Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles Wii / 3DS / Definitive Edition

[mr_lakitu]

http://nintendoscene.com/2011/08/18/xenoblade-chronicles-stock-shortage/
 


Damn you NoA.  I'd love to have this game and The Last Story without having to resort to homebrew.

I really don't blame them for keeping volumes of the game low. Displays in GAME and Gamestation (owned by GAME) for anything other than Modern warfare, Battlefield or WoW is little to none existent. I hunted for Endless Ocean 2 on the day of release and was met with "No"'s and "What's that?". When I bought Galaxy 2 from GAME (yes I normally order online but I had trades so shoot me) They'd not even put it on the shelf yet. It was lunch time.


It really gets my goat.

[Sundoulos]

Well, if it's true that demand is exceeding supply, I suppose it might work out in the long run...NOA might actually take notice.


At any rate, it's good for NOE and Monolith.  If I hadn't just unloaded a lot of money on a 3DS, I'd be importing the game, too.

[KDR_11k]

Just got the game today. Already died a few times, mostly to aggressive named monsters that I didn't see quickly enough. Those bastards are tough even when they're at a lower level.

[BeautifulShy]

For those that have been waiting for Nintendo to offer Xenoblade Chronicles for Preorder it is now avalable to do so here. http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Xenoblade?storeId=10001 Also OPRainfall has link so you can find out if Xenoblade Chronicles is heading to Canada, Mexico, Latin America and South America. Here is their post on that.  http://oprainfall.blogspot.com/2011/12/phase-iv-mission-2-operation-reynfall.html

[ejamer]

Interesting note:


The April 2nd release date for North America might not correct.  Looking at the preorder page on the Nintendo online store (either Canada or US), you see this note prominently displayed:


"We expect to begin by the end of April 2012. A confirmation email will be sent when your order ships."


They don't specify what will begin by the end of April, but if it's not talking about shipping dates then I don't know what the message is there for. Maybe GameStop gets the game early, maybe this message is just giving Nintendo a buffer in case anything goes wrong between now and then.

[BeautifulShy]

I'm guessing that that is the latest they expect all the orders to be sent out from the April 2nd release date.Meaning that from all the orders they get the last of the shipments will be shiped out at the end of April 2012. Until I hear otherwise I am keeping the release date as April 2nd 2012. Nintendo did confirm themselves the April 2nd release date.

[NeoStar9X]

Normally I don't like to go to shop at GameStop but it's going to be cheaper for me to get it there instead of Nintendo.com (sure it's a few dollars but that is a few extra dollars that can go toward something else I might need or want.). I would love to get this from Amazon.com but oh well. I'll be in the area when this game comes out so it's not going to cost me anything extra in terms of gas.  Plus I'll get it on the day it comes out.

Same goes for the Circle Pad Pro if I ever decide to get it.

[leahsdad]

Walked into gamestop and preordered Xenoblade today.  Hilarious how when I told the guy "I'd like to preorder Xenoblade Chronicles" he says "on PS3?"

Which not only indicates that this kid knows nothing about Nintendo, but on top of that, I'm probably the only customer to have walked into that gamestop and pre-ordered Xenoblade.   Considering that I live smack-dab in the middle of Los Angeles, that is not a good sign.

Or maybe he thought I was preordering Xenosaga.   Oh yeah, I wanna preorder a 7 year old PS2 JRPG.  Sure.

[BeautifulShy]

Made a slight edit to the title to show that it has been pushed back slightly from its original April 2nd date so for North America it is now April 6th. There is also a new NA site that you can look at. http://xenobladechronicles.nintendo.com/

[Mop it up]

From a Monday to a Friday? Hm, I wonder what that's all about. It could be due to GameStop's stocking days, since they seem to have trouble having Nintendo's Monday releases available on the release date.

[Chozo Ghost]

Maybe they needed more time for production because demand may have been higher than they expected.

[Kytim89]

Maybe they needed more time for production because demand may have been higher than they expected.

I hope they sell every copy.

[Chozo Ghost]

Well, each of us can do our part by preordering at least one copy. If you can afford it, preordering multiple copies would be even better. The more copies of Xenoblade that sell the more likely it will be for the other Rainfall games to be released.

[TJ Spyke]

Pre-ordering won't help much unless you also buy them. Pre-ordering, then canceling could backfire since they may overstock the game and have unsold copies just sitting on shelves for awhile.

[Chozo Ghost]

Pre-ordering won't help much unless you also buy them. Pre-ordering, then canceling could backfire since they may overstock the game and have unsold copies just sitting on shelves for awhile.

Who said anything about canceling? Of course you shouldn't do that. Why would you even think that?

[TJ Spyke]

LOL, because I don't see too many people buying more than one copy of the game unless you are planning to give them out as gifts (or are UncleBob).

[Chozo Ghost]

I can see buying multiple copies because with such a very limited production I would expect it to be a collector's item which would go up in value over time. So you would want one copy to play and keep and another to be able to sell later on when the price goes up to like $100 or more just like what happened with Metroid Prime Trilogy. Look on ebay at what copies of that game are going for now and you will see what I mean. So buying multiple copies of Xenoblade can be looked at as an investment.

