Despite numerous overtures from fans, Nintendo of America (NOA) announced today they still have no plans to release three sought after Japan-only games in the West.
"We promised an update, so here it is," NOA announced on its official Facebook page. "We never say 'never,' but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games (Xenoblade aka Monado, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower) to the Americas at this time."
With this update, Nintendo still has not announced release dates for any first-party 2011 games for the "hardcore" crowd, a demographic they sought to capture at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The WiiU console - successor to the Wii - was their main focus at the conference, in lieu of titles for their current home console. The WiiU may arrive next year, but also has no release date or games with release dates.
Fans of Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower had taken their impassioned pleas to Nintendo directly through a social media campaign known as Operation Rainfall (who also managed to push Xenoblade to the top of Amazon's pre-order charts days earlier). Quickly going viral, the effort spread across the internet to various message boards and gaming web sites. However, Nintendo has thus far refused to provide a more in-depth response on Rainfall's efforts to those sites.
"Nintendo has not responded to IGN's requests for comments from, or a brief interview with, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime," said IGN Nintendo Editor Rich George.
Nintendo's response - or lack thereof - did not deter Rainfall supporters, who still have a letter-writing campaign scheduled for July. However, the final line of the company's response - "Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans." - did not sit well with many online posters.
“The bottom line is if the games are not released, how are we supposed to take their E3 comments about a 'commitment to the core gamer' seriously?"
JUNE 29, 2011
OPERATION RAINFALL'S REPLY
"We never say never."
So said Nintendo earlier tonight, in a reply to Operation Rainfall that simultaneously applauded our efforts while also informing us that they may likely be in vain.
Fortunately, we never say "never," either. This effort has grown beyond any of us, touching gamers across the world. That's how a relatively unknown Amazon page, displaying a little-known title, was pushed to the top of the largest internet retailer's pre-order list in a matter of days. We've been able to speak in one clear voice to Nintendo, only asking them to provide us with the type of content we expected when we originally purchased our Wii consoles. Thus far, they have respectfully denied our requests, which is why we must respectfully continue to tell them that their answer isn't acceptable.
The letter writing campaign remains ready. If you haven't copied a template below and printed it out, please do so if you have any desire for a deep, engaging game (or three). New ideas are being created all the time for Operation Rainfall, many of them coming directly from strangers who we had never crossed paths with. This is all your work; it has been an ever-shifting, ever-changing, ever-rewarding experience.
Now that Nintendo has graced us with their official non-answer, it is time to double down and hit back hard
we have allot in the works....
for instance I have made fliers, print them out, photocopy them, cut them into individuals, and distribute
try putting them out at a gamestop, or other game retailer (get permission from the owner first)
----------------
this was sent in by Rawky-Roo from the IGN boards
I've posted this in the other thread, but feel this might help as well:
I thought of something else we could do, although it could be tricky trying to make an impact.
Nintendo receives data on what games are being played and whats popular through the Nintendo Channel on the Wii. So why don't we all get voting.
Here's what to do:
FIRSTLY
- Download the Nintendo Channel onto your Wii Dashboard (its free)
- Once in the Channel, select the 'Recommend Titles' tab (the one with an image of an envelope.
- Select 'Recommend Wii Software
Now the following depends on if you've played these games for at least 1 hour. Those games being:
No More Heroes
No More Heroes 2
Little Kings Story
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Tatsunoko vs Capcom
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Monster Hunter Tri
Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies
If you have played those games or any other 'niche' type games then do the following:
- Select game from the list
- Answer the following questions: Your gender, age etc
- NOW THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT Rate each and every 'Niche game' you have to 'Highly'.
- Say that this game appeals to 'GAMERS' and the 'HARDCORE'
- Depending on the game say whether its better 'With Friends' or 'Alone'
- Then Click 'SEND'
Each vote a game receives will go towards it receiving a 'Medal'. The Medals being Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Games that are very popular will receive these medals so lets try and get these 'Niche games' up to Platinum!
SECONDLY
Let's play some games!!
Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Muramasa, Fire Emblem. Whatever game you own, play the crap out of it. Everyone playtimes will be calculated together, bumping them up the 'popularity charts'. We can even have a TvC session or something.
All this info will go directly to Nintendo, so they will see how popular these games are. Who's up for it? Its free and doesn't intrude on anyone.
