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[MYE]

Wow, I cannot believe that we're not getting Xenoblade or The Last Story. Ridiculous. Of course, no gaming "journalist" will ever press anyone at Nintendo about this beyond a perfunctory question without even a follow-up.

Shithead journalist interviews Mistwalker:

"Why work with nintendo? Why put it on the Wii?"
"Do you think that an ambitious project like this is out of place on the Wii?"
"Can we expect an HD port in the future? DURR"

Mistwalker:

"NO"

*Last Story coverage dropped*

Has this happened yet?

 

[RPGCrazied]

I agree with the other person about the Wii lineup in 2011 being a joke. Zelda and.... ? I can't even think of a game I'm remotely interested in, other than these jRPG's.

 

[LiK]

I agree with the other person about the Wii lineup in 2011 being a joke. Zelda and.... ? I can't even think of a game I'm remotely interested in, other than these jRPG's.

I just like that the guy said they're too busy. Give it to someone else like XSEED or Atlus.

 

[DarkPanda]

Has there been any word on local co-op, or just online?

 

[Neon_Icarus]

From Famitsu's top 100 games of 2010:

82. [WII] Xenoblade (Nintendo) - 141,059

Hmmm...considering how core gamer-oriented Wii games usually sell in Japan, that's actually pretty good. Especially for a new IP.

 

[Effect]

I think the mistake is ever thinking Nintendo would ever deliver on the RPG front. They really haven't before and when they get into the arena they disappoint. I guess I only have myself to blame for thinking this would be different. Especially after seeing how they've used Monolift Soft after buying them. Oh well. Plenty of other RPGs will be released the 3DS from other companies and on other consoles. If there is one area where Nintendo has consistently disappointed me it's this one.

I agree with the other person about the Wii lineup in 2011 being a joke. Zelda and.... ? I can't even think of a game I'm remotely interested in, other than these jRPG's.

Same. Zelda, The Last Story, and Xenoblade really were the only console games I was really that interested in since I'm turning my focus to hand helds and PC games again. Nothing really on the other systems has interested me that much. Most certainly not at full price. I guess the only game I'll be picking up it seems will be Zelda whenever it comes out.

 

[JoeFenix]

It's the sign of them getting ready to launch their next console.

Even if they were getting ready, you still have atleast the whole year without a new home console coming out...

You can't just drop your existing userbase like that and expect them to happily jump in to whatever new system you introduce after that!

 

[madara]

Have fun j-gaf, looks so darn hot! Anyone steer me in the direction to a list of Nintendo us wi releases for first half of 2010? What in blazes are they releasing for the wii?

 

[apana]

While I dont believe the Eurogamer piece as being definitive at all, I am curious as to why NOA and NOE, or any publisher of Japanese games, dont do partial localizations and just do a small release of a game with the original Japanese VA and only translated subtitles to test the waters, as opposed to the current system of just saying "fuck it, its too much work."

You would think that a 10-30k test release with only translated menus and subtitles wouldnt be that big of a task or expense and would at least give them an idea on how receptive an area is to the game.

Obviously it wouldnt work for every game, but large production titles like The Last Story and Xenoblade seem to be a great waste in potential. And even if they dont find theres enough demand to warrant full fledged localization and a release campaign they would still have the translated game on hand to meet what little demand there was from the hardcore community.

Makes too much sense, Nintendo will never go along with it. Like I've said before they want to get away with releasing the minimum amount of games possible for 2011. lol at the world's most wealthy video game developer being unable to localize games.

 

[JoeFenix]

Have fun j-gaf, looks so darn hot! Anyone steer me in the direction to a list of Nintendo us wi releases for first half of 2010? What in blazes are they releasing for the wii?

Zelda (if it even makes it out this year..) and Mario shit sports mix, something for everyone!

 

[RPGCrazied]

Zelda (if it even makes it out this year..) and Mario shit sports mix, something for everyone!

The bad thing about this? I bought a Wii last July for my bday, to get ready for games like these jRPG's. I guess my damn fault for not waiting until they secured an NA date. Still though, the gamecube was the same way with jRPG's. We finally got a few. The Baten Kaitos games. ToS. What do we have on the Wii? ToS 2 and Arc Rise Fantasia? You know the Wii is starved for this genre, when you can count the number of games on 2-3fingers.

