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[Shiggy]

The hilarious thing is, the market for RPGs in Europe is basically thinner still than in North America, unless they're somehow producing a quintalingual version to cover English, French, Spanish, German and Italian at the same time. Releasing it in Europe but not NA is daft.

I do wonder if we'll never see Last Story, though. Xenoblade, who knows, such a mess at this point. But Last Story is a Mistwalker joint, and Sakaguchi maintains things like a Twitter where he gets a lot of English-language comments, and he knows how high the demand for LS is overseas and how much money Mistwalker could stand to make on such a deal in NA. If NCL fails to deliver, they're going to risk pissing off The Gooch, and with an ever-increasing number of third party developers moving away from Nintendo platforms in Japan I don't think they're going to want to risk alienating one of their remaining aces in the hole.

Who knows what might happen, though. We've seen worse decisions made in the past.

Why would that happen? NoA/NoE didn't release ASH, another Mistwalker title.

 

[wrowa]

they showed me how much they care by region locking the 3DS that's a whole new level of care, i'm so happy.

Oh no, that isn't Nintendo's fault, it was requested by 3rd parties!

You know, the same 3rd parties that are fine with a region-free PS Vita.

I do wonder if we'll never see Last Story, though. Xenoblade, who knows, such a mess at this point. But Last Story is a Mistwalker joint, and Sakaguchi maintains things like a Twitter where he gets a lot of English-language comments, and he knows how high the demand for LS is overseas and how much money Mistwalker could stand to make on such a deal in NA. If NCL fails to deliver, they're going to risk pissing off The Gooch, and with an ever-increasing number of third party developers moving away from Nintendo platforms in Japan I don't think they're going to want to risk alienating one of their remaining aces in the hole.

As far as I know, Sakaguchi was in France some weeks ago and confirmed at some event that Last Story is planned for an English release. So if it shouldn't happen, we can count on him being angry as shit.

Though, as bad as Nintendo is pushing the joints with smaller developers, it seems as if these developers are still rather satisfied with Nintendo's support. Nintendo isn't pushing those games much, but it seems like it doesn't matter to Nintendo that those games are bombing. All of these Wii games for a niche audience flopped on the Wii, but Nintendo continues doing those joints still. Sakaguchi himself reported that Nintendo gave him all the time he needed for Last Story and that it was tested for a long period of time. It's like Nintendo are happily funding games even though they know that they'll just end up being money thrown out of the window.

That's especially crazy since in America Nintendo is afraid of making even the slightes loss with a game.

 

[MicH]

Has any releasewindow been determined? Really looking forward to it.

 

[CruxisMana]

Has any releasewindow been determined? Really looking forward to it.

September.

 

[MicH]

So soon! Great. Seems like the Wii has a teeny tiny bit of life left in it.

 

[Mockingbird]

I think because it's Sakaguchi and the character designs for The Last Story can be seen as Final Fantasy-esque, there is a greater chance of it being published in North america. The game is pretty good. I spent 30 hours online and 30 hours offline, so I definitely got my money's worth. To be honest I'm not too surprised that the game did not show up at E3. Xenoblade, however, was basically our third to last chance for the game. The next chance would be Comic-con, and then if it doesn't show up at the conference in October, it won't be coming.

 

[Dr_Peace]

WOOOOOOO

First post on Neogaf, and I'm going to dedicate it to talking up Xenoblade and bitching about Nintendo of America.


Baten Kaitos is one of my favourite JRPG's. Disaster: Day of Crisis was tons of fun, and Xenoblade literally looks like the saviour of the JRPG. Everything I've seen and read is amazing, it's radically progressive and yet comforting.

When the game finally comes out in the UK (over a year late but whatever...) I'll rush out to get it without fail and love it in mysterious ways.



Now onto NOA...


I think Reggie should be held to account for not bringing these games out, it's his job to represent Nintendo in North America and he's doing a rubbish job.

