Xenoblade Chronicles Coming to America

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Is this game related to like Xenogears and Xenosaga? I've never played those before. For anyone that has played it, is it fairly self-contained?

It's made by some of the same people, but is completely unrelated to the other Xeno titles. If you must play any of them play Xenogears as it is by far the best due to interesting characters and a narrative unlike anything else.

 

[Trishbot]

So you don't think a game being released at only two places, one of which is from the publisher is a limited release? How do YOU define limited release? If Disnet only released it's newest feature film in one or two chains of theaters, that would be a limited release would it not? Same thing here.

Personally, I don't care about the Xeno games, never have but I would have bought The Last Story. Someone on here said this game was like Final Fantasy XII, well, no thanks.

The Wii may be a content starved system but that's not your problem, it's Nintendo's and it may just be because they are too stubborn to release games that people are ASKING for while they do release games that no one wanted in the first place. How many titles on the Wii suck worse than any of these JRPG's? Most but Nintendo releases them. That you take the crumbs they offer with a smile and tell others they should as well is what I mean by addicted.

Yeah, I would rather not have The Last Story (the one JRPG that I do want) than to promote retailer exclusive games.

I view a "limited" release as a game produced in very limited quantities for a very limited time. Super Mario All-Star 25th Anniversary was a limited release. Metroid Prime Trilogy was a limited release. The gold-cart Ocarina of Time was a limited release (along with the new golden remote/CD bundle of Skyward Sword).

If you don't care about Xeno games, then why are you even HERE, commenting about it? That's like a Sony fanboy who hates Halo going into Halo threads to complain about a game they've never played just because they don't care. Why? It serves no purpose.

I HAVE played the Xeno games. I love them, warts and all. Xenogears was one of the greatest RPGs of the PS1 era. The Xenosaga was an ambitious and thought-provoking epic. Their games deal with topics ranging from religion to parenthood to suicide to depression to fate vs. free will to pedophilia to teenage pregnancy to existential "god in the machine" themes. Sorry these subjects don't appeal to you, but they do to many people.

I had Xenoblade described to me as "the best parts of Final Fantasy XII mixed with the best parts of Chrono Trigger/Cross along with aesthetics of Legend of Mana and the sophistication of Xenogear."

And you are SO wrong about my mindset. Xenoblade is as far from a "crumb" as you can get. I know people who have poured over 150 hours into the game. It's huge. It's a banquet of a game, worth the price of a system even. I'm not a Nintendo fangirl... in fact, I don't even have a Wii (my roommate does), but I pre-ordered Xenoblade when I could because I love this industry (I make games too), and I want to demonstrate there is both a demand for these type of games, of merit and quality, and to support those that make it.

The first way to get Nintendo to ever change, and you apparently want them to, is to not just boycott them altogether, but to buy the products you feel should be bought, on their OWN merits. Your problems are entirely with Nintendo, not the game or the game makers, and that punishes them entirely more than it punishes Nintendo. It would be like not buying Okami, a fantastic, beautiful, lush, original game, just because Capcom published it.

That's pretty short-sighted.

But if you just don't care about Xenoblade, at all, kindly go bother some other forum and let the people that have been petitioning for this game for months rejoice with the good news we've received. I'm sure you can find some Call of Duty or EA thread or something to complain about.

Us lovers of games and JRPGs couldn't be happier Nintendo changed their tune. Shame you can't be happy for us.

Is this game related to like Xenogears and Xenosaga? I've never played those before. For anyone that has played it, is it fairly self-contained?

It's made by some of the same people, but is completely unrelated to the other Xeno titles. If you must play any of them play Xenogears as it is by far the best due to interesting characters and a narrative unlike anything else.

If you have a Playstation 3, you can get Xenogears on the PS Network, I think. It is worth playing. It's HUGE, though, and the second half of the game gets rather rushed (they ran out of money while making the game, so you'll just have to like it in spite of awkward "guy sits in a chair and tells you what the developers didn't have time to add in" moments.)