 

[A Human Becoming]

More like The Last Story Only Release |OT| am i rite?


I hope I'm wrong.

That was my exact thought when I read the thread title.

 

[Enduin]

Makes too much sense, Nintendo will never go along with it. Like I've said before they want to get away with releasing the minimum amount of games possible for 2011. lol at the world's most wealthy video game developer being unable to localize games.

You would think with the dozens of fansub groups out there there would be one entrepreneurial person among them who would try and open up a small company with a few other people to offer publishers quick translations and conversions on the cheap to then pump out to there general audience.

And today of all times at least the PS3 and Xbox 360 dont even need to print copies of the game but just offer them on XBL or PSN, at least initially, and it would literally cost them only a few thousand dollars. For Nintendo though it would cost a bit more since theyd need to actually print discs and distribute them to retailers and such but even that doesnt cost that much.

Though I guess if theyre not even willing to do this for a shit ton of DS games that are only text based to begin with why would they even bother with full scale console games. One can dream.

 

[JordanLMiller]

I agree with the other person about the Wii lineup in 2011 being a joke. Zelda and.... ? I can't even think of a game I'm remotely interested in, other than these jRPG's.

Rhythm Heaven Wii!

Spoiler

JPN only

 

[apana]

Rhythm Heaven Wii!

Spoiler

JPN only

Actually I could see this being localized. They may use that as the excuse to not localize the other two games.

 

[Bisnic]

I don't understand why they're not releasing this game or Xenoblade here. They give us mediocre JPRGS like TOS 2 and Arc Rise Fantasia, yet they ignore some big quality JPRGS like Last Story & Xenoblade?

What were they thinking?

 

[thefro]

I don't understand why they're not releasing this game or Xenoblade here. They give us mediocre JPRGS like TOS 2 and Arc Rise Fantasia, yet they ignore some big quality JPRGS like Last Story & Xenoblade?

Bamco and Ignition localized those two games, not Nintendo.

I'm going to be launching a wiki shortly to help people organize menu/item/weapon translations (along with a walkthrough).

So that could be the start of a fan translation if it becomes necessary.

 

[Shiggy]

I don't understand why they're not releasing this game or Xenoblade here.

They aren't? Sure?

 

[duckroll]

Shithead journalist interviews Mistwalker:

"Why work with nintendo? Why put it on the Wii?"
"Do you think that an ambitious project like this is out of place on the Wii?"
"Can we expect an HD port in the future? DURR"

Mistwalker:

"NO"

*Last Story coverage dropped*

Has this happened yet?

Not journalists, but Sakaguchi has been attempting to fend off a ton of Japanese twitter fans who have been lambasting him with not working on a PS3 JRPG instead. It's not surprising considering the fact that the JRPG audience in Japan is pretty much locked on the PS3 now and have shown time and time again that they have no interest at all in buying Wii games regardless of how they end up. They have PS3s and they want JRPGs on PS3s. An unfortunate situation all round for both Monolithsoft and Mistwalker.

 

[Bebpo]

Going by the first few pages and the Xenoblade thread, I'm guessing 90% of the posts will be about "WHERE IS US VERSION?!?!" and 10% about the actual game

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I don't understand why they're not releasing this game or Xenoblade here. They give us mediocre JPRGS like TOS 2 and Arc Rise Fantasia, yet they ignore some big quality JPRGS like Last Story & Xenoblade?

What were they thinking?

Well, among other things, they probably were not thinking they were Namco-Bandai and Ignition.

 

[apana]

Not journalists, but Sakaguchi has been attempting to fend off a ton of Japanese twitter fans who have been lambasting him with not working on a PS3 JRPG instead. It's not surprising considering the fact that the JRPG audience in Japan is pretty much locked on the PS3 now and have shown time and time again that they have no interest at all in buying Wii games regardless of how they end up. They have PS3s and they want JRPGs on PS3s. An unfortunate situation all round for both Monolithsoft and Mistwalker.

Were Xenoblade sales good or bad? 140,000 seems like a good number for that kind of game on the Wii.

