Operation Rainfall
Encyclopedia
is a fan campaign meant to persuade Nintendo of America (NOA) to localize three role-playing video game
s for the Wii
console: Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story
, and Pandora's Tower
. It was launched on June 23, 2011 and is currently ongoing.
(makers of Xenogears
, and the Xenosaga
series) and released in Japan on June 10, 2010, and in Europe on August 19, 2011. The Last Story
was developed by Mistwalker
and AQ Interactive
and was published in Japan on January 27, 2011. Pandora's Tower
was developed by Ganbarion
and released in Japan in May 26, 2011. Although a European localization of Xenoblade Chronicles was released in August 2011, and localizations of The Last Story and Pandora's Tower have been announced for 2012, none of the three games are currently planned for release in North America
.
On June 23, 2011, Mathieu Minel, the marketing manager of Nintendo France, stated that Nintendo of Europe wanted to show Xenoblade Chronicles at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, but that "Nintendo of America wouldn't let them because they didn't want to show products they aren't planning to sell." Minel's departure from Nintendo was announced 11 days later. In response, fans of role-playing video games on the IGN
message boards, specifically the Nintendo Wii Lobby, started a campaign the next day, dubbed "Operation Rainfall", in the hopes of persuading Nintendo of America to localize Xenoblade Chronicles, along with The Last Story and Pandora's Tower. The main organizers of the campaign do not exclude supporting other titles for North American localizations, but are currently focusing on those three.
and Twitter
accounts, requesting for a North American release of the game. It also involves pre-order
ing the game on the retail website Amazon.com
, which has a placeholder entry for the game under its development name Monado: Beginning of the World, in order to show Nintendo the commercial appeal of the game's release. On June 25, 2011, the game reached #1 in Amazon.com's Top 100 game sales, #1 in all Wii game sales and #1 in Wii action game sales.
, IGN
, Eurogamer
, Joystiq
, Game Informer
, Destructoid
, and the Japanese gaming site Inside. In addition, video game designer Soraya Saga
, who is married to Xenoblade Chronicles creator Tetsuya Takahashi
, and Mistwalker have responded favorably to the campaign.
Nintendo of America themselves has taken notice of the project, stating, "Hey fans, we appreciate your enthusiasm. Look for more updates to come soon." On June 29, 2011 Nintendo of America confirmed on their Facebook
page that "there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time." Despite this, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has commented on the European launch of Xenoblade, "We will be watching very closely what happens in Europe...Certainly if there are business opportunities and positive consumer uptake from some of those titles, that will be great data for us to consider as we look at what to do with these titles."
).
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console: Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story
The Last Story
is an action role-playing game developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive, and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The game's name and logo have been noted to be very similar to the Final Fantasy series, which was created by Mistwalker's head, Hironobu Sakaguchi....
, and Pandora's Tower
Pandora's Tower
Pandora's Tower, also known as , is an action role-playing video game developed by Ganbarion and was published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It was released in Japan on May 26, 2011.-Relationship with Ceres:...
. It was launched on June 23, 2011 and is currently ongoing.
Background
Xenoblade Chronicles was developed by Monolith SoftMonolith Soft
is a Japanese entertainment company that has created video games for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Nintendo DS, and cell phones. The company was founded in 1999 by producer Hirohide Sugiura after he left Square Co. and accepted an investment from Namco...
(makers of Xenogears
Xenogears
is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
, and the Xenosaga
Xenosaga
is a series of science fiction video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai. Xenosaga's main story is in the form of a trilogy of PlayStation 2 video games. There have been three spin-off games and an anime adaptation. The Xenosaga series serves as a spiritual successor to...
series) and released in Japan on June 10, 2010, and in Europe on August 19, 2011. The Last Story
The Last Story
is an action role-playing game developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive, and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The game's name and logo have been noted to be very similar to the Final Fantasy series, which was created by Mistwalker's head, Hironobu Sakaguchi....
was developed by Mistwalker
Mistwalker
is a Japanese video game development studio founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi in 2004, with the financial backing of Microsoft. The logo and name were trademarked in 2001...
and AQ Interactive
AQ Interactive
AQ Interactive was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. AQ stands for Artistic Quality. It was the parent company of the developers Artoon, Cavia and feelplus, and most recently the U.S. publisher Xseed Games...
and was published in Japan on January 27, 2011. Pandora's Tower
Pandora's Tower
Pandora's Tower, also known as , is an action role-playing video game developed by Ganbarion and was published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It was released in Japan on May 26, 2011.-Relationship with Ceres:...
was developed by Ganbarion
Ganbarion
Ganbarion is a Japanese video game company.Their most notable works are the Jump Stars series of games.-Games created by Ganbarion:*From TV Animation: One Piece Grand Battle!...
and released in Japan in May 26, 2011. Although a European localization of Xenoblade Chronicles was released in August 2011, and localizations of The Last Story and Pandora's Tower have been announced for 2012, none of the three games are currently planned for release in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
On June 23, 2011, Mathieu Minel, the marketing manager of Nintendo France, stated that Nintendo of Europe wanted to show Xenoblade Chronicles at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, but that "Nintendo of America wouldn't let them because they didn't want to show products they aren't planning to sell." Minel's departure from Nintendo was announced 11 days later. In response, fans of role-playing video games on the IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
message boards, specifically the Nintendo Wii Lobby, started a campaign the next day, dubbed "Operation Rainfall", in the hopes of persuading Nintendo of America to localize Xenoblade Chronicles, along with The Last Story and Pandora's Tower. The main organizers of the campaign do not exclude supporting other titles for North American localizations, but are currently focusing on those three.
Concept
The campaign is subdivided into three distinct campaigns, one for each game, all with their own periods; only the Xenoblade Chronicles campaign has currently started. This part includes sending as many physical letters and e-mails as well as giving as many phone calls to Nintendo of America's headquarters as possible, in addition to posting messages on the branch's FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
accounts, requesting for a North American release of the game. It also involves pre-order
Pre-order
A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came when people found it hard to get popular items in stores due to their popularity. Companies were then given the idea to allow people to reserve their own personal copy, before the release, ...
ing the game on the retail website Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, which has a placeholder entry for the game under its development name Monado: Beginning of the World, in order to show Nintendo the commercial appeal of the game's release. On June 25, 2011, the game reached #1 in Amazon.com's Top 100 game sales, #1 in all Wii game sales and #1 in Wii action game sales.
Coverage
Operation Rainfall has been covered by KotakuKotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
, Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
, Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
, Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
, and the Japanese gaming site Inside. In addition, video game designer Soraya Saga
Soraya Saga
, also known by her pen name, , is a Japanese illustrator, designer, and video game story writer.She adopted as her pen name for several years before changing it to "Soraya Saga" circa 2001 . She worked for Square for many years, serving as a map designer on Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI...
, who is married to Xenoblade Chronicles creator Tetsuya Takahashi
Tetsuya Takahashi
Tetsuya Takahashi is currently the head of game software company Monolith Soft, Inc. In the past, Takahashi has worked at Square and on such games as Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger...
, and Mistwalker have responded favorably to the campaign.
Nintendo of America themselves has taken notice of the project, stating, "Hey fans, we appreciate your enthusiasm. Look for more updates to come soon." On June 29, 2011 Nintendo of America confirmed on their Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page that "there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time." Despite this, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has commented on the European launch of Xenoblade, "We will be watching very closely what happens in Europe...Certainly if there are business opportunities and positive consumer uptake from some of those titles, that will be great data for us to consider as we look at what to do with these titles."
Legacy
The concept of Operation Rainfall has led to Operation Moonfall (supporting the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask being re-made on the Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
).
External links
- Operation Rainfall official website
- Operation Rainfall on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....