I actually view Xenoblade as my own personal "Episode IV". Xenosaga goes from Episodes I-III, and the end of Xenogears says it was "episode V", so Xenoblade fills that thematic gap rather nicely.

 

[DJDarque]

Is this game related to like Xenogears and Xenosaga? I've never played those before. For anyone that has played it, is it fairly self-contained?

It's made by some of the same people, but is completely unrelated to the other Xeno titles. If you must play any of them play Xenogears as it is by far the best due to interesting characters and a narrative unlike anything else.

Will do. Some of my favorite games come from random recommendations.

 

[Epona]

So you don't think a game being released at only two places, one of which is from the publisher is a limited release? How do YOU define limited release? If Disnet only released it's newest feature film in one or two chains of theaters, that would be a limited release would it not? Same thing here.

Personally, I don't care about the Xeno games, never have but I would have bought The Last Story. Someone on here said this game was like Final Fantasy XII, well, no thanks.

The Wii may be a content starved system but that's not your problem, it's Nintendo's and it may just be because they are too stubborn to release games that people are ASKING for while they do release games that no one wanted in the first place. How many titles on the Wii suck worse than any of these JRPG's? Most but Nintendo releases them. That you take the crumbs they offer with a smile and tell others they should as well is what I mean by addicted.

Yeah, I would rather not have The Last Story (the one JRPG that I do want) than to promote retailer exclusive games.

I view a "limited" release as a game produced in very limited quantities for a very limited time. Super Mario All-Star 25th Anniversary was a limited release. Metroid Prime Trilogy was a limited release. The gold-cart Ocarina of Time was a limited release (along with the new golden remote/CD bundle of Skyward Sword).

If you don't care about Xeno games, then why are you even HERE, commenting about it? That's like a Sony fanboy who hates Halo going into Halo threads to complain about a game they've never played just because they don't care. Why? It serves no purpose.

I HAVE played the Xeno games. I love them, warts and all. Xenogears was one of the greatest RPGs of the PS1 era. The Xenosaga was an ambitious and thought-provoking epic. Their games deal with topics ranging from religion to parenthood to suicide to depression to fate vs. free will to pedophilia to teenage pregnancy to existential "god in the machine" themes. Sorry these subjects don't appeal to you, but they do to many people.

I had Xenoblade described to me as "the best parts of Final Fantasy XII mixed with the best parts of Chrono Trigger/Cross along with aesthetics of Legend of Mana and the sophistication of Xenogear."

And you are SO wrong about my mindset. Xenoblade is as far from a "crumb" as you can get. I know people who have poured over 150 hours into the game. It's huge. It's a banquet of a game, worth the price of a system even. I'm not a Nintendo fangirl... in fact, I don't even have a Wii (my roommate does), but I pre-ordered Xenoblade when I could because I love this industry (I make games too), and I want to demonstrate there is both a demand for these type of games, of merit and quality, and to support those that make it.

The first way to get Nintendo to ever change, and you apparently want them to, is to not just boycott them altogether, but to buy the products you feel should be bought, on their OWN merits. Your problems are entirely with Nintendo, not the game or the game makers, and that punishes them entirely more than it punishes Nintendo. It would be like not buying Okami, a fantastic, beautiful, lush, original game, just because Capcom published it.

That's pretty short-sighted.

But if you just don't care about Xenoblade, at all, kindly go bother some other forum and let the people that have been petitioning for this game for months rejoice with the good news we've received. I'm sure you can find some Call of Duty or EA thread or something to complain about.

Us lovers of games and JRPGs couldn't be happier Nintendo changed their tune. Shame you can't be happy for us.

Is this game related to like Xenogears and Xenosaga? I've never played those before. For anyone that has played it, is it fairly self-contained?

It's made by some of the same people, but is completely unrelated to the other Xeno titles. If you must play any of them play Xenogears as it is by far the best due to interesting characters and a narrative unlike anything else.

If you have a Playstation 3, you can get Xenogears on the PS Network, I think. It is worth playing. It's HUGE, though, and the second half of the game gets rather rushed (they ran out of money while making the game, so you'll just have to like it in spite of awkward "guy sits in a chair and tells you what the developers didn't have time to add in" moments.)

