Xenoblade | Definitive Edition (NSW)

[Doombear]

XD no idea, it is just a broke down huuuuuuuge earth mech looking effer in distance. It is pretty badass, you come out of a long ass cave and exit right there with him on the horizon.

[6souls]

A North American release for Xenoblade has been up in the air for years, because apparently Nintendo of America is so swamped in new Wii releases, it just couldn't fit the thing on the docket. Even a European version has been confirmed, but nobody wants to talk about America.

That is, until voice actor Peter Dickson. His website lists him as the actor for Emperor Sorean, and claims that Xenoblade is set for a fall release in both Europe and the United States. With Nintendo of America clamping up on any localized releases lately, this is the best confirmation we've gotten so far.

Xenoblade, along with The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, and Earth Seeker, is one of several Wii games that Nintendo of America is refusing to localize, despite heavy fan interest and a lack of anything better to release. The highly promising roleplaying game has been listed for North America forever, but has never been fully confirmed.

http://www.destructoid.com/voice-act...e-200120.phtml
http://www.peterdickson.co.uk/news.php

[Doombear]

Fingers crossed. I am at least 16 hours into the JP release and would love a more surefire understanding of the story.

[Insanecyclone]

September release for EU and not sure about NA.

[Kurokikaze]

Fuck yeah!

[Doombear]

I should get back into that again. I have seen some huge outdoor areas but there are so many more to see. I really was just hoping to hear something about an NA release at E3. I WILL hack a mafakin Wii if this only hits Europe. Goddamn region lock BS.

[SilverBreeze]

I'm with you on that one. If US doesn't get a release date I'll be importing it.

[Yuri-G]

region lock is definitely bs, agreed. I might not hack my wii just for this game - but I will damn well at least look up the instructions and decide if it's worth the effort. and that's saying a lot, given how lazy I am.

[Doombear]

Want to know how far the localization efforts for The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles have gone? It turns out that both Mistwalker and Monolithsoft themselves have been made aware of what's going on with fans here in the states.

Mistwalker - Thank you for the link. We appreciate all your support. tears...

Monolithsoft - Thanks a lot for hoping its North American release.

I don't know about you, but Mistwalker's comments make it seem as if it's a lost cause for The Last Story! Thanks to MoldyClay for the heads up.

and this...

Apparently NoA has heard the cry of fans loud and clear, at least in regards to one of their "big 3" for RPG titles out of Japan. It may or may not have anything to do with the massive skyrocket of North American pre-orders on Amazon, but it's clear the outcry has finally made an impact. In a customer service response to one of Destructoid's regular readers, it was confirmed that Xenoblade, under it's original title of Monado: Beginning of the World, will indeed be released in North America. (Wii)

But I still don't believe any of it. =( I know that the Monado line has been shoveled out by NoA for a couple years now. It sucks. I really wish there was just a definitive answer to the question, "So, am I gonna have to hack my Wii and import this sonuvabitch?"

[Kaylia]

September release for EU and not sure about NA.

Why is this game looking so fucking nice? Sure, the jumping/movement animation arent that good, but the scenary put most games to shame. Watching this video make me feel like most game developer forgot about creativity in their games

And gathering all the music god for a single soundtrack seem to have paid off (if the music in this video is representative of what you see in the game). The music sound great.

[Doombear]

Not sure what is up with Youtube embedding today...

New video with English voice and text: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n1zdVzbPrM

[Caiyuo]

awesome awesome trailer

apparently english dubbing just needed what all movies set in any historical period have known forever and that is to use english accents

[Doombear]

Ha, seems off to me but then that is perfectly understandable I think. I have played so few games in my life that were voiced with British VA's wholly. They did say early on in the EU localisation that the game would still contain JP voice and would be an option. Either way this is making me want to fire up my copy on the Dolphin. I was only as far as Chapter 3 (of eight) and have much much more to see.

[Caiyuo]

That's what I was thinking after watching again, I can't think of any games that I've played with english accents that weren't just for a specific character and not the entire cast, or at least as the default as it seems. Maybe it's just excitement at that since it's new, but I like it. Plus the music.

