AsJRPG fans, weusually begin anticipating a game before it's even announced outside of Japan, and that usually means crossing our fingers and waiting to see ifit getslocalized for our country. Lamentably,all too often these games never see a broader release. In the case of Wii-exclusive JRPGs, one group is actually doing something about our plight - Operation Rainfall, a fan-organized group dedicated to pressuring Nintendo of America to localize specific JRPGs for North American release. They have a plan, and they need your help.
Above: Xenoblade Chronicles
Online petitions are usually laughably impotent at actually effecting change, but what makes Operation Rainfall different is its organized efforts to comprehensively target specific games and petition on their behalf through all possible means - physical mail, emails, messageson Nintendo's Twitter and Facebook page, phone calls, and so on. The three games they're focusing on to begin with are Xenoblade Chronicles (also called Xenoblade in Japan and previously announced as Monado: Beginning of the World), The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower (box art pictured right).
Perhaps most persuasively, the campaign has directed fans to preorder Xenoblade Chroniclesvia itsAmazon placeholder page, to show Nintendo that there is in fact interest from North American fans. The collective effort was so successful that the game reached #1 in Amazon's top 100 games sales list on June 25th.
The Operation Rainfall campaign has a larger goal of getting more Japan-only JRPGs localized for North America, but what makes it effective is its targeting of specific games. Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story both have tentative plans for release in Europe, so let's hope Nintendo of America takes notice and brings them here too at the same time.
If you want to help, head to Operation Rainfall'sofficial sitefor more information.
Jun 27, 2011
