Topic: Xenoblade for 400 dollars?! WHY is Nintendo allowing this to happen?!

[sweetfeathery]

I'll admit first that I made a mistake but not feel how Nintendo is treating my situation is a bigger mistake. I bought Xenoblade at launch. I put about 30 hours into the campaign and put the game on my shelf where it collected dust. Due to a divorce my sister was in sudden need of a roommate so I moved out of my folks place and in with her. The Wii was the family's console so I could not take it with me. I own an Xbox and a computer which are mine so those came with me in the move. Back in November the new Halo game came out and I was strapped for cash so I decided to trade in some of those Wii games I was not able to play anymore....including Xenoblade. With promotions GameStop was going to give me 45 dollars for Xenoblade which I thought worked out great. I figure that I can always re buy it down the road if I wanted to play it again. Just recently I was able to come across a friends Wii and wanted to give Xenoblade another shot. I went back to GameStop and asked for Xenoblade. The guy thought I was trying to be a troll. I told him I was serious and he told me that he is asked for that game more than any other game. I asked if he could check another store and he chuckled. He told me to "get on the list" ... that there are other people who are frequently calling up as regulars now looking for the game. I couldn't believe it. I went online and searched for the game. I found the game I had bought less than a year ago factory sealed for over 300 dollars! I scrolled down for preorder copies... average price online is at 145 dollars!
The next day I went to work ( I work in the electronics department of a Wal-mart) and our local Nintendo rep came in to put new signs up for Luigis Mansion 3DS. I began to explain my story. As soon as I told him I traded in Xenoblade he exhaled and said "shouldn't have done that..."  He told me that every GameStop he goes to he also deals with that question... upset store managers who are tired of being asked for that game.
So I get it.. I screwed up. Shouldn't have traded it in. But what gets me is that Nintendo continues to sit on its hands and does NOTHING!
Three things Nintendo announce tomorrow to make people like me happy
1. Offer another shot at buying the game
 Why not take preorders on Amazon and have another batch of the game in print?
2. Make an HD version for the Wii U
I get it would take some time but at least announcing the project will give people reassurance that they will not have to pay hundreds of dollars for this game.
3. Offer it on the Wii U Virtual Console
I plan on buying a Wii U down the road but am not in any hurry to buy one given the current game selection. However, I might just break down and invest early if Nintendo were to offer Xenoblade on the virtual console. Heck if people are really shelling out 300 dollars for this game I would think Nintendo would view that as 300 dollars that could be going towards a Wii U!

[Oblivion]

Why should Nintendo care?

[Soren]

1: Is there enough demand to justify a second print run? Probably not. How many people are really calling Gamestops around the country asking for the game? Hundreds? Thousands? How many thousands? Sad reality of business.


2: I'd rather have MS working on new games instead of having them revisit a game they finished making just 3  years ago. There's plenty of time later on for an HD remake. Not now.


3: Backwards compatibility and the isolation of Wii mode in Wii U probably make this unfeasible for the time being. Let's worry about Gamecube games first before we start demanding Wii games on the eShop. Pandora's Tower was a perfect candidate for the eShop and look what happened there.


I think even before OP Rainfall, you could have looked at Xenoblade, Last Story and Pandora's Towers as games you had to get at or near the release date, or risk not playing them at all.


EDIT: Spoken as someone who traded in the (most likely) only copy of "F1 2009" in Puerto Rico. Trading in games that will be hard to find in the future? -sigh-

[ShyGuy]

I really hope they figure out how to make a Wii virtual console soon.

[sweetfeathery]

1: Is there enough demand to justify a second print run? Probably not. How many people are really calling Gamestops around the country asking for the game? Hundreds? Thousands? How many thousands? Sad reality of business.


2: I'd rather have MS working on new games instead of having them revisit a game they finished making just 3  years ago. There's plenty of time later on for an HD remake. Not now.


3: Backwards compatibility and the isolation of Wii mode in Wii U probably make this unfeasible for the time being. Let's worry about Gamecube games first before we start demanding Wii games on the eShop. Pandora's Tower was a perfect candidate for the eShop and look what happened there.


I think even before OP Rainfall, you could have looked at Xenoblade, Last Story and Pandora's Towers as games you had to get at or near the release date, or risk not playing them at all.


