The ongoing grassroots project Operation Rainfall, designed to convince Nintendo to publish Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower in North America, has analyst Michael Pachter chiming in via Twitter to voice his opinion. Earlier today, he tweeted:
a grass roots movement to convince Nintendo to localize games like Xenoblade. Interesting, if Reggie is reading this, I agree
And later:
I agree that Nintendo should localize Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower for the American market
Pachter, a gaming research analyst for Wedbush Securities, is notorious for his anti-Nintendo comments, so it's no surprise to see him joining the fans in decrying the American branch's recent decisions. Still, the more respected voices, the better.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 60
By agreeing, Pachter just eliminated Operation Rainfall's chances for success
I'm starting to like this guy. This whole situation is not only infuriating games-starved Wii owners, but also giving Nintendo a black eye in the media. They COULD save plenty of face by throwing in the towel and giving us what we want... just saying!
That's why Pachter is the shiz.
Oh my gosh. That's it Nintendo. You gotta give in now.
Just throwing this out there, but has anyone actually spent any time thinking about why a corporation might decide not to bring a product into a territory? Including this... "analyst"?
while the majority might not dig these kind of games (hence Nintendo's decision), 2 of these 3 were the last games I intended to buy for the system. Now all I have left to do is wait around for Skyward Sword and for DKC returns to get cheaper.
Nintendo is not doing well with their marketing, they say they want to recover the "core" but they dont want games like this to come to america ?? thats why im not buying a wii u rigth away....
how do you expect myself as a consumer to get on board with a new system that nintendo claims will recapture the hardcore crowd if they refuse to bring the 3 games that scream "hardcore" to the US?
@ColorsOfSonic my thoughts exactly.
right on quino!
Yeah but when hardcore games are released on Wii no one buys them, they wait a few months until they're half the price. I don;t blame them.
Goo-Joo Pach-Attack!
This is the reason people say "Nintendo Makes Nothing New" because no one wants to localise, it would also help the "Hardcore" campaign along with the "We don't just make games for children" Campaign
Even PATCHER agrees?! What the cripes, Nintendo?!
For once I can agree with him on something.
This guy is still a total dbag.
I actualy agree with him on quite a few things. Nintendo obviously doesn't though.
Will this help OpRa's case? I think not.
Just the fact that NoA won't substantiate their decision with facts and reasoning (justifying why they think it's not a good idea / is not profitable) lends credence to my belief that they're a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings.
Hm...
I don't believe him.
Because it's giving him a chance to hate on Nintendo lolol
I see through that mask
@18 My gosh, you're right. When presented with an opportunity to make a lot of money, successful corporations always ignore it. Because they're lazy.
So I'm the only one holding out for a NA WiiU release? What better way to sell a new system to the hardcore audience than to hold out games they want? Admit it, Xeno would look much nicer in HD
I don't like this guy at all. Why should we value what he has to say?
@7: You're right. I don't want a WiiU to play Tablet Party Games, or wiimote-based-but-flashy-graphics Mario Party U, or Tablet Wiintendogs, or whatever. (I hope they begin to do things right, just look at Pokemon Battle Revolution. It looks good but that's it.)
With this new console, as with these releases, i'm in a wait-and-see state.
I have a feeling Pachter agrees just because Nintendo disagrees
Even though I want to play The Last Story desperatly and I support Operation Rainfall 100%, Nintendo won't do it. I still love them to death, but they won't release them here. Why? Ummmm..... because the kool aid man's red. I don't know. Still, if people like Pachter agree with Operation Rainfall, then we may have at least one game out. But to the people that want other games ported, and I have read some people's comments about it, don't be greedy. Work with these three games first, then talk about it.
"Pachter, a gaming research analyst for Wedbush Securities, is notorious for his anti-Nintendo comments,"
What? Since when? Ohhhh wait, he comments on Nintendo's market status and makes suggestions on what they should do to keep making oddles of money, and people consider that anti-Nintendo..Riiiiiiight.
That's basically hims saying Nintendo sucks and is doomed to fail.
...Really....
@WaltzElf
You'd assume because they don't think there is a market for Wii JRPGs in America...... which seems silly now given this internet rage thing and pre-order spike has kinda proven that there is a market for it. Free publicity to.
I don't want to be cynical but if they did want to release these games then this is the best thing that could've happened. If you wanted to create a viral marketing campaign they don't get that much better than this.
@ColorsOfSonic LOL!
@WaltzElf
YES. I have spent time thinking about that, and...I can't figure it out. If we're not getting in in NA, just tell us. Don't give give us non-answers and screw around with everyone by saying "never say never"--just tell us, "never." And, please, most of all, tell us why. Is it because it won't sell? Because that's bullcrap. If we don't get the game in NA, it's not the end of the world, but I want a legitimate reason for this. It's not even about these three games, for me. These three games represent the kind of games we as gamers have been wanting on the Wii, and Nintendo refuses to give them to us. For what reason? Because hardcore games don't sell on Wii? That's mostly due to the fact that you've drummed up your system to be the epitome of casual gaming. So, yes, maybe it's my fault that I bought the Wii in the first place, but the Wii has the games I want to play, Nintendo is just being stubborn about giving them to us.
