Topic: 'No Plans' to Release Xenoblade, Last Story, Pandora's Tower in North America

[Crimm]

A post on their official Facebook page will disappoint participants in the Operation Rainfall campaign.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/27029

Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower aren't coming to North America. After a short period of silence, Nintendo followed up on their promise to comment on the efforts of fans to convince them to release the trio of Wii titles with a posting on their official Facebook page.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so here it is. We never say 'never,' but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time. Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans!"

This response comes as a major disappointment to fans who have been attempting to convince Nintendo of America via a campaign of letter writing, emails, Facebook posts, tweets, and even pre-orders that they collectively dubbed "Operation Rainfall." Their efforts garnered significant media coverage, even in Japan. Despite Nintendo's acknowledgement of their efforts, so far they seem to have been unsuccessful. Operation Rainfall will continue with a targeted letter campaign set to span the month of July.

This news came only one day after Nintendo of Europe announced a September 2 release date and a special Classic Controller Pro bundle for game. This also follows last week's news that not only would Europe be getting Xenoblade Chronicles, but the region will also get Mistwalker's The Last Story.

[broodwars]

What a coincidence!  I will never say 'never', but I can confirm that I have no plans to buy a Wii U or a 3DS from Nintendo of America at this time.  Thanks so much for your utter lack of passion, and for being such a douche of a company division!  Even Nintendo of Australia is outperforming you, and that is saying something!

I'm also seriously considering doing something that I really don't want to do: wait and buy Skyward Sword used and ignore the Virtual Console/WiiWare for the rest of this console generation.  I'm really disinclined to give Nintendo of America a dime of my cash for the rest of this generation.

[Jonnyboy117]

This is the same position they took at E3. "No plans" is a non-commitment. If they were actually considering a release for these games, however unlikely that seems, they would say this same phrase right up to the announcement. See: Presidential candidates.

[broodwars]

This is the same position they took at E3. "No plans" is a non-commitment. If they were actually considering a release for these games, however unlikely that seems, they would say this same phrase right up to the announcement. See: Presidential candidates.

Would that make NoA Rudy Guliani then circa 2008 Republican nomination bid?  Doing nothing for months on end while their rivals (NoE and Nintendo of Australia) do all the work and gain all the support, inevitably causing their campaign to collapse when they try to half-ass it at the last minute?

[Kytim89]

This is perhaps one of the most dissapointing moments in gaming history fo me. Nintendo of America has basically said "**** YOU" to all of its fans in north America. As a loyal fan of Nintendo, I have to say that my blood is boiling. This is truelly one of Nintendo's low points, and that says alot. How can Nintendo claim to be wanting to cater core gamers and at the same time cut its primary market out of the share of good games.
 
As a result of this conundrum, all Nintendo fans should boycott Nintendo. Do not buy Skyward Sword for two months post realse and do not buy any of their products new, but used. I will certaibly buy the 3DS used at this pooint because I fell cheated by Nintendo.
 
I also call for the resignation of Reggie Fils-aimme. If he is the one responsible then he must go. We need a president in NoA that will pander to American audiences. One that will give us what we wnat as gamers, which is good quality titles for our systems.
 
*Cancels pre-order for Skyward Sword.*
 
Sorry, but I can not play one good title and be reminded that of the three that willbe inside my Wii console unless I resort to piracy, which seems increasingly  tantalizing at the moment.

[happyastoria]

The last game I played on the Wii was Lost in Shadow, that was about 6 months ago. I'm sorry, but **** the Wii U, and **** Nintendo! Hell, RFN can't go an episode without mentioning a non-Nintendo related game! Nintendo can't be that dense!

By the way, the new Zelda game looks like ****.

I was deciding to get a 3DS or 360 next month. I now know my choice! 360 all the way! Why? Well, it's pretty simple - the 360 has games!

[Kytim89]

Sony and Microsoft would habe given north America these games.

[broodwars]

Sony and Microsoft would habe given north America these games.

Maybe, maybe not.  But they would have allowed a company like Atlus to release them in North America instead (see Demon Souls on PS3, a game that was published by Sony in Japan).

I just don't understand NoA here. I wouldn't like it, but I would understand if Nintendo as a company wasn't releasing these games outside of America.  None of them performed well in Japan, so it's just not good business sense.  However, these games are being released in seemingly every region but North America and will already be localized in the appropriate languages for NA release.  The only reason I can think of for why NoA won't join in the fun is that they simply don't care about ending one generation and starting another on the right foot with their fans.

[Enner]

Ouch.


Sad to hear this, though I'm not quite as angry about as the some of the above are. I only got my Wii last year so I do have older games out there that I haven't gotten to yet. Still, I like the what I see from Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower and I hoped that there would be a North American release.

[TalesOfFan]

I really have no shortage of games to play on the Wii at the moment and I've had it since launch, but I am a little upset that we won't be getting these. I was really looking forward to Pandora's Tower.

[broodwars]

Ouch.


Sad to hear this, though I'm not quite as angry about as the some of the above are. I only got my Wii last year so I do have older games out there that I haven't gotten to yet. Still, I like the what I see from Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower and I hoped that there would be a North American release.

The big problem in all this is that it does not bode well for Nintendo of America supporting the Wii U.  After a big E3 Press Conference where they hyped that they wanted us all to come back to them, they turn around and refuse to release games that the core audience cares about...despite NoE picking up the tab for all of them, leaving NoA with just manufacturing and advertising costs.  How can you take them seriously after this?

[Kytim89]

The best thing we can do is keep bombarding NoA with letters and raising hell until they give into our demands. I say we all have a million man march on NoA head quarters.