Wow! Operation Rainfall sure has come a long ways since it first began over six months ago! Since then, the campaign has taken a new direction and is under new leadership. It's a better Operation Rainfall; a more organized version.
The most important news is that on December 2nd, 2011, Nintendo announced that Xenoblade is coming to our region on April 2nd, 2012! We at Operation Rainfall believe that how well Xenoblade sells will ultimately determine if we get the other two games the Last Story and Pandora's Tower. This means that right now, the attention of the campaign is focused on Xenoblade, however, we are still a campaign for all three games. In fact, we have a campaign event planned for "The Last Story" later this month. We are also planning a Pandora's Tower campaign event, after the release date of Xenoblade.
Contact NoA About "The Last Story" Day- On January 27, we currently have a "Contact Nintendo of America" day planned in which we will be mass communicating with Nintendo of America to let them know we are all still interested in The Last Story. January 27 is the one year anniversary of the games' release in Japan. Details of the event planned for that day can be found here: http://on.fb.me/yk3BY6
Importance of Our Facebook Page. Our Facebook page has become the "hub" of our community and is currently at 11,000 people. So check it out if you have Facebook, and make sure to like the page while you are there. If you don't have Facebook, no worries. We regularly update this blog to provide you with the latest information about our campaign, as well as the latest information about Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. http://www.facebook.com/OperationRainfall
Thank You! Thank you all for supporting us as we continue campaigning to get these great games localized. We CAN get The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, but only if we all work together!
The original post made in June is below but the information is outdated and no longer valid. For up-to-date information on this blog, click on the Operation Rainfall logo at the top of this page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 28, 2011.
the third campaign in Operation Rainfall is for the Pandora's Tower
the plan is to flood Nintendo of America, Europe, and Australia with Letters and relevant items (such as books, pages from books, covers from books, etc...) between the dates of July 25th and July 27th (that means arrival date, not send date)
can't think of something to write? don't want to use a template? try a postcard
add a raindrop to your letter to remind nintendo you are from Operation Rainfall
send your letters and relevant items to these addresses:
Reginald Fils-Aime (President and COO)
c/o Nintendo of America
4600 150th AVE NE.
Redmond, WA 98052
Or
Conrad Abbott (President)
c/o Nintendo of Canada
150-2925 Virtual Way
Vancouver, BC
V5M 4X5
Or
Satoru Shibata (President and director of NoE)
c/o Nintendo of Europe
55-57 High Street
Windsor
SL4 1LP
Or
Nintendo of Europe GmbH
Nintendo Center
63760 Grossostheim
Germany
Or
Yuji Bando (Managing director of Nintendo of Australia)
c/o Nintendo of Australia
PO BOX 804
Ferntree Gully VIC 3156
here is a template letter:
Dear Reggie/Conrad/Yuji/Satoru
As a fan of your company and of games like Castlevania, I was extremely excited about the reveal of Pandora's Tower. From the initial cryptic reveal, to the delightfully twisted plot details that followed, I have been craving this game all year. I am deeply concerned that this game has no North American/Australian/European release planned, especially considering the sparse lineup on the wii in the next year. I have been a Loyal fan of this company for over "X" years, and yet there hasn't been a game worth getting on your console for nearly 8 months... and nothing on the horizon to be excited about besides Zelda and Kirby, and yet Pandora's Tower sits completed. Please consider your company's fans, please bring Pandora's Tower to us.
Sincerely,
(your name here - signed)
in addition to sending letters for those dates we would also encourage doing the following on those dates
1. e-mail nintendo about Pandora's Tower
2. call them directly at 1-800-633-3236 (NA, other regions coming soon)
Wow! Operation Rainfall sure has come a long ways since it first began over six months ago! Since then, the campaign has taken a new direction and is under new leadership. It's a better Operation Rainfall; a more organized version.
The most important news is that on December 2nd, 2011, Nintendo announced that Xenoblade is coming to our region on April 2nd, 2012! We at Operation Rainfall believe that how well Xenoblade sells will ultimately determine if we get the other two games the Last Story and Pandora's Tower. This means that right now, the attention of the campaign is focused on Xenoblade, however, we are still a campaign for all three games. In fact, we have a campaign event planned for "The Last Story" later this month.
