Nintendo Announces Xenoblade Chronicles for North America

Nintendo of America announced today that the much-anticipated Xenoblade Chronicles is coming to North American Wii consoles April 2012. Xenoblade will be available in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, with no word on South America yet.

“Available exclusively for the Wii system , the Xenoblade Chronicles game combines science fiction and fantasy into an unforgettable open-world adventure,” Nintendo said in a press release.

American retailer GameStop will sell Xenoblade exclusively through its U.S. locations, though Nintendo also plans to make the game available through its site.

Xenoblade is set on the twin “worlds” of Bionis and Mechonis, each the corpse of long-dead titans once locked in battle. The living inhabitants of Bionis are at war with the robotic armies of Mechonis. When a young man named Shulk finds the legendary sword Monado, he sets out to stop the invading forces.

 

Defend your home from the mechanical hordes as Shulk.

 

After inundating Nintendo through e-mail, phone lines and Twitter, grassroots fan movement Operation Rainfall has gotten its wish—though it’s unclear whether or not Nintendo made its decision with the group in mind. Soraya Saga, wife of Xenoblade Chronicles’s creator Tetsuya Takahashi, thinks so.

“Thanks for bringing the rain,” Saga said via Twitter. “I believe fans’ enthusiasm made this happen. Hope Xenoblade will be loved.”

While Operation Rainfall is also campaigning for the North American release of action role-playing games The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower, the group is taking a short break after “a massive mail campaign” to Nintendo of Japan.

“We will also be doing as much as we possibly can to promote the titles to build hype and anticipation NOW and especially as the launch date (tentatively April 2/3) draws nearer,” Operation Rainfall announced via its Facebook page.

Formed June 23, 2011 on IGN’s Wii message boards, Operation Rainfall began in response to an announcement by Nintendo that it had no plans to release Xenoblade Chronicles in North America. The campaign quickly gained support following mainstream recognition by gaming media outlets like IGN, Game Informer and Kotaku. It now has more than 10,000 followers combined on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Although the fate of The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower remains undecided, this news bodes well for North American fans. Stay tuned for more coverage of Xenoblade Chronicles.

 

Watch the official trailer on Nintendo of America's Twitvid.

 

Aaron Kinney, NoobFeed.