I hate everything about this guy. He's a blazing idiot, and while I don't object to another voice lending itself to the "cause," I really almost wish he opposed the idea. Given the track record on his predictions and whatnot, I feel like it would give the effort a far higher chance of success.
Like I said in another article about this, nintendo should just release these games in smaller numbers than usually conventional. That way, they don't make too much loss, if any loss at all.
Well they could always do a Mario All Stars approach. Sell a few copies and if it sells, well stock more.
@30 bro2dragons
Stop with your blind fanboyism. He was right about the Wii HD... er, the Wii U. Cause that's basically what it is, a Wii HD.
Pachter gets tons of hate. Sure his predictions might not coincide with what you people believe, but he's still a likeable guy.
"OH NOEZ! HE PREDIKTED IN FAVER UHV SONY & MICROSOFT! HE HAETZ NINTENDO! RRRRAAAGGGEEE!"
His job isn't to side with any developer or hardware company. His job is to analyze the industry based on fluctuating trends. And let's face it, the Wii is dead. Nintendo doesn't really care about it anymore. 3rd-party devs have abandoned it. Everyone is moving on to the more powerful systems, and Kinect looks like it's the next big thing.
Stop being a fanboy. I may like Nintendo the best, but my judgement isn't clouded by fanboyism.
@WaltzElf
Even if these games don't sell particularly well, even if they cost Nintendo of America money, there are still very important reasons to localize (at the least) Xenoblade Chronicles. The fan outcry has garnered the game (and its current plight) a lot of new eyes and ears that it might not have otherwise had, requiring NOA to have a bit of self-awareness here. Their decision on this issue will have an impact on their image, as the support for groups like Operation: Rainfall has, IMO, a lot to do with Nintendo's consoles past and present receiving similar treatment in America. In other words, some of this is just the frustration of previous missed games boiling over. Sometimes NOA may just need to take a (potential) hit in order to be able to sufficiently assure its customers and fans that when a great game is released on their platform (exclusively, no less), they will receive it in their region. If Nintendo cannot assure the so-called "core" gamers of that, then they will have larger problems than losing money on a single title.
@34 Please. Every single person on Operation: Rainfall will go out and buy Zelda, and will go out and buy the next Mario game, and will get the Wii U.
NoA knows full well that not localising three relatively niche games, it's not going to lose many customers at all. One or two might be genuinely offended, but they'll still buy Nintendo stuff-possibly import from Japan.
Without going into a full business lecture - Companies are all about managing risk. Small runs for niche games are a risk and, at the end of a console's life, the general wisdom is that new IPs = business risk. That's a double helping of risk with those three games. It's easy to say "just do a small run," but that doesn't work at all. Per unit, a small run for a game is more expensive than a broad release. A small run for a game is, in turn, a risk in itself. You want Nintendo to participate in a tripple risk just to indulge a relatively small demographic of its userbase?
Nintendo are not against bringing in niche products - it published Samurai Warriors 3, after all. But it's not going to make risky business decisions either to appease a small group of fanatical customers.
If NoA thought it would lose substantial numbers of customers by not bringing these games in, then it would bring them in. That then would become a business risk not to. But all Nintendo's dealing with is a bunch of toothless tigers complaining on Facebook. When they all go and buy Zelda, Reggie will have a good old chuckle.
You really want those games in America? Don't buy Nintendo goods, don't post on Nintendo's Facebook, and don't visit Nintendo forums. Distancing yourself entirely from a brand, and then having that happen en masse is the ONLY way you can convince a corporation that something it's doing is anti-consumer. You buy Zelda and you are supporting Nintendo for not bringing in those three RPGs.
(BTW, having playing Pandora's Tower, frankly, Nintendo's doing you a favour.)
knowing these are exclusive games for the wii i would totally get them if they came here but so far most that are, are usually nintendo ip games so far
I following Pach-Attack since beginning and he NEVER said anti-ANYTHING comments. He is always neutral.
Perhaps they're going to release HD versions with Wii U next year.
It's because of decisions like this that NOA is a laughingstock to guys like Pachter. I mean, go to any multiplatform gaming site and the Nintendo Wii is hardly discussed — with the exception of Mario or Zelda games, and few others. NOA needs to change their ways. And firing Reggie's dumb ass is the first thing that should be on the list.
I find it quite odd that games released in Europe with many languages can't get a US release. Also, when games are released in the US, it's equally odd that they're not released in the UK and Australia at least, where English is spoken.
