Your Letter Writing Campaign Paid Off: Xenoblade: Chronicles Is Coming to America [UPDATED]

UPDATE: While it may go without saying, we checked in with Nintendo about whether Xenoblade: Chronicles would come here featuring the same translation that accompanied the European version.

"The game will be based on the version that launched in Europe," said the company in a statement.

That leaves some wiggle room for some changes, but don't expect any drastic differences.

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Finally, after months of fan petitions, angry emails, and at least one article outright endorsing hacking the Wii for the sake of just getting to play one single, measly video game, Nintendo has finally thrown its hands up in prostration and acquiesced to the demands of its fans: Xenoblade: Chronicles will, in fact, be coming to North America.

The release was announced officially via Nintendo's Facebook page, initially teased with a few images of the Japanese role-playing game's central characters, followed by an actual, honest-to-god announcement of an April, 2012 release date. Earlier rumors of the game being a GameStop exclusive have yet to be confirmed, but one way or another, Xenoblade is headed to the States.

This marks at least a partial end to the Operation Rainfall saga. Rainfall, for those unaware, is a dedicated group of Wii owners bent on bringing Xenoblade, alongside RPGs The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, to North American consoles. However, Xenoblade always seemed to be the top priority here, with numerous intense pleas for an official North American release seemingly falling on deaf ears at Nintendo.

Nintendo's reluctance to bring these titles out in America was never anything short of baffling. Given the exceedingly paltry Wii lineup this year, an extra critically-acclaimed RPG or two might have helped pad the coffers a bit, especially given that Xenoblade had already been localized for the English language upon its release in Europe, thus negating those extra costs.

Bizarre timing aside, at least Wii owners can rest easy knowing that once they finish Skyward Sword, they now have at least one more excuse to keep their Wii plugged into their TV for the next four months, before eventually retiring the thing to the plastic storage container that contains all their other discarded consoles of yesteryear. Sort of like a retirement home for consoles, really, except with more tangled wires and less of that old people diaper smell.

Awesome, now just bring out The Last Story and put a bullet in that thing.

Well this is a piece of good news

I hope this game doesn't disappoint after how much clamoring there was for it

Yay America!

SURPRISE SURPRISE!

Neat-o.

I wonder if Nintendo was always going to wait to release the game (along with other RPG's) until the Wii's final year to keep it going in North America. Strategic planning and all that.

I hope this doesn't sell at all to show them to not listen to people.

Unless Capcom is reading this, then this is appropriate: Fucking release Miles Edgeworth 2 and other Phoenix Wright game in the west already!!!

Don't put a bullet in the Wii.

Well, unless you're planning on getting a Wii U immediately.

Hurray for this game getting a North American release! I didn't import a copy and hack my Wii so I will be picking this up. I've heard great things about this game and the playthroughs Kevin Van Ord has done on the game makes it look fun.

Damn with this and skyward sword I might have to get me a wii again.

Aqui-... Acque-... Acqua-... Aqua-BarbieGirl... Acquiesced...wha? O.o

And Zelda was the Wii's swan song. Nuts to that here in America!

Now announce the localization of The Last Story and we're set until the Wii U.

This game seems like my kind of JRPG, so I'm happy I'll get a chance to play it without doing nefarious things to my Wii.

But no surprise, I knew this would happen after it came out in Europe.

Already played it (legally) on Dolphin. Still, this is good.

And then no one buys it because everyone imported it from Europe.

Nintendo cynically held this back because they have bugger-all else for next year.

I didn't think it was gonna happen, but man am I happy to be wrong about that!

I've played alot of it, people will be pleasantly surprised, i think it's one of the better JRPG's released in the past few years.

And yet I don't care. Good news for those that are way into it I guess.

I really hope they don't replace the awesome British voice acting with new recordings by American actors. It was so refreshing to hear voices that didn't sound anything like the five or six overused actors we hear in every video game (even if I really do think Nolan North and Liam O'Brien are both great voice actors).

Too bad that everyone who was interested in it already bough the euro version.

Does this game have any ties to the Xenogears/Xenosaga story? Will it still be only on Wii?

Wait, that shit worked?

Now let's get Mother 3 translated and put up on the Wiiware/eShop, gang!

I might actually have to turn on my Wii again!