I actually view Xenoblade as my own personal "Episode IV". Xenosaga goes from Episodes I-III, and the end of Xenogears says it was "episode V", so Xenoblade fills that thematic gap rather nicely.

My god, do you have to type such long posts. I scanned this one as usual.

I do like JRPG's, though not as much as I did in the SNES and PS1 days. I just didn't care for the Xeno games so IMO opinion this is a crumb. You asked for three games, they gave you one and they gave it to you conditionally.

Not caring about the Xeno games doesn't disqualify me from this thread because the bigger issue is this limited release. It's another bad step for the game industry just like retailer exlusive DLC was. I am glad YOU get to play this game but I am not glad that they are treating it as some sort of a crumb by offering it in a limited way.

I also wonder why they didn't release The Last Story which is another valid reason for me to be in this thread. Operation Rainfall got 33% of what it petitioned for, in my world, 33% is not a victory. Why should I care though? Nintendo has become the laughing stock of the game industry.

 

[Trishbot]

I also wonder why they didn't release The Last Story which is another valid reason for me to be in this thread. Operation Rainfall got 33% of what it petitioned for, in my world, 33% is not a victory. Why should I care though? Nintendo has become the laughing stock of the game industry.

The Last Story is currently in the process of being localized for European release. I'm hopeful they'll release it too, but it's not done being translated into English for the European market. They won't announce the game for America until that process is either done or nearing completion. Pandora's Tower is ALSO being currently translated.

Xenoblade was DONE being translated, so it makes sense to announce and release it now. I actually expect a similar announcement for the following two games after their European debuts. You assume we won't get the other 2, when the release of this game is a strong indication that they very well might.

Also, Nintendo is NOT a laughing stock. The 3DS has outside the DS in the same release window, Super Mario 3D Land is the fastest selling portable Mario game ever, Skyward Sword is the fastest selling Zelda game ever, they continue to be the market leader in video games globally, they have a strong philosophy based on innovation, fresh ideas, leading-rather-than-following, defying industry trends, and a commitment towards quality games that don't feel the need to rip customers off with on-disc DLC, online passes, pre-order exclusives, DRM, always-on internet security checking, or day 1 DLC scams. If anything, I'd say they're the most "pure" game makers out there that have one passion and one passion only: making great games and systems. They give their customers the full value the moment they buy the game. That is SO commendable, and it's what I base my game design philosophy around as I make my own games.

 

[Epona]

I also wonder why they didn't release The Last Story which is another valid reason for me to be in this thread. Operation Rainfall got 33% of what it petitioned for, in my world, 33% is not a victory. Why should I care though? Nintendo has become the laughing stock of the game industry.

The Last Story is currently in the process of being localized for European release. I'm hopeful they'll release it too, but it's not done being translated into English for the European market. They won't announce the game for America until that process is either done or nearing completion. Pandora's Tower is ALSO being currently translated.

Xenoblade was DONE being translated, so it makes sense to announce and release it now. I actually expect a similar announcement for the following two games after their European debuts. You assume we won't get the other 2, when the release of this game is a strong indication that they very well might.

Also, Nintendo is NOT a laughing stock. The 3DS has outside the DS in the same release window, Super Mario 3D Land is the fastest selling portable Mario game ever, Skyward Sword is the fastest selling Zelda game ever, they continue to be the market leader in video games globally, they have a strong philosophy based on innovation, fresh ideas, leading-rather-than-following, defying industry trends, and a commitment towards quality games that don't feel the need to rip customers off with on-disc DLC, online passes, pre-order exclusives, DRM, always-on internet security checking, or day 1 DLC scams. If anything, I'd say they're the most "pure" game makers out there that have one passion and one passion only: making great games and systems. They give their customers the full value the moment they buy the game. That is SO commendable, and it's what I base my game design philosophy around as I make my own games.