This isn't even about a sense of entitlement (even though Reggie is failing at his job, we clearly aren't getting the Nintendo games we should have by now), it's just the ridiculous sense of ill will.

Reggie is making Nintendo LOOK BAD. VERY BAD.



Reggie came out and expressed disappointment that the third parties never took the Wii seriously and it doesn't have the output of games the HD consoles do, and the Wii U is no doubt designed to get those games.

Where is the actual action to back it up?



NEWSFLASH REGGIE.

Call of Duty is NOT a 'hardcore' game, it is a dudebro game. A dudebro game is basically a casual focused game with an emphasis on 'manly' material like SPORTS and SHOOTAN.

Do you know what IS a hardcore game? That would be an 80+ hour JRPG with ridiculous depth like Xenoblade!!!

I mean... come on. You have the winning cards right in your hand and you won't play them.

These two JRPG's are EXACTLY what Nintendo needed to clean up the Wii's horrible image problem. The JRPG genre is in a bad state, and Nintendo have arguable the two BEST JRPG's of the generation.

Nintendo have freaking Fatal Frame. HOW can you possibly get any darker than Fatal Frame?

These are mature games, and not PEW PEW mature but actually complex content.



These games WOULD make a profit, NOA would literally have to do nothing but print disks seeing as NOE already paid the localization bill. If they think the game will bomb and just throw it out without fanfare, then it probably will. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. This is why third parties in general suck on the Wii, because everything they put out is half hearted (if not insultingly bad) and wouldn't sell no matter what the platform.

These games are money in the bank, just maybe not enough to buy Reggie a new house...



Then you have Iwata and Miyamoto coming over and being greeted to jaded ignorant 'journalists' who think Nintendo have nothing to offer. This is ALL Reggie's fault for perpetuating this dumb idea. Miyamoto deserves BETTER than this.


Also... Monolith Soft are artists that pour everything they have into their games, Nintendo bought them (which was genious) and the western arms of Nintendo are treating them like CRAP. Why buy them and then sweep their work under the rug? They deserve BETTER than this.


Reggie is making my Nintendo look like crap (and no matter how much I love Nintendo it's always a downer reading the negative crap), and I'm gonna keep blaming him until it's proven it's not his fault .

 

[[Nintex]]

WOOOOOOO

First post on Neogaf, and I'm going to dedicate it to talking up Xenoblade and bitching about Nintendo of America.


Baten Kaitos is one of my favourite JRPG's. Disaster: Day of Crisis was tons of fun, and Xenoblade literally looks like the saviour of the JRPG. Everything I've seen and read is amazing, it's radically progressive and yet comforting.

When the game finally comes out in the UK (over a year late but whatever...) I'll rush out to get it without fail and love it in mysterious ways.



Now onto NOA...


I think Reggie should be held to account for not bringing these games out, it's his job to represent Nintendo in North America and he's doing a rubbish job.

This isn't even about a sense of entitlement (even though Reggie is failing at his job, we clearly aren't getting the Nintendo games we should have by now), it's just the ridiculous sense of ill will.

Reggie is making Nintendo LOOK BAD. VERY BAD.



Reggie came out and expressed disappointment that the third parties never took the Wii seriously and it doesn't have the output of games the HD consoles do, and the Wii U is no doubt designed to get those games.

Where is the actual action to back it up?



NEWSFLASH REGGIE.

Call of Duty is NOT a 'hardcore' game, it is a dudebro game. A dudebro game is basically a casual focused game with an emphasis on 'manly' material like SPORTS and SHOOTAN.

Do you know what IS a hardcore game? That would be an 80+ hour JRPG with ridiculous depth like Xenoblade!!!

I mean... come on. You have the winning cards right in your hand and you won't play them.

These two JRPG's are EXACTLY what Nintendo needed to clean up the Wii's horrible image problem. The JRPG genre is in a bad state, and Nintendo have arguable the two BEST JRPG's of the generation.

Nintendo have freaking Fatal Frame. HOW can you possibly get any darker than Fatal Frame?