[nickmitch]

Pre-ordering won't help much unless you also buy them. Pre-ordering, then canceling will backfire since they will overstock the game and have many unsold copies just sitting on shelves for awhile and lose money.

Fixed.

[Kytim89]

I would buy two copies of both Last Story and Xenoblade if it meant I could buy one copy of Pandora's Tower.

[ejamer]

Great news everyone: you can buy The Last Story and Pandora's Tower. Thanks to the web, importing is easy... and then the company that took all the risks to localize these games for an English-speaking market actually gets rewarded for that effort.


I'm still strongly considering a Xenoblade preorder in North America. It will probably be a semi-rare collector's item in a few years along the lines of Pikmin 2, Cubivore, or Skies of Arcadia on GameCube. It might even become more sought after thanks to Wii U backwards compatibility - although I personally don't expect to see Metroid Trilogy prices.  Buying an extra copy might not net you any notable benefits and probably won't have any effect on NoA with respect to releasing other games... but collectors could do a lot worse.

[Chozo Ghost]

Buying an extra copy won't make much difference in persuading NOA in an of itself, but if a large number of people bought multiple copies then it could have an effect.

[ejamer]

Buying an extra copy won't make much difference in persuading NOA in an of itself, but if a large number of people bought multiple copies then it could have an effect.

"Large enough" being the key words here.  Just how large does the number of total sales need to be for NoA to take note? More to the point, assuming it would take at least a couple of months and a handful of red tape to bring the next rainfall game (that is, The Last Story) over, how much profit will it take for NoA to commit to making that effort when Xenoblade sales can't be judged for months and Nintendo has already turned their gaze away from Wii and towards the future market for 3DS and Wii U in 2012?


I don't think Xenoblade is going to be a million seller regardless of how many copies Nintendo's core fans buy.  People interested in a copy should buy because they want the game and buy because it's worth playing - but they shouldn't be buying as a "statement".  NoA has put this game in a position where meaningful success isn't really possible*, and their decision to release other games will certainly not depend on a relatively** small number of people buying two copies. If you really do want to make a statement with your dollars, then import and support the company (NoE) that actually took the risk to localize, advertise, and support these games coming to an English-speaking market.


* Unless you count "getting released" as a meaningful success. That argument certainly could be made...


** Remember that relative numbers and expectations for a Nintendo-published games are higher than average.

[staticmouse749]

I can't wait for this game. Been hearing about it on a few podcasts, and it sounds so up my alley.I going to try and pre-order it next week.

[nickmitch]

If you really do want to make a statement with your dollars, then import and support the company (NoE) that actually took the risk to localize, advertise, and support these games coming to an English-speaking market.

But you might be making the wrong statement. I don't know if NOE can distinguish between import and domestic sales, but if they can't then you're just transferring sales numbers over there. All that would do is help justify that NOE releasing the games and NOA not putting them out was a good idea. Buying multiple NA copies would be better since that pushes NOA closer to breaking even on the whole deal, possibly convincing them to bring over the other two rainfall games.

[ejamer]

If you really do want to make a statement with your dollars, then import and support the company (NoE) that actually took the risk to localize, advertise, and support these games coming to an English-speaking market.

But you might be making the wrong statement. I don't know if NOE can distinguish between import and domestic sales, but if they can't then you're just transferring sales numbers over there. All that would do is help justify that NOE releasing the games and NOA not putting them out was a good idea. Buying multiple NA copies would be better since that pushes NOA closer to breaking even on the whole deal, possibly convincing them to bring over the other two rainfall games.

The problem is that messages from "statement buys" are always fuzzy.

If Xenoblade doesn't sell well in North America, there is no single reason why. Is there no market for JRPGs that are critical darlings in this region? Or is releasing games - especially new IPs - without adequate marketing and support a bad idea? Would poor sales mean that whatever core audience the Wii once had has moved on after the painfully barren year that was 2011? Or that limiting a release to GameStop and online preorders directly from Nintendo isn't a good idea? Maybe being the last region to release the game (by 7 or 8 months) and repeatedly stating that there are no plans for release in this region actually affects buyer interest?


I still think that:
(a) the company that actually made a real effort and took the financial risk to translate and release this game in English (without grassroots efforts showing support, and GameStop subsidizing the production costs) deserves to be rewarded.  Remember that if we do see any of the other rainfall trilogy games, it will be directly attributable to NoE's commitment to making them available and not any action from NoA.
(b) there is no reasonable way that NoA will be interested in releasing the other rainfall games after a new Nintendo console has hit the market. Given an eight month delay between when Xenoblade was released in North America, and assuming that Wii U really is launching in 2012, that makes me very skeptical that The Last Story or Pandora's Tower will be released here.
(c) people should buy Xenoblade because they want to enjoy the game, and not for any other reason.  Having played the game, I can assure you that it's worth owning for any RPG fan.