 

[duckroll]

Were Xenoblade sales good or bad? 140,000 seems like a good number for that kind of game on the Wii.

50,000 would be a pretty good number for any kind of game in Japan on the Xbox360. But would those sales be good for bad?

 

[ivysaur12]

Not journalists, but Sakaguchi has been attempting to fend off a ton of Japanese twitter fans who have been lambasting him with not working on a PS3 JRPG instead. It's not surprising considering the fact that the JRPG audience in Japan is pretty much locked on the PS3 now and have shown time and time again that they have no interest at all in buying Wii games regardless of how they end up. They have PS3s and they want JRPGs on PS3s. An unfortunate situation all round for both Monolithsoft and Mistwalker.

That's unfortunate.

 

[apana]

50,000 would be a pretty good number for any kind of game in Japan on the Xbox360. But would those sales be good for bad?

Well that's the thing, I'm not sure what kind of expectations Iwata and friends have. I think they would want the sales to at least cover the cost of development and marketing. I've heard Monolithsoft has never made a profitable game.

 

[MYE]

Not journalists, but Sakaguchi has been attempting to fend off a ton of Japanese twitter fans who have been lambasting him with not working on a PS3 JRPG instead. It's not surprising considering the fact that the JRPG audience in Japan is pretty much locked on the PS3 now and have shown time and time again that they have no interest at all in buying Wii games regardless of how they end up. They have PS3s and they want JRPGs on PS3s. An unfortunate situation all round for both Monolithsoft and Mistwalker.

Thats pretty sad.

 

[duckroll]

Well that's the thing, I'm not sure what kind of expectations Iwata and friends have. I think they would want the sales to at least cover the cost of development and marketing.

I think that's a rather shortsighted way of looking at things though. I mean if the only reason that Nintendo funds JRPGs at all is to just break even and they're not interested in expanding a fanbase or anything, obviously they can. But if you're a talented JRPG developer, why continue working with Nintendo in that case? Your games will never be as successful as they could be on other platforms which actually have the fanbase on it.

I've heard Monolithsoft has never made a profitable game.

For Nintendo? I can probably believe that. In general? No way. Most of their non-Nintendo published games sell way, way better than their Nintendo published games. Clearly there's an issue here.

 

[dvolovets]

Before we jump to conclusions, a question. If David Yarnton knew anything about The Last Story's localization -- which I doubt he does in the first place, for some reason -- why would he preempt the announcement by spoiling it in a media interview? I'm still holding out hope that Nintendo will localize this. Dunno about Xenoblade. The Wii's 2011 line-up just seems incredibly bare at this point, and Nintendo would basically be leaving money on the table by keeping it Japan-only. Mistwalker's tweets are also pretty sad. They keep getting bombarded by US fans clamoring for a release, and all they can say in response is "thanks for the support"...

 

[Effect]

With hand helds being more successful in Japan making console RPG seems risky anyway. However that's not the case outside of Japan. With so much money being made for Nintendo outside of Japan I would have hoped by now they'd at least calculate an international release during the planning stages. Especially with Xenoblade since the Xeno series has a following outside of Japan as far back as Xenogears. So why that (of the two) isn't or wasn't even planned for a international release to help make back the development cost makes any sense at all. I've seen nothing to even suggest it's coming. With The Last Story now being released in Japan I don't expect it to come out at all.

With TLS it's a new and unproven IP but there is history with the designers. Still why they would invest so much money in The Last Story (from how it looks it's easy to assume this is the case) and not have any plans at all for a international release knowing full well what the Japanese market was like. Even if it was just text translated with the vocals staying Japanese. It doesn't make any sense why they would develop these games, which clearly have a western style to them, and keep them Japan only looking at the different aspects.

 

[thefro]

Not journalists, but Sakaguchi has been attempting to fend off a ton of Japanese twitter fans who have been lambasting him with not working on a PS3 JRPG instead. It's not surprising considering the fact that the JRPG audience in Japan is pretty much locked on the PS3 now and have shown time and time again that they have no interest at all in buying Wii games regardless of how they end up. They have PS3s and they want JRPGs on PS3s. An unfortunate situation all round for both Monolithsoft and Mistwalker.