These are mature games, and not PEW PEW mature but actually complex content.



These games WOULD make a profit, NOA would literally have to do nothing but print disks seeing as NOE already paid the localization bill. If they think the game will bomb and just throw it out without fanfare, then it probably will. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. This is why third parties in general suck on the Wii, because everything they put out is half hearted (if not insultingly bad) and wouldn't sell no matter what the platform.

These games are money in the bank, just maybe not enough to buy Reggie a new house...



Then you have Iwata and Miyamoto coming over and being greeted to jaded ignorant 'journalists' who think Nintendo have nothing to offer. This is ALL Reggie's fault for perpetuating this dumb idea. Miyamoto deserves BETTER than this.


Also... Monolith Soft are artists that pour everything they have into their games, Nintendo bought them (which was genious) and the western arms of Nintendo are treating them like CRAP. Why buy them and then sweep their work under the rug? They deserve BETTER than this.


Reggie is making my Nintendo look like crap (and no matter how much I love Nintendo it's always a downer reading the negative crap), and I'm gonna keep blaming him until it's proven it's not his fault .

NCL decides everything.

 

[Dr_Peace]

NCL decides everything.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but you were being a bit blunt so I'm gonna say no.

Is there any real evidence of this?

It makes even less sense for a JRPG like Xenoblade to come out in Europe if that's the case, how is it that Europe is allowed to localize and bring out the game and America isn't?

The whole point of NOA and NOE is that NCL and Iwata doesn't need to kill himself managing the world world. They represent Nintendo in their respective regions.

No, this is Reggie acting like an giant ass. He hated on Disaster and turned it away, and nows he's gone utterly insane ignoring these beauties.

 

[OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather]

Everything about Reggie rubs me the wrong way. I think he's a large part of why I dislike Nintendo these days.

 

[Father_Brain]

The hilarious thing is, the market for RPGs in Europe is basically thinner still than in North America, unless they're somehow producing a quintalingual version to cover English, French, Spanish, German and Italian at the same time. Releasing it in Europe but not NA is daft.

Yeah, the thing I'm still not getting is that NoE was able to greenlight a full voice localization. There are a tiny handful of JRPGs that were released in the PAL territories but not the US (most prominently Terranigma), but that kind of budget is completely unprecedented for a PAL-only release. Is NOE just more willing to take massive losses, or was the localization greenlit on the assumption that NOA would be publishing it?

 

[Warrior_Keoni]

I seriously wonder why sometimes these games companies don't bother having social media coordinators to at least listen and compile information. NeoGAF is known as a gamer's haven to get reviews, opinions, and much more out of here.

Even though I "liked" Nintendo on Facebook, the page is nothing newsworthy. And if they're concerned about acquiring the hardcore gamers back, Nintendo should at least "evolve" their ways of attracting gamers by listening to the core audience more often. This as many of us know is just laughable.

Sadly with no word on great-looking games like Xenoblade, it's no wonder fans have looked elsewhere for games.

 

[Shiggy]

Yeah, the thing I'm still not getting is that NoE was able to greenlight a full voice localization. There are a tiny handful of JRPGs that were released in the PAL territories but not the US (most prominently Terranigma), but that kind of budget is completely unprecedented for a PAL-only release. Is NOE just more willing to take massive losses, or was the localization greenlit on the assumption that NOA would be publishing it?

I don't know. Could it relate to the weak dollar somehow?
It's evident that NoA concentrates on the main series (Mario, Zelda, Kirby and so on) and releases no games with huge risks and much localisation work.

 

[[Nintex]]

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but you were being a bit blunt so I'm gonna say no.

Is there any real evidence of this?

It makes even less sense for a JRPG like Xenoblade to come out in Europe if that's the case, how is it that Europe is allowed to localize and bring out the game and America isn't?

The whole point of NOA and NOE is that NCL and Iwata doesn't need to kill himself managing the world world. They represent Nintendo in their respective regions.