I didn't really get all the hubbub about this until these last few trailers and am kind of surprised there aren't just as many people clamoring for an adaptation to a better console alongside those wanting an NA release.

[Kaylia]

I didn't really get all the hubbub about this until these last few trailers and am kind of surprised there aren't just as many people clamoring for an adaptation to a better console alongside those wanting an NA release.

I'm almost certain that Nintendo bought monolith soft the year after Xenosaga ended. It would be surprising to see this game released on another console.

[Doombear]

From the 3 Chapters I have played, it is just a solid game. The interesting and refreshing battle system which is part timing, semi real-time, and positional is great and has yet to get old even though I do mainly the same attacks. You can swap to any of your party members and control them, and since they have different weapons/attacks it is entirely different. Some ranged, some 'tanks', etc. The story, from what I understand through translated texts, and just a general sense of what is going on gleaned through gameplay and cut-scenes STILL manages to suck me in. The environments are amazingly huge. The game gets compared to FFXII quite a bit and rightly so. The areas are expansive with several types of mobs running around in them including level 80+ 'Boss' mobs in just the second area you get to (when you are at most level... 6?). The music is gorgeous as you would expect from these composers... and on and on.

I have to stop because I already sound like all I do is sit around and makeout with the game. It of course looks much better on the Dolphin Emulator, sharper on a PC/Laptop screen than it will/does on a Wii but who cares. The game is just a great game.

Hell, from the first 20 or so minutes of playtime that I have had with The Last Story that is another great (and refreshingly new) game that we will likely never see localized. It sucks.

[Elcura]

So, can you play with a classic controller/GC controller or do you have to use that piece of shit wiimote?

[Doombear]

Actually I use my 360 controller to play it, set up with Xpadder. Otherwise you can map keyboard/mouse controls or set up Wiimote via Bluetooth. I don't honestly know if you can use the Pro attached to a Wiimote easily or not. I don't have bluetooth on my laptop and have no BT Dongle so never read much on it.

[Doombear]

It is just a constant F U in my face.

Spoiler: show

Michael McWhertor — Last week, Wii owners in North America desperate to play games like Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, games already released in Japan, pleaded with Nintendo of America to bring those games stateside. Today, Nintendo has responded with a resounding, "Eh, probably not gonna happen."
Those passionate, motivated Nintendo fans showed their support for those games to be localized in the form of a letter writing campaign. They pre-ordered a placeholder listing for Xenoblade, at one point announced by Nintendo of America as Monado: The Beginning of the World, on Amazon.com en masse. They cried out to Nintendo, "American Wii owners cannot live on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Rhythm Heaven alone!" They called this campaign "Operation Rainfall."

Well, Nintendo had heard those polite requests loud and clear, Wii fans. And nothing's changed.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm," Nintendo of America wrote on its official Facebook page in response. "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 enthusiasm was met with an unkind response from the Facebook-going Nintendo crowd, which is rattling off unhappy comments numbering in the thousands.

Granted, when a PR mouthpiece says it has "no plans" to do this or that, it rarely means it actually has no intention of doing so. It's usually bullshit language employed to avoid having to outright confirm or lie about unannounced software. But we're inclined to believe Nintendo of America in its dismissal of Wii fans' wishes at this point, mostly based on its past failures to bring notable Japanese games to American audiences.

While we'll join NoA in never saying never, it's probably for the best to resign oneself to never seeing games like Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower—or any other Nintendo DS or Wii game you've been dying to see localized—if you're a Nintendo enthusiast living in North America.

Don't worry, there's Mario Party 9, Kirby Wii, Fortune Street and a long, long list of fantastic, licensed third-party shovelware to keep that Wii busy for the rest of the year.

Well I guess it is time to go out and rent Smash Brothers and get this region unlocking started.

[Caiyuo]

Was just coming to update this from the other thread. All the more upsetting after FFXII being mentioned in the same breath. Interested to see, if I understand correctly, why they're pushing this out in Europe and not NA now.