Phase IV Mission 2. Operation REYNfall

(Now through January 31st)

Get it? REYNfall! Operation Reynfall is now in effect. We told Nintendo we wanted Xenoblade Chonicles and if they released it we would buy it. Well time to pay up. Xenoblade Chronicles will be released on 04/02/2012. It may seem like a long ways away, but it will be here before you know it.

Our number one priority at Operation Rainfall right now is going to be promoting Xenoblade Chronicles and here is why. Not only is it the right thing to do since we all said we would buy the game if it came here, but also because we fully believe that getting The Last Story as well as Pandora's Tower will be dependent on Xenoblade Chonicle sales here in the Americas.

So what can you do to help?

Pre-order the Game!
Well most importantly, pre-order the game! You can pre-order the game right now on GameStop retail stores and on their website as well as from ShopNintendo on December 19.
GameStop- http://bit.ly/rxdQCq
ShopNintendo- http://bit.ly/s0y58g

Gift Xenoblade Chronicles
Here's an idea. Christmas is right around the corner. Why not pay for the game in full and gift it as a Christmas present to that special gamer in your life or to a fellow gamer friend? You can pay the game in full from retail Gamestop locations.

Spread the Word about Xenoblade Chronicles
Tell people about Xenoblade Chronicles
Tell people about how awesome the game is. There is plenty of information about Xenoblade out there and it really is an incredible game. Share the information with people you know; steer them in the right direction.

Here are some great resources:
Official Xenoblade Chronicles Website with Trailer: http://www.xenoblade.com
10 Reasons You Should Want to Play Xenoblade: http://bit.ly/uE3DRJ
Operation Rainfall's Xenoblade Information Thread: http://bit.ly/tn4CHz

Let's Get Xenoblade Chronicles up to the Number 5 Spot on Gamestop!
Right now Xenoblade Chronicles sits pretty nicely at the #9 spot for the whole online website, but we would like to see it hit the top 3. We can do this if we work together.

If you live in Canada
If you live in Canada and would like to help us find out if GameStop/EB Games will carry Xenoblade Chronicles, please send @gamestopcanada a tweet via their twitter page: https://twitter.com/gamestopcanada or email/call them using the information found here: http://www.ebgames.ca/gs/help/OtherIssue.aspx

If you live in Mexico, Latin America, or South America
If you live in Latin or South America and would like to help find out more information about how to get Xenoblade Chronicles in your country, please send an email IN SPANISH to nintendo@noa.nintendo.com or clubnin@clubnintendomx.com AND if you use Twitter, send a tweet to @RevistaCN by visiting https://twitter.com/RevistaCN
Club Nintendo MX posted this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/RevistaCN/status/142677410830233600
Try sending them a tweet in Spanish asking how you can pre-order the game.
We hope to have more information very soon!

Phase IV Mission 1- Thank You Nintendo!

This mission is in effect immediately and is ongoing.

Due to the recent and surprising announcement of the release of Xenoblade Chronicles in the NoA region, Mission 1 of Phase IV begins immediately. Details for the rest of phase IV will be released at a later time.

This Mission is self-explanatory. Tell Nintendo thank you and show them that they made the right decision in bringing Xenoblade Chronicles to the NoA region! We asked for it, and we got it; the least we can do is say thank you. We also need to show support for Xenoblade. The more attention we give to Xenoblade related content, the more interest we are going to generate. Xenoblade sales could ultimately determine if The Last Story and Pandora's Tower are released here.

Ways you can thank Nintendo and show support:

Email- Write an email to Nintendo thanking them for releasing Xenoblade Chronicles.
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/webform.jsp or nintendo@noa.nintendo.com

Thank You Letter- Write a hand written letter thanking Nintendo for releasing Xenoblade Chronicles
Send letters to:
Nintendo of America
4600 150th AVE NE.
Redmond, WA 98052 USA

Facebook- Like, share, and comment on their Xenoblade related Facebook posts.
http://www.facebook.com/Nintendo

Twiitter- Send a thank you! to @NintendoAmerica. ReTweet their Xenoblade related Tweets.
https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica

Youtube- View subcribe, and like Nintendo's Xenoblade related Youtube videos.
http://www.youtube.com/Nintendo and http://www.youtube.com/Wii

Include a "thank you" for Xenoblade Chronicles in any pre- and post-play surveys you fill out for Club Nintendo.

If you can think of other ways to say "thank you" to Nintendo, let us know!

Xenoblade Chronicles Officially Announced for America

First off, an apology: We were having issues with our blog on the biggest day of our campaign and were unable to make this important update. But I'm sure you've read the news... which leads me to the main post...

Nintendo of America has officially announced Xenoblade Chronicles for NTSC-U regions. The title is scheduled to be released April 2, 2012 and is available exclusively through U.S. GameStop retail locations, http://gamestop.com, and http://store.nintendo.com.

You may pre-order copies of the game immediately either online at http://www.gamestop.com/wii/games/xenoblade-chronicles/98535 (Ships Worldwide) or in-store at your nearest GameStop/EB Games retail location. Beginning December 19, 2011, you may also pre-order the game direct though Nintendo at http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Xenoblade?storeId=10001 (Ships to US & Canada).

Xenoblade Chronicles will retail for a MSRP of $49.99 (US) and Nintendo of America has currently not announced any plans for Special Editions or Bundles. The PAL version of the game was offered in a Special Edition bundle that included a red Classic Controller Pro and two posters digitally signed by Tetsuya Takahashi, the creator of Xenoblade Chronicles.

Nintendo of America has confirmed that the NTSC-U version of the game will be based on the PAL localization, but we are still unsure whether there will be any changes made to the games text, dialogue, or graphical assets.

SOURCE: Nintendo of America Press Room; December 2, 2011

In the official US Trailer, Nintendo of America showed off a new logo for Xenoblade Chronicles, seen below:



PAL Version Logo:


We should also clarify that Operation Rainfall will continue to campaign for the release of The Last Story and Pandora's Tower while putting a heavy focus on ensuring that Xenoblade Chronicles exceeds sales expectations.

We would like to thank Takahashi-san and Monolith Soft for creating this beautiful adventure, and all the support from our fans and followers for sticking by our crazy campaign ideas to reach out to Nintendo.

We also want to give a very special thanks to Nintendo for not only acknowledging the fans, but listening and bringing this amazing title to the American region.

One down, two to go! Have a great weekend everybody!

Phase Three Finale - Nov. 21-27

Beginning Monday, November 21 and lasting until November 27, Operation Rainfall will be running the exciting conclusion to Phase Three.

To make things run as smooth as possible, the staff and admins of Operation Rainfall have assembled materials to help spread the word. We want to make this campaign HUGE, so spread these materials everywhere possible.

DOWNLOADABLE MATERIALS:

1. Phase Three Finale Poster

2. Phase Three Finale Official Press Release Statement (Text & PDF)

3. Mission 3 Translated Letter to Japan (Text & PDF)

4. Mission 4 Poster (If you like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword...)


TO SEND AN EMAIL:

Click here for full instructions to send an email to NCL Japan

ADDRESS YOUR PAPER LETTER TO:

Nintendo Co., Ltd.
11-1 HOKOTATE-CHO
KAMITOBA, MINAMI-KU
KYOTO 601-8501
JAPAN

SHIPPING COSTS:
First-Class Postage from the United States to Japan using United States Postal Service:
$0.98 (1 oz.)
$1.82 (2 oz.)
$2.66 (3 oz.)(Source: USPS)
Country Conditions for Mailing Japan

A standard envelope with 1-2 sheets of plain paper should weigh approximately 1 oz. If you are including fanart or objects with your letters to Japan, please be aware of the potential extra shipping costs.

Mission 3-4: Skyward!

We had to postpone Mission 3-3 until November 21st but Mission 3-4 is still on track for Sunday, November 20th, the launch date for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.


This involves going to blogs, forums, review sites, Twitter, and other webpages relating to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and spreading the message: "If you like Skyward Sword, you'll also like Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower".

Mission 3-4 will last approximately TWO (2) Weeks, to allow hype for Skyward Sword to reach its maximum.


Download the image below and prepare to spread it next week.
Click here to download the image below.

The full-sized image will open in a new window or tab. Right-click the image and select "Save As..." or "Save Image" to save the image to your hard drive. When Skyward Sword launches on November 20th, spread this poster on everything related to Skyward Sword you can find!

If you're the creative type, feel free to make your own posters as well.
Let's have fun with this and get ready for a massive surge in activity in the next few days!

MID-WEEK UPDATE

First off, I just want to reiterate the purpose of our campaign:
We are a positive campaign that is attempting to communicate with Nintendo for the release of three critically-acclaimed RPGs: Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. Part of our campaign being positive means we do not  promote or condone:

• piracy
• console modification
• boycott of Nintendo products
• smear campaigns against Nintendo and its executives

Instead, the approach Operation Rainfall has taken is a positive campaign that involves:

• Written and verbal petitions and pleas to Nintendo and its subsidiaries
• Submission of works of fanart, music, poetry, etc.
• Retail purchases of Nintendo products
• Encouraging a positive view of Nintendo as a company, even though we may disagree with some of the business decisions they have made recently
• Encouraging Nintendo executives to see that there exists a market for RPGs, "niche" titles, and "core" games on Wii console by purchasing these titles and recommending them to others.

In any community made up of thousands of individuals, opinions are bound to differ and there will be people on opposite extremes in favor of and against the overall goals of the community. The above statements, however reflect the stance that the administration of Operation Rainfall have taken. We cannot force our viewpoints on individuals in our community but attempt to uphold those standards as much as possible without taking away our members' freedom of speech. If, however, we see individuals posting negative remarks or messages that go against our overall mission, we will warn such individuals. Repeat offenses will result in permanent ban from the Operation Rainfall Facebook page.

I hope I was able to clear a few things up!

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Podcasts and future Weekly Rain updates

Our The Weekly Rain updates and The Downpour podcast have gotten off track lately due to our staff all having busy schedules with work, school, and other outside activities. I just wanted everyone to know that starting this month we're hoping to have things back on track for everyone. Our "Weekly Rain" updates have been kinda backwards, that will also be fixed beginning with the 11/13-11/19 update, which will be posted on Saturday, November 19th. We'll be offering both a full-length blog post as well as a simplified summary poster that can be easily spread around the internet.

Here what to expect from now on:

• (1) monthly podcast (The Downpour) (Expect to hear details on this later)
• (1) weekly update (The Weekly Rain) posted each Saturday (covering events that took place between the previous Sunday through the current Saturday as well as news and reminders for the upcoming week) in both a full-text blog AND graphic summary.
• (1) Monthly Wii Game Online Tournament (This month will be Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom on November 27)
• (1) Monthly Monster Hunter Tri Party (Held the first Friday of each month, the next one will be December 2)

Now that things are back on track, here's the recap for this past week:



1) Mission 3-3 has been postponed until Monday, Nov. 21st
2) Translation is on track and proceeding smoothly, thanks to our volunteers (We will name our full list of volunteers in our next blog post)
3) Mission 3-4 (The final mission of Phase 3) is on track for Sun. Nov. 20th


EXPLANATION:
1 & 2) MISSION 3-3 (CODENAME: COLORING BOOK) - The purpose of 3-3 is to get in touch with Nintendo Co., Ltd., located in Japan with a thought provoking letter sent in by the masses of Operation Rainfall followers, combined with works of fanart, emails, and a full print out of our petition and the many review scores praising Xenoblade Chronicles from the UK and US Importers.

3) MISSION 3-4 (Skyward!) - Mission 3-4 is a campaign to raise awareness of the titles globally by encouraging those in Europe and Japan who may not have heard of Xenoblade, The Last Story, or Pandora's Tower to give the games a shot. This campaign will be similar to Nintendo's own "If you liked ____, you may like ____" campaigns, in this case, using The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and the three OpRa RPGs. We'll be spreading the message to everything we can that is attached to Skyward Sword. This is set to begin on Sun. Nov. 20th, but can actually be given a slight headstart this weekend with the Skyward Sword "Intend to Buy" surveys.

We ask that, if possible, you refrain from leaving comments specifically requesting Xenoblade, The Last Story, and/or Pandora's Tower on Nintendo's Facebook page until further notice.

Hopefully that clears things up for everyone. Have a great week!

The Weekly Rain - October 30-November 5, 2011

Time to Reload, Stay tuned for further updates.
This week Amazon.com has taken away the ability to pre-order Xenoblade under its working title Monado: Beginning of the World.

This was our primary source of ammunition in our campaign, and was one of our driving forces to gaining momentum. Monado sat for nearly a week at #1 (All Games) and for nearly two weeks (Wii Games), and went on to hit #1 again multiple times during the course of our campaign. The fact that the page still exists on Amazon is reassurance that they have simply frozen the ability to pre-order until they receive confirmation from Nintendo.

Either way, this makes it more important than ever before to get the message across to Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japan) and Nintendo of America through written letters, phone calls, and emails. Please stay tuned for more information when we will target a call-in/email/physical mail date.

SSBB Tourney Winners!
First off, we'd like to say that our first ever Wii game tournament ran much smoother than we anticipated, and the few bumps along the way are just a part of the learning process. We will be interviewing our winners on our blog next week!

The winners of our Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament are: 

Amateur
Name: Eric Llarenas
Username: Cerix
Character: Toon Link

Pro
Name: Jordan Fostinye
Username: xLeex
Character: Pit

Congratulations!

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Monthly Monster Hunter Tri Parties!
Operation Rainfall will be holding monthly hunting parties in Monster Hunter Tri. Because of the server region blocking, we will only be able to play with people from our own region.

The first hunt begins on Friday, November 4 (This Friday!). If you'd like to join us, be sure to sign up on our Event page:

Click here to sign up for our November 4 MH3 Party!

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Mission 3-3: Codename: Coloring Book
Please have all of your artwork/poetry/essays/videos/music/etc linked to us in some form by 11:59 PM PST Monday, November 14, 2011.

Click here for full details

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Operation Rainfall en Español
Because NTSC-U region includes both North and South America, many of our followers speak Spanish as their primary language. We want to welcome our new Spanish Team, who will be providing official translations for Spanish speakers, and eventually, we are hoping that our Spanish Team will be able to get in touch with the Latin American representatives at Nintendo of America.

Operation Rainfall en Español (Official Facebook Page)

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Open Letter to Nintendo of America
The staff of Operation Rainfall will be writing a personal letter to the management and marketing teams at Nintendo of America. This will be separate from any of our phases/missions. Is there anything you would like us to address in our letter? Please let us know in the comments below.

Have a great week!

     Operation Rainfall Staff