No, this is Reggie acting like an giant ass. He hated on Disaster and turned it away, and nows he's gone utterly insane ignoring these beauties.

NCL decides everything. That was obvious when NoE said: "No new DS model coming" and Iwata announced the DS Lite like 8 hours later. Sure, Iwata doesn't run all of NOA himself he has people who do that but they still decide which games are published in what region. Sure they're open to suggestions and NOA can push certain titles but NCL always has the final say so Reggie doesn't turn into the next Lincoln/Arakawa. After the N64 days NCL cut off NOA's balls.

 

[mclem]

Yeah, the thing I'm still not getting is that NoE was able to greenlight a full voice localization. There are a tiny handful of JRPGs that were released in the PAL territories but not the US (most prominently Terranigma), but that kind of budget is completely unprecedented for a PAL-only release. Is NOE just more willing to take massive losses, or was the localization greenlit on the assumption that NOA would be publishing it?

From being in Europe and interested in imports at the time we didn't get Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, I should say that the reason PAL territories got the tiny handful of RPGs was precisely because they didn't do well enough for America; I had the perception - accurate or otherwise - that European tastes (definitely my own) were closer to the Japanese style than American tastes were, and so I felt the games would do better over here - but I thought we didn't ever get them because the US releases had critical acclaim but average sales.

Now, I have to admit, I was young and naive, and that may well have been a self-important stance rather than one actually born out of reality (In particular, I didn't actually have any sales figures to work from!), but it did - to my eyes at the time - seem to be held up by how things actually worked out.

 

[[Nintex]]

From being in Europe and interested in imports at the time we didn't get Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, I should say that the reason PAL territories got the tiny handful of RPGs was precisely because they didn't do well enough for America; I had the perception - accurate or otherwise - that European tastes (definitely my own) were closer to the Japanese style than American tastes were, and so I felt the games would do better over here - but I thought we didn't ever get them because the US releases had critical acclaim but average sales.

Now, I have to admit, I was young and naive, and that may well have been a self-important stance rather than one actually born out of reality (In particular, I didn't actually have any sales figures to work from!), but it did - to my eyes at the time - seem to be held up by how things actually worked out.

Series like Tales have gotten bigger in Europe over time and they pushed Dragon Quest too. RPG's usually do pretty well in France, Spain, Benelux and some did ok in the UK.

 

[mclem]

Yeah, I'm talking from an early-'90s standpoint.

My point being: I'm not sure if you can reasonably conclude that a lower quantity of titles being released over here *necessarily* means less interest.

 

[michaeltraps]

Yeah, looks like this will be the first Wii game I import. Now to research what voodoo magic is required for the game to run on my system...

 

[Effect]

NCL decides everything. That was obvious when NoE said: "No new DS model coming" and Iwata announced the DS Lite like 8 hours later. Sure, Iwata doesn't run all of NOA himself he has people who do that but they still decide which games are published in what region. Sure they're open to suggestions and NOA can push certain titles but NCL always has the final say so Reggie doesn't turn into the next Lincoln/Arakawa. After the N64 days NCL cut off NOA's balls.

I always figured NoA had more independence but guess that's wrong or as said they did but that change. So the change in NoE isn't them getting more freedom just NCL finally paying more attention to Europe in general while most likely paying less attention to North America. Which is just weird since NA is their biggest market. Oh well.

I just hope things change and it gets released, even if it's at the last minute. Don't even care if it's just the NoE version with the British English translation and voices. Hell the phone numbers on the manual could be the European numbers. Just so the damn game is converted for NA region. Hell I'd even settle for only being able to get by ordering from Nintendo.com's web site. Just so I don't have to screw with the system and worry about trying to import it.

 

[Jaxter09]

Heh. Its bizarre to think US people have to import an rpg from Europe for once.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Everything about Reggie rubs me the wrong way. I think he's a large part of why I dislike Nintendo these days.

Reggie was a good figure head for the beginning of this generation. Nintendo needed a stereotypically western face - and loud voice - to dissipate the stigma of being "that forgotten little company in Japan who makes Pokemon for kids".

