Operation Rainfall

[JordAnime]

Nintendo of America has been behaving pretty strangely since the success of the Wii's casual games have propelled the company back in the limelight.  Three high-profile Japanese titles Nintendo helped to develop and publish; The Last Story, Xenoblade, and Pandora's Tower are sitting in the wings awaiting localization.  These titles are even coming out in Europe.  So far, Nintendo of America has shown zero interest in publishing these titles locally.  

In the first ever online gaming activist movement to capture the attention of the mainstream gaming media, and even Nintendo itself, Wii owners of the core variety have been flooding Nintendo's social media sites with messsage to bring these titles over locally, even boosting Amazon pre-orders of "Xenoblade", or as it was known back at E3 2009 "Monado: Beginning of the World" to the number one spot.  This online movement, spearheaded as "Operation Rainfall" simply asks Nintendo makes good on its promise to win back the core audience.

Nintendo issued a statement to "stand-by" on its Facebook, and the other night, told its American fans "fuck off".  

Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so here it is. We never say “never,” but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time. Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans!

That solitary post has already garnered nearly 5,000 responses since its posting, far more than any other comment on Nintendo's recently-launched Facebook page, and has caught the attention of just about every major gaming news outlet.  

Operation Rainfall continues, planning a massive physical letter writing campaign to Nintendo, and I for one will be anteing up postage to send a few letters to NoA letting them know my concerns.  

But what do you think?  Is Operation Rainfall doomed to fail?  Has Nintendo effectively flipped the bird to its core audience?  Do you think it will matter in six months?  

I dunno, all I can say is the spirit of the moment has hit a collective trigger in the core audience, and I for one have been spit on by this company enough the last few years to get mad about it.

[hisak]

Was considering making a thread about this, thanks for posting it Jord.

Not exactly NoA's strongest moment. The campaign is still going strong and hopefully they'll get enough attention that at least one of these games gets released. Rainfall might not be enough to make a dent in NoA's game sales (I'm certainly not skipping on Skyward Sword because of it), but they might be able to bring them enough negative publicity.

In the first ever online gaming activist movement...

This isn't true at all. Mother 3 had a huge localization campaign going for it, though that had more obstacles and the campaign never became this prominent.

[JordAnime]

Well, I still love Nintendo Co., Ltd.  I love the 3DS more than I've loved any handheld system...really ever.  The Wii has also had some great moments, it would have been great if it came out in 2004 and ended its life like, two years ago.  Right now mine is literally collecting dust, pretty much since Super Mario Galaxy 2.  Nintendo's sitting on at least three good games, considering the Wii section at any retailer is basically a wall of crap, it'd be nice to get a few decent titles in there. 

Oh and if this is retaliation for us not liking Other M, fuck you Nintendo.  Metroid is judged to a different standard, it's an old franchise with tons of expectations behind it, and clearly those were not met, and the direction wasn't brilliant enough to make us throw away those expectations.  Sorry we didn't like your latest interpretation of the series, try harder next time.

These games are new IPs that have no act to follow expect games of the same vein.  Honestly, with the money made from games like Wii Sports, NSMB Wii, and all the other budget titles you've sold millions and millions of copies of at full retail price, I think you can afford to take a chance localizing a few of these.

This isn't true at all. Mother 3 had a huge localization campaign going for it, though that had more obstacles and the campaign never became this prominent.

I'm sorry, I didn't phrase that correctly, I meant to say it is the first ever online gaming movement to catch the attention of the media and Nintendo.  Despite their "go home and die" response, Nintendo did actually respond, which has really only enflamed my passions.  Before this, I really didn't care either way, but once Nintendo decided to say something, I got a little excited; but what they said basically rekindled every negative moment I've experienced with Nintendo all come out at once, and I don't think I'm alone.

[hisak]

Right now mine is literally collecting dust, pretty much since Super Mario Galaxy 2.

You can ad hom its genre all you want, but Sin and Punishment was a great game and if more people had supported it, we might have had an easier time getting these games released.

Why would the response to Other M have anything to do with this? It didn't sell well of course, but it was pretty clear that Nintendo wasn't planning to localize these games before Other M was released.

There was absolutely no reason for them to take three days to give a response that's one small level above a canned PR response, especially after getting fans excited by promising an update. Like I said, if publicity gets negative enough to hurt their marketing for Wii U, they'll be forced to reconsider.

