Operation Rainfall Is Something to Get Behind

Great games for the Wii? There's been a few, but the well has run dry over the past year, especially if you're adverse to any game that has Mario in it. If you're itching for some new games, and wondered why nothing has came out recently, well, its not all the 3rd party publishers fault.

Gamers in the USA have started a grass-roots campaign to get 3 great, yet untranslated, RPGs that Nintendo of America own the rights to publish, yet seem unwilling to release.



 
Xenoblade

A sprawling RPG epic that rewards exploration and an engaging, and long, storyline. Estimates put the story at being 50-80 hours long, without sidequests. This game was a massive hit in Japan, immediately selling out everywhere, and who can blame them? A sprawling action-JRPG? By the director of the Xenogears/Xenosaga series? Sign me up!

The Last Story

Developed by Mistwalker, creators of the great Lost Odyssey, and Directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, this game has an impressive pedigree. The Last Story is a clever RPG in that it takes cues from games like Gears of War and Metal Gear Solid, where players can hide behind walls to sneak up on enemies, or even draw fire so team-mates can attack freely with spells. The colour pallette leaves more to be desired, being as it is quite brown, but it looks like its a lot of fun and well worth the inclusion in the Wii's library.


Pandora's Tower

The red-headded stepchild of the trilogy of games in Operation Rainfall is Pandora's Tower. A mixture between Devil May Cry and Castlevania, Pandora's Tower has a pretty interesting story to go along with it, involving a girl who has to eat monster flesh in order to stop turning into a monster.

All three look like being great games and well worth any RPG fan's time, so why the delays Nintendo of America? Luckily for us Europeans used to being witheld of great games (999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors anyone?) Xenosaga has been confirmed by Nintendo France that it's coming, and some gameplay has leaked of a very British sounding dub with English subtitles. Nintendo France has also teased that Pandora's Tower may be getting a release in 2012.

So, come on Nintendo America, do the right thing, let gamers experience these games, it'll might not be great for business, but it would be good for Nintendo's reputation which you can't put a price on, only gain or lose.