Operation Rainfall

[Wolf Kanno]

Probably will only matter to a handful of people on the forum, and the rest will simply ridicule how stupid NoA is (and they are stupid) but has anyone else been keeping up with this, or has been actively helping out? Just curious.

I need to get involved myself, but I've been busy but goddamn it NoA. I'm beginning to see that you are Nintendo's real problem, cause this is not the first time you've denied some games I wanted for the Wii and DS.

[Mirage]

Well is it working?

[DMKA]

What is NoA?

Is it Nintendo of America? Cuz yeah, they be stupid.

[Wolf Kanno]

Well Last Story and Pandora's Tower are getting Europe releases. On the main site, they heard news from a Nintendo insider for plans on Xenoblade and LS getting American releases, but until its actually confirmed, there is no reason to believe this yet.

[Agent Proto]

I try to keep up with this, but from what I hear, Nintendo of America isn't planning to release the games any time soon, and this is very disappointing. However, good news is they are supposedly starting localization on the games. Better than nothing, I suppose?

[Mirage]

They would have to, if they plan on european releases.

[Bolivar]

A friend of mine likened this to the SNES days and all the RPGs we missed out on then because Nintendo didn't think Americans could appreciate these kinds of games. I'm not sure if it's true because we have more little third parties than ever like Atlus who will take a chance on these games, if not only with a limited run, and certainly a lot of games like this are in fact coming out on the Wii. But as far as Nintendo of America's own games, you could see it like that.

One problem is how protective Nintendo's always been about what comes out on their own consoles, going back to the NES days. For example, Sony didn't think Demon's Souls would do well in America, so they licensed the publishing rights to Atlus so they could do a run here. Everybody wins. On the opposite end, Nintendo's taken charge of some third party titles, like Dragon Quest, which it published (DQIX) in N.America, and many believe Nintendo was behind the newer print runs of Dragon Quest V (was impossible to find at a decent price up until a few weeks ago).

One thing especially surprising is how Europe always got shafted while Americans were considered more ready for these kinds of games. Now it appears the other way around and I simply can't understand why that is. I'm assuming a big RPG buff has a high position over there at Nintendo of Europe (or whatever that division's called).

I've seen a lot of footage from these games and honestly, I'm not sure if I really lament their absence. Pandora's Tower doesn't really look that great, and I'm not convinced about The Last Story and all its gunplay. After Archaic Sealed Heat, I don't have a lot of faith in Mistwalker, I think it's just the name people are excited about. I'm surprised 360 owners aren't clamoring for more JRPGs, since that's why a lot of people bought the system in its first two years.

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm the opposite, I find the gameplay in the videos for Last Story to be really intriguing and a better step for JRPGs than some recent JRPG entries in the last few years *cough**hack*FFXIII*cough*. The plot sounds pretty nice too, which is a plus. Xenoblade is the one I'm iffy about, the combat system looks a little dry for my taste but then again, its not like I've watched anything more than the first few hours of gameplay. Pandora's Tower sounds interesting but I haven't done much research on it.

I'm excited for them cause its nice to see some original IPs for the genre on a console. Considering how it feels like JRPGs have mostly abandoned the major consoles. The real shame here is that all three are co-developed by Nintendo, so they can't be ported to another system, Nintendo's silly publishing protocol is not helping. The real issue here is that NoA seems to be the one sitting on its ass.

I'm still hopeful though, if these three got released, it would be a nice little console JRPG fix.

[Bolivar]

From the gameplay clip I saw it seems to be making the same mistake FFXIII did, making it more of an action hybrid because developers seem to think turn based isn't fun anymore.

[Mirage]

That's because it isn't!

[Bolivar]

That's because it isn't!

Then you're not a gamer.

[Jessweeee♪]

Nintendo of America, all I want is the Trace Memory sequel. :<

[Wolf Kanno]

You can impoirt it from England, unlike the Wii, the DS isn't region locked.

Bolivar: From what I've read of how gameplay works and watching some of the boss fight videos, the gameplay sounds more like FFXII's with the player able to input commands and switch between party members. It does have some more interactive "actiony" elements (using the crossbows, hiding behind objects to get preempt bonuses to your attacks, and being able to affect the dungeons like blowing up certain structures to hinder enemy movements) but from the sound of things, at its core, its still more RPG than skilled base action adventure, or like FFXIII which was just completely automated, but looked nice.

I actually quite like the Gathering mechanic cause it actually calls for strategy (on paper at least, I can't say for sure) and is pretty unique among the genre. I'm not so wild about the online elements, but I don't play well with others.

[Jessweeee♪]

You can impoirt it from England, unlike the Wii, the DS isn't region locked.

The sequel is on the Wii ;_;!