PixlBit

As a note - the remaining two horsemen are Fury and Strife... So it's a bunch of angry people - not a lot of variety there.

I disagree that they would have done well without the movement.  They represent a niche genre on a system that, while many people owned one, didn't have great software attachement rates.

Do you think Nintendo would have marketed those games?  Would anyone besides the absolute hardest of the hard core have ever heard of those games?  The movement spread the word and people became interested in games they otherwise would never have noticed.  And the movement itself was handled very professionally - I didn't see many "nerd rage" comment threads like I did with Mass Effect 3's ending (not nearly that), nor even close to the discourse that came with DmC.

No, I think Operation Rainfall is the only reason these games came over.  If Xenoblade didn't sell well enough to turn a profit, XSEED never would have brought The Last Story over (Nintendo certainly wasn't going to at that point), and if The Last Story wasn't as big a success as it was for XSEED, then Pandora's Tower never would have made it here.

Fact is, people asked for it, they received, and then they put their money where their mouth was.  It's a win-win, but if not for that initial spark, none of this would have occurred.  In a cynical world, where the entitled gamer bitches and moans over Dante's new hair color, files suits over Mass Effect 3's ending, and other nonsense, Operation Rainfall shows how a crowd supported movement can and should work.

I don't think this is a case of whiney gamers getting their way.  The Last Story was XSEED's most successful release ever (which prompted a second running and a price drop), so it only makes business sense that they would target the only remaining Operation Rainfall release.  After all, they don't have to spend any money on localization, just production and packaging.  This seems like a win-win to me, more than "whiney gamers" getting their way in spite of good business practice.  

In that sense, I think this has everything to do with Operation Rainfall.  If Pandora's Tower wasn't one of the games in their campaign, people over here would never have heard of it (except a much smaller minority).

I agree with you on the new Xbox and the contract, though I think $300 is a better marker at this point with the contract as it will still make it cheaper than Nintendo's premium model and be more powerful to boot.  I don't like this contract business one bit.

I think the platform may make all the difference there.  Heck, I'm considering picking it on on the Wii U if it's really all that much better.

lol - let me clarify that it's not that I didn't like the game.  It's something that I'll get into - it just didn't engage me at the time.  What I played was solid, but I didn't feel invested into what I was doing.  I'll pick it up again down the road and likely love it.

Keep in mind that we recorded this on the 11th, and as such things like THQs bundle and the free version of Metro 2033 are no longer around.

Also note that my idea for a reversable cover for BioShock was made true the very next day.  Yeah, I'm pretty awesome like that.

Damn it feels good to be back.  Remember to leave your comments and questions and we just may address them in a future episode.

I think a new imagining of Populous could be fantastic...or the worst thing ever.

Certainly my most anticipated game of the year so far.