(I thought I'd post the letter I've written to Nintendo regarding their refusal to localize Xenoblade. This will be mailed into them, and I encourage all of you who want this game localized to write letters as well and send them in. Check out http://oprainfall.blogspot.com for more info.)
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To Nintendo of America and whomever it may concern:
I am writing to you today to address your rather troubling decision to refuse the release of Tetsuya Takahashi’s Xenoblade in North America. It’s a decision which I feel shows little respect to your fanbase, a group of people who have braved a console with frequent game droughts, severely lacking graphical prowess, and underwhelming 1st party content such as Animal Crossing City Folk, Fling Smash, Wii Play, Wii Music, and countless others.
Xenoblade, as well as the other two games currently in question, are titles that Wii owners, frankly, deserve to have. There’s absolutely no excuse, as far as I’m concerned, for the inconsiderate treatment of the core gaming fanbase at the hands of Nintendo this console generation, and this decision is just one of several that illustrate this point.
With all of this said, it’s important to note that I have enjoyed the Wii, at times labeling it as my favorite console of the Big 3 currently in competition. I purchased the system at launch, and it’s a console that I have always been willing to defend. When my Wii’s disc drive broke this year, I cared enough about the system to send it in to you guys for repair and paid over $70 for the service. My friends and I have devoted countless hours to playing the likes of Smash Bros Brawl, (over 500) and plenty of time with Mario Kart Wii as well. These are fun games, and I have definitely appreciated all the great times they brought to us. Nintendo has always excelled at creating memorable multiplayer experiences and the Wii, with the exception of its terrible online setup, has been no exception.
That said, these are not the ideal gaming experiences for me, as incredible as they can be. My favorite memories as a gamer have always involved games that delivered rich single player experiences; games like No More Heroes, Muramasa, Red Steel 2, Metroid Prime, and many others. These have existed on the Wii, but few have been promoted enough to be discovered by a large number of people, and few have come from Nintendo. It’s a shame that more effort on Nintendo’s part wasn’t put into developing rich, single-player experiences on the Wii system, with the exception of course of dated and aging IP such as Zelda. It’s also unfortunate that you at Nintendo of America seem to think that ancient franchises alone are enough to win all but the most die-hard Nintendo fanboys over: they’re not.
What truly saddens me is that Nintendo of Japan has, in recent years, put effort into addressing this problem, not only delivering to their customers fantastic-looking RPG titles like Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower, but even M-rated products like Fatal Frame. It sucks, frankly, that Nintendo of America is so quick to deny North America, the industry’s biggest market, of these titles, and it’s insulting to Tetsuya Takahashi and Hironobu Sakaguchi, the two legends who developed Xenoblade and The Last Story, respectively, to see their products not considered “good enough” for release here, while garbage like Wii Play is instead deemed acceptable.
Simply put, I’m tired of this. I have made the decision not to purchase the 3DS, as I’m sick of being force-fed Mario year after year and be expected to be okay with it. For the ridiculous price of $250, it’s clear from the 3DS’ lagging sales that others agree with me. I am also rapidly losing my resolve to purchase a Wii U, a system that I thought a few months ago would bring Nintendo back to its former glory. Nintendo can be keen on providing new IP, but you at Nintendo of America have consistently refused to deliver them to your gamers. Mario and Zelda are not all that it takes to win us over.
It’s with this letter that I beg and insist that you at Nintendo of America make the right decision. Localize Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower, games that your fanbase not only craves, but deserves. Simply put, it’s the least you can do.
Yours truly,
Ben
-A frustrated fan quickly losing respect and interest in Nintendo thanks to decisions like these.
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