Topic: Hoping For Rain: Is Operation Rainfall a Failure or is There Still Hope?

[Adrock]

You're not really making the statement you're intending to make by purchasing Nintendo's biggest game on the console ever brand new. In fact, you're just encouraging them to ignore niche games and only release major titles like Zelda.

And no, Nintendo won't be porting those games.

[nickmitch]

It might be a good idea to protest NoA by importing Zelda. If everyone was committed, we might actually make a statement.

[Sundoulos]

Sadly, I'll have to agree that a 2012 release for Xenoblade appears unlikely. NoA has had plenty of opportunity to indicate that they might still be leaving the release on the table.

They've already done this.  They said they'll be monitoring the games performance in Europe before making any decisions.  The game has only been out in Europe for over a month.  Even if the games performance in the last month has changed NOA's minds, they wouldn't have announced anything since it's too late to get the game out by the holiday.

If Xenoblade does come out, the earliest it'll come out is Q1 2012, and NOA doesn't announe Q1 release dates until at least November.  Like how last year they announced Dragon Quest 6 completely out of the blue for a Q1 2011 release date at either the end of November or early December 2010.

I took their statement on the matter to be lip service.  I'm not sure what their criteria might be for determining a successful performance.  I still think that they're probably aware that the longer they wait to announce their future plans, the more expected returns on the sales of the game will diminish.

Even though I'm importing, I hope that you're right; I'd be very happy to be wrong about the prospect of the release of Xenoblade and the Last Story.  I like JRPGs, and I wish there had been more of them.  By all accounts, both are good games and probably deserve a shot over in NA.

Either way, since the cost of importing from the UK is relatively low, I'm not really willing to wait around on the chance that NoA might change their minds.

[Kytim89]

If NoA announces its release schedule for Q1 of 2012 and Xenoblade is on the list thne I will have hope for the other titles. However, if by the start of Q2 of 2012 nothing is announced for America then I will take the steps to begin importing these games from Europe.

[ejamer]

I'm not waiting on NoA. There is no assurance that Xenoblade will be easy to find or import by that point in time.

With Pikmin 2 NPC I was patient, hoping that there were just holding it back to fill any lull in the release schedule. We've just endured nearly a full year of lull while NoA had that game (and others) ready to published... but it's simply not going to happen. I'm not making the same mistake with these games because it's clear that NoA considers the Wii dead weight now - especially for core gaming experiences.

Importing software is legal and not much more expensive than buying new anyway. Modding your Wii to play imported games is easy and appears to be legal if you are playing actual games. What benefit is there in waiting for a minor miracle from NoA?




(edited for grammar/clarification)

[Mop it up]

This probably won't help matters, but add PokéPark 2 to the list of 2012 Wii releases.

[FZeroBoyo]

Apparently, Reggie himself will be posting on Nintendo of America's Facebook and Twitter pages tomorrow.
 
People are speculating what this could mean, and naturally, some are saying an announcement of our missing Wii games is imminent. I'm certainly hoping for the best. 

[Retro Deckades]

Having just broke down and ordered an import copy of Xenoblade, I'm kinda hoping that tomorrow's post has nothing to do with the Operation Rainfall games. I'm guessing it'll have something to do with the other conference being held tomorrow.

I still believe that there is a chance that NA might see the release of Xenoblade (and possibly The Last Story -- I don't really believe that there is any hope for Pandora's Tower) it would make sense for Nintendo to withhold their announcement until after Christmas. They likely wouldn't want anything to interfere with their big release, Skyward Sword.

[ejamer]

Apparently, Reggie himself will be posting on Nintendo of America's Facebook and Twitter pages tomorrow.
 
People are speculating what this could mean, and naturally, some are saying an announcement of our missing Wii games is imminent. I'm certainly hoping for the best. 

Rainfall or resignation. Either way, I'm happy.




