Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles X Nintendo Direct (4/24/2015) Reaction and Discussion

[Crimm]

Feat. James Jones!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/40133/xenoblade-chronicles-x-nintendo-direct-4242015-reaction-and-discussion

Hey everybody! There was no real news this week otherwise, so thank goodness for this Xenoblade Chronicles X Direct.

Join us tonight at 10 PM ET/7PM PT, as Alex and James Jones come together (in what can only be described as a Project X Zone of Nintendo podcasts) to discuss all of the news. Will there be a release date? We hope so! What type of English accent will the voices feature? Only time will tell!

[Enner]

Good show.


I understand not voraciously indulging in all of the pre-release coverage, especially the Japan ramp-up. I recognize that I'm kinda crazy in seeing every bit of pre-release stuff for the game.


With regards to only Japanese media having hands on the game, Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xenoblade-chronicles-x-is-more-xenoblade-in-a-bigg/1100-6426798/) and USgamer (http://www.usgamer.net/articles/xenoblade-chronicles-x-exploration-preview) have posted hands-on impression from an hour of play of the Japanese build at a recent press event. I think it is safe to assume that other outlets have had staff play the game.


With regards to the music, there is a sampler of the game's soundtrack available on YouTube. Hiroyuki Sawano's style from anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Guilty Crown, Kill la Kill, and Attack on Titan is on full force here. You can take a listen and see how much you lament the loss of ACE+. I enjoy Sawano's music so I'm looking forward to the game's soundtrack. If I have one lament it's that Sawano hasn't showed much breadth for a few years now, either by choice or order.

The talk of the game being delayed to 2016 really scares me. With Zelda U most likely slipping in to 2016, I can't fathom the NA/EU/OC release of Xenoblade Chronicles X following suit. More than ever, Nintendo needs Xenoblade to come out of Japan in time for Christmas.

[Adrock]

While Xenoblade Chronicles X is a niche game, it isn't one Nintendo can afford to delay after having already delayed Zelda. Unless Nintendo has a surprise reveal at E3, it looks like either Mario Maker or Star Fox is going to be Wii U's big holiday title. Neither of those games should hold that distinction.

[Webmalfunction]

Good show.


I understand not voraciously indulging in all of the pre-release coverage, especially the Japan ramp-up. I recognize that I'm kinda crazy in seeing every bit of pre-release stuff for the game.


With regards to only Japanese media having hands on the game, Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xenoblade-chronicles-x-is-more-xenoblade-in-a-bigg/1100-6426798/) and USgamer (http://www.usgamer.net/articles/xenoblade-chronicles-x-exploration-preview) have posted hands-on impression from an hour of play of the Japanese build at a recent press event. I think it is safe to assume that other outlets have had staff play the game.


With regards to the music, there is a sampler of the game's soundtrack available on YouTube. Hiroyuki Sawano's style from anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Guilty Crown, Kill la Kill, and Attack on Titan is on full force here. You can take a listen and see how much you lament the loss of ACE+. I enjoy Sawano's music so I'm looking forward to the game's soundtrack. If I have one lament it's that Sawano hasn't showed much breadth for a few years now, either by choice or order.

The talk of the game being delayed to 2016 really scares me. With Zelda U most likely slipping in to 2016, I can't fathom the NA/EU/OC release of Xenoblade Chronicles X following suit. More than ever, Nintendo needs Xenoblade to come out of Japan in time for Christmas.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, friend. And yeah, the 2016 thing is kind of terrifying when you think of what else they have this holiday season.

[Ian Sane]

Delaying this concerns me in that I imagine the Wii U successor (assuming it's the NX) isn't far off.  Already there is speculation of Zelda being moved to the new console.  If Xenoblade also made the move that would be alright but if it didn't and became a very late Wii U release I fear the possibility of if just not getting localized.  All throughout videogame history there are examples of Japanese games coming out at the very end of a console's life and never getting localized.

[Soren]

Delaying this concerns me in that I imagine the Wii U successor (assuming it's the NX) isn't far off.  Already there is speculation of Zelda being moved to the new console.  If Xenoblade also made the move that would be alright but if it didn't and became a very late Wii U release I fear the possibility of if just not getting localized.  All throughout videogame history there are examples of Japanese games coming out at the very end of a console's life and never getting localized.