That is, if the cost of translating is an issue.
WTF, pachter isn't anti Nintendo at all.
He was the one saying the 3ds could be 300bucks and still sell well.
He hates on all the big three hardware manufacturers when he sees them making (from his perspective) stupid decisions.
@waltzElf: these games may not big sellers but that is not the point. Nintendo's image is what is at stake here. If this camapign gets a little more of publicity it may become a PR's hell. The problem is that Nintendo explicity told last E3 they were going after the core audience. By refusing to releasing these games, they are contradicting their message and thus harming their own plans.
I don't expect much of Pandora Tower but I think NOA could keep face by releasing only one of the three games.
Pachter's a cool guy, but like anyone attempting to predict the future, he gets his handed to him once in a while.
Of course Nintendo should localize those games. They have NOTHING to lose from doing it, particularly now that both Xenoblade and Last Story are coming out with English voices in the EU.
@43 - A PR 'nightmare' is a term thrown around way too easily. People don't understand what it means.
Something only becomes a PR nightmare if there is a risk that a business can lose customers as a result of an event. Nintendo's not going to lose customers from this.
@44 If Nintendo had nothing to lose from localising the games, then it would have. Nintendo is a business. Businesses like to make money. So obviously Nintendo has something to lose. We might not know what it is, but I trust Nintendo knows its business better than, well, any of us.
Pachter doesn't matter unless he plans on buying these games...
Pachter is agreeing to boast his anti-Nintendo-ness that NOA "won't" be bringing these games over here. In other words, he assuming they won't do it, so he's agreeing to add fuel to the fire of his anti-Nintendo sentiment. I hope it's enough to do 1) get Nintendo motivated and 2) shut his a$$ up in general, a WIN-WIN isn't that likely unfortunately...
Let's have some news involving something other than this. It's stuff like this that made me get a Wii in the first place. If I cared about RPGs, I would have a different system.
I don't know what Nintendo's download limits are like, but if the can, the risk costs of bring these games over would go WAY down if they just put them on WiiWare.
@tendoboy1984: Please. You may have a case in saying I'm wrong (because maybe I just haven't been reading the right things, and the guy is really a genius), but you'd be a bit off-base with the "blind fanboy" statement. I don't dislike the guy because he's "anti-Nintendo." In fact, to my knowledge, I can't recall anything he's ever said that I found to be expressly against Nintendo. And if he had come out and said he hated Nintendo, it really wouldn't change my opinion of him, either. For someone like this who seems to do little to nothing but tell you what "is" going to happen in the industry, I just judge him by the merit of his claims. And those claims, regarding Nintendo or not (because Nintendo news isn't the only news I check... go figure), have time and time again proven to be nothing but the asinine spewings of a pompous twit. I've never seen any humility in anything he's said, he always acts like he has THE answer, even when it turns out to be way off-target... he's just, in the simplest way to say it, "THAT GUY."
I appreciate your sentiments, though, and the time you took to research my character and my blind. raging love for all things Nintendo and Nintendo only. It means a lot.
I wonder how long this incident will continue?
@Rect_Pola
There's no way these games would work for WiiWare. Size limitations, y'know? Either way, if the game doesn't have Mario, Zelda, Metroid, or Kirby in the title, Nintendo obviously will think twice about bringing it over here. And this might shock some, but I'm actually getting sort of tired of those series'.
@ 16
thats for true
@ 30
thats for true too!!!!
@ 24
me too
@ 33
thats not why so many people.
we hate him because of everything he says.
he is a total Dbag.
As I found out last week, the Nintendo community just doesn't have the spine to do what's necessary to be heard.
Saying the truth and being against a company are two different things. Patcher has never said anything anti-Nintendo, he's just said stuff that moronic fanboys flip out about.
Anyway, this kind of goes without saying. Outside of the hardcore fanboys who think Nintendo is perfect in every way, I'd think most would agree NoA's decision is pretty stupid. There is literally zero risk here for them since the work has already been done. The only thing they stand to lose is customer they could've gained.
@WaltzElf The potential error in your argument is that you're saying because NOA has made a decision, that it's obviously the right decision and could not possibly be a mistaken one.
Calculated risks can turn out to be bad too. Let's not forget that Nintendo HAS screwed up before in some ways. Sticking with cartridges for the N64 or the Virtual Boy, instance.
So yes NOA may have made a decision that they BELIEVE is right, but may actually be something that bites them in the rear later.
@WaltzElf Let's not forget their statements about the WiiU as well and how they wanted to "bring back" the core audience they feel they may have lost. They wouldn't be saying this if they felt they did everything right with the Wii. They are, right there, admitting they didn't do everything right.
Very well stated jimmywolf.
With this kind of betrayals. How can they say that Wii U will be a great console for Hardcore Gamers? Sorry Nintendo, no Wii U for me. I don't trust you anymore ¬_¬
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