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Best Buy: Xenoblade WiiU. X? or it's Reyn time on HD?

J

JDSN

Banned
Its one of the few games that deserve a re-release, it was sent to die on a barren console, limited quantities, attached to a studio team that will make future WiiU games and a loyal fanbase. Its also pretty and from what ive heard its a good game, it could help creating a RPG userbase on the WiiU in preparating for X.
 
H

Hero

Member
I would lean more towards Xenoblade Chronicles HD being reasonable than X having a placeholder date when it's 99% not likely going to come out this year, even in Japan.

It would be an easy, cheap and quick way to release something high-profile on the Wii U which is really fucking barren.

I am also expecting a Nintendo Direct towards the end of the month since not only is the quarter ending but Nintendo's fiscal year and they have jack shit for the next few months outside of the VC monthly offerings. Pikmin 3 better be May worldwide.

Also Splinter Cell Blackist is coming to Wii U.
 
B

B.K.

Member
I really doubt it's a HD port of the first Xenoblade. Who would even work on it? Takahashi's team is busy with the new game.
 
E

Elfforkusu

Member
Hero said:
I would lean more towards Xenoblade Chronicles HD being reasonable than X having a placeholder date when it's 99% not likely going to come out this year, even in Japan.

It would be an easy, cheap and quick way to release something high-profile on the Wii U which is really fucking barren.

I am also expecting a Nintendo Direct towards the end of the month since not only is the quarter ending but Nintendo's fiscal year and they have jack shit for the next few months outside of the VC monthly offerings. Pikmin 3 better be May worldwide.

Also Splinter Cell Blackist is coming to Wii U.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's hard to imagine X coming out even in 2014 in the US, because NoA.

Xenoblade has been localized already, so while this still seems ridiculous, it's at least plausible.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
The biggest question I have is why would these websites already have a placeholder?
I've never heard of Nintendo anything being leaked like this on retailer sites to often.
So like it was said earlier it seems like this would be aiming at a reveal sometime this month.
Would nintendo announce anything at PAX? Or perhaps hold a nintendo direct the day before with the game on the floor? Are they even going to PAX?
 
B

block tower

Member
has anyone just called their local best buy or walmart to find out which game the placeholder is for? i feel like that could put speculation to rest.
 
M

Mentallyerect

Neo Member
I actually think this could be a hd remaster. If these people responsible for these listings were as clueless as many claim then wouldn't they not even know of the connection between X and xenoblade? Xenoblade is already a very nitch title only the hardcore are aware of. Some non gamer worker responsible for putting these listing ups wouldn't have any idea about any of this. If they needed a placeholder for X, why couldn't they simply use the title "X" like they usually do with every other anounced game? Just go with the tentative title. Using the title Xenoblade WiiU will just mislead customers who also might not know the connection between the two games.

All in all, I think this could be the real deal. Given the barren wasteland that is the WiiU software and release schedule, I can see Nintendo pulling the trigger on this as a quick release to fill in the gaps for the time being. If Mono developed this game with higher res assests during developement and just downsampled everything to Wii's output (don't qoute me on this, taking a complete shot in the dark with this assumption as I've heard somewhere that developers sometimes do this) then maybe it wouldn't take another smaller company to much time to push out an HD version for WiiU. What does everyone think ? (specially those of you with more industry knowledge) How long would it take to put out an HD version of this and not of the Wind Waker remaking type, just a straight HD port?
 
D

Darryl

Banned
Mentallyerect said:
I actually think this could be a hd remaster. If these people responsible for these listings were as clueless as many claim then wouldn't they not even know of the connection between X and xenoblade? Xenoblade is already a very nitch title only the hardcore are aware of. Some non gamer worker responsible for putting these listing ups wouldn't have any idea about any of this. If they needed a placeholder for X, why couldn't they simply use the title "X" like they usually do with every other anounced game? Just go with the tentative title. Using the title Xenoblade WiiU will just mislead customers who also might not know the connection between the two games.
Click to expand...

we don't know if X is actually going to be called X, or if that itself is just a placeholder for Xenoblade II to drive discussion.
 