This isn't exactly a typical JRPG, which is going to be both a weakness and a strength.

The big key for this title is going to be how many of the Monster Hunter Tri purchasers give the game a shot. There should be enough of an audience there alongside the Wii core gamer base and the Mistwalker base.

 

[ivysaur12]

I think that's a rather shortsighted way of looking at things though. I mean if the only reason that Nintendo funds JRPGs at all is to just break even and they're not interested in expanding a fanbase or anything, obviously they can. But if you're a talented JRPG developer, why continue working with Nintendo in that case? Your games will never be as successful as they could be on other platforms which actually have the fanbase on it.



For Nintendo? I can probably believe that. In general? No way. Most of their non-Nintendo published games sell way, way better than their Nintendo published games. Clearly there's an issue here.

I don't know, Monolith's Dragonball licensed game for the DS probably operated at a profit.

Their only game that sold "well" was Xenosaga I and maybe Xenosaga II. But Xenosaga III only ended up at 181k and was probably fairly expensive.

 

[Hiltz]

Nintendo, you are good at crushing dreams. I can't wait to here what excuse Reggie comes out with.

MistWalker should have just stuck with Microsoft as its publisher. At least then The Last Story would be released worlwide without a doubt.

 

[John Harker]

What was the write up of the japenese reviews of the title?

Can anyone comment if there are big presence in-stores for the game?

 

[speedpop]

Zangurg looks like a badass. Why do they always make the "bad guys" look the coolest?

 

[Dead Prince]

can't wait for the impression. I need an RPG for the Wii and the last game I did buy was SMG2 lol.

 

[.la1n]

You mean how they never localized a shitload of games back in the day too?

We have a winner.

 

[Takuhi]

What was the write up of the japenese reviews of the title?

Can anyone comment if there are big presence in-stores for the game?

I'll summarize the comments in the Famitsu review. (score 10 10 9 9) They all said basically the same thing. No real complaints, outside of the orthodox-ness of the story.

• The battle system looks complicated, but it's very easy to pick up and play, so even light users should enjoy it. It has a lot of variety and strategic depth.

• The way the characters are always speaking really gives the sense that you are adventuring with your friends.

• The video tutorials make everything easy to understand.

• The ability to change accessories and the color of your equipment allows you to customize your character in fun ways.

• The story is very orthodox, but the dramatic event scenes do leave you eager to see what happens next.

• There are lots of places where you can move the camera around to look for things in dungeon and town areas, which is fun.

• The music that plays at key moments in the game is impressive.

 

[Rush2thestart]

Why are people jumping to conclusions? That Eurogamer article basically assumed its not leaving Japan at all based solely on the fact that NoE is not localizing it "at this time." That doesnt suggest to me its not coming at all, and furthermore not coming to NoA.

Also, even if NoE doesnt want to localize it, they'd have no choice if NCL demanded a release.

 

[Mockingbird]

I don't know, Monolith's Dragonball licensed game for the DS probably operated at a profit.

Their only game that sold "well" was Xenosaga I and maybe Xenosaga II. But Xenosaga III only ended up at 181k and was probably fairly expensive.

I'd say Soma Bringer probably made money too, since it was a DS project and it sold pver 100,000. Not Disaster, nor Baten II though. Maybe Xenoblade.

The Last Story has its own special section in most stores. Promos started way back in November! The game's been getting a lot of promos so if it doesn't sell =/

I pre-ordered my copy from amazon! So +1 sales on day one for sure =)

 

[thefro]

Anoop just put up a nice summary of the information in the system section of the official site.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/01/21/last_story_system_screens/

 

[Ushojax]

I don't think David fucking Yarnton knows what he's talking about half the time. This is the guy who said there would be no DS revision the day before the Lite was unveiled. Let's wait till E3, the game is only just coming to Japan.

 

[duckroll]

I don't know, Monolith's Dragonball licensed game for the DS probably operated at a profit.

Their only game that sold "well" was Xenosaga I and maybe Xenosaga II. But Xenosaga III only ended up at 181k and was probably fairly expensive.