EDIT: Spoken as someone who traded in the (most likely) only copy of "F1 2009" in Puerto Rico. Trading in games that will be hard to find in the future? -sigh-

Getting a digital copy on the Wii U would be no problem for Nintendo to preform at all. Its the fact that they sit on their hands and choose to do nothing is my issue.

[Oblivion]

You think that, but do you know the process it takes to do that?

[Soren]

Getting a digital copy on the Wii U would be no problem for Nintendo to preform at all. Its the fact that they sit on their hands and choose to do nothing is my issue.

Digital or not, that still means porting the game to Wii U and giving it basic Wii U features like Off-TV play, Miiverse support,etc. Even if it were still SD(which nobody would want) it would still take significant time and effort.


Again, I'd rather have MS and other Nintendo first parties working to make new games for the system instead of an HD remake of a niche game that came out less than a year ago in the US market.

[sweetfeathery]

Porting a Wii game online to a Wii U would not bean issue at all. The only time Nintendo had a "loss" offering something digitally was when they tried to re-render Excitebike on the 3DS because they wanted it to have a 3D option. The investment it took to offer that did not pay off. Had they just offered a simple port they would have been fine.

[Kytim89]

I do not see any reason why Nintendo would pass up the opportunity to continue their Nintendo selects on the Wii U eShop because its free money. 

[sweetfeathery]

Free money indeed.

[Pixelated Pixies]

I sold my copy for £15, lol. It's only a video game. Why anyone would pay $145 for it is beyond me. It was a good game, perhaps even a great one; but it's not $145 great.

[ejamer]

So you traded a low-print, limited distribution, console exclusive game that almost didn't get released at all to get the "latest  greatest" Halo and now regret the fact you can't get your game back? Hard to feel much sympathy. Stop looking back and just move on.


Yes, you are missing a good game. Yes, there are dozens of other good games worth playing that are easily available. Wii U has already shown trailers for a game that appears to be the Xenoblade successor - when that comes out grab a copy and stop worrying.

[Adrock]

The best you can probably hope for is a Wii U Virtual Console release. I don't think the game was popular enough anywhere to warrant an HD release, especially since it's not part of a compilation to increase its value. I suppose it has a better chance if X is related and even then, that's pushing it. This isn't Zelda or Mario we're talking about.

Let's assume an HD version (not a full remake) is made, it's still iffy that it gets a retail release in the US. Wii U's anemic lineup does tip the scales a bit. Wii U could use as much decent content as possible to bolster its library and an HD version could probably be made in less than a year.

[pokepal148]

it's simply a dick move
but nintendo selects on the VC is a great idea

[Shaymin]

I sold my copy for £15, lol. It's only a video game. Why anyone would pay $145 for it is beyond me. It was a good game, perhaps even a great one; but it's not $145 great.

It's a lot easier to find EU copies of Xenoblade than NA copies. The game's availability here basically dropped off a cliff in January.


Hmm... that sounds familiar.

[nickmitch]

The only way I see Nintendo putting it on the eShop is if the Wii Channel gets upgraded and they literally have to do nothing else but put the game in the eShop to run in the Wii Channel.

[NWR_insanolord]

People would be pissed at them if they didn't at least add Off-TV play. It would require some level of work to make a version people wouldn't complain endlessly about.

[Ian Sane]

I think it is absolutely hilarious that NOA just refused to release this game during a major Wii drought in 2011 and now after only a year it's like the Wii's Earthbound.

Some sort of digital release timed to coincide with X's North American release would be ideal.  They re-release DKC Returns, a game that any idiot can buy in stores right this minute, but this goes for over $100 on eBay and they sit on it.

[Adrock]

Donkey Kong as an IP is way more popular and Returns is getting ported to a more "gamer" oriented hardware. It's fairly obvious why it's getting a rerelease and Xenoblade (currently) isn't. Xenoblade is only going for absurd amounts online due to being rare, but far fewer people want it compared to Donkey Kong, even fewer people want it at those ridic marked up prices. If Xenoblade was available in the same quantities as Donkey Kong Country Returns, you couldn't give the game to people. Everyone who wanted it would already have it. That's not a knock on its quality. Actual demand for the game isn't that high. It only looks that way because it was a limited release.