B

block tower

Member
Mihael Mello Keehl said:
I doubt the people answering phones would know anything. Thats just what they see in the computer.
Click to expand...

i realize that, but someone in charge answering the phones at these stores has to be able to get in contact with someone from best buy or walmart corporate or some internal store service number, to be able to clarify and let us know what we might be pre-ordering. ill give it a try tmrrw.
 
M

Minions

Member
I'd lean toward a HD release.... except the fact that X has disappeared off of Bestbuys website and Xenoblade (Wii U) showed up... so I'm not getting my hopes up at all. Don't see why they would de-list an announced game to add a unannounced one.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
block tower said:
i realize that, but someone in charge answering the phones at these stores has to be able to get in contact with someone from best buy or walmart corporate or some internal store service number, to be able to clarify and let us know what we might be pre-ordering. ill give it a try tmrrw.
Click to expand...

Best Buy will tell you to call 1-800-Bestbuy.

Wallmart..... will probably also tell you to call 1-800-Bestbuy.
 
M

Mentallyerect

Neo Member
Minions said:
I'd lean toward a HD release.... except the fact that X has disappeared off of Bestbuys website and Xenoblade (Wii U) showed up... so I'm not getting my hopes up at all. Don't see why they would de-list an announced game to add a unannounced one.
Click to expand...

Could they have recieved word from Nintendo or whoever else they get info from that X will not be releasing anytime this year so preorders shouldn't really be up and that a Xenoblade HD version will be sometime within the next 6 months?

I just find it strange that they don't all just use the tentative title "X" for preorders. The only people that know X is related to Xenoblade are us serious gamers that frequent these online forums. How would these people putting these listings up know that is the case unless they all happen to be "hardcore" gamers or they are being told by someone "in the know".
 
M

Mihael Mello Keehl

Banned
block tower said:
i realize that, but someone in charge answering the phones at these stores has to be able to get in contact with someone from best buy or walmart corporate or some internal store service number, to be able to clarify and let us know what we might be pre-ordering. ill give it a try tmrrw.
Click to expand...
You can try but even those higher up people wouldnt even know.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
Hoodbury said:
Best Buy list's the game as Xenoblade now, not X. Doesn't say Xenoblade HD though, just Xenoblade.
Click to expand...

Well I doubt they'd call it Xenoblade HD...

But look at Yarn Yoshi, that was listed at Best Buy and Futureshop as Yoshi's Land, might've been a working title (a prior one anyway).

Xenoblade hell is called Xenoblade Chronicles in NA and EU, so it's already short.

They might end up with a subtitle (HD Ver.? :p), wonder what Wind Waker might be called?

Also, would Monolith do the port, or perhaps maybe even 1-UP Studio? Which still houses a SE employee or two (it was founded by two Square folks, one just left and formed Brownies).

Monolith I think can surely do the port, as said, it shouldn't take much, but who said Takahashi can't take a bit of time for supervision and perhaps come up with any extras?
 
I

ido

Member
I'm torn between what I want it to be.

On the one hand, a true HD upgrade to Xenoblade would be godfucking amazing. But I really, really, really want to play X after that teaser reveal.

Basically, I just want more info. Nintendo, please give me more info soon. It's been too goddamn long now, I want to see more.
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
ido said:
I'm torn between what I want it to be.

On the one hand, a true HD upgrade to Xenoblade would be godfucking amazing. But I really, really, really want to play X after that teaser reveal.
Click to expand...
Being the former wouldn't really preclude the latter. Presumably it'd be a different, smaller team doing the port.
 
D

Def Jukie

Member
I hope this is just a reprint of Xenoblade Chronicles. I personally have had enough of the HD ports. I would like Nintendo to focus on new games for Wii U. Wind Waker HD is one thing, that game is 10 years old and the new Zelda is going to be a ways off. Xenoblade just came out in North America less than a year ago. Nintendo just needs to press up some more discs so people can actually buy it for a reasonable price.
 