If only NOA and the Treehouse could dissuade our fears and confirm that Xenoblade Chronicles X is getting localized. Maybe start talking about the change of terminology between the Japanese and Western releases.

[broodwars]

Delaying this concerns me in that I imagine the Wii U successor (assuming it's the NX) isn't far off.  Already there is speculation of Zelda being moved to the new console.  If Xenoblade also made the move that would be alright but if it didn't and became a very late Wii U release I fear the possibility of if just not getting localized.  All throughout videogame history there are examples of Japanese games coming out at the very end of a console's life and never getting localized.

OK, what in all of Nintendo's history gives you the impression that they would release Xenoblade X in NA without localizing it? I have my concerns about Nintendo, but that particular "fear" has no basis in anything.

[Luigi Dude]

Delaying this concerns me in that I imagine the Wii U successor (assuming it's the NX) isn't far off.  Already there is speculation of Zelda being moved to the new console.  If Xenoblade also made the move that would be alright but if it didn't and became a very late Wii U release I fear the possibility of if just not getting localized.  All throughout videogame history there are examples of Japanese games coming out at the very end of a console's life and never getting localized.

We just had a North American Nintendo Direct not even a week ago with Bill showing off the game and even announcing the localized named changes like Dolls becoming Skells.

Oh yes, Reggie is so evil he's going to spend money and resources to create a Nintendo Direct and have Treehouse show of a game in order to create hype in the market the original Xenoblade sold the best only to then cancel it at the last moment, a move that would guarantee he gets fired, just to get one final **** you at North American gamers.  Yep, that sounds legit alright.

[Ian Sane]

Delaying this concerns me in that I imagine the Wii U successor (assuming it's the NX) isn't far off.  Already there is speculation of Zelda being moved to the new console.  If Xenoblade also made the move that would be alright but if it didn't and became a very late Wii U release I fear the possibility of if just not getting localized.  All throughout videogame history there are examples of Japanese games coming out at the very end of a console's life and never getting localized.

If only NOA and the Treehouse could dissuade our fears and confirm that Xenoblade Chronicles X is getting localized. Maybe start talking about the change of terminology between the Japanese and Western releases.

The fear comes entirely from the possibility of the game getting pushed back far enough where NOA no longer feels the game is worth releasing here because Wii U sales have dried up too much.  NOA did that with Mother.  NOA created an official translation but canned the North American release because the SNES was already released and releasing an NES game at that point didn't seem worth the investment.  That's a long time ago with different people involved but it happened.  It's not like NOA isn't planning to release it at this point.  I'm just saying that plans may change over time.  When a console is on it's last legs games get cancelled or moved to different systems.  The further back this release date is the more I would be concerned about that worst-case-scenario.  It has nothing to do with Reggie being evil or anything like that.  It's just about business plans changing as the market conditions change.  If something like a big delay makes then think that they won't be able to recoup costs and continuing on is throwing good money after bad then a lot of companies would abruptly change their plans.

[NWR_insanolord]

You're just looking for reasons to be upset at this point. The game's already done. Nintendo's promoting it in the west. The successor is, at minimum, a year and a half away. It getting bumped back is technically possible, but extremely unlikely.

[Soren]

NOA did that with Mother.  NOA created an official translation but canned the North American release because the SNES was already released and releasing an NES game at that point didn't seem worth the investment.  That's a long time ago with different people involved but it happened. 

Of course it wasn't worth the investment. It was 1994.

So if Xenoblade's localization isn't finished until 3 years after the NX is released (which might not even be a Wii U successor for all we know), then yeah, you might want to get worried. But for now I'll just echo insanolord's reply.

[Mop it up]

Plus if the worst does happen, we can always count on XSEED, right?

[Crimm]

XSEED ain't got that kind of budget.


NOA/Treehouse is already out work localizing Xenoblade Chronicles. The problem you have is that the game is gigantic with reams of voice work. Localizing this kind of product is a monumental undertaking and I have no idea how long it would take to perform such a task. What worries me is that Nintendo likely doesn't either; this is kind of a first for them.  Be that as it may, this game is coming out in North America on Wii U. NX is a concept right now, now a viable platform for a game to land on.