[JordAnime]

Sin and Punishment 2 looked o.k.  I played the original on the Virtual Console and it kinda drove me nuts, and I'm a big fan of the original Gunstar Heroes, it's just Treasure hasn't really impressed me with anything since then.  Maybe in a world without the HD Twins, games like Sin and Punishment could do better, but would I rather play Sin and Punishment or something like Vanquish or Bayonetta?  I guess the same logic could be applied to these Wii JRPGs, but at least they aren't on rails.  That's like -50 points...sorry.

it was pretty clear that Nintendo wasn't planning to localize these games before Other M was released.

NoA featured Xenoblade fairly prominently at E3 2009, under the working title Monado, the same year it announced Other M as the big kicker at the end of the conference.  I still see stacks of Other M copies sitting on store shelves, often times still for $50...

I mean I can see Nintendo of America's concern here, but there's a very important thing Nintendo hasn't done this generation, and that's spend a little money to make their consumers happy.  They've sold the Wii at a gain since day one, I can only imagine what the percent yield of profit on every Wii sold today is, given that they've barely dropped the price $100 in five years.  They've sold hundreds of millions of dime-store quality games for full retail.  

The money made from NSMB Wii alone would cover the localization of probably 50 games like Xenoblade.  It's not even production of a game, it's freaking localization, of which Nintendo has built a huge division to handle these things.  It's not like we're asking them to pull PROJECT HAMMER out of the wastebasket.  In fact, in the case of Xenoblade the localization is done, it's been translated in Europe, you can even keep the freaking British voice overs to give it character.  

It's just lazy, and cheap, which has sort of become the standard of Nintendo.  "Lazy, and cheap."  

[hisak]

NoA featured Xenoblade fairly prominently at E3 2009, under the working title Monado, the same year it announced Other M as the big kicker at the end of the conference.

And it was gone by E3 2010. There's no way Metroid's reception could have influenced their initial decision, even if they ended up using it as justification later. Unfortunately Nintendo's decision-making processes are extremely opaque, so we'll probably never know exactly why they don't want to localize it.

For the record, I'd choose Sin and Punishment over Vanquish every time.

[Shin Illuminated]

I'm so late to this party but I'll give it a shot anyway.

From what I understand is that at one point NoA was trying to get this game but the NCL flat out said no to an American localization. Personally I think that one of the reasons why is because there were a few games that didn't sell as expected and they looked at the numbers and didn't like what they saw, one thing that comes to mind for me is Muramasa The demon Blade, which is one of my favorite Wii games, but it sold like dirt (actually I think dirt garners more sales). I find this a shame because it was a great game that didn't get the attention it deserved, same as Sin & Punishment, which sadly I haven't gotten around to yet (it's on my to do list, I swear).

Now I work in retail and I've seen Wiis flying of the shelves recently ever since the price drop, the only problem is that most o them are buying them for Netflix. One also has to keep in mind that when the Wii first came out more shipments were sent to Europe and stuff because at the time the American dollar was pretty weak back then (that hasn't really changed much) affecting what got sent where at the time.

Now I'm not even sure that's the deciding factors here, I could be dead wrong for all I know,and the NCL is just being a collective of douchebag morons.

Or we'll just end up getting Wii U versions of these games by 2013, who knows?

[hisak]

From what I understand is that at one point NoA was trying to get this game but the NCL flat out said no to an American localization.

I really can't see why they would forbid an American localization but be fine with a European one. I also think Xenoblade would sell more than 2009's third-party games.

I'd be okay with a Wii U port at launch, but I want confirmation sooner rather than later.

[Shin Illuminated]

I really can't see why they would forbid an American localization but be fine with a European one. I also think Xenoblade would sell more than 2009's third-party games.

I don't know why either.

Yet here we are.

[JordAnime]

Finances are really a secondary issue, Nintendo has enough money to subsidize the localization of three games.  It's not like they're developing brand new titles or something; that's what's expensive.  All they gotta do is pay some voice actors, translate the in-game text, punch up a manual, and release it.  It's not as if Wii or its over all software hasn't sold well.  I once recall reading that Wii is suffering because of third party licensing; the third parties really don't sell a lot of software on Wii.  Well, that may be so, but unlike the 360 and PS3 where the first few years the systems were sold at a loss and relied on game sales to make money, the Wii was sold at a profit on day one.  I don't think Reggie will miss any meals if they release a couple of games that might not sell well, but will please their loyal fan base.

The Wii core audience has been stepped on pretty from the outset of the Wii's launch, and Nintendo has pretty much been complacent through it all.  Remember E3 2008?  In my opinion, that's when Wii jumped the shark, there was no recovering from that shit.  That's what made me buy an Xbox 360, I don't even like the system, I bought it out of spite. 

Anyway, if Nintendo is trying to win back the core audience with Wii U, it needs to start here with the Wii.  Wii U is already starting to look like a repeat performance of the Wii.  Outdated hardware with some stupid gimmick that's supposed to make it all better.  That worked really great for the Wii, right?  Anyway, I guess this problem is more about the Wii U than the release of three JRPGs, there is a connection. 