Dragonball is published by Namco Bandai games, as are the OG Saga games (which also sell well). All their Nintendo published games sell shit compared to the non-Nintendo published ones. Soma Bringer? Mere 100k, sold about the same as Devil Survivor, and the game was in development for 2-3 years. Disaster? Well, that sure was a Disaster. Xenoblade? Sold about the same as Xenosaga Ep3, and definitely cost much, much more since it's not only a bigger game but took over 3 years of development.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

This is killing me as a jRPG gamer. ToG F, Xenoblade, looking like this. So, all I have to look forward to is Versus and XIII-2?

And 7th Dragon, and Soma Bringer, and Last Ranker, and Tales of Xillia, and...

 

[Takuhi]

I don't think your cache is the problem. When it shows up as in stock, it literally goes away in seconds. You need to configure your account for 1-click checkout, verify that your logged in (so it won't ask you for your password at the checkout), and keep refreshing the page. I did for Last Story last week, and I also did it for the 3DS this morning

IT WORKED! IT FINALLY WORKED!

The Last Story is on the way. Hurrah!

And even after ordering, it still shows as in stock. Maybe Amazon got a resupply and it wasn't just a single cancellation?

 

[ivysaur12]

Dragonball is published by Namco Bandai games, as are the OG Saga games (which also sell well). All their Nintendo published games sell shit compared to the non-Nintendo published ones. Soma Bringer? Mere 100k, sold about the same as Devil Survivor, and the game was in development for 2-3 years. Disaster? Well, that sure was a Disaster. Xenoblade? Sold about the same as Xenosaga Ep3, and definitely cost much, much more since it's not only a bigger game but took over 3 years of development.

You're right: it has been a problem. And while Soma Bringer selling only 100k on a very jRPG-welcoming console is disturbing, Xenoblade's sales were somewhat in line with my expectations. It's still disappointing, but MonolithSoft's games really don't sell well, besides the first Xenosaga and arguably the second. Xenosaga III? Namco x Capcom? Baten Kaitos I and Origins? Not to mention that the Wii doesn't have the RPG base of the PS3 or DS.

I really wonder if NoA wouldn't have even made up the costs for localizing and distributing the game in America. I have no idea on the cost of an entire localization or about the business model that Nintendo employs for its localizations, but I would imagine that Nintendo would have wanted to recoup at least some of their losses on Xenoblade if they thought it would have done moderately well in the west.

And do Japanese sales have any affect on a localization chance? If TLS happens to sell somewhere upwards of 150k, does that mean more to NoA or does it not even register? Was there some other jRPG that Nintendo has looked to as a sales litmus test, as was rumored with Sin & Punishment 2 and Reginliev?

 

[Big One]

Can anyone verify my comment on The Last Story being the most anticipated title in Japan right now?

Cause if that's true then all I can really expect is a success.

 

[Canova]

Can anyone verify my comment on The Last Story being the most anticipated title in Japan right now?

Cause if that's true then all I can really expect is a success.

no. 2 according to Dengeki

http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/336/336248/

1. Ore no Imouto PSP (PSP)

2. The Last Story (Wii)

3. Valkyria Chronicles 3 (PSP)

4. To Aru Majutsu no Index (PSP)

5. Amagami (PSP)

6. Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy(PSP)

7. Gyakuten Kenji 2 (DS)

8. Catherine (PS3/360)

9. Rune Factory Origins (PS3/Wii)

10. Fantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP)

 

[AndriaSang]

Can anyone verify my comment on The Last Story being the most anticipated title in Japan right now?

Cause if that's true then all I can really expect is a success.

It was hovering in the top 10 a few Famitsu's back -- I believe 5 or 6?

Catherine and Dragon Quest X were switching off between 1 and 2.

 

[mehdi_san]

IT WORKED! IT FINALLY WORKED!

The Last Story is on the way. Hurrah!

And even after ordering, it still shows as in stock. Maybe Amazon got a resupply and it wasn't just a single cancellation?

I'm glad to hear it worked for you! I guess you have someone in Japan who will get the delivery for you, since amazon doesn't ship to the US?

 

[Luckydude23]

You know, It's a real damn shame that we aren't getting Xenoblade, but now Last Story?! I'm really salty, it should be a fucking crime.