While I was away ...

I may have been tending to my dad (and mom) for the past week or so, but that doesn't mean I've been completely oblivious to the goings on in gaming world while I've "been away." Here are some of the stories that have popped onto my radar over the last few days:

* A bunch of Bravely Default demos are about to hit the Japanese eShop--If you're like me, you groaned when you read that they're only hitting the Japanese eShop for the time being. Here's hoping Square-Enix announces a western release for this 4 Heroes of Light-esque 3DS RPG soon--and pops the aforementioned demos onto the Australian, European and North American eShops tout de suite, too.

* Etrian Odyssey IV was announced--For the 3DS, of course. And, as of now, only for Japan. I have a feeling the folks at Atlus will bring Etrian Odyssey IV to North America eventually, though, and hopefully to Australia and Europe, too. Although I've yet to buy, let alone play, Etrian Odyssey II or III, I'm planning to pick up this sequel on day one--assuming it's released in my particular region, of course.

Nintendo of America gives the finger to Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story fans

In response to the recent campaign that called for a stateside release of The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade, Nintendo of America posted the following (rather annoyingly cheerful, if you ask me) message on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon:

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!

The Redmond, Wash.-based company also aimed this tweet at folks foolishly clamoring for that trio of Japanese RPGs:

Thanks for being such incredible fans! Unfortunately, there continues to be no plans for NOA to release these 3 games right now.

Really, they could have just flipped us the bird, told us to buy Wii Play: Motion and been done with it, don't you think?

(Via gonintendo.com)

Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story fans take out their frustrations on Nintendo of America via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Well, it seems that a rather sizable contingent of North American Wii owners has had it with Nintendo's failure to localize its recent trio of top-shelf Japanese RPGs: The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade.

What are they doing about it? They're taking out their frustrations on the company via the usual channels--e-mail and snail mail, especially--but they're also doing so via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

For instance, nearly 3,500 comments in favor of a North American release for the above-mentioned games have been posted on Nintendo's Facebook wall in the last few days. Many similar comments have been aimed at the company's Twitter account thanks in large part to the folks behind Operation Rainfall.

Another way gamers are showing their support for a North American release of The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade: They're pre-ordering them (in the case of Xenoblade) and adding them (in the case of The Last Story and Pandora's Tower) to their wish lists on Amazon.com.

For more information on this campaign, check out this discussion thread at NeoGAF.com or click on the Operation Rainfall link above.

The DS and Wii ain't dead yet!

The folks at Nintendo all but ignored the DS and Wii during their E3 presser yesterday morning. In fact, they mentioned just one DS game--the DSiWare version of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures--and one Wii game--The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword--during the 90-minute event.

Thankfully, the systems aren't quite as dead as they currently appear.

The company's press site, for instance, suggests that Nintendo will be bringing at least four more DS games to the States in the next year: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, Kirby Mass Attack (aka Atsumete! Kirby), Professor Layton and the Last Specter and Super Fossil Fighters.

Also, along with previously-announced Wii games like Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident and Wii Play: Motion, Nintendo will be bringing something called Fortune Street, Kirby Wii, Mario Party 9 and Rhythm Heaven to North America at some point in 2011 or 2012 (the last two games in the afore-mentioned list are labeled "TBA").

Because I'm especially excited about Kirby Wii and Rhythm Heaven, I'm going to share their must-see trailers below.

Here's the trailer for the former:



And here's the tailer for the latter:



Sadly, Nintendo's press site says absolutely nothing about The Last Story or Xenoblade at the moment. Does that mean the company has decided against bringing these RPGs to North America? I hope not.

On the bright side, both games are supposedly going to be released in Europe later this year, so I guess I can import either or both of them from sendit.com if need be.

I wonder if Nintendo will promote The Last Story this way in the States?

That's assuming, of course, this Mistwalker-developed RPG is released in North America at some point.

Even if it is (and, sadly, that's a big if), I highly doubt the marketing folks at Nintendo of America will promote it using a commercial that's anything like the third one in the clip below (skip to the one-minute mark)--although I'd love to be proven wrong.



(Via superpunch.blogspot.com)

Is that a banana in your pocket, Elza, or are you just happy to see me?

Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi showed off his soon-to-be-released Wii RPG, The Last Story, during a special presentation (in Japan) earlier today.

The best part of said presentation: Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, showed how players will be able to strip their on-screen counterparts down to their skivvies.

Below, for instance, is the game's buff protagonist, Elza, sporting nothing but a pair of square-cut briefs:



Should I pick up The Last Story (assuming it's released in the States, of course), I'll probably force Elza to traipse around Ruli City, the game's only town, in his tighty whities--or, in this case, tighty olivies--for at least a little while.

(Via andriasang.com)