In a world where the Wii were HD-compatible and games like “Mass Effect”, “Assassins Creed”, “Call of Duty”, “Bioshock”, and major installations of franchises like “Resident Evil” and “Final Fantasy” were all available on the Wii, perhaps missing these titles wouldn't be such a problem; but the Wii has filled the core with a few great experiences, and mostly under-delivered in just about every way a core gamer could imagine.

So as the Wii U gears up and promises ports of current-gen software, I have to ask, what happens when the new systems come out? Are we just gonna be left in the dust again?  Is Nintendo just going to focus on casual nonsense again and not release Japanese games it helps publish? 

I dunno, if Nintendo is serious about winning back the core, they aren't doing a very good job. 

[hisak]

I think it's important to differentiate between the mainstream video game "core," which is mostly interested in games from Western developers (and the occasional Eastern game like Resident Evil), and the smaller Nintendo market, which is more likely to buy platformers and JRPGs. Nintendo might pretend that these two are one market, but their showing at E3 made it clear that the Wii U is intended the recapture the former market (which they haven't really held since the SNES), rather than the latter. If any Xbox 360 owners are drawn in by the Wii U, they won't care whether or not NoA localized some Wii JRPGs two years earlier. That said, Nintendo's treatment of these two markets as one "core" does mean that Operation Rainfall still has power to hurt Nintendo's reputation.

Unfortunately, it seems like the campaign peaked in significance a few weeks ago, so we're probably in "wait and see" mode now.

[Shin Illuminated]

Finances are really a secondary issue, Nintendo has enough money to subsidize the localization of three games.  It's not like they're developing brand new titles or something; that's what's expensive.  All they gotta do is pay some voice actors, translate the in-game text, punch up a manual, and release it.  It's not as if Wii or its over all software hasn't sold well.  I once recall reading that Wii is suffering because of third party licensing; the third parties really don't sell a lot of software on Wii.  Well, that may be so, but unlike the 360 and PS3 where the first few years the systems were sold at a loss and relied on game sales to make money, the Wii was sold at a profit on day one.  I don't think Reggie will miss any meals if they release a couple of games that might not sell well, but will please their loyal fan base.

The Wii core audience has been stepped on pretty from the outset of the Wii's launch, and Nintendo has pretty much been complacent through it all.  Remember E3 2008?  In my opinion, that's when Wii jumped the shark, there was no recovering from that shit.  That's what made me buy an Xbox 360, I don't even like the system, I bought it out of spite. 

Anyway, if Nintendo is trying to win back the core audience with Wii U, it needs to start here with the Wii.  Wii U is already starting to look like a repeat performance of the Wii.  Outdated hardware with some stupid gimmick that's supposed to make it all better.  That worked really great for the Wii, right?  Anyway, I guess this problem is more about the Wii U than the release of three JRPGs, there is a connection. 

In a world where the Wii were HD-compatible and games like “Mass Effect”, “Assassins Creed”, “Call of Duty”, “Bioshock”, and major installations of franchises like “Resident Evil” and “Final Fantasy” were all available on the Wii, perhaps missing these titles wouldn't be such a problem; but the Wii has filled the core with a few great experiences, and mostly under-delivered in just about every way a core gamer could imagine.

So as the Wii U gears up and promises ports of current-gen software, I have to ask, what happens when the new systems come out? Are we just gonna be left in the dust again?  Is Nintendo just going to focus on casual nonsense again and not release Japanese games it helps publish? 

I dunno, if Nintendo is serious about winning back the core, they aren't doing a very good job. 

I can actually do nothing but agree with you here. As I recall back in the early days of the Wii third parties were very interested in it, but Nintendo was being very stingy and bitchy with dev kits, not giving third parties what they needed to really do what they intended to. Unfortunately I'm seeing the same thing with the Wii U, a bunch of promises for third party support that will most likely die out within a year or two because Nintendo might do the same thing all over again, have great hardware but not share it when it matters. I want to believe in the Wii U but I am worried about all this.

It probably doesn't help that what sells mostly over here now is FPSs and sports games (I think, I could be wrong) and some people look at that and think because of that we don't really want things like JRPGs anymore.

It's hard to tell. At the end of the day I don't really know what they're thinking, but I do know that they are being ignorant.

[GamePunk429]

This is actually a real big disappointment to me as I was extremely excited about playing Xenoblade. As I am a huge Monolith Soft fan. I loved the Xenosaga series, and most of you know I absolutely loved both Baten Kaitos games. I hope they release it here, as well as Monolith makes a return to the Baten Kaitos series.

