No, it's not a game, it's a campaign. Specifically to get Nintendo to release Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower in the US.
And Wired has a great, accurate headline in their coverage: Nintendo's Game-Killing Policies Alienate Biggest Fans
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Eh, I've long given up on the system. I may still get Skyward Sword, but not for a long while.
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Oh, it definitely got some attention:
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Yep, I saw that. It's hilarious that Nintendo has put itself in this position. They're basically saying "No, core gamers, we don't care about you and the games you like. But come back in 2012 and we'll be all about you after you buy a Wii U!" No, thanks, Reggie. I get the point, you don't want my money. Okay, that's fine, I won't give it to you.
Anyone want to buy a slightly used Wii? -
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BAM.
Xenoblade Chronicles announced for US release. Preorders through NoA begin December 19, Gamestop taking preorders now, release date TBA 2012. (Gamestop lists it on April 2.) -
I'll get it eventually (hopefully after gamestop drops the price) and play it on Dolphin. -
But this is a big deal to me, since it partially redeems Nintendo in my eyes. They’re now ahead of Capcom (no AAI2, MML3 canceled, no BoF6, DmC) and Konami (no Suikoden VI). So that’s something. -
Those really who wanted this game probably imported it already.
It wouldnt shock me if Nintendo of America reports that the game had poor sales. -
That said, I considered modding my Wii and importing the game, but didn’t. I’m glad I get to buy an American version of this game, even if it’s halfassed. -
I think I'm going to give my Wii away to my sister as a Christmas gift. I just have to convince my wife and daughters that they would continue to hardly ever play it. Why would Nintendo need to wait around or even think about releasing these titles in the US?
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So the answer to your question is, they’re releasing it because they don’t want the bad PR going forward into the Wii U, especially after a rough 3DS launch. -
Oh ****. No way. Cool story bro.
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Can someone mind telling me when JRPGs fell out of favor? I mean, everyone loved Final Fantasy 7 and on up, and we had a slew of JRPG releases up to the end of the PS2 era. So what happened? Gears of War isn’t THAT good. -
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I really want to know when we went from the “holy **** they’re remaking FF7!!!!!” reaction from the FF7 tech demo for PS3 to “Xenoblade’s going to flop.” -
What happened to games like Myst? There was a time when Myst outsold anything developed for the PC by a mile and then some. What happened to RTS games like Command & Conquer (hint: there's a reason Blizzard isn't doing Warcraft 4; check how well Starcraft 2 did)? The truth of the matter is that stuff that was all the rage ten years ago has become a niche by today. Heck, what happened to Mike Oldfield? I'm afraid that there just isn't the kind of tangible reason you're looking for. JRPGs did great in a time where a big enough niche could sustain expensive development. That's simply not the case anymore. They've never sold well in Europe, for instance, and that's a huge market you have to write off, especially considering that the US is increasingly dominated by used games that don't generate revenue (Europe doesn't have that issue).
It really all boils down to the fact that the audience for JRPGs isn't quite big enough to justify the development costs. It didn't necessarily shrink; the whole industry simply grew to a point where it doesn't make sense to develop expensive games for a niche, even if that niche is quite big. It's either a) cheap stuff for the niche or b) expensive stuff for a really broad audience. JRPGs don't fit in either category. -
As for series like Myst and C&C, I can tell you exactly where they went: consoles killed them. The RTS genre (for example) is not conducive to any other platform but the PC. RTS games require too much micro-management and too much time per sitting to fit on consoles. Same thing with Myst, consoles don’t lend themselves to that genre. Mobile gaming (iPad) might, but that’s another thread. The RTS also cannibalized itself, with Starcraft eating up everything else. Why play, say, Supreme Commander when you still have Starcraft? Blizzard won. Chris Taylor lost.
But since JRPGs were always the domain of consoles, that comparison doesn’t fly.
One big reason I was excited when Sony announced the Cell’s inclusion in the PS3 was the possibility of games with vector-based graphics. Since a vector is just a calculation, you don’t need to spend months and months coming up with art assets; you can just have the CPU calculate an equation and bam, you’ve got HD-level “2D” graphics for a pretty low cost. I thought for sure that plus digital downloads would keep the genre going.
Oh well, there’s always SNES9x. -
Nintendo announces The Last Story is coming to the US and being published by XSEED. Two down.
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Xenoblade is out.
The Last Story is out in June.
Pandora's Tower is appearing in some Gamestop inventory lists.
#winningdolfan32323 and Silverphin like this. -
See kids? If you piss and moan really hard you'll always get what you want!
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Next up: Suikoden VI, Mega Man Legends 3, Mega Man ZX 3, a Zelda game in the vein of Link to the Past instead of Ocarina of Time...