Operation Rainfall

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So... I've been looking forward to two main titles for the Nintendo Wii for the past year or so. Two RPGs in particular, The Last Story by Mistwalker, and Xenoblade Chronicles by Monolith Soft. While I haven't checked on updates on these two games until recently, I discovered that not only was Nintendo not planning on releasing these games on North American shores, there's a giant campaign going on to bring these two games to North America along with a third title called Pandora's Tower. The movement is called Operation Rainfall (hence the title), and it was born out of a forum on IGN (or so I read) and has gained quite a traction and has been featured on may gaming sites and magazines.

The Last Story:

Trailer:





I'm going to start off with this title, because this is the one I have been looking forward to the longest. The Last Story is a RPG that was developed by Mistwalker, which is a company founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy creator) after he left Square. The Last Story is the first title he's directed since the release of Final Fantasy V (so almost 20 years!)



Xenoblade Chronicles:

Trailer:





The creator of Xenogears and Xenosaga worked on this project. Originally it had a different name, but they renamed it to Xenoblade in tribute to his contributions to development. I was interested in playing this game since the battle system draws a parallel to that of Final Fantasy XII. Not to mention, Yasunori Mitsuda (composer of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross) had a hand in composing the score for the game.


Pandora's Tower:

Trailer:





...I've never actually heard of this game until AFTER I heard of this operation, but it looks really fun. Like an advanced Zelda-like action role-playing game mixed with platforming elements. The game looks like a lot of fun, and I would definitely purchase a copy if it came shore-side.


_


But on that note, Nintendo not releasing these games on these coasts reminds me of the late 80's early 90's era when games got skipped over because they were worried we would find it to be "too difficult" or we're "not worth the market". It's sad, really. And releasing it in Europe is going to be a harder kick in the teeth because we will have a translated English version, yet it will be for PAL territories.

Nintendo wants to appeal more to the market for hard-core gamers, but then they don't release these epic titles for whatever reasons.

What's it going to be, Nintendo?


I've already joined the movement, and I suggest you readers do too if you'd want to see these games be released in North America.




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