That came out meaner than intended. I don't hate Reggie, just think that it's a good time for him and NoA to part ways. After the success Nintendo has seen recently, things aren't going to look any better and (personally) it wouldn't be a loss to see someone more in-tune with core gaming values if Nintendo wants to salvage what little appeal they have to core gamers for 3DS and Wii U.

[Adrock]

Besides laying the smackdown on a few niche titles, Reggie has done a fine job. He's pretty in touch with what core games will sell. Even though The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, and Xenoblade (we can even include Mother 3 too) are all likely better games than Other M, it's obvious that Other M is a safe bet and the others are not. That's why we got Other M. It underperformed and likely still would have outsold those 3 games. That doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in a bunch of niche games.

Reggie would actually look worse if he approved bringing those titles over and they sold poorly. I honestly think that the reason some people are upset is because they can't have those games (without importing), not because they were going to rush to stores on day 1 and buy them. The only game I would have bought Day 1 is The Last Story, maybe Xenoblade. From a purely business perspective, Reggie made the right call. I'm confident Reggie is aware of the Rainfall titles' core appeal but if a game like Other M with a strong brand name behind it failed to meet expectations, what hope did those other games have? Reggie has previously made attempts to get core titles on the Wii. He's pretty much single handedly responsible for getting Manhunt 2 on the Wii. The game sucked and sold poorly but he tried. He's "in tune with core gaming values" bit he's also smart enough to know what sells and sells well.

It would totally suck if Reggie left the company. He's the best president NOA has ever had. Just because he refused to bring some niche games over doesn't mean he's doing his job poorly. It sucks that we're not getting these games and NOA could stand to take more chances but Reggie wouldn't be easy to replace and Nintendo would likely be worse without him.

[Chozo Ghost]

NOA needs Howard Lincoln back. This Reggie guy just isn't cutting it.

[Ceric]

You can make a good Argument that NoA didn't take enough risks with the amount they made from the Wii.

[broodwars]

You can make a good Argument that NoA didn't take enough risks with the amount they made from the Wii.

As well as the fact that the Operation Rainfall games would have cost relatively little to bring over just as they were localized in Europe, so at very little cost for replication and marketing even 50,000-100,000 copies would turn a profit.  Sure, some gamers might snicker at the British Voice Acting and the pretentious British spelling of words like "color" and "armor", but that would last all of 5 minutes.  Then they'll remember that the voice acting is better than anything Nintendo of America has ever dubbed, and that no one really cares about how you spell certain words when you're immersed in a story.

But no, instead Nintendo of America would rather people didn't play anything on their Wii all year, and so gradually the Wii brand has been greatly harmed.  I'm starting to think Reggie wants the story of the Wii to be that it was "the console that no one ever played because it never got any games."

[Kytim89]

I really want these games, but at the same time I should not have to go to the trouble of importing these games and then modifying MY Wii just to play them. Nintendo is a business, so even if ten people were willing to pay for these titles then Nintendo should give them whatthey want. I do want Reggie to replaced because a truelly hardcore businessman would realize that there are still a plenty of core games for your console and enough to make a andequate purchase of just THREE of your games. What gives?

[Luigi Dude]

Because of Xenoblade doing better than NOE expected in Europe, I still think we could get a Dragon Quest VI type announcement by the end of the year.  With DQVI, NOA announced a February 14th, 2011 release date on December 20th of 2010, less then two months before it's release. 

http://www.google.com/search?q=dragon+quest+6+announced+north+american&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Now yes Dragon Quest is kind of different since Iwata has ordered NOA and NOE to publish them in order to help keep it exclusive to Nintendo in Japan, but it still shows that NOA has announced games out of the blue right before release.  So for all we know they could actually announce it sometime this holiday for a early 2012 release.  Yeah there's no guarantee, but unlike Disaster and Another Code which were complete failures in Europe which sealed their fate in America, Xenoblade has actually been selling in Europe.  So I wouldn't write it off just yet.

