Topic: Operation Rainfall: Did it really make a lick of difference?

[UncleBob]

So - quick recap - Operation Rainfall was established to convince Nintendo to bring three games to the states.  One game was released, one is coming and the third is still in limbo...

Operation Rainfall official campaign website - and its supporters - are quick to take credit for the two games that were successfully brought over to the US...  but how much credit should they be given?

It's pretty apparent that OpR had *not* influence on Nintendo of America's decision.  Nintendo didn't commit to either game until a third party came along and offered money hats for them.  Seriously, if NoA thought OpR actually meant anything, why would they want to share the spoils with XSEED or GameStop?

As for XSEED - Ken Berry - XSEED's director of publishing, was very clear, in no uncertain terms, that OpR had NO influence on the decision to bring over Last Story.  Now, that's not to say this guy couldn't be lying as part of some kind of marketing speak - but to what ends?  Acknowledging the folks who are most hyped about the game would only be a good thing - even if everything was in motion before hand, simply saying "We had been working on plans to publish Last Story in the US before Operation Rainfall began and seeing their support and interest in the title just assured us we were doing the right thing in making it easily available for American audiences."  See?  It's that easy.

Instead, he just says "No."  That's a pretty powerful statement.  Basically, he just told the entire OpR movement that their efforts were meaningless.  Now, some of these folks won't care, they'll be getting the game anyway.  But some of these folks... they're not going to take that well.

Why risk alienating any potential customers if there's any possible truth to the idea that OpR influenced the decision?

As for GameStop... there's an interesting one.  Did someone at GameStop see all the OpR hype for Xenoblade and think that the game would be a great GS Exclusive if they'd give Nintendo some money hats?  That'd be an interesting one to hear more about.

[Chozo Ghost]

No matter what impact OpR had on NoA's decision, it was still very much successful in giving a voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless. For those reasons alone it was a worthwhile endeavor.

[Mannypon]

Its hard to know what kind of impact it had without some big wig in Nintendo coming out and stating that OR did have an affect.  I like to think it did just because of the amount of effort that was put into the project.  It was amazing and something I'd like to see happen more often.  Hopefully with the transition to digital releases, maybe companies will be more willing to at least release games stateside in digital form.  Time will tell though. 

[UncleBob]

I suppose if OpR's goal was to make folks feel warm and fuzzy inside... then it was "worthwhile".

I thought the idea was to get games (The three main titles and beyond) released in the US...

[Mannypon]

It was and 2 of the 3 games have/are coming to the US but weather it was a result of OR efforts or just Nintendo's own decision based on whatever measures they were looking at, who knows.  I'll still like to think it had some affect as I believe everything in life affects something one way or another.

[Uncle_Optimus]

I suppose if OpR's goal was to make folks feel warm and fuzzy inside... then it was "worthwhile".

I thought the idea was to get games (The three main titles and beyond) released in the US...

It was effective...even if it did not move Nintendo to support their platform by giving their customers some games, Operation Rainfall did plenty to raise awareness for these titles.
Marketing is hard, and effective marketing can be very hard and very expensive. I am sure Nintendo (and Xseed) appreciated the free service (and I hope Nintendo learned some valuable lessons about how to communicate effectively with their fan base).
In the case of Xenoblade, I think it is clear that GameStop was inspired to leap on this opportunity, if for no other reason than to get get a publicity boost in the wake of OR's positive media coverage and drive some additional store traffic. The risk could not have been terribly huge, since it was shouldered between two companies AND the cost of localization was considerably lower (licensing fees and some additional royalties perhaps).

[marty]

Nintendo is a company that believes in marketing.  Whether or not Nintendo was going to release any of the games in NA (I'd wager they wouldn't have, since it required work) , they had lost control of their image in a big way.  They had to do SOMETHING to shut up what was essentially a well organized marketing campaign they weren't in control of. 

[Adrock]

The Last Story - no. This is exactly the type of game XSEED goes for. When Nintendo of America decided not to bring the game over, XSEED was all over it.

Xenoblade - possibly. It made no difference for Nintendo but Gamestop made them an offer they couldn't refuse. GameStop probably saw a good deal of potential here despite the risk, both in terms of offering an exclusive and currying favor with Nintendo. It was a win-win for both companies.

[Luigi Dude]

Operation Rainfall probably helped to get Gamestop to take an interest in Xenoblade but the good sales in Europe are what more then likely made them decide to act.  Since the markets in America and Europe are very similar, if one game does good in one territory, it usually does good in the other.  Since good reviews and strong word of mouth lead to Xenoblade being successful in Europe, Gamestop probably figured it could do the same in America and then approached NOA to get an exclusive deal.

Had Xenoblade been a huge bomb in Europe though, I doubt Gamestop would have bothered with bringing it over.  Even if Operation Rainfall got their attention, it's money that drives all decisions and the sales in Europe were more then likely the key motivator.

[ejamer]

I don't think that Operation Rainfall made any real difference in games getting released.


I also doubt that Operation Rainfall expanded the audience of gamers who were looking forward to these games from the start, or increased general (ie: not fanboys/gamers who are constantly looking for news online) awareness with the grassroots marketing efforts made.



However, I do think that their marketing helped to generate excitement about a group of Wii games that are clearly worth playing. Every time gamers are actually excited about a core-type experience on the Wii, that's great news and a great experience for everyone who allows themselves to get involved . Especially considering how little attention or support Nintendo of America has given core games over the past couple of years.

[Kairon]

I think it's definitely highly debatable whether Operation Rainfall directly contributed to the release of either XenoBlade or Last Story, but I agree with others here that it was beneficial for the community to organize and voice their opinions, and it probably aided in awareness or marketing of these niche games.