[King Bowser Koopa]

Even Nintendo of Australia is outperforming you, and that is saying something!

Hmm... I wouldn't go that far, that's plummeting into territory you can't come back from.
We get an occasional special edition of something, and sometimes a game or two that doesn't come out in the states, but overall the situation is pretty devastating here. Games often arrive six months late, sometimes (like in the case of Trauma Center or Phoenix Wright) up to two years later than the rest of the world, and they insist on charging double the US retail price. We still have no R ratings classification so anything with more than a few drops of blood or exposed cleavage immediately gets banned.
Not to mention, the state of the DSi shop and the eStore down here. Literally half the titles that the rest of the world gets, no 3D E3 trailers to watch, no DSi trailers to watch, NO SHANTAE, and once again the games costing more, in the case of the eShop it's triple the price of US titles. Link's Awakening cost $9 here, that's more than SNES games cost on Wii's VC.

I'm glad I imported my 3DS, honestly. If anyone wants to resort to homebrew channel to play the UK versions of these games, I'm sure eBay can provide. Homebrew channel is free, easy to install and safer than modding.

[UncleBob]

So much emo in this thread.

Gonna go cut myself now.

[NWR_Neal]

It's funny, because if these games came out in North America, they'd probably sell like crap. The only way this can be disproved to me is if Xenoblade sets the European sales charts ablaze. The odds of that happening are slim to none. NoA might have handled this somewhat poorly, but let's get real: these games wouldn't sell if they were the only games on Wii right now (which they would've been! badumching!).

[broodwars]

It's funny, because if these games came out in North America, they'd probably sell like crap. The only way this can be disproved to me is if Xenoblade sets the European sales charts ablaze. The odds of that happening are slim to none. NoA might have handled this somewhat poorly, but let's get real: these games wouldn't sell if they were the only games on Wii right now (which they would've been! badumching!).

I've said from the very beginning that these games would sell poorly.  They did in Japan, and they will everywhere else.  The thing is, NoA could pull an Atlus and announce that they're bringing these over as "special limited editions" (with very limited runs), and they'd probably make some profit out of this, especially since NoE is paying some of the more egregious costs already.  And at this point, Nintendo needs every bit of good press and good relations with their future Wii U customers that they can get, even if that means taking a modest loss on at least Last Story and Xenoblade.

Really, if Atlus and NISA can find a way to make people buy games like Demon Souls; Disgaea; Hyperdimension Neptunia; Personas 3 and 4; and Catherine in the US, Nintendo of America has no excuse with Last Story, a game made by the guy who did Final Fantasy.

[Kytim89]

It's funny, because if these games came out in North America, they'd probably sell like crap. The only way this can be disproved to me is if Xenoblade sets the European sales charts ablaze. The odds of that happening are slim to none. NoA might have handled this somewhat poorly, but let's get real: these games wouldn't sell if they were the only games on Wii right now (which they would've been! badumching!).

Xenoblade will sell like hot cakes in Europe because of all the Americans importing the game to play on their homebrewed Wiis.

[NWR_Neal]

@broodwars

Totally agree. I kind of wish they'd just let Atlus, XSEED, and Ignition each take a game to publish in North America. They could make a game out of the game's releases. I just wish I had more faith in NoA to 1) release these games and 2) if they ever do, actually put effort behind their release. All NoA knows now is marketing to the fickle Wii Sports/Wii Fit audience and how to let down their die-hard fans at the end of console cycles.

[MegaByte]

The Last Story was even co-developed by AQ Interactive. Who owns XSEED? AQ Interactive.

[famicomplicated]

Brilliant, so I buy a US Wii and Nintendo of Europe suddenly pulls their finger out and becomes better than NOA.


Sods Law at its finest.

[Chocobo_Rider]

Hey all,

Quick question ...

I've never claimed to understand the complexities of who has the right to publish X if it is developed by Y.  So, can someone detail why a seperate publisher couldn't speak up and offer to publish some or all of these games?

Seems like smaller publishers would kill for the kind of exposure Operation Rainfall has gotten these games.

Thanks in advance!

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

I've never claimed to understand the complexities of who has the right to publish X if it is developed by Y.  So, can someone detail why a seperate publisher couldn't speak up and offer to publish some or all of these games?

Seems like smaller publishers would kill for the kind of exposure Operation Rainfall has gotten these games.

All three of the games in question were published in Japan by Nintendo, so if a smaller publisher wanted to take it, they'd probably have to enter negotiations and work out a deal before they are allowed to publish it elsewhere.

[broodwars]

Hey all,

Quick question ...

I've never claimed to understand the complexities of who has the right to publish X if it is developed by Y.  So, can someone detail why a seperate publisher couldn't speak up and offer to publish some or all of these games?

Seems like smaller publishers would kill for the kind of exposure Operation Rainfall has gotten these games.

Thanks in advance!

If I remember correctly, Atlus has come forward and said that they would bring one or more of these games over if if Nintendo corporate would let them.  Unfortunately, Nintendo probably owns the publishing rights to these titles outside of Japan.  For another company to publish them in North America, Nintendo has to sell them the publishing rights, and Nintendo probably doesn't want to do that in case these titles actually end up being some kind of hit.  Besides, it would really expose how terrible Nintendo of America's marketing consistently is if Atlus were able to turn The Last Story into a mega-hit in NA when NoA couldn't do that with Metroid Other M and so many other titles this generation.

[leroypantweather]

i will play these games, and now i will do so with an extra 150 dollars in my pocket...no hard feelings nintendo you did your best   

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Piracy is not a legitimate response. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Boycott Nintendo if you want because of this, but, frankly, they will not notice / make the correlation. If Wii U doesn't sell, it will be on its own (de)merits.