But he is a joke that was allowed to overstay its welcome. He practices content-free marketing speak more than anyone in the game industry right now and his demeanor has become pretty insulting to the core gaming audience Nintendo claims they have to win back.

The problem, I would suspect, is not that Reggie is a big dumb mean man who laughs and says "these american nerds will never get RPGs again!" NCL does hold the reigns and make all decisions. However, Reggie is not the right person to be able to go back to NCL and tell them "Look, Sin & Punishment 2 is a niche game, it'll sell like Ikaruga every time that game was re-released. However publishers like Atlus have found success with traditional eastern RPGs, so The Last Story is a great bet."

 

[creid]

NCL decides everything. That was obvious when NoE said: "No new DS model coming" and Iwata announced the DS Lite like 8 hours later.

This does not follow logically at all. NoE would say that until an official announcement is ready. I'm sure if you asked Iwata 8 hours before they were planning to make the announcement, he would've said the same thing.

 

[charlequin]

I always figured NoA had more independence but guess that's wrong or as said they did but that change.

Don't listen to [Nintex] here. NCL does have lists of specific titles they require localization on (all the big ones, obviously, plus certain specific smaller titles that they insist on for whatever reason) but most of the other lineup is up to the individual branches. When you see a title like Last Window, Baten Kaitos Origins, etc. hit EU but not NA or vice versa, it's almost always because the regional branches had discretion on that title and made opposite choices.

 

[TheBanditKing]

Everything about Reggie rubs me the wrong way. I think he's a large part of why I dislike Nintendo these days.

At least I'm not the only one. This guy has gotten on my nerves since he showed up, I hate the way he presents things and speaks during interviews and especially when giving a presentation. You know because what if Nintendo was online and you just didn't know it....I can honestly say its his DH attitude toward gaming in general that has made my opinion of Nintendo drop. If it were not for Iwata (his GDC speech improved my opinion a bit) and Miyamoto I would completely wash my hands of Nintendo.

 

[Shiggy]

Don't listen to [Nintex] here. NCL does have lists of specific titles they require localization on (all the big ones, obviously, plus certain specific smaller titles that they insist on for whatever reason) but most of the other lineup is up to the individual branches. When you see a title like Last Window, Baten Kaitos Origins, etc. hit EU but not NA or vice versa, it's almost always because the regional branches had discretion on that title and made opposite choices.

Not always, I think. For Super Mario Sluggers NoE didn't have much of a choice. The same holds probably true for Inazuma Eleven in the US.

 

[Dr_Peace]

NCL decides everything. That was obvious when NoE said: "No new DS model coming" and Iwata announced the DS Lite like 8 hours later. Sure, Iwata doesn't run all of NOA himself he has people who do that but they still decide which games are published in what region. Sure they're open to suggestions and NOA can push certain titles but NCL always has the final say so Reggie doesn't turn into the next Lincoln/Arakawa. After the N64 days NCL cut off NOA's balls.

Sorry but I just don't buy it.

Don't listen to [Nintex] here. NCL does have lists of specific titles they require localization on (all the big ones, obviously, plus certain specific smaller titles that they insist on for whatever reason) but most of the other lineup is up to the individual branches. When you see a title like Last Window, Baten Kaitos Origins, etc. hit EU but not NA or vice versa, it's almost always because the regional branches had discretion on that title and made opposite choices.

This is my train of thought.

Obviously Reggie is not going to be able to announce a brand new console or console revision, that's BIG news. Iwata is the boss and he speaks for all of Nintendo.

However Reggie and NOA represent Nintendo's presence in North America, it's their job to handle shipments, localize games, get games printed, get them out to retailers, market them (fat chance), handle the press etc...


Clearly Reggie does not know jack shit about games, and will barely bother with bringing over interesting games unless NCL mandates it.


Unfortunatly Nintendo of Europe barely even have any real visible presence (but they got Xenoblade late or not so deserve some respect), so Reggie BASICALLY represents Nintendo for the whole of the western market.


