The Last Story, released on the Wii earlier this year, ended up being XSEED's most successful game ever. So it should come as no surprise that the publisher has gone back to the Operation Rainfall well and have announced that they’ll be bringing Pandora’s Tower to US shores this spring.
Pandora’s Tower is the last of the Operation Rainfall titles to finally be released in North America, a major win for the fan driven movement that’s likely asking itself “Now what?” since their initial mission has now been accomplished.
“It’s fantastic to be bringing such a highly-anticipated title like Pandora’s Tower to such a vocal fan base,” said Shinichi Suzuki, president and CEO of XSEED Games, in reference to the Operation Rainfall fan movement.
Developed by Ganbarion, Pandora’s Tower was labeled by many as the least likely of the Operation Rainfall titles to make it to US shores. The recent launch of the Wii U made it all the more unlikely that US gamers would ever get a chance to play the game without resorting to importing – a processes that is difficult due to Nintendo’s decision to region lock their systems and games.
Pandora’s Tower is a riff on the classic fairytale genre, complete with a maiden in distress. But this isn’t your ordinary Mario themed adventure. The twist is what makes this game stand out, as the protagonist, Aeron, must render the flesh from over a dozen monsters in order to free our maiden, Elena, of a particularly gruesome curse that sees her turning into a savage beast herself. Oh yeah, and time is against you!
No specific release date was given other than the general spring 2013 time frame, but rest assured that we’ll let you know more, including that release date, as soon as we get word.
XSEED Games Announces Pandora’s Tower for Spring 2013 ReleaseIs there actual evidence that these games came out due to Operation Rainfall? As much as I'm happy that they all got brought over I don't like the idea of internet whiners getting their way all the time.
Evidence? The internet knows not of what you speak.
I'm not so sure about Xenoblade, but I think XSEED is the kind of publisher that pays very close attention to what happens in social media.
I think it's a double edged sword. On one hand, I think what Operations Rainfall appears to have accomplished is a very good thing. Convincing publishers to release games in the US that we otherwise would never see is great for our industry. On the other hand, there's stuff like the Mass Effect ending.
I don't think this is a case of whiney gamers getting their way. The Last Story was XSEED's most successful release ever (which prompted a second running and a price drop), so it only makes business sense that they would target the only remaining Operation Rainfall release. After all, they don't have to spend any money on localization, just production and packaging. This seems like a win-win to me, more than "whiney gamers" getting their way in spite of good business practice.
In that sense, I think this has everything to do with Operation Rainfall. If Pandora's Tower wasn't one of the games in their campaign, people over here would never have heard of it (except a much smaller minority).
I really don't even see this as a "whiney gamer" thing. I think publishers looked at the market and believed there was nothing here for them, but gamers spoke out and attempted to prove, successfully I might add, that there was.
Another win for gamers. I hope it turns out to be successful.
When the whole Rainfall thing was in full swing, the vibe that I was getting was that these games were getting released in Europe and how dare Nintendo not release them in the States. It was a very entitled "do this because we say so" mentality, at least from where I was looking.
Obviously Xenoblade and Last Story did well, but they would have done well without the Rainfall movement. They're core games that are exclusive to a system that people love, released in a time when not much is being released for the Wii. They probably got a bit of a bump from collectors, sure. I just wonder how much an online petition really had with this.
I disagree that they would have done well without the movement. They represent a niche genre on a system that, while many people owned one, didn't have great software attachement rates.
Do you think Nintendo would have marketed those games? Would anyone besides the absolute hardest of the hard core have ever heard of those games? The movement spread the word and people became interested in games they otherwise would never have noticed. And the movement itself was handled very professionally - I didn't see many "nerd rage" comment threads like I did with Mass Effect 3's ending (not nearly that), nor even close to the discourse that came with DmC.
No, I think Operation Rainfall is the only reason these games came over. If Xenoblade didn't sell well enough to turn a profit, XSEED never would have brought The Last Story over (Nintendo certainly wasn't going to at that point), and if The Last Story wasn't as big a success as it was for XSEED, then Pandora's Tower never would have made it here.
Fact is, people asked for it, they received, and then they put their money where their mouth was. It's a win-win, but if not for that initial spark, none of this would have occurred. In a cynical world, where the entitled gamer bitches and moans over Dante's new hair color, files suits over Mass Effect 3's ending, and other nonsense, Operation Rainfall shows how a crowd supported movement can and should work.
Did these games sell to anyone but the hardest of the hardcore? It's not like Nintendo or XSEED did much marketing. I got the sense that the people who wanted these games already knew about them long before Operation Rainfall.
I definitely saw plenty of nerd rage type comments in regards to this little experiment. Not nearly the levels of of Mass Effect and DmC because as you said, these are niche games within a niche.
I'm not saying it's not great that these games got released here. I'm just hesitant to award all the praise to an internet petition movement. That gives them the victory. Victory leads to empowerment. Empowerment leads to entitlement. Entitlement leads to petitions. Petitions lead to me rolling my eyes.
Love The Last Story so far, I'm definately looking forward to Pandora's Tower.