[hisak]

Nintendo has responded to the write-in campaign with a (very) slightly more encouraging tone.

I can see why you want to see games like Xenoblade, The Last Story, or Pandora's Tower released in the Americas, but at this time we have no additional information of announcements to make regarding these games. I realize this is disappointing, but your comments have been made available for other departments here to use as they see fit. We appreciate hearing what our consumers find important.

I'm not as optimistic as the writer of that article, but all hope may not be lost.

[hisak]

Reggie revealed in an interview that localizations for these games still aren't completely out of the question. They're waiting to see how they sell in Europe first, which is still rather ridiculous in my opinion. Fingers crossed for good sales.

[GamePunk429]

I have already cracked my wii with homebrew, and if these games don't get released in NA I'm just going to pirate them plain and simple. If they do us all a service and release them in the states then they will get my money. I would much prefer to buy them and reward the developers for their hard work, but one way or another I'm playing these games.

Especially Monolith Soft. which is by far my favorite developer right now, loved the xenosaga series and Baten Kaitos series, and with them getting snuffed on a US release of Disaster: Day of Crisis it makes me wonder why Nintendo even bought them.

[hisak]

I have already cracked my wii with homebrew, and if these games don't get released in NA I'm just going to pirate them plain and simple. If they do us all a service and release them in the states then they will get my money. I would much prefer to buy them and reward the developers for their hard work, but one way or another I'm playing these games.

You can import them! Everybody wins that way.

[GamePunk429]

I have already cracked my wii with homebrew, and if these games don't get released in NA I'm just going to pirate them plain and simple. If they do us all a service and release them in the states then they will get my money. I would much prefer to buy them and reward the developers for their hard work, but one way or another I'm playing these games.

You can import them! Everybody wins that way.

I refuse to import games, for the plain fact that if they are good enough for me to import then they should get a proper release. I know it's selfish of me but I am a patient person and for the most party wait to buy games until they hit the 20-30 dollar price range. I am not going to spend 60-80 bucks importing a game that deserves a proper release.

I know it sounds stupid but that's just my feelings, Xenoblade specifically I will buy on the release day for 50 bucks if it is released here. Then IMO everyone wins, if I have to spend extra money to import a game they win and I lose and it shows the company that they don't have to worry about catering to their fans that they will just spend the extra money.

I hate pirating games, because I love buying games and having the case disks and instruction manual. But unless it gets a proper US release I will download it and deal with the PDF manual.

[hisak]

Well, by importing the game you're both supporting Monolith Soft and improving the game's chance of being released in North America. The extra costs suck (which is why I'm not importing), but I'm not seeing any other downside to it.

I agree that I have no idea why Nintendo bothered to purchase Monolith Soft. Hopefully they'll have a better localization record next gen.

EDIT: Reviews have started to roll in. Hopefully they'll spur good sales.

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/reviews/xenoblade-chronicles-review/

Xenoblade is hands-down the Wii’s best JRPG, and arguably the most competent and refreshing example of the genre this generation.

While the technical constraints of its chosen home mean it can never stack up to the crisp artistry of Eternal Sonata or the stunning 1080p slickness of everyone’s favourite playable corridor, FFXIII, Monolith’s latest work pushes Nintendo’s little white box so hard that its amazing it doesn’t melt.

[JordAnime]

Hey, let's rip on FF XIII because even if I didn't play the game, I heard it wasn't good!  Seriously, I'm sick of people bashing it because it's linear.  You know what else is linear?  Super Mario Bros.  Why don't you complain about that?  Assholes.  How about Resident Evil 4, that's linear, wanna bash that too? 

Honestly, all the best games are linear.  Even Chrono Trigger was pretty linear, there were a few different ways to beat the game and optional quests, but the game was otherwise pretty damn linear.  I just finished Mass Effect, and while I really enjoyed it, the main bulk of the game was just stupid side quests that added little to game, and kinda detracted from the sense of urgency.  That's the problem with almost all open-ended RPGs, there's something really important going on, but first I need to spend 40 hours doing side-shenanigans, because that takes priority over the main quest.

Also, Eternal Sonta?  A first generation Xbox 360 JRPG people just mention cause it was novel?  There are so many other, better JRPs to chose from on both 360 and PS3.  Like Tales of Vesperia, that's a great game! 

Anyway, I want Xenosaga and The Last Story to come out in the US, I've heard they're selling well in Europe, so maybe Nintendo of America will stop being asshats and get these games out before the Wii is totally dead(Clock's ticking, Skyward Sword is coming out in late Novemeber).  Clock's ticking.