Reggie just fails, he can't even ride coattails properly...

 

[ShockingAlberto]

NCL decides everything. That was obvious when NoE said: "No new DS model coming" and Iwata announced the DS Lite like 8 hours later. Sure, Iwata doesn't run all of NOA himself he has people who do that but they still decide which games are published in what region. Sure they're open to suggestions and NOA can push certain titles but NCL always has the final say so Reggie doesn't turn into the next Lincoln/Arakawa. After the N64 days NCL cut off NOA's balls.

In terms of hardware announcements, yes, you're right, NOE does not get to go off half-cocked and announce new systems.

In terms of specific regional localizations, that is not true at all. NCL sometimes mandates games for release in all regions, but these are usually games that those branches would be happy to bring over, anyway. Offhand, Rhythm Tengoku Gold was a mandated release due to how well it sold in Japan. The rest of the time, it is up to those branches to decide on individual localizations on a case by case basis.

 

[faridmon]

NCL does not decide localisation overseas sitauations. If they did, they would have brough Xenoblade to America as well since it does not makes sense to translate a whole game for only one continent. I mean, business wise, why would they run away from free money since the localisation is done by NoE? only NoA would do so, but NCL likes money.

 

[SpaceDrake]

Why would that happen? NoA/NoE didn't release ASH, another Mistwalker title.

Trick is, ASH was something of a budget title for Mistwalker (and tbh wasn't that good). Last Story is pretty much their biggest title ever, had a ton of money sunk into it and it's reviewed very well in Japan. It has all the makings of at least a minor hit outside of the country, and that translates into further profits, wider recognition and a better bottom line for Mistwalker. If NoA, and by extension NCL, deny Mistwalker this, The Gooch (and the rest of the Mistwalker executive team) is going to be Kinda Pissed at Nintendo... at a time when Nintendo's rivals are courting developers like mad.

 

[charlequin]

Not always, I think. For Super Mario Sluggers NoE didn't have much of a choice. The same holds probably true for Inazuma Eleven in the US.

Yeah, I did stick that weasely "almost" in there on purpose. Regional games are a good example of the sort of thing where that wouldn't be true, but clearly RPGs are a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

 

[chaostrophy]

Trick is, ASH was something of a budget title for Mistwalker (and tbh wasn't that good). Last Story is pretty much their biggest title ever, had a ton of money sunk into it and it's reviewed very well in Japan.

I always thought Lost Odyssey was their biggest title...does Last Story really have the same or greater epic amount of content that LO had?

 

[nckillthegrimace]

NCL does not decide localisation overseas sitauations. If they did, they would have brough Xenoblade to America as well since it does not makes sense to translate a whole game for only one continent. I mean, business wise, why would they run away from free money since the localisation is done by NoE? only NoA would do so, but NCL likes money.

There's more cost involved beyond the actual translation; they would also have to pay for distribution and marketing. It's not a risk free proposition.

Still pisses me off, though.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

NCL decides everything. That was obvious when NoE said: "No new DS model coming" and Iwata announced the DS Lite like 8 hours later.

Just wanted to point out that that quote was from David Yarnton, head of Nintendo UK. Not really representative of NoE.

 

[jay]

Don't listen to [Nintex] here. NCL does have lists of specific titles they require localization on (all the big ones, obviously, plus certain specific smaller titles that they insist on for whatever reason) but most of the other lineup is up to the individual branches. When you see a title like Last Window, Baten Kaitos Origins, etc. hit EU but not NA or vice versa, it's almost always because the regional branches had discretion on that title and made opposite choices.

I was about to post that I had heard this was the truth and not what Nintex said. Good to see confirmation.

 

[Pyrokai]

I guess this means everyone has abandoned hope for a US release of Xenoblade?

I'm still going to hope they announce it sometime....maybe in the fall......I just can't lose hope.

