The article forgets to mention that if this rumour turns out to be true, then it will also prove the existence of a higher power.

A higher power or a lucky break from heaven. I guess those two aren't too far apart.


It would be a shame if such a big RPG didn't come out in North America especially when it is getting an English localization. Logically, there should be little doubt that this will be coming over. However, I'm probably not seeing an important business side to the troubles of localizing such games.

No sir, the only way that will happen is if Last Story is announced for the US.

Look at it this way, Kytim: If the North American release of Xenoblade Chronicles proves the existence of a higher power, then there is no way that higher power would let The Last Story go unreleased in North America.

So for this fall's lineup:

Last Story
Xenoblade

Which still leaves Pandora's tower as a possibility, as well as that new Kirby Game, Wii Play Motion, and Skyward Sword?  Hmm...not a horrible pre-holiday lineup.  There have been worse.  Could be that they couldn't convince anyone to develop and release during Skyward Sword's window.  They'd get crushed.

I'm not putting a whole lot of stock in this rumor just yet. I'd guess his contract stipulated that his voice work could be used in all of the above regions. If NOA bites the bullet and determines the cost of producing the title is worth it is a different story.

I hate it when obvious revelations like these happen not through Nintendo's own mouth for the sole reason that they want filler at E3. "We know, get on with it. What, you want people to clap for you? Bah! >_>"

If they're already going to be recording voice work in English then it shouldn't take much more work to release the game in North America.

Disaster: Day of Crisis says "hello".  And yes, I know that game wasn't brought over for different reasons.  Still, just because Europe gets a game, that doesn't mean we will in NA.

Was Disaster ever listed for a US release? I can't remember. I ask because there are plenty of games that were released in Japan and Europe but not North America, but I'm wondering if there were any that were listed/announced for the US but never made it.

Hmm...I'm not sure.  It was implied quite a bit since footage from Disaster (a tsunami, if I remember correctly) was used in some of the first Wii game videos, which were distributed worldwide.

NOA did some stuff. Primarily, the expense comes in marketing the game. It is rather immense. You can lose your shirt just in the marketing costs if a game bombs.

Xenoblade Chronicles is lucky to be a JRPG rather than whatever sort of action game Disaster is. I can only hope that the right people will know a JRPG has a bigger audience. Then again, some other lesser-known console JRPGs haven't been doing so well. Resonance of Fate and Arc Rise Fantasia didn't seem to pull in big numbers or confidence.

Resonance of Fate and Arc Rise Fantasia didn't deserve to "pull in big numbers or confidence", the former for pretty much every aspect of the game and the latter for its horrid localization and seeming blandness.  And are saying that JRPGs are more mainstream than setpiece-driven action games, or just that JRPGs are more noteworthy than action games like Disaster?

Looks like Xenoblade is coming to Australia....
http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/news/26126/


NoA, you better have something good to say at E3. We need a solid confirmation with dates and everything.

Is Resonance of Fate that bad? It looked pretty cool and quirky.

To clarify, Disaster specifically looked to be a weird take on an action-adventure game that didn't turn out to be the best use of Monolith. A JRPG from Monolith looks much more appealing than Disaster. I didn't mean for my words to be interpreted so broadly so I apologize for not being clear.

Yeah, it really is "that bad".  For further information, I suggest reading my many impressions of the game (along with those of several others) in the Reader Reviews "Rate the last game you played" thread.  In short, the game barely teaches the user anything about its gameplay systems (and what it does teach is very confusingly handled), the story is an inconsistent mess that makes no sense, progression through the game is extremely repetitive and heavily grind-focused (the difficulty curve is all over the map).  That game single-handedly killed the JRPG genre for me for at least 6 months. 

There's certainly potential in the concept and there are aspects of the game that could be nice (like having control over your characters' outfits and having guns), but nothing about the game really comes together.  I really think the only reason anyone payed any attention to that game when it came out was because it was "the more traditional JRPG" released alongside the very un-traditional Final Fantasy XIII (a game I enjoyed so much more despite its issues).

If you really want to play an HD JRPG, play Valkyria Chronicles on PS3.  That game is awesome on so many levels.

I already played Valkyria Chronicles. I love every bit of it! So much that I'm eagerly awaiting the english localization of the Valkyria Chronicles: Design Archives book that I pre-ordered in January and has since been delayed twice to April and then to June. I dare not cancel the order since I ordered it at a much lower price than it currently is now.

Back to the topic at hand, I do hope that Xenoblade Chronicles comes to the USA (along with a bunch of other Japanese games). I really enjoyed Baten Kaitos in spite of its localization issues. The little I played of Baten Kaitos Origins showed improvement in the game mechanics and systems. I want to see what Monolith Soft has done with their latest Wii effort.