Operation Rainfall
 Current logo | |
| Formation | June 22, 2011[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Fan campaign (2011–2015) News blog (2015–) |
| Purpose | To publicize Japanese video games |
| Website | operationrainfall |
Operation Rainfall,commonly known asoprainfall,was avideo game-oriented fan campaign founded to promote the release of games not available in North America. Initially aimed at promoting the North American release of three games on the agingWiihome video game consoleonly released in Japan and Europe, it later transitioned into a community blog dedicated to niche Japanese games and further fan campaigns aimed at the localization of Japan-exclusive games. From inception, its stated intention was to show publisherNintendothe demand for the three chosen games.
Beginning in 2011, it was designed as a push for the release ofXenoblade Chronicles,The Last Story,andPandora's Tower,three games released late in the lifespan of the Wii. The campaign was acknowledged by Nintendo, and though they initially announced that they had no plans, all three games were eventually released in North America. Reception of the campaign has been favorable overall, and its perceived success when compared to similar earlier campaigns was also noted.
History
[edit]Origins
[edit]The campaign focused on threerole-playing gamescreated forNintendo'sWiihome video game consoleduring the last years of its life:Xenoblade Chronicles,The Last Story,andPandora's Tower.[2][3]Xenoblade Chronicles,developed byMonolith Soft,was an entry in theXenoseries, initially announced as an original project dubbedMonado: Beginning of the World.The game was announced under this title at the 2009Electronic Entertainment Expo(E3), but its title was changed to honor earlierXenogames created by the game's writerTetsuya Takahashi.[4][5]The Last Storywas developed byMistwalker,a company created byHironobu Sakaguchiand intended to be a game that ran contrary to typical elements of the genre based on feedback from the company's previous gamesBlue DragonandLost Odyssey.[6][7]Pandora's Towerwas developed byGanbarion,who had previously worked primarily on licensed games and pitched the concept to Nintendo after favorably impressing them with their work onJump Ultimate Stars.[8]Despite hopes from fans and journalists that the games would be released in North America, Nintendo gave no comment on the matter.[2][5]The only explanation for the lack of localization was related toThe Last Story:Nintendo stated that due to their work onKirby's Epic Yarnand games for the newNintendo 3DS,The Last Storywas too much effort.[9]Nintendo of Europe did want to featureXenoblade Chroniclesat E3 2011, but Nintendo's American branch prevented it without explanation.[10]In response to this and continued silence on bothThe Last StoryandPandora's Tower,Operation Rainfall was born.[2][10]
Concept and later development
[edit]Following the announcements concerning the three games, Operation Rainfall came into existence in an effort to persuade Nintendo to bring the games to North America.[2]Xenoblade ChroniclesandThe Last Storywere chosen for their genealogy, whilePandora's Towerwas selected due to its unique mechanics and the fact that it was also published by Nintendo for the Wii. The team also decided on the games as they were already confirmed for an English release in Europe and had received critical acclaim in Japan, so they avoided trying to push for the release of critically and commercially unsuccessful games such asEarth Seeker.The campaign's name stemmed from the group's wish to reach out to Nintendo of America with requests.[3]Beginning in June 2011 on the message boards of gaming siteIGN,it was met with support from the gaming community. Its campaign was spread across letters and emails to Nintendo of America presidentReggie Fils-Aimé,in addition to campaigns onFacebookandTwitter.[2][11]Both physical and digital media were chosen for the campaign to make them more obvious and less able to be deleted, as a purely digital campaign would have been. To this end, letters and objects inspired by the games were sent to Nintendo of America.[3]
Operation Rainfall gave itself an eighteen-month deadline, with the conclusion of their campaign planned to