@kevingadd said:

I really hope they don't replace the awesome British voice acting with new recordings by American actors. It was so refreshing to hear voices that didn't sound anything like the five or six overused actors we hear in every video game (even if I really do think Nolan North and Liam O'Brien are both great voice actors).

I hope they replace the HORRENDOUS British voices with GOOD British voices. The voice acting in the game is god-awful. Not because it's British, but because it sounds like they rounded up a few tramps off the street and recorded them using tin-can microphones.

Really don't think the petitions or Operation Rainfall had anything to do with this. They were probably always going to release it.

That wasn't so hard was it Nintendo? Thank you though.

For Murika!

As one of the few who knew of it but didn't have the time to import it with all the games coming out i can honestly say i can wait a few more months to play it when it gets released in NA,if only this worked for the tales games..

Finally! Nintendo, you guys are a bunch-a jokers!

Sweet. I hear it's a cool game. Glad the squeaky wheel finally got the grease. Like Alex mentioned, one more title after Skyward Sword to play before boxing up the Wii.

I actually keep all my old people diapers in the same box as my Wii...

What?

Now let's see it sell like shit because JRPGs don't really have market anymore. And this isn't a particularly good one either.

@AwesomeAquaman: Nope, the only ties to those games are the dudes that made it. Story wise, nothing to do with each other (not even in the same universe or whatnot)

I never got around to getting the European version, so this is good news for me, though I think I'd rather have gotten the Last Story. Hopefully they bring it over too.

1) This will sell like shit
2) It would have been released regardless of this petitioning nonsense.

I love the article subtitle thing... whatever those are called.

@paulunga said:

Now let's see it sell like shit because JRPGs don't really have market anymore. And this isn't a particularly good one either.

it'll probably sell better than the mountains of shovelware that they've been putting out, though.

@paulunga said:

Now let's see it sell like shit because JRPGs don't really have market anymore. And this isn't a particularly good one either.

yeah because 93.82% on gamerankins means it's shit right?

Not everyone is going to like it, but a game that reviews higher than Oblivion, Call of Duty 4, GTA3 and Bioshock has to be considered a good game even if you personally don't care for it.

Now watch as nobody actually buys it.

Fuck yes.
 
I wasn't sure if I getting a Wii was worth it even for Skyward Sword, but now I'm sure I want one. :D

Xenoblade lives up to the hype. I honestly think that it's so polished, so well made and thoughtfully executed that, with the right marketing push, it could stand toe-to-toe with the biggest Square-Enix releases and reinvigorate the JRPG genre in North America in a way that it hasn't been since the first half of the PS2's lifespan. Nintendo wont give it this marketing push and will drop it in almost silently at the end of a dying console's lifespan, but at least we're finally getting it.

edit: Ahahaha, just watched the official NA trailer. Who gave the interns the editing software? What a mess.

Funny, I just picked this up. Seems really fun so far, I dig the voice acting, everyone sounds like Jude Law.

"That leaves some wiggle room for some changes, but don't expect any drastic differences."

More like 'waggle room', am I right guys?

It's about time. As someone who has completed his import, Xenoblade is easily the best game on the Wii.

Now, it's not a perfect game by any means, some of the sidequest stuff is just nauseating, voice acting and dialogue could be a little better, and it's got a couple annoying JRPG tropes, but it is an extremely well made, very fun game that's arguably better than anything SE or Namco have released in the last ten years. The sense of exploration and the world itself are the best parts of it for certain.

If you own a Wii, you absolutely must buy this game. No doubt about it. I might buy a second copy when it's released.

Edit: Looking forward to the quicklook!

Since it's based on the European version that means your getting lot's of British accents then.

Well there goes what little social life i had.

I'm sure this is the best Friday ever for some people out there. Me, on the other hand? Not so much. In any case, good call, Nintendo.

@Ventilaator said:

1) This will sell like shit 2) It would have been released regardless of this petitioning nonsense.

Nintendo said it isn't coming, operation rainfall hits, tons of GIANT petitions happened and now it is.

You're right it had 0 influence /shrug

Am i saying it's the sole reason of bringing it? no, did it further move along the process and show nintendo that it will make some money here? yes, the petition DID do it's job, it got nintendos attention and showed them that it can make some money here. That being said if they originally were going to port it over here they would of shipped it along side the euro release, it's not like they have to do any extra stuff to it, just burn the games onto our region dvds and print some labels without the pegi shit.

At the risk of being destroyed by the internet, what exactly is the big deal about this game?