Contact NoA About "The Last Story" Day- On January 27, we currently have a "Contact Nintendo of America" day planned in which we will be mass communicating with Nintendo of America to let them know we are all still interested in The Last Story. January 27 is the one year anniversary of the games' release in Japan. Details of the event planned for that day can be found here: http://on.fb.me/yk3BY6
Importance of Our Facebook Page. Our Facebook page has become the "hub" of our community and is currently at 11,000 people. So check it out if you have Facebook, and make sure to like the page while you are there. If you don't have Facebook, no worries. We regularly update this blog to provide you with the latest information about our campaign, as well as the latest information about Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. http://www.facebook.com/OperationRainfall
Thank You! Thank you all for supporting us as we continue campaigning to get these great games localized. We CAN get The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, but only if we all work together!
The original post made in June is below but the information is outdated and no longer valid. For up-to-date information on this blog, click on the Operation Rainfall logo at the top of this page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 28, 2011.
the second campaign in Operation Rainfall is for the Last Story, it is also our first International campaign
the plan is to flood Nintendo of America, Europe, and Australia with Letters and relevant items (such as books, pages from books, covers from books, etc...) between the dates of July 18th and July 20th (that means arrival date, not send date)
can't think of something to write? don't want to use a template? try a postcard
add a raindrop to your letter to remind nintendo you are from Operation Rainfall
send your letters and relevant items to these addresses:
Reginald Fils-Aime (President and COO)
c/o Nintendo of America
4600 150th AVE NE.
Redmond, WA 98052
Or
Conrad Abbott (President)
c/o Nintendo of Canada
150-2925 Virtual Way
Vancouver, BC
V5M 4X5
Or
Satoru Shibata (President and director of NoE)
c/o Nintendo of Europe
55-57 High Street
Windsor
SL4 1LP
Or
Nintendo of Europe GmbH
Nintendo Center
63760 Grossostheim
Germany
Or Yuji Bando (Managing director of Nintendo of Australia)
c/o Nintendo of Australia
PO BOX 804
Ferntree Gully VIC 3156
here is a template letter:
Dear Reggie/Conrad/Yuji/Satoru,
As a fan of your company and of RPGs, I was extremely excited about the reveal of the Last Story. Being a fan of Mistwalker and Hironobu Sakaguchi, it quickly became one of my most anticipated games for the Wii, and when the gorgeous art and impressive screens and trailers were released I only became more excited for the game. I am deeply concerned that this game has no North American/Australian/European release planned, especially considering the sparse lineup on the wii in the next year. I have been a Loyal fan of this company for over "X" years, and yet there hasn't been a game worth getting on your console for nearly 8 months... and nothing on the horizon to be excited about besides Zelda and Kirby, and yet the Last Story sits completed. Please consider your company's fans, please bring the Last Story to us.
Sincerely,
(your name here - signed)
in addition to sending letters for those dates we would also encourage doing the following on those dates
1. e-mail nintendo about the Last Story
2. call them directly at 1-800-633-3236 (NA, other regions coming soon)
Fans of Nintendo's Japan-only release Xenoblade (aka Monado) pushed the videogame to the top of Amazon's preorder chart this past weekend in a bid to request a Western release.
The movement began June 22 on IGN's Wii message board and was soon organized into a campaign known as Operation Rainfall. Initially built around a coordinated letter writing effort requesting the Western release for three Nintendo-published Wii games currently available only in Japan (Monolithsoft's Xenoblade, Mistwalker's The Last Story and Ganbarion's Pandora's Tower), Rainfall soon morphed into a hybrid lobbying effort with its own blog, Twitter and Facebook sites. However, the most noticeable outgrowth was the spontaneous Amazon pre-ordering effort for Xenoblade that topped the online retailer's chart from June 25-27. During the same time period, fans sidetracked a posting on Nintendo's Facebook page that offered birthday wishes for Sonic the Hedgehog, with the majority of the over-3,400 replies requesting information pertaining to a Western release date for Xenoblade (the first game Rainfall has targeted). Nintendo took notice: their ensuing Facebook update thanked fans for their enthusiasm and urged them to watch for updates.
Rainfall has been noticed by the media, too, with articles appearing on IGN, Kotaku, Joystiq, Eurogamer, Destructoid, Siliconcera and other gaming sites, some of whom have contacted Nintendo directly for comment.
"Nintendo assures me a statement is coming," said IGN Nintendo Editor Rich George in an update on that site's message board. "They generally don't keep quiet like this unless they're mulling over what to say or are approving through Japan."
