Fuck NoA

Jon here.

I’ve got some thoughts on Ocarina of Time on the site which you can read by following the link here. Here’s the short version: it’s not the best Zelda game ever, but it’s one of the most important games ever. Speaking of the site, I apologize for its appearance again. We’re still working on a concept and the method for executing the concept. It’s functional, but not very attractive.

We also could use some more contributors, specifically some that would be able to consistently churn out some reviews for the PS3 and XBOX 360. If any aspiring writers and multi-platform owners are interested in participating in getting a gaming site off the ground, one that’s being built from scratch, then shoot me an email at jon@gamersunanimous.com.

But today I really wanted to talk about (again) the lack of games coming to the Nintendo Wii. This has been an open wound for me ever since E3 and I apologize for going on about it yet again. But if I can’t vent on the internet, but rage will consume me. I was still holding out hope that core games like The Last Story, Pandora’s Tower and Xenoblade Chronicles would come to North America, but now it’s looking less and less likely that it will happen. Here are some details:

Xenoblade Chronicles did get announced from Europe with English and Japanese voiceovers and subtitles in a variety of languages. Nintendo of Europe did have a presence that this year’s E3, but were not allowed to show Xenoblade Chronicles because NoA didn’t want them show games that NoA isn’t planning to sell. To make things worse, a special classic controller will also be available for the game. That’s awesome for you guys in Europe, it really is. But for us Wii owners in NA, it’s salt in the wound.

And this wouldn’t be the first time NoA decided what we should and should not play. Early in the Wii’s life cycle, an adventure game called Disaster: Day of Crisis came out to mixed reviews in Japan and Europe. NoA decided that the game was not of high enough quality to release. No big deal, there was plenty of other software around.

Again, another game with drew a fair amount of attention was released in Japan and Europe, but not NA. Another Code was the sequel to the well-regarded DS adventure game Trace Memory. It was a bigger disappointment than not getting Disaster: Day of Crisis to not get this game since these type of adventure games only come a few times in a generation. The pure adventure game is a genre that’s all but dead – but that’s a topic for another time.

Perhaps the most egregious omission from NoA’s release schedule was Fatal Frame 4. The game reviewed fairly, mostly due to a strange control scheme. But gamers in NA wanted to play this game. Demand among the Nintendo faithful seemed high for Tecmo’s latest installment in their horror franchise. The ball was in NoA’s court to publish it in NA, but again they thought that we’d be better off not playing it.

How about this, NoA? Let us decided what games we want to play with our wallets. They put up this façade that they have our best interests in mind when not localizing what they deem is low-quality software. Have some faith in your fucking products and some faith that your fan base will buy them. That’s what it really comes down to: they don’t think the sales will be high enough to justify the release. They could be right, but we’ll never know for sure. And in the meantime, those of us who would buy Wii software have very little to buy for rest of the year. That money will be going to your competitors, NoA.

This latest development with Xenoblade is making me seriously consider having my Wii hacked to be multiregional.

So what I really need is for someone to talk me off the ledge here. I’m not about to stop playing Nintendo games altogether, but I can’t help be feel cheated out of some good gaming experiences. I’m also getting the feeling that before the Wii U comes out, I’ll be cheated out of a few more. My optimism for seeing Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower before the end of the year is fading fast and I can’t seem to find any reason to believe it will come back.