Xenoblade and The Last Story coming to US?

http://oprainfall.blogspot.com/2011/07/source-ntsc-xenoblade-done-last-story.html

Sent to Operation Rainfall's website from an 'inside source at Nintendo' is the rumor that both Xenoblade and The Last Story have been fully localized and will be ready for testing within a month's time from now. Is this all too good to be true? Could it be just Nintendo withholding information tightly like they usually do?

Xenoblade and The Last Story coming to US?

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Oh, so this was our 3DS Final Fantasy game? A spinoff that isn't even an RPG? Does look cute though.

From Andriasang

"Square Enix has a new Final Fantasy game on the way for 3DS, but it's not quite the RPG we're used to. The new game is titled Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. Yes, this is that Final Fantasy themed rhythm game we've all been waiting for.

Revealed in this week's Jump, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a "Theater Rhythm Action" game. The game has field scenes set in dungeons and towns, and battle scenes that resemble the side-view battles of older Final Fantasy games. However, everything is played like a rhythm game, where you tap the screen in accordance with prompts.

Needless to say, the game's music is pulled from past Final Fantasy games. Characters, including the likes of Lightning and Cloud, are also in the game, only they're shown in cute "chibi" style form.

There seems to be somewhat of a story to the game. Jump says that the classic Final Fantasy characters are fighting to return light to the crystal.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is currently without a final release date."

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

A save file that cannot be deleted?

This would be the first of its kind Ive ever heard of. Resident Evil: THe Mercenaries for 3DS has an invincible save file which cannot be deleted on the part of the player. There's no delete option on the game. It's not a glitch, nor was it a mistake that the delete button was omitted, but it's something crazier than that- the mechanic was intended by Capcom. The controversy has been going on for since the game was released, and many have expressed their disenchantment.

Yep, unless your internal cartridge battery runs dry, you won't be able to start a brand new game. Thanks, Capcom. This is just what we wanted, a save file that doesn't selfdestruct so we won't have to undergo the frustration of beginning an erased game. That's going to be soooo useful when you trade the game in and someone else buys the game and finds out he can't play it because it's already been completed for him.

Capcom's reason? A statement from them on June 30 says:


In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, all mission progress is saved directly to the Nintendo 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset. The nature of the game invites high levels of replayability, encouraging fans to improve mission scores. The save mechanic ensures that both original and unlocked game content will be available to all users. Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision…”


“There was no intention of lessening the experience of the game. Essentially, RE Mercs was treated like an arcade fighting game. You unlock characters, levels, etc and they just stay unlocked as they would in an arcade machine. There was no hidden motive to prevent buying used copies. It’s not some secret form of DRM. It’s simply the way we designed the save system to work with the arcade type of gameplay.

Capcom has owned up to it and promised there won't be anymore weird and stupid save systems like this one again.

A save file that cannot be deleted?

Even Gamestop cares for Operation Rainfall

From GoNintendo, multiple posters a Gamestop manager put up on his store in support of localizing great Wii games. Support the cause!

Even Gamestop cares for Operation Rainfall

Operation Rainfall denied!

A week ago, a massive operation was started by North American Nintendo fans, clamoring for the localization of Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, all of which have been released in Japan and Xenoblade going to Europe. Pre-orders were placed on Amazon for an imaginary copy of Xenoblade (called Monado in US), and Nintendo's Facebook page, email inboxes, and Youtube profile were plastered with comments by eager Nintendo fans. Of course that sort of thing would gain attention. and this was Nintendo's reply to everyone's enthusiasm.

It's not a resounding 'no', but we're all pretty sure those three games will never be localized anyway. Which doesn't make any sense- effort has already been made to translate Xenoblade into English and they're not releasing it for US Wiis? What's keeping them from doing so? All three are quality games, why keep your fans from being able to play it? Region locking your consoles only adds fuel to the fire. Oh, but Skyward Sword and Kirby are coming out? Not enough Nintendo, considering the timeframe between now and the release of the Wii U, not nearly enough. Mario Party 9 and Wii Play Motion? Which serious gamers are going to buy those jokes for games now, five years after the initial hype?

Now the same people are mass-posting comments of protest all over Nintendo's Facebook, and a lot of threatened boycott. Way to treat your loyal fanbase, Nintendo. You were never great at listening to the gamers' voices but this is just unacceptable. My faith in humanity has dropped.

Operation Rainfall denied!

Sakurai: Why Smash Bros 4 is dual-platform

'Project Sora had intended to make a 3DS Smash Bros. once it had finished up a game on the system and had gotten used to the hardware's feature set. With the advent of the Wii U, though, we had a choice to make. Iwata asked us if wanted to make the next Smash Bros. on the Wii U or 3DS, and my thought was that we had to go on both platforms.

If we went solely for the Wii U, the HD graphics would really bump up the visual effects, but then we'd be stuck in another arms race. If we made this game another extension over previous one, we'd have to cut out the new things we could possibly do on the 3DS hardware and compete with ourselves again over the size of the character roster and the amount of gameplay we can put it. It wouldn't be a fruitful competition, but doing something completely new would be difficult for many reasons, not least of which that the gamers may not be satisfied with it. That's why we decided to think about ways to link the personal connection one has with his portable system to the gather-around-and-play aspect of console systems.'

From GoNintendo.

What could be done on the 3DS that can't be done on Wii U other than 3D graphics? If anything it should be the other way around since 3DS carts have much less storage.

Sakurai: Why Smash Bros 4 is dual-platform

Kirby TV Channel

With all the fuss surrounding the Netflix services and TV channels coming to 3DS (in Japan, at least), it was really a nice surprise when this new channel was released for Europe. The Kirby TV Channel is exactly what it is, a channel for streaming episodes of the Kirby anime, dubbed in English. Episodes will be available only on certain days, so if you're a fan of the show, you might not wanna miss them.

No word on a US release yet. The Kirby anime was pretty good however, and should be brought over to other regions to enjoy!

Kirby TV Channel