Releasing games in Western territories that had been exclusively available in Japan is not a new idea for Nintendo. In a November 2010 meeting with investors, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata broached the possibility of localizing games for Nintendo's handheld DS system.
"Some software has already proved its marketability in Japan but is still not available in the overseas’ markets, and for some software titles, our localization teams are currently spending time to localize them," he said.
With the Wii's 2011 release schedule lacking marquee Nintendo-published titles, some analysts expected the company to announce Wii localizations to bolster the console's library. However, gaming's biggest media summit, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), passed in June without any release dates given. Reggie Fils-Aime, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, was quoted at E3 by Kotaku as having "nothing to announce" regarding any of the games in Operation Rainfall's campaign.
That may change when the original letter-writing campaign kicks into high gear. Letter templates are available on Rainfall's blog (http://oprainfall.blogspot.com) and original IGN message board post, along with target dates for their delivery (July 11-13 for Xenoblade, July 18-20 for The Last Story and July 25-27 for Pandora's Tower).
"Even if nothing comes of it, the folks involved with Operation Rainfall have managed a pretty cool (and calm) feat here," said IGN's George. "It's admirable to say the least."
Wow! Operation Rainfall sure has come a long ways since it first began over six months ago!
Since then, the campaign has taken a new direction and is under new leadership. It's a better Operation Rainfall; a more organized version.
The most important news is that on December 2nd, 2011, Nintendo announced that Xenoblade is coming to our region on April 2nd, 2012! We at Operation Rainfall believe that how well Xenoblade sells will ultimately determine if we get the other two games the Last Story and Pandora's Tower. This means that right now, the attention of the campaign is focused on Xenoblade, however, we are still a campaign for all three games. In fact, we have a campaign event planned for "The Last Story" later this month.
Contact NoA Day- On January 27, we currently have a "Contact Nintendo of America" day planned in which we will be mass communicating with Nintendo of America to let them know we are all still interested in The Last Story. January 27 is the one year anniversary of the games' release in Japan. Details of the event planned for that day can be found here: http://on.fb.me/yk3BY6
Importance of Our Facebook Page. Our Facebook page has become the "hub" of our community and is currently at 11,000 people. So check it out if you have Facebook, and make sure to like the page while you are there. If you don't have Facebook, no worries. We regularly update this blog to provide you with the latest information about our campaign, as well as the latest information about Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower.
http://www.facebook.com/OperationRainfall
Thank You! Thank you all for supporting us as we continue campaigning to get these great games localized. We CAN get The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, but only if we all work together!
The original post made in June is below but the information is outdated and no longer valid. For up-to-date information on this blog, click on the Operation Rainfall logo at the top of this page.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 24, 2011.
The first campaign in Operation Rainfall is for Xenoblade
the plan is to flood Nintendo of America with Letters and relevant items (such as plastic cocktail swords) between the dates of July 11th and July 13th (that means arrival date, not send date)
can't think of something to write? don't want to use a template? try a postcard
add a raindrop to your letter to remind nintendo you are from Operation Rainfall
send your letters and relevant items to this address:
Reginald Fils-Aime (President and COO)
c/o Nintendo of America
4600 150th AVE NE.
Redmond, WA 98052
or
Conrad Abbott (President)
c/o Nintendo of Canada
150-2925 Virtual Way
Vancouver, BC
V5M 4X5
here is a template letter:
Dear Reggie/Conrad,
As a fan of your company and of RPGs, I was extremely excited about the reveal of Monado which was later retitled Xenoblade. After it's reveal at E3 2009 it quickly became one of my most anticipated games for the Wii, and as more information, screens, and trailers were released my interest only expanded. I am deeply concerned that this game has no North American release planned, especially considering the sparse lineup on the wii in the next year. I have been a Loyal fan of this company for over 25 years, and yet there hasn't been a game worth getting on your console for nearly 8 months... and nothing on the horizon to be excited about besides Kirby and Zelda, and yet Xenoblade sits completed, and soon to be localized for Europe in English. Please consider your company's fans, please bring Xenoblade to us.
Sincerely,
(your name here - signed)
in addition to sending letters for those dates we would also encourage doing the following on those dates
1. e-mail nintendo about xenoblade 2. call them directly at 1-800-633-3236
