Xenoblade + The Last Story

[AJR]

what i want to know is how they came to the conclusion that they would be profitable in europe and not NA. it makes me think there is some external factor at play in america.

I honestly can't think of anything... Well the DS is dying fast because of R4 abuse, but that's unrelated. The PSP is doing (slightly) better in Europe than in de US, but that's unrelated too. Both regions would have a pretty empty releaseschedule without the Rainfall games. Are JRPG's doing better in Europe than US? Maybe, but I doubt the difference is huge enough to leave a release schedule nearly empty.

I've heard Dragon Quest 9 did quite well in Europe, and don't forget the exchange rate. Nintendo make a lot more money for each game they sell in Europe as opposed to the US.

The thing is, nobody knows the reason why. We can guess or call Nintendo dopey names, but we don't really know. I mean, it's fascinating watching people playing armchair publishers, but without knowing everything Nintendo know, I think it's silly to just assume the higher ups at NoA are idiots.

If Wii didn't have region lock I would have imported with no issues attached.I already speak English,Spanish and can read French so I would have imported Xenoblade from one of at least 3 EU countries.

Don't worry too much about that, it will be the same game in all three countries. The only difference is the cover, the game itself just will just have a language option at the start, just like all European/Australasian releases.

[Tomara]

I've heard Dragon Quest 9 did quite well in Europe, and don't forget the exchange rate. Nintendo make a lot more money for each game they sell in Europe as opposed to the US.

The exchange rate is not exactly a reason to not release anything. It just means profits from the US will be lower when put in yen. But, a profit is still a profit. Plus, if the games tank, losses will be smaller too. It works both ways.

The thing is, nobody knows the reason why. We can guess or call Nintendo dopey names, but we don't really know. I mean, it's fascinating watching people playing armchair publishers, but without knowing everything Nintendo know, I think it's silly to just assume the higher ups at NoA are idiots.

There are several people here who have worked in this industry for years. We may not know exactly what big bosses at NOA know (or think they know), but a lot of other stuff is in plain view. Nearly empty releaseschedule, available translations, free advertisement...

[AJR]

The exchange rate is not exactly a reason to not release anything. It just means profits from the US will be lower when put in yen. But, a profit is still a profit. Plus, if the games tank, losses will be smaller too. It works both ways.

That's assuming it would make a profit. I don't know much about that, since I've never published a videogame before.

There are several people here who have worked in this industry for years.

Oh, I didn't know there were people on the boards who'd worked on the publisher side of things. I'd love to hear their thoughts, especially if they have experience bringing over games from another region.

We may not know exactly what big bosses at NOA know (or think they know), but a lot of other stuff is in plain view. Nearly empty release schedule, available translations, free advertisement...

There's a few things in plain sight, but not nearly enough to be able to judge the NoA higher ups fairly.

[Tomara]

You're looking for numbers, aren't you? Yeah, you're not going to get those. Even publishers can make educated guesses at best. You can´t know how well something sells until three months or so after release. There are all sorts of factors you can´t really predict.

Back to Nintendo, if fairly small companies like Atlus, Xseed and NISA can succesfully release these types of games, there is no real reason Nintendo of America can´t. They may need to do things somewhat different than usual to keep costs at a minimum. No new English translation, a smaller budget for promotion and so on. That´s not how NOA does things and I think that the bump in the road. Xenoblade might not make a profit if they do things they way they usually do them and NOA is stubborn, they either do things their way or don´t do them at all.

[Yggdrasil]

Is true that the Marketing Director of Nintendo of France is leaving the company after 12 years working there? That was the same guy that said: Hey America! Europe got these three RPGs, pretty cool huh?

[Aeolus]

Or it could be a case of US and our crazy values dissonance as illustrated on The Daily Show last week. Where someone slips a nip at some point or there are too many references to death, alcohol, religion, homosexuality, or sex (remember, this is NoA we're talking about) thus forcing NoA to have to skip them over or else having to face the full wrath of attention starved politicians.

Of course it could also be that Mistwalker games haven't had much luck out here in the past. Or that, like Mother 3, Operation Rainfall has only discouraged NoA from releasing it out here because we all know how whiny and demanding those Mother fans are. Or maybe the problem lies with Mistwalker perhaps deciding to just say "Fuck America". Or one of many other possible reasons why we aren't getting these games.

Hey, it could happen.

[Lard]

Is true that the Marketing Director of Nintendo of France is leaving the company after 12 years working there? That was the same guy that said: Hey America! Europe got these three RPGs, pretty cool huh?

Weren't the NOF guys making fun of NOA for not releasing these games in NA last week during the expo?

[Maxximum]

Well, at least now you know how us Euros feel when we get screwed out of the good titles. I could be an ass and give you the "just import it, its no big deal" pep talk that we usually get, but I wont. Because lets be honest, it sucks and there really is no reason to rub it in. Besides, you will get these games, there is no doubt in my mind that someone will bring them over states side eventually.

[kdognumba1]

Hey everybody just wanted to say Operation Rainfall is still moving forward with the campaign.  Feel free to stop by the blog and show support!

[CDFN]

Iwata asks had a xenoblade blowout.
Here's vol. 3 (also has links for the previous 2 volumes):

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_xenoblade_chronicles_32883_33157.html#

[Lard]

Hey everybody just wanted to say Operation Rainfall is still moving forward with the campaign.  Feel free to stop by the blog and show support!

Pointless. Importing is the only way to show Nintendo we want the game, by showing them the lost sales they could have had.

Iwata asks had a xenoblade blowout.
Here's vol. 3 (also has links for the previous 2 volumes):

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_xenoblade_chronicles_32883_33157.html#

It's like they're deliberately taunting us! :(

Siliconera has a really interesting article on the development of the game.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/07/06/a-look-into-the-world-design-of-xenoblade-chronicles-2/

[Yggdrasil]

Source: NTSC Xenoblade done, The Last Story in progress

[Alisha]

Hey everybody just wanted to say Operation Rainfall is still moving forward with the campaign.  Feel free to stop by the blog and show support!

Pointless. Importing is the only way to show Nintendo we want the game, by showing them the lost sales they could have had.

Iwata asks had a xenoblade blowout.
Here's vol. 3 (also has links for the previous 2 volumes):

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_xenoblade_chronicles_32883_33157.html#

It's like they're deliberately taunting us! :(

Siliconera has a really interesting article on the development of the game.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/07/06/a-look-into-the-world-design-of-xenoblade-chronicles-2/

Admin Edit: Piracy = no-no.

[Eusis]

how is importing gonna tell nintendo anything other than that jrpgs are more successful in eu? im about to say FU nintendo and pirate that shit.

Because if it's highly successful there then that'll tell them that they probably made a mistake passing it up, and while soft modding's a grey topic that isn't allowed here pirating, particularly of a newly released or yet to be released game, is outright black and white: don't talk about it unless you're looking to be banned.

[Commander Jubby Shepard]

It probably doesn't mean anything, but it's a little ray of hope.