R

Rebel Leader

THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
Def Jukie said:
I hope this is just a reprint of Xenoblade Chronicles. I personally have had enough of the HD ports. I would like Nintendo to focus on new games for Wii U. Wind Waker HD is one thing, that game is 10 years old and the new Zelda is going to be a ways off. Xenoblade just came out in North America less than a year ago. Nintendo just needs to press up some more discs so people can actually buy it for a reasonable price.
Click to expand...

b-b-b-but... HD T_T

I know I'm being a hypocrite about this because I kept saying how it was fine the way it is, but I would love to play it with sharper graphics.

I did try to mod the wii but I ran into a problem and never attempted it agian.
 
Zenaku

Zenaku

Member
B.K. said:
I really doubt it's a HD port of the first Xenoblade. Who would even work on it? Takahashi's team is busy with the new game.
Click to expand...

Xenoblade began development early 2007, just before the studio was bought by Nintendo. Takahashi worked on Xenoblade and Soma Bringer simultaneously until SB was released. With X likely being near (if not already in) debugging (Xenoblades last 7-8 months of development was mostly debugging) , Takahashi shouldn't have any trouble working on a simple HD upgrade alongside finishing X.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Zenaku said:
Xenoblade began development early 2007, just before the studio was bought by Nintendo. Takahashi worked on Xenoblade and Soma Bringer simultaneously until SB was released. With X likely being near (if not already in) debugging (Xenoblades last 7-8 months of development was mostly debugging) , Takahashi shouldn't have any trouble working on a simple HD upgrade alongside finishing X.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought, because if the Xenoblade announcement is any indication X could be that close. That announcement trailer was at E3 (sort of), right around a year before the Japanese release.

A lot of things were changed between that trailer and the final game, that trailer didn't even have art icons, the UI was completely redone, character models were totally reworked, and some enemies were changed (or removed), and that's just based on what we saw in the trailer.

Point being, X looks further along than Xenoblade did at it's first reveal. That, or they just polished it up a bit more for the trailer (like temporary icons instead of the placeholder dev ones).

Of course, if there were an HD version of Xenoblade, I still doubt they would change anything. Just port it and run it in higher res. They could probably outsource that pretty cheaply and have their internal staff working on something new.
 
Zenaku

Zenaku

Member
chaosblade said:
That's an interesting thought, because if the Xenoblade announcement is any indication X could be that close. That announcement trailer was at E3 (sort of), right around a year before the Japanese release.

A lot of things were changed between that trailer and the final game, that trailer didn't even have art icons, the UI was completely redone, character models were totally reworked, and some enemies were changed (or removed), and that's just based on what we saw in the trailer.

Point being, X looks further along than Xenoblade did at it's first reveal. That, or they just polished it up a bit more for the trailer (like temporary icons instead of the placeholder dev ones).

Of course, if there were an HD version of Xenoblade, I still doubt they would change anything. Just port it and run it in higher res. They could probably outsource that pretty cheaply and have their internal staff working on something new.
Click to expand...

My entire point right there. Xenoblade apparently entered debugging around October, so the changes were all finished within a few months. Some systems (such as the Spike Down status) were added during debugging for the sake of balancing (which is why debugging took so long) but the main game should've been finished within those few months after E3. X should be very close to completion.

They could always do more for a Xenoblade port without much effort though, I'd say. The Japanese version was all fit onto a single layered disc, and probably had a few concessions for it. They could use higher quality music, textures and character models without much work. I doubt Takahashi would want anyone else making changes/upgrades to Xenoblade though; he'd do it himself.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I seriously doubt Nintendo is positioning this game in a way that it would get a simultaneous release, or even near-simultaneous. Can't see it coming this year in English, maybe for Japan though.
 
M

Mileena

Banned
Fingers crossed for this. Tried playing through Wii mode and it looked so bad it hurt my eyes. We need games Nintendo come on! I'll even trade Wind Walker HD for it.
 
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