Nintendo makes some head-scratching moves, but this actually makes a lot of sense for them. Donkey Kong will sell to more people. It will still sell on 3DS. The same can't be said for Xenoblade. The game already reached many of the people who even wanted it with its limited run.

[pokepal148]

So you traded a low-print, limited distribution, console exclusive game that almost didn't get released at all to get the "latest  greatest" Halo and now regret the fact you can't get your game back? Hard to feel much sympathy. Stop looking back and just move on.


Yes, you are missing a good game. Yes, there are dozens of other good games worth playing that are easily available. Wii U has already shown trailers for a game that appears to be the Xenoblade successor - when that comes out grab a copy and stop worrying.

excuse me if i was saving for a Wii U, i wasn't in great financal state and i expected... idk a decent launch

[Soren]

Donkey Kong as an IP is way more popular and Returns is getting ported to a more "gamer" oriented hardware. It's fairly obvious why it's getting a rerelease and Xenoblade (currently) isn't. Xenoblade is only going for absurd amounts online due to being rare, but far fewer people want it compared to Donkey Kong, even fewer people want it at those ridic marked up prices. If Xenoblade was available in the same quantities as Donkey Kong Country Returns, you couldn't give the game to people. Everyone who wanted it would already have it. That's not a knock on its quality. Actual demand for the game isn't that high. It only looks that way because it was a limited release.

Nintendo makes some head-scratching moves, but this actually makes a lot of sense for them. Donkey Kong will sell to more people. It will still sell on 3DS. The same can't be said for Xenoblade. The game already reached many of the people who even wanted it with its limited run.

This. Also it's not a direct comparison since DKCR3d is the handheld version of a console game.

[Ian Sane]

Donkey Kong as an IP is way more popular and Returns is getting ported to a more "gamer" oriented hardware. It's fairly obvious why it's getting a rerelease and Xenoblade (currently) isn't. Xenoblade is only going for absurd amounts online due to being rare, but far fewer people want it compared to Donkey Kong, even fewer people want it at those ridic marked up prices. If Xenoblade was available in the same quantities as Donkey Kong Country Returns, you couldn't give the game to people. Everyone who wanted it would already have it. That's not a knock on its quality. Actual demand for the game isn't that high. It only looks that way because it was a limited release.

Nintendo makes some head-scratching moves, but this actually makes a lot of sense for them. Donkey Kong will sell to more people. It will still sell on 3DS. The same can't be said for Xenoblade. The game already reached many of the people who even wanted it with its limited run.

I would say the demand for a DKC Returns at this point was about ZERO until Nintendo announced it for the 3DS and the usual suckers decided they just had to buy Malibu Stacy with a new hat.  If you want that game it is available in stores right this second.  It will sell because double dips sell with suckers but no one was asking for it.  But with Xenoblade there are people that specifically want some sort of re-release, even if it's another print run, because they want the game and cannot buy it a mere year after its release.  The DKC Returns re-release exists solely because of greed and the ability to exploit the gullibility of suckers.  A Xenoblade re-release would be a legitimate service.

But the redundant DKC Returns re-release will probably sell well... because people are idiots.  I don't know if a Xenoblade re-release would bomb though.  If handled right I think it could do well, it just has to be handled like a more niche title.

Some sort of online store for Wii titles would be in Nintendo's best interest anyway and that is the most cost effective way to re-release this game.  Nintendo could also put of the more mainstream games like Mario and Zelda.  Nintendo could put the entire Wii first party lineup on the store and get some sales from people who missed a game the first time around.  They offer digital versions of Wii U games so what's the difference?

[NWR_insanolord]

Donkey Kong Country Returns sold 4 million copies in North America in a month. Even if it were $1, Xenoblade wouldn't come close to selling 4 million copies in a month. They are not in anywhere close to the same league.

[marty]

oh, silly Nintendo: shelve an anticipated game for 2 years, then do a half-ass job releasing it.

[Fatty The Hutt]

I am expecting new features to be announced for DKCR 3DS. Like new levels or tweaked gameplay or StreetPass or some sort of online. Or maybe a combo of those things or all of them.
I'll wait to see what is included in the final package, including the price, before I declare this a worthless double-dip that no one but suckers wants.