[Adrock]

If Xenoblade was officially announced, I would buy it day 1. It was a "maybe" day 1 purchase if Nintendo of America just released it earlier this year without all of the fuss, but I like supporting niche titles. I bought Madworld and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. They're both good games though I've finished neither. I'm backlogged like whoa.

[Kytim89]

I keep falling back on the assumption that Nintendo investors will force their hand and have them release these games in north America. However, one would think that the investors would not want Nintendo to take a chance on losing money, but keep in mind that Nintendo has almost nothing good to release on the market for their current home console for nearly a year. Keep in mind that investors are vacating Nintendo at break neck speed and the remaining ones are not going to let Nintendo sit by and hold out three or more quality titles from their primary market and hemorrhage money. I equate this to paying someone not to work. Would Amy of you lose money on someone who refused to return that money to you? Keep in mind that most Wii niche and core titles that were released in north America sold better than their European and Asian counter parts, so I do see these games coming here eventually either because realizes its the right thing to do or because investors will force their hand.
 
Look at the losses that Nintendo is incurring due to their market schemes:
 
http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1210437p1.html
 
Check out this video of Operation Rainfall:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co3idYLrlqM

[ThePerm]

hey maybe Xenoblade will be a Wii U launch title? Ever thought of that? If they can they can beef up the graphics. It came out June last year so that gives them till December next year to beef up the graphics. From a launch standpoint that would be a great idea, and also games at launch become more established franchises.

I mean from my perspective, it looks like a ps2 game, and in some regards maybe better, and in some regards worse. I was watching Final fantasy X videos for comparison and yeah, this game would never have an impact in North America at its present state. The best option would be to upgrade it graphically and release it at launch. Not even sure if Nintendo will do that, but that idea sounds smart to me. It could also set a pretty strong precedent in the future, because after Wii U the graphical leap between systems can't be that huge. Wii after all is a glorified Gamecube. It adds up pretty well. Theres underground word of mouth, theres a beefy game with hours of gameplay, theres launch status, they can always re-release it in japan with better graphics and it might still sell pretty well.

Any other games Nintendo hasn't releases state side?

[broodwars]

hey maybe Xenoblade will be a Wii U launch title? Ever thought of that? If they can they can beef up the graphics. It came out June last year so that gives them till December next year to beef up the graphics. From a launch standpoint that would be a great idea, and also games at launch become more established franchises.

That's not going to happen because Nintendo doesn't want anything competing with their precious Dragon Quest X.  Could it be a Wii U title at some point?  Sure, but it wouldn't be released anywhere near DQ X's launch.

[ThePerm]

thats true, but do you think Square Enix would be pissed if Nintendo re-released a game it didn't release? Or do you think Square-Enix would encourage the move because that sets up Wii U as the new Super Nintendo? Square Enix always had to deal with competing RPGs on Psx-ps3 so....
Thinking about the Wii U and its stance in the VG world, this really sets up Nintendo and Square to get in bed together like they were in the Super Nintendo days. Because the last thing you want to do is release a popular game on a system with no RPG fanbase, or at least release a game and have the rpg fanbase split. If you had another strong rpg game on the system then it makes a clear message that this system is the one RPG players should buy. Otherwise they would just wait till ps4 comes out, and continue buying ps3 games because they assume playstation is where its at.

[broodwars]

thats true, but do you think Square Enix would be pissed if Nintendo re-released a game it didn't release? Or do you think Square-Enix would encourage the move because that sets up Wii U as the new Super Nintendo? Square Enix always had to deal with competing RPGs on Psx-ps3 so....
Thinking about the Wii U and its stance in the VG world, this really sets up Nintendo and Square to get in bed together like they were in the Super Nintendo days.

