Just a small leap across the pond

Here's the state of play. The Wii for all intents and purposes is dead in the water. Nintendo have confirmed that they will be showing off their new console at E3 2011 (like 11 days away) - and that it will be released early 2012. So what does that mean for the Wii - well the software has all but dried up.

Sure we've still got The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to look forward too - but that is about it.

Hold up, that's not entirely true, Japanese Wii owners are getting a new Nintendo published game every month until the end of the year. Western gamers however haven't had any guarantees. This shits me. I hate region locking (in the technical sense), but I hate it even more in the physical sense. If a game is finished - release it everywhere. Every other publisher in the world has this figured out - except Nintendo. It shits me to tears.

Here's a quick list off the top of my head of some games that I've had to import to play this generation on Wii - games which all have English voice acting and English text mind you:

• Trauma Team (NTSC-J and NTSC-U only)
• Excitebots (NTSC-J and NTSC-U only)
• Punchout (Exclusively stocked in Australia by JB HiFi)
• Disaster: Day of Crisis (NTSC-J and PAL only)
• Lost in Shadow (All regions - but NTSC-J released with English text 8 months before NTSC-U & PAL release)
• Kirby's Epic Yarn (PAL release delayed over 5 months)
• Zangeki no REGINLEIV (NTSC-J only - no English voice or text)

Note that I've also missed out on Fatal Frame IV because Nintendo refused to localise it (a franchise which has traditionally done better in Western markets) - and also Captain Rainbow, a new IP which features D grade Nintendo characters, and looks off-the-wall crazy - again, because Nintendo refuse to localise it.

Now, what is the point of my rant? My point is, at this stage my 3 most anticipated Wii titles are: Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower. The problem - well The Last Story & Pandora's Tower don't have NTSC-U or PAL release dates yet, and given that it has taken Xenoblade about 10 months to be localised, I think Nintendo will but these games in the too hard basket.Talk about infuriating!

So let's look at these games individually - try and figure out why I'm looking forward to them so much.

Xenoblade Chronicles (developed by Monolith Soft) 

I just gave you the answer right there - it's developed by Monolithsoft. Seriously, I don't think these guys have a bad game in them. I'm replaying Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean at the moment, and it is the greatest RPG I've ever played - and I've just imported Baten Kaitos Origins to play after it (yep BKO suffered the same fate I'm ranting about during the Gamecube to Wii transition)!! Anyway, Xenoblade has such a massive, expansive world - a world in which the inhabitants live on giant robots who are locked in eternal battle. Fucking hell - it is easily the most awesome thing EVER! The good news is that it's scheduled for a September release in Europe (and I'll be importing). Cannot wait!

The Last Story (developed by Mistwalker)

OK, so Mistwalker is the new studio of the original Final Fantasy creator (before Square whored the shit out of the game). Anyway, this one has an interesting battle system, and looks absolutely epic. IGN were nice enough to record the first chapter (of which there are 44) and upload it with commentary, and the set pieces, and the environments look amazing. Truly breathtaking stuff. It released in Japan in January, so theoretically, we could see a Western release by years end if the localisation team have been having a go (read: me desperately hoping that this is the case)

Pandora's Tower (developed by Ganbarion)

This one is a little dark, but I think it is a direction that Nintendo could really find an audience if they were willing to explore it. This is basically an action-adventure title, much in the same vein as The Legend of Zelda, but the themes are darker, the level progression is jumbled up, and much like Xenoblade, there is a huge emphasis on verticality. I'm gonna explain this a little more, because it is honestly the one I am most excited about. 

Basically this chick Ceres has a curse, and it transforming into a hideous monster. The only way to save her is to collect the hearts of beasts from the 12 Towers, and feed them to her. Thing is, Ceres is a vegetarian (read: queer), and she has to eat the hearts raw (I know right - brilliant). Anyway, apparently there is a timed component to this - if Ceres isn't fed quickly enough, the effects will come back - this means that you may need to race through some Towers again and again to continue to feed her. I like this idea - especially, if they mix up the Towers a bit - higher class enemies etc.

Also, these Towers feature some amazing architecture, and as I mention, the focus is on verticality - that is moving up and down, rather than just left/right/forward/back. As a video gamer, this confuses the brain, because most games don't deal with this! It's a huge paradigm shift. One that I'm very excited for!

Pandora's Tower releases today in Japan. I will riot if Nintendo don't mention it at E3. I want it. If they don't release it outside of Japan - I'm going to learn Japanese. It's that critical.