Given most people's attitude about the Wii, 3DS, the WiiU and all the shovelware, I would say that Nintendo IS a laughing stock. One Zelda and one Mario game won't change that. This generation has been sad for them and really so were the previous two. Having to drop the price of 3DS by $80 within months of release while also having to release a second analog nub as an attachment just shows how badly they screwed up their strongest market, the handheld market.

Oh and this "they won't announce a title until the translation is done" is a new one. Does Square Enix wait until the translation is done to tell us that the next Final Fantasy game is coming to North America? Does Nintendo? Did Nintendo wait until Skyward Sword was translated to announce it to North America? Maybe you're right, maybe we will get The Last Story after it's translated but then again, the only real information from Nintendo suggests that we won't.

Nintendo's good innovations dried up with the N64 analog stick which Sony copied and improved upon shortly thereafter. You know how everyone LOVES motion control, here we are 5 years later and did it catch on? No, people are still laughing at Nintendo because of the waggle control. Since Microsoft and Sony released their own motion controls, Nintendo now has the least reliable and least accurate motion controller out there. What's not to laugh at.

 

[Hazy992]

So Nintendo finally realised pissing off your fanbase isn't a good business strategy?

 

[Trishbot]

response below

You are getting wildly off topic... but you are showing me why you're such a stick in the mud.

I won't call you stupid, but, wow, you're VERY ignorant.

If you don't like words, I suggest you go find something else to do, because practically everything you said is wrong, and I'm about to tell you, in detail, why.

Given most people's attitude about the Wii, 3DS, the WiiU and all the shovelware, I would say that Nintendo IS a laughing stock. One Zelda and one Mario game won't change that. This generation has been sad for them and really so were the previous two.

Who are these "most people"? For starters, it's ignorant to say the Wii has nothing but shovelware when I can name probably 20 games worth playing on the system, from No More Heroes to Muramasa to Red Steel 2 to Dead Space: Extraction to Zack & Wiki to dozens of others, both third-party and first party. I bet you'd say the PS2 was a great system too... and it had just as much shovelware, if not more, clogging up its game line-up.

And you say this generation is "sad" for them? They still have the most successful console and portable this generation. They've still far outsold PS3, PSP, and Xbox 360s. You can complain about their quality (which I say is wrong) but their sales still make them this generation's gold-medal winners.

And I happen to love the prior two generations as well, as do many fans and critics. Gamecube was stuffed full of phenomenal, classic games, from Eternal Darkness to Resident Evil Remake to two powerhouse Zelda games to Smash Bros Melee to a lot of others ranging from Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes to Viewtiful Joe to Resident Evil 4 to Skies of Arcadia Legends to Baten Kaitos... if I just listed off all the games worth buying that were Gamecube exclusive, the list would be over 30 titles long.

Same goes for the N64. What's considered to be the greatest game ever made? Ocarina of Time. An N64 game. I don't even need to tell you how revolutionary and stellar Mario 64 was either. I guess all those Banjo-Kazooie games, Goldeneye & Perfect Dark, and other gems, from Turok to Shadow Man to Conker to Killer Instinct, were just shovelware too, right?

Having to drop the price of 3DS by $80 within months of release while also having to release a second analog nub as an attachment just shows how badly they screwed up their strongest market, the handheld market.

You know who else dropped the price of their system within a few months of release? Sony. On three of their systems, actually. The PS3 (infamous "$600" video went viral), PSPGo, and Playstation1 all had significant price cuts before a year was up so they could stay competitive. I hear the PS1 did okay for itself, and the PS3 is certainly not gasping and dying is it?

Also, a second analog nub is entirely optional. It's being included WITH games that benefit from it (Monster Hunter, Resident Evil), but I'll be honest... I don't miss it one bit when playing Star Fox 3D, or Ocarina of Time 3D, or Mario 3D Land, or Mario Kart 7, or any of my back catalog of DS games, from Pokemon Black&White to Zelda: Spirit Tracks or Final Fantasy IV DS. Is Final Fantasy 7 a sucky game because it doesn't use analog controls? Is the SNES a bad system because it didn't have online in America? Is the 360 a bad system for not using Blu-Ray? Was the PS3 a bad system when they got rid of rumble in their controllers? And here I thought the mark of a good system was good GAMES, and a good game doesn't NEED a second analog nub to be good... if it DID, then 99% of all classic, beloved games are eliminated.

