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.
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