This kind of shit really makes me sad. What the hell are they thinking? I don't deserve this. I give Nintendo SO MUCH of my money

 

[daffy]

September.

Didn't know this! Awesome.

I like the alternate boxart the fans chose, looks really nice. Can't wait to get this with French subtitles on my US Wii !! muahahaha

 

[Foffy]

Sorry but I just don't buy it.

Steel Diver is a recent example of this. NoA saw that the game just couldn't have the legs in consumers eyes to be a $40 retail game and asked NCL to make it a downloadable. NCL refused.

I'm not sure every decision is made with NCL overview, but I'm pretty certain it is when it comes to Nintendo-owned titles. Was it NoA or NCL that thought Starfy was too Japanese for western audiences?

 

[charlequin]

I'm not sure every decision is made with NCL overview, but I'm pretty certain it is when it comes to Nintendo-owned titles.

Again, there are titles that NCL mandates be released, and titles that they take a stronger hand in determining the fate of in the US and Europe, but it does not apply to anything close to all titles.

 

[John Harker]

I dunno, nintendo is still the big enigma, but every convo I've had with them, they are pretty much just a sales/consumer marketing/web management/localization branch. They don't tell NCL what to do. They just translate their message here.

Evidently they have more say in the NA network with 3DS/Wii U then they've had in the past, but historically they have little say in what gets released. Just in HOW it gets released.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

So I guess I'll be buying this Shenmue II style..?

 

[kiryogi]

Lol I figured it was.

Still would love see official art of this form though. Looks a lot like KOSMOS to me.

Ask and ye shall receive somewhat. Really hard to find anything out there for that design it seems! So you can settle for a b/w image from the special soundtrack:

 

[[Nintex]]

In terms of hardware announcements, yes, you're right, NOE does not get to go off half-cocked and announce new systems.

In terms of specific regional localizations, that is not true at all. NCL sometimes mandates games for release in all regions, but these are usually games that those branches would be happy to bring over, anyway. Offhand, Rhythm Tengoku Gold was a mandated release due to how well it sold in Japan. The rest of the time, it is up to those branches to decide on individual localizations on a case by case basis.

All gets decided in Japan on every level. Take for example, Wii debug systems for review purposes, they have to get a go ahead from Japan to send them to journalists. When NoE invites journalists to events NCL has to see and agree with the list of the people invited. Everything is send back to the Japan, including the NDA's you sign.

All NoE and NOA do is handle the localization, marketing and distribution. Every release from Brain Training to Xenoblade is decided by NCL. Sure NoE can request stuff and they have some say in the process but in the end every decision is made in Japan.

 

[Shiggy]

All gets decided in Japan on every level. Take for example, Wii debug systems for review purposes, they have to get a go ahead from Japan to send them to journalists. When NoE invites journalists to events NCL has to see and agree with the list of the people invited. Everything is send back to the Japan, including the NDA's you sign.

All NoE and NOA do is handle the localization, marketing and distribution. Every release from Brain Training to Xenoblade is decided by NCL. Sure NoE can request stuff and they have some say in the process but in the end every decision is made in Japan.

Absolutely. How long did NoE have to beg for Jam with the Band? When they finally got it through, the SingStar and Guitar Hero hype was down to zero and it was a crucial failure.

Jam with the Band really only came because some European Nintendo managers thought it would be a good idea to be on the music game wave, but they were simply too late.

 

[wsippel]

Ask and ye shall receive somewhat. Really hard to find anything out there for that design it seems! So you can settle for a b/w image from the special soundtrack:

That should be linked, not embedded. It's quite a spoiler, even if it's from the soundtrack.

 

[warpaint]

any date for this yet ?

 

[Cygnus X-1]

any date for this yet ?

Yeah. I'm also interested.

 

[Oxx]

Some time in September, isn't it?

 

[warpaint]

that near i thought it would be out sometime next year

 

[iamaustrian]

any date for this yet ?

uhm, september this year

 

[Cygnus X-1]

uhm, september this year

Confirmed or rumored?