A good developer works WITH system limitations. Silent Hill wouldn't be half as scary if that fog wasn't covering your vision (and hiding all the PS1-era pop-in).

Oh and this "they won't announce a title until the translation is done" is a new one. Does Square Enix wait until the translation is done to tell us that the next Final Fantasy game is coming to North America? Does Nintendo? Did Nintendo wait until Skyward Sword was translated to announce it to North America? Maybe you're right, maybe we will get The Last Story after it's translated but then again, the only real information from Nintendo suggests that we won't.

You must not have seen Jim Sterling's video where he mocked Final Fantasy being more interested in announcing games than actually making or releasing them. They have SEVEN Final Fantasy games currently being made... and, guess what, Square Enix JUST DID what you said they wouldn't do. They released Final Fantasy Type-0 in Japan and just now announced the game is coming to America since their translators just finished their work translating the game. So... got any other examples you'd wish to use?

And it's not a "new" concept. In the past, games in Japan took, at times, years to make it to American shores. We got the NES Metroid a year after the Japanese did. We got Final Fantasy games years after the Japanese did. Even Final Fantasy XII took nearly a year and a half to be translated and released in America after it's Japanese debut. And none of those title they confirmed for American release until they were sure it was coming to America and the translation was either done or underway. One N64 game, Sin & Punishment, was even translated fully into English... and never came to America anyway.

However, if an America release is certain from the start, then the Japanese developers will, usually, work on translating the game at the same time as they're making it. Not every Japanese company does it. Square Enix only JUST started doing this after over two decades of doing it the old way.

Nintendo's good innovations dried up with the N64 analog stick which Sony copied and improved upon shortly thereafter. You know how everyone LOVES motion control, here we are 5 years later and did it catch on? No, people are still laughing at Nintendo because of the waggle control. Since Microsoft and Sony released their own motion controls, Nintendo now has the least reliable and least accurate motion controller out there. What's not to laugh at.

So, Nintendo's last "good" innovation was the N64 analog stick....
Apparently force-feedback in controllers doesn't count. Or wireless controllers. Or cross system connectivity. Or glasses-free 3D screens. Or gyroscopic control sensors. Or voice-recognition software in games. Or built-in camera sensors. Or internet connectivity. All of these Nintendo did FIRST.

... and that's not even mentioning Motion controls. You know, considering the Wii is the best selling system of this generation, it broke ground and tapped into the casual market like no game system before it, both Microsoft and Sony spent multi-million dollar ads and research developing their own motions controls, and the Wii had its best sales week ever last week (and the Kinect is also a certified success for Microsoft), I totally believe motion controls caught on. Maybe not with you, or with "hardcare" gamers, but 90 MILLION Wiis have been sold, which is nearly double that of PS3s.

And Nintendo has the "least accurate" motion controls? Have you PLAYED the Kinect? It's got good ideas, but if you've spent even so much as 5 minutes with Skyward Sword or Red Steel 2, you'd know that's just a flat-out lie.

I'm sorry you seem to have some sort of bias against Nintendo and every game on their systems, but saying something is true over and over again does not make it true. You can plug your ears and go "the Wii is a failure" when it's in fact the best selling system, you can put your head in the sand and go "the Wii has no good games" while ignoring the Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Skyward Sword, and, yes, Xenoblade, and you can say "Nintendo hasn't had a good idea since the N64" while ignoring the 90 million people that felt the system offered them something no other system does and purchased it for their homes.

You've convinced yourself of something that's just not true. If you don't want numbers, statistics, and logic getting in the way of your emotions and opinions, feel free to believe that Nintendo is doomed, the Wii is a joke, and Xenoblade isn't anything special.

If that's what helps make you feel cool, by all means, keep doing it. Just doesn't mean any of it is true.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

So Nintendo finally realised pissing off your fanbase isn't a good business strategy?

More like "a" fanbase that's unfortunately miniscule despite the amount of screaming done.

 

[Epona]

I won't call you stupid, but, wow, you're VERY ignorant.

Hmmm...reported. I won't respond to the rest of your post as to avoid more of your personal attacks.

 

[cdstephens]

I'm gonna laugh so hard if Xenoblade Chronicles flops.

 

[Trishbot]

I am still clueless as to why it never got released in the USA.

I don't know. I think after the whole "Final Fantasy XIII" debacle (I still say it was a good game, especially at the 15$ I got it for) they were a little weary releasing a game over here again.

Also, does this have anything to do with Xenogears or any of that old Playstation X stuff?

Xenoblade is a "spiritual successor" to the prior Xeno games, both Xenogears and Xenosaga. There are supposedly plenty of references and easter eggs to the prior games (it has the same writers/director as those games too), but it stands alone as its own entity. You need no knowledge of any of the other games to understand Xenoblade, and by all accounts it is its own universe with its own history and rules.

Though, as a fan of all the Xeno games, I view Xenoblade as a missing link. It was stated at the end of Xenogears that it was "Episode 5", and Xenosaga lasted from "Episodes 1-3", and I sort of see Xenoblade as "Episode 4", if that makes sense.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I am still clueless as to why it never got released in the USA.

I don't know. I think after the whole "Final Fantasy XIII" debacle (I still say it was a good game, especially at the 15$ I got it for) they were a little weary releasing a game over here again.

Also, does this have anything to do with Xenogears or any of that old Playstation X stuff?

Nope, absolutely nothing. Even Xenosaga couldn't legally have any connection to Gears since Square owns the rights to that series. The prefix Xeno- is just used for fuzzy nostalgia value.

 

[internetzealot1]

So it will only retail in Gamestop. I'm assuming that Gamestop won't stock very many copies, right?

 

[4RM3D]

Xenoblade is a "spiritual successor" to the prior Xeno games, both Xenogears and Xenosaga. There are supposedly plenty of references and easter eggs to the prior games (it has the same writers/director as those games too), but it stands alone as its own entity. You need no knowledge of any of the other games to understand Xenoblade, and by all accounts it is its own universe with its own history and rules.

Speaking of Xenosaga... Part 1 never got released in Europe. Part 2 did, but sold poorly. I wonder why? Could it have something to do with the fact they didn't release part 1 first? And because part 2 didn't sell, part 3 never got released in Europe either.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

So it will only retail in Gamestop. I'm assuming that Gamestop won't stock very many copies, right?

And then the game won't sell well and it'll be blamed on other factors, American and European gamers will get the shaft more and more, and we'll all have to either put up with imports from dubious websites we can't read or just play more brown-and-grey modern war shooters.

Yay for current-gen gaming.

 

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

As for it being only in one b+m retail chain have any of you lot even considered that maybe that's the only chain they could get to stock a niche RPG in anything more than a single copy per store quantities and most likely have paid quite a bit for them to do so?

Anyway glad you "bunch of jokers" finally get to play the greatest RPG of the generation

 

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

I am still clueless as to why it never got released in the USA.

I don't know. I think after the whole "Final Fantasy XIII" debacle (I still say it was a good game, especially at the 15$ I got it for) they were a little weary releasing a game over here again.

Also, does this have anything to do with Xenogears or any of that old Playstation X stuff?

Same creator and some similar themes regarding destiny and gods but apart from that it's a new ip.

 

[orangeapples]

I pre-ordered. I wasn't even excited for this game because the one I wanted was Last Story, but I'm going to do my part.

And no, I haven't modded my Wii to play the PAL version.

I can understand why Nintendo would make it a limited release, they don't want to make it a massive event only to see it be below expectations. They feel that only a small group of gamers actually want the game and don't want 50 different distributors to have extra copies on the shelves.

I'll be honest, I think they're doing it to appease the Operation Rainfall people to get them to want to get the WiiU, and I think it's working.