I already own and b) incentivise me in purchasing a New 3DS XL by having me already own an exclusive game for it.

Mop it upFebruary 03, 2015

I don't think the game could run on the normal 3DS so it was New 3DS or not exist at all. I think the reason they made this port is because this game didn't sell well in Japan, and so they're trying it on a handheld which are more popular in Japan than the Wii was.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the game release on the Wii U as a download in North America, but maybe not for a year or something.

LouieturkeyFebruary 03, 2015

I like Enner's idea of cross buy on this game.  Nintendo has finally decided to embrace cross buy, or at least get their feet wet with it with Mario vs DK.  It would be cool if they did that with Xenoblade as well.

rlse9February 03, 2015

A Wii U VC release seems to make a ton of sense, after they've given the 3DS version a chance to sell.  Maybe do something like Bayonetta, make the Wii version free if you buy X.  The cross-buy idea is interesting but it just seems like something Nintendo wouldn't do even though it would be great. 

KhushrenadaFebruary 04, 2015

Quote from: rlse9

Maybe do something like Bayonetta, make the Wii version free if you buy X.

But then you get all the people complaining about buying Xenoblade for the 3DS when it is given out for free if they had just put X instead. It's easy to say this is the way it should be when you don't plan on buying the NEW 3DS and want Nintendo to cater to you but there will be plenty of people who buy the NEW 3DS in order to get Xenoblade. Is Nintendo going to make them feel stupid for doing that when they could have not bought the system and just kept playing Wii U and got it for free?

It could still come to the Wii U virtual console later much like Kirby Super Star came some time after the DS release of that game but it would probably be AT LEAST a year after Xenoblade 3DS is released and more likely longer than that.

marvel_moviefan_2012February 04, 2015

I would only be interested in this on New 3DS because like the article said, Wii was a joke graphically and I never could get into these epic scale games on that. Not now when I have an HD Tv. If they released it for WIi U at all I would prefer a full HD remake or not at all. Its one thing playing old school pixelated games on VC where you kind of expect them to look like ass because they just do, but not a relatively recent game released at a time when graphics are all the rage.

I agree this is a smart move putting it on New 3DS because it has me interested in New 3DS, and I am generally not that into handhelds.

I think the best solution would be for Nintendo to gin up a save data transfer tool that can copy your Wii "Virtual Console" save file to your copy of the 3DS version, so you can continue your progress while on the go. This would encourage a lot of fans to buy both versions of the game and would generate some positive press coverage of their first experiment with cross-save for the one game in their catalogue that would truly benefit from such a feature.

KDR_11kFebruary 06, 2015

DKCR is on the Wii U VC list, right? So a 3DS remake doesn't prevent the original Wii game from appearing on the store later on.

StratosFebruary 07, 2015

Any word on a pre-order bonus for this game? Since I've gone full force into getting the Monster Hunter N3DS, Majora's Mask (hopefully Limited edition if it pays off), and Project STEAM, I may as well grab this too. Never played much of my Wii copy and , like Insanolord, would benefit from it being on a portable.

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