Square-Enix has been in pretty bad shape of late, especially after the miserable failure of Final Fantasy 14.  I think they'll be more pissed if their last ditch effort to get a perpetual money-maker has to compete with one of Nintendo's own RPGs at launch (and Nintendo games tend to outsell everything else on Nintendo consoles), especially since Dragon Quest is not a big franchise in the West (as well it should be, IMO).  They'd want Nintendo to release Xenoblade (and Last Story and Pandora's Tower) either before or after DQ X to establish the Wii U as a home for RPGs.

[ThePerm]

hmm, in bad shape still? They were in bad shape 5 years ago if i remember correctly. Which seems odd because they could survive on FF11 subscription support alone. The subscription rate was 2 million in 2009, i can't imagine that being sustainable, although mmos tend to have legs. I couldnt tell you at what rate there would be abandonment vs adoption. But thats 13 dollars times 2 million just in 2009. Also, Square-Enix is testing out next gen engines, but wouldnt say which platform, so its either going to be ps4 or xbox3 or Wii U. They can however release their game on Wii U first, unless Sony or Microsoft decide to launch against Wii U. I think I'd be overly-optimistic to assume it was Wii U though. However, it is possible Square Enix wouldn't say what platform it was just to appease Sony before it kicks them in the nuts. They would too, afterall FF7 target platform was originally n64.

Also, an adjustment to the idea that Nintendo titles do better than all other games they compete with. These are the established franchises. Xenoblades is in no way established, even people who know about it wouldn't buy it in its current state. Also, I don't think this is true of launches either. It has worked well for Ubisoft. Poorly rated game like Red Steel sell well at launch, and this is mainly because gamers at launch will buy almost anything. You are pretty much guaranteed to be a million seller at launch if you can be one of the first 20 titles. Also, some other math, if you sell more than 600,000 copies then you've broken even if your budget was 30 million.

[Adrock]

I keep falling back on the assumption that Nintendo investors will force their hand and have them release these games in north America.

You mean the same investors who want Nintendo to develop for iOS. They're proven that they clearly have no idea what's best for Nintendo.

This is nothing new. We've had end of cycle droughts in the previous 2 console generations. Nintendo withholding games isn't even new either. The company sat on Sin and Punishment back in 2000 despite the voice acting already being in English. It happens and we all move on, some sooner than others. I understand some people are really upset but those who claim to plan to boycott future releases (to buy used if anything at all) are in the minority. The people who actually follow through with that plan are in the minority of that minority. The rest are thinking, "Well, this fucking sucks... but... I'm still going to buy Mario and Zelda. I bought 3DS (or plan to) and I'm going to buy Wii U."

You know what happened when Nintendo of America didn't bring over Mother 3? Nothing. People were upset but they kept buying Nintendo products and moved on. I wanted to play Mother 3 more than Xenoblade and The Last Story combined. I still do but I haven't stopped buying Nintendo things. Not releasing these niche Wii games changes nothing as well. I'm not trying to sound like a dick about it but it's true. No one is willing to send Nintendo of America a real message by boycotting Skyward Sword. I'm certainly not. That's the Wii game I really want this year and Nintendo knows it. Not because I'm starved for Wii games because I'm not. In addition to Madworld and Muramasa, I still haven't finished Super Mario Galaxy 2, Okami, and a Boy and His Blob. I want Skyward Sword because it's a Zelda game.

[ThePerm]

yeah its hard to vote with your pocketbook when the message isnt clear. IF you boycotted skyward sword they would just think Zelda is no longer popular and stop making Zelda titles and make more mario titles. The only way you can get them to try new franchises is to buy more new ones, not the other way around.

[Adrock]

People have been using boycotts as a form of protest for over a hundred years. No organized boycott would work without clearly stated terms. The problem here isn't stating the terms (refusing to buy Skyward Sword until NOA commits to releasing the Rainfall titles); it's that not enough Nintendo fans believe in the cause. There just aren't enough people who feel slighted by this. It sucks but these games are small potatoes and most people are okay with these games not coming over. Sad but true. It's not like Nintendo of America is withholding Skyward Sword, the game Wii owners really care about.