[broodwars]

Did Operation Rainfall make any difference in bringing the titles over to NA?  It's hard to say in the case of Xenoblade and we know for a fact that it didn't for The Last Story.  Now, did Operation Rainfall's huge PR presence probably make these successful games sales-wise?  Likely.  Despite Sakaguchi's hand in the game, Mistwalker has never really made a successful game sales-wise outside of Blue Dragon, and (despite the good-to-excellent Baten Kaitos series) I don't think Monolith Soft has ever had a successful game sales-wise before Xenoblade.  Xenoblade and The Last Story were very likely to fly under the radar just as their predecessors did, but because of Operation Rainfall we constantly heard about these games for at least several months and they'll probably sell far better now (especially given that Nintendo of America has put NO marketing whatsoever into those titles).  So yeah, I think Operation Rainfall made a big difference.

[Chozo Ghost]

Broodwars makes a great point. Operation Rainfall has been extremely successful in getting people talking and thinking about these games. Did it have any impact on the games being brought over? Hard to say there, but Operation Rainfall most certainly helped the sales of these games by bringing fan awareness to them. So in response to the question in the thread title I would have to say: Yes, it did make a lick of difference. It was (and is) a worthwhile effort.

I would like to see something like this repeated with other games such Fatal Frame 4 and Captain Rainbow. Even if Reggie refuses to cave, he would at least be forced to conjure up some bullshit excuse and at least acknowledge these games do exist. Even if that's all that could be achieved that would still be a success of sorts.

[Ian Sane]

The goal was to get these games released in North America and two of them got released.  Maybe it did or didn't have an effect but the end goal was accomplished so it was worthwhile.

I love Xenoblade.  If it wasn't for all this OR hype I might not have bought it.  I didn't really think of it before this.  It wasn't due for North American release so I didn't pay much attention to it, until OR.  And that might have inspired GameStop to localize it.  Even if it didn't, Xenoblade didn't get much of a marketing push.  A big reason I bought it was because of word of mouth, not only about how good the game was, but how quickly the news spread about Gamestop localizing it.  It all helped me notice what might be my favourite Wii game.  I'm thankful for OR, regardless of whether or not it really accomplished anything in the long run.

Plus at least NOA knows we're pissed off.  They might not care or might completely bungle any attempt to make peace with us with the Wii U but at least they know.

[Louieturkey]

I would like to see something like this repeated with other games such Fatal Frame 4 and Captain Rainbow. Even if Reggie refuses to cave, he would at least be forced to conjure up some bullshit excuse and at least acknowledge these games do exist. Even if that's all that could be achieved that would still be a success of sorts.

Fatal Frame 4 did have something similar, just not as organized.  There is a fan translation of the game out there and if you have a copy of the Japanese version of the game and a jailbroken Wii, you can play the game in English.

As for Captain Rainbow, there isn't enough interest in any way, shape, or form to get any type of organized request for the game here.

[NWR_insanolord]

Nintendo didn't take action until a third party came along and made them an offer, but the OpR response may have made them more likely to listen to those offers. It was a shock to everyone when Nintendo let XSEED bring The Last Story over, because they have a history of not allowing that; what made them act differently in this case?

Beyond that, OpR basically was the marketing push for the two games, and was the best kind of marketing you can get: good word of mouth that you didn't have to pay a dime for. Also, I think even if it had nothing to do with any of this, the existence and passion of OpR may have sent a message to Nintendo that I think they needed to hear. Though I doubt they'd ever admit it, I think they learned something from this campaign.

[Louieturkey]

I hope they learned from this.  I hope they learned that while these types of games may not net you millions of sales like a Mario game, they make up for those sales in good will with the core gamers and word of mouth about Nintendo listening to its gamer fans will get around and their rep can be healed in that community.

[Kairon]

I hope they learned from this.  I hope they learned that while these types of games may not net you millions of sales like a Mario game, they make up for those sales in good will with the core gamers and word of mouth about Nintendo listening to its gamer fans will get around and their rep can be healed in that community.

I agree. I think that while NoA has to keep an eye on the bottom line, they also have to step up and find solutions so that they can continue to maintain and curry favor with their fanbase. Any wise and prudent investments/solutions for their fans now will reap valuable and free goodwill, word of mouth, and reputation in the years to come.

And besides, this is one of the most creative companies in the industry. They came up with the Wii U GamePad, an idea that, in their own words, solved multiple problems at the same time. They need to do the same with niche gems: come up with innovative business ideas to protect their bottomlines while delivering the product that keeps their fans engaged long term.

[UncleBob]

A couple of folks have mentioned the "Successful sales" for Xenoblade and Last Story... I wasn't aware we've seen *any* sales figures for these two titles?

[NWR_insanolord]

We haven't seen numbers, but I believe Nintendo's gone on the record saying they were happy with the NA sales for Xenoblade.

[Louieturkey]

We haven't seen numbers, but I believe Nintendo's gone on the record saying they were happy with the NA sales for Xenoblade.

Does "happy" mean a million sales or 25,000 in sales or somewhere in between?

[Sarail]

Hasn't Xenoblade sold over 500k worldwide? I'm pretty sure it has by now. I know it's done 230k+ here in the U.S.

[TJ Spyke]

I know it's done 230k+ here in the U.S.

Source? The only place I saw that number was originating from VG Chartz, which means it's bogus.

[Louieturkey]

I feel like if they are truly happy with the sales they'd expand the availability to other stores like Best Buy and Amazon at least.

[Chozo Ghost]

I feel like if they are truly happy with the sales they'd expand the availability to other stores like Best Buy and Amazon at least.

That depends on what the terms were of the exclusivity deal they signed with Gamestop. I doubt Gamestop had permanent exclusive rights to the game, but that doesn't mean the terms have expired yet, or will anytime soon. For all we know it could last a year or two? Maybe longer than that.