Xenoblade: A Monolith + Nintendo RPG

[the.Merines]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

...Pity there is no release in America yet... There are listings though.

Indeed, I have an open pre-order with Amazon still, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, enough pre-orders would show NoA that the game will sell here.

[Westlo]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=425989

*gets out air compressor to blow the dust off the wii*

[Sides]

Finally some good news for wii owners, for this year. Hopefully they will release the soundtrack here as well.

[frubam]

Hopefully this isn't some king of AF's joke . I'm not sure if I want to import it, if its gonna be running at 50fps (>.>)...

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by frubam

Hopefully this isn't some king of AF's joke . I'm not sure if I want to import it, if its gonna be running at 50fps (>.>)...

It was announced two days before April Fools.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by frubam

Hopefully this isn't some king of AF's joke . I'm not sure if I want to import it, if its gonna be running at 50fps (>.>)...

It is a nintendo game, so an 60Hz option is given. IIRC, the Game is locked at 30fps. European localisation was known for a time, question was if they were to scrap it or not, but now we have the answer.

[Mizuno]

That is some fantastic news for Wii owners. Mine is just sitting here collecting dust so it will give me something to play...

And we'll finally get to see what the hype is about despite the substandard character design...

[Benoit]

Awesome! Another Wii game to add to my ever-growing backlog.

[Sides]

Vote for your favourite alternative cover for Xenoblade! (for europe only)
To do this go to your local nintendo page, basically just go to www.nintendo-europe.com and choose your region. In the news section their should be an article about xenoblade called "Vote for the Xenoblade Chronicles alternative cover art!", or what ever it is called in your language. You have time until the 25/05/2011.

Alternative you can visit the xenoblade microsite, i.e www.xenobladechronicles.co.uk would be uk one, www.xenobladechronicles.de would be the german aso.


direct link to the UK page

[Sides]

Siliconera has some neat video on their page, with UK voice acting.

Other news, concerning "Monado", apparently NOA will issue a statement this week concerning a NA release or non-release.

[serenade_beta]

I just learned about this Operation Rainfall. It is quite amusing. I really wonder how it will turn out.

Not that it matters much to me though, result-wise.

[Sides]

Wired just published an article in the issue, link. Unfortunately the article does not cover how the so called hardcore titles have bombed in the past on the Wii. Other issue it overlooks is, unlike europe and japan, games in NA are sold for cheap and their price tend to drop pretty really quick, making it unattractive to publish games, you know that probably won't sale more than 50000 units and will make a loss.

More momentum concerning operation rainfall, one of the best import online shop, to get NA games, videogamesplus.ca are supporting the cause by listing all three titles, yeah should be four (Reginleiv is missing), on their shop, read more on their blog

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Sides

Unfortunately the article does not cover how the so called hardcore titles have bombed in the past on the Wii.

I can't really think of any other hardcore titles on the Wii. The closest I can think of is Monster Hunter Tri, which sold almost 700k units in America and Europe.

Other issue it overlooks is, unlike europe and japan, games in NA are sold for cheap and their price tend to drop pretty really quick, making it unattractive to publish games, you know that probably won't sale more than 50000 units and will make a loss.

If Nintendo publishes it, the price won't drop without a re-release. Just look at the likes of Mario and Zelda. They stayed at $50 for years. And how can 50k units be a loss when the work has all already been done? NoJ already made the game, and NoE already localized it to English and dubbed it. Unless Nintendo likes shooting itself in the foot by playing hardball with itself, it shouldn't have that many expenses that it needs to recoup.

More momentum concerning operation rainfall, one of the best import online shop, to get NA games, videogamesplus.ca are supporting the cause by listing all three titles, yeah should be four (Reginleiv is missing), on their shop, read more on their blog

What the hell is Reginleiv? While I haven't been following Rainfall that closely, I've followed it enough to know that's not one of the things they're pushing for.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by GDB

I can't really think of any other hardcore titles on the Wii. The closest I can think of is Monster Hunter Tri, which sold almost 700k units in America and Europe.

Really? (nintendo published games only) Sin & Punishment 2, so hard that hardcore gamers got frustrated.

Punch-Out, Battalion Wars 2, Excitebots and Metroid: Other M, only manage current sales number, because retailers drooped the price on them.

Originally Posted by GDB

If Nintendo publishes it, the price won't drop without a re-release. Just look at the likes of Mario and Zelda. They stayed at $50 for years. And how can 50k units be a loss when the work has all already been done? NoJ already made the game, and NoE already localized it to English and dubbed it. Unless Nintendo likes shooting itself in the foot by playing hardball with itself, it shouldn't have that many expenses that it needs to recoup.

NOA does not use NOE localisation work, if they release it, new voice acting and translation will be carried out. Don't ask why, but apparently our standards are not good enough for a NA market. I mean even our actors have to learn to speak in an american accent to get a job in america.
Games like S&P2 didn't sold just over 100k in NA because retailer were selling them for $50-60, it got this far because retailers start selling them for $15-16.

Originally Posted by GDB

What the hell is Reginleiv? While I haven't been following Rainfall that closely, I've followed it enough to know that's not one of the things they're pushing for.

It the game developed by sandlot, Zangeki no Reginleiv.

[HayashiTakara]

Which is funny, cause NOA choice for VO are terrible... Just look at Fire Emblem *barfs*

[DragoonKain3]

Well at the very least it's going to released in Europe, so I'd import it if I have to. Sure Wii is region locked, but nothing modding wouldn't fix... yeah, I'm willing to go through great lengths to play this game. (Gee, I wonder why? )

[Benoit]

While game prices may not drop as fast here in Europe, the problem is availability for some of the more hardcore games. Tatsunoko VS Capcom and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World were carried by few stores here. The latter became rare quickly. Now you can't even find it anywhere.

Other platforms weren't spared. Phantasy Star 0 (DS) was rare upon release, and it still kind of is, but you can find the odd copy in some stores. Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP) is found in few stores, still.

[Xion Valkyrie]

Hardcore/niche devs need to move to PC/Steam/digital distribution. There's a minimum cost associated with hard copies for consoles that make it very hard for niche titles to break even. Not to mention, most console games have a very limited window to sell (usually 2-3 months within release) so it's especially terrible for smaller devs/lower budget games with no marketing budget.

With digital distribution, all of this can be circumvented. Because there's no costs associated with producing and distributing physical copies, you pretty much make a profit no matter how low you price the game, making it have a much longer life cycle. Didn't Recettear make a ton of money on Steam that would have been impossible otherwise?

[Sides]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

Hardcore/niche devs need to move to PC/Steam/digital distribution. There's a minimum cost associated with hard copies for consoles that make it very hard for niche titles to break even. Not to mention, most console games have a very limited window to sell (usually 2-3 months within release) so it's especially terrible for smaller devs/lower budget games with no marketing budget.

With digital distribution, all of this can be circumvented. Because there's no costs associated with producing and distributing physical copies, you pretty much make a profit no matter how low you price the game, making it have a much longer life cycle. Didn't Recettear make a ton of money on Steam that would have been impossible otherwise?

NO! not digital distribution. I still think publishers or devs should include the fans as producers, or as shareholders for the localised work, meaning collecting production costs for localsation work in advance. If they than decide to sell it to shops later on, profit will be either split with the shareholders or they get some goody stuff. This way people interested in niche titles get their games and devs can spread their product to the world,and everybody will be happy.

NpA's response to operation rainfall, source siliconera or check NoA's facebook

[HayashiTakara]

Monolith is a Nintendo studio, so it's all a matter of whether Nintendo is willing to shell out the cash to bring it state side. We all know Nintendo has plenty of green to do it, just a matter if they do it or not.