I haven't really made many blogs about what I've been playing lately so I thought i would post one sort of. Well anyways here's the games I've got this year so far.
Nintendo fans are no strangers to having localized versions of enticing Japanese fare dangled in front of them, with no real word of when, or even if the title will make its way over seas. The now infamous “Operation Rainfall” trio took quite some time and a heavy fan based push before even an announcement of localization was made - never mind an actual release date.
It’s pretty tough to own every console out there these days. Luckily for the average consumer, there are a lot of the same games available on PS3, Xbox 360, and now even Wii U. Each of these pieces of hardware also has its own unique set of releases; some of them are exclusive and others just feel like they belong to one console more than the others. Then there are the portable systems that offer distinctive experiences from each other in almost every game available. So, whether you feel inclined to take sides in the “Console War” or are happy to just play great games on great systems, we’ve picked the best experiences from 2012 on each platform.
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.
Click through for the biggest stories of the week of November 19:
I have always been a one-console guy. The cost of a second console has never been something I could justify, and I certainly was not going to afford Sony and Microsoft's High Definition money-vacuuming machines. With Twilight Princess looking pretty nice and the motion controls showing a lot of potential for interesting new gameplay ideas, getting a Wii in 2006 was a no-brainer.
I was a Nintendo fanboy as a kid, but then again, what child of the 80’s wasn’t? I obsessed over the secrets of Mario’s games, fought against the forces of evil with Mega Man, and had my first addicting RPG experience with the original Final Fantasy. I devoured each issue of Nintendo Power when it arrived at my house, and had a complete freak out when we got a Super Nintendo for Christmas one year. I fought with my cousin (who probably couldn’t care less) about why the SNES was superior to his Genesis, and had my mind blown by games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy III, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, and Donkey Kong Country.
I’ve been excited for The Last Story since I heard about it a few years back. Being helmed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the original Final Fantasy titles, and with work from the brilliant Nobou Uematsu, it seemed like a title that was destined to be great. Previous to the game’s launch, I expected a content rich, traditional JRPG with an epic story and addictive gameplay. After completing the game, I can say that I enjoyed the game a lot, but it didn’t exactly live up to what I imagined it would be.
In just a few months, Nintendo's Wii U will push aside the Wii from store shelves, its memory will begin to fade from our gaming consciousness, and that little blue light will shine no more. With one last epic RPG The Last Story coming out this week, it's not a bad way to die.
If you’ve been anticipating the arrival of The Last Story in North America, rejoice! Publisher Xseed announced yesterday that the final, official release date for Mistwalker’s Wii RPG is August 14, 2012, and also revealed some additional bonuses for those who preorder the game at participating retailers.
Each and every year E3 brings about the biggest gaming announcements of the year and this year appears to be no exception. With the Wii U coming later this year, the 3DS and Vita picking up steam, and the next generation looming on the horizon, we're surely going to see some megatons dropped. But what will they be?
It’s been a long time since anyone has heard from the Fatal Frame series. The game debuted on the PlayStation 2 in 2001, and the series became a cult hit amongst horror fans. The fourth game was developed exclusively for the Wii by Grasshopper Manufacture in 2008, but was never translated from Japanese. A remake of the second game, Crimson Butterfly, is in the works for the Wii, but until now there had been no word of the game seeing a release outside of its native country.
Today Xenoblade Chronicles is available for purchase in the US thanks, in part, to Operation Rainfall. To mark the occasion, a few members of the PixlBit staff began a dialogue concerning the future of the movement and if it’s at all possible that Operation Rainfall could revive the west’s love for the Japanese RPG.
This morning, Nintendo had its Nintendo Direct video presentation and several announcements were made. Top among them was the announcement that The Last Story, one of the titles targeted by the Operation Rainfall movement, will be coming to North America this year courtesy of XSEED Games. The Last Story is the latest, and perhaps last, RPG developed by Mistwalker head and creator of the Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi.
We’ve reported on some sad news in the video game industry as of late. From massive layoffs to full-on studio closures, the past couple months have been pretty rough for some game makers. Thankfully, it’s not all bad news, and we can report today that at least one of those stories has a bit of a happy development. You may remember our report not too long ago about the studio closure of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developer GSC Game World. Well, it seems like that’s not entirely the case, after all.
Last Friday, Nintendo of America announced that the Nintendo faithful and loyal supports of Operation Rainfall would be granted one of their longstanding wishes with the stateside release of heralded RPG Xenoblade Chronicles this upcoming April. The news came at a precarious time for Nintendo. With Skyward Sword having been released this past month, Nintendo’s upcoming release schedule was looking just a little more than barren.
In a recent interview President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Amie said that he believed that “there certainly will be more games launched for the Wii.” Adding, “We believe there are still millions more systems to be sold.” While most gamers and journalist blew this comment off as pandering PR speak it seems that there was some truth to those words as we can now confirm that Nintendo will be bringing the long awaited Xenoblade Chronicles to North America this upcoming April.
Much to the chagrin of North American Wii fans, Nintendo of America neglected to announce release dates for some key titles published by Nintendo in Japan. Ahead of the show, however, Europe was given news that Xenoblade Chronicles would see release in the region, courtesy of Nintendo of Europe. In a surprise, informal announcement, The Last Story was confirmed for release in Europe in 2012 by Ludovic Amouroux, product manager of Nintendo France.
E3 2011 appears to have crept up on us once again. Just as we did last year, the staff has come together to provide predictions for the coming show. This year, unlike last year, most of the show is a huge question mark.
Last night, Nintendo held their Fall Summit for 2010 and revealed quite a bit of news regarding their upcoming products, while introducing a number of new titles.
Here on the east coast of America, things just kicked off at 1AM in Japan. The conference is set to cover current Nintendo news, including the 3DS.
