Monday, June 27, 2011

Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story fans take out their frustrations on Nintendo of America via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Well, it seems that a rather sizable contingent of North American Wii owners has had it with Nintendo's failure to localize its recent trio of top-shelf Japanese RPGs: The Last StoryPandora's Tower and Xenoblade.

What are they doing about it? They're taking out their frustrations on the company via the usual channels--e-mail and snail mail, especially--but they're also doing so via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

For instance, nearly 3,500 comments in favor of a North American release for the above-mentioned games have been posted on Nintendo's Facebook wall in the last few days. Many similar comments have been aimed at the company's Twitter account thanks in large part to the folks behind Operation Rainfall.

Another way gamers are showing their support for a North American release of The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade: They're pre-ordering them (in the case of Xenoblade) and adding them (in the case of The Last Story and Pandora's Tower) to their wish lists on Amazon.com.

For more information on this campaign, check out this discussion thread at NeoGAF.com or click on the Operation Rainfall link above.

11 comments:

Bryan Ochalla said...

BTW, as much as I hope Nintendo of America ends up bringing all three of these titles to NA this or next year, I will be buying Xenoblade at some point regardless -- since it's going to be released in Europe this fall.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I'm glad something's being done. This is ridiculous. If you're making an RPG, friggin translate it! It's like Nintendo's been cleaning up so well in the casual sector that they don't seem to think it's worth localizing a great RPG for the people that may want it.

Bryan Ochalla said...

I agree, Justin. What makes this situation especially galling is that Xenoblade *has* been translated into English and will be released in Europe in Aug or Sept, so that work wouldn't even have to be done. Rumor has it that The Last Story will be released in that territory later this year or early next, too. Considering Nintendo of America has next to nothing to release for the Wii between now and the release of the Wii U, you'd think they'd fall over themselves to bring these to NA Wii owners...

TheMetalAdvisor said...

It's ridiculous that it's being translated into English, but still doesn't have a North American release date. Why put all that effort into developing the game, only to release it in certain areas? Clearly more than a few people would buy it. Sigh, I'm crossing my fingers.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, TheMetalAdvisor! Yeah, it's definitely ridiculous. Of course, Nintendo of America has been pretty ridiculous this entire generation, esp. as far as the Wii is concerned. I can't remember the number off the time of my head, but they've failed to localize quite a few Wii games this generation -- quite a few of which were translated into English and released elsewhere (Another Code: R and Disaster: Day of Crisis are good examples). And then there are the games they *should* have translated, IMO -- like Fatal Frame IV and Zangeki no REGINLEIV. Anyway, hopefully our crossed fingers will work and at least Xenoblade and The Last Story will eventually be released on our shores...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

That makes me even more angry. I just...*sigh* It's like they don't even care about us anymore. I used to feel like Nintendo appreciated its customers more than other systems. I felt like there was a kinship between Nintendo and its users. And even if that was wholly imagined by a way-too-optimistic young boy, I don't feel that way anymore.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Well, the folks in charge then were different than they are now, so it's possible the brass at NOA *did* care more about their customers back in the day.

The thing that really makes me mad about this whole situation is that we're not talking about the N64 or GameCube eras. This is the most successful generation of systems Nintendo has ever had, and yet they're releasing as few games as possible outside of Japan? Crazy.

Hopefully they'll surprise us and mention soon that at least Xenoblade will be making its way to North America this or next year...

TheMetalAdvisor said...

If it doesn't come to NA, I will import it and find a way to play it. That's for certain.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hello again, TheMetalAdvisor! I'm in the very same boat -- if Xenoblade isn't released here in North America I *will* be importing it from the UK. No ifs, ands or buts.

As for finding a way to play it on your NA Wii -- may I suggest checking out the NeoGAF Wii Homebrew Tutorial? Here's the URL for it: http://gwht.wikidot.com/

I used it long ago to enable my Wii to play imports, use emulators, etc. It's easy to do and supposedly very, very safe. Just make sure you read through everything before you get started.

TheMetalAdvisor said...

Thanks man. I'll look into that. P.S. I stopped following your blog because, well, I'm keeping my followed blogs strictly limited to metal-related stuff. I'll be checking back periodically for news pertaining to Xenoblade, however. Honestly, that's the only videogame I'm interested in at the moment.

Bryan Ochalla said...

No problem, TheMetalAdvisor. And no worries about not following me. Come back any time.

BTW, I just read that Nintendo of America most likely won't be bringing any of these games to the US. Here's a post about it -- http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=162105

I'll definitely be importing Xenoblade from the UK, though, so expect to hear a lot more about from me it in the coming months :)