Perhaps you are already aware of Operation Rainfall. If not, a brief overview.
Not for American consumption.
Nintendo currently doesn't have much on its plate as far as upcoming Wii releases go. In fact, apart from Skyward Sword, Kirby, and Rhythm Heaven, it's safe to say that Nintendo has almost nothing on its plate as far as Wii releases go, leaving some Wii owners wondering when they may have another opportunity to dust off their little white boxes and play some damn games.
But wait, new contenders have entered the field!
As it happens, Nintendo has a trio of exclusive RPGs all currently set for Japanese release: Monolith's Xenoblade Chronicles, Mistwalker's The Last Story, and Ganbarion's Pandora's Tower. Xenoblade and The Last Story are both set for European release as well, meaning that at some point, someone's going to have to translate those games into the English language. However, as of this past E3, Nintendo had made it clear that it had no intention of selling any of these games in North America.
This has led a group of concerned Nintendizens to take up a campaign (the aforementioned Operation Rainfall) to convince Nintendo to release any and/or all of these titles here, to help ensure that North American Wii owners would not be left wanting. Letters were written, YouTube videos were made, Facebook pages were created, and eventually, Nintendo took notice, promising an update in the near future on the requested titles.
That update came last night, and, uh... well, why don't you just read for yourself?
"Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so here it is. We never say “never,” but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time. Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans!"
In other words, "Nope! Run along now!"
While this statement does leave a slight sliver of hope that Nintendo might change its mind somewhere down the road, as it has in the past with other products it originally had "no plans" to release in North America (the black Wii, anyone?), the announcement is nonetheless discouraging for Wii fans who have been aching for some new, interesting games to play on their console of choice. Evidently the Operation Rainfall campaign will continue, but at this point it all seems rather moot. Nintendo knows people are interested. If they're gonna announce these games for North American release, they will choose to do so in their own sweet time. When has Nintendo ever done any differently?
In the meantime, feel free to take solace in the few Wii releases that are coming up in the next few months. I know I plan to run out and pre-order the Wii-exclusive Smurfs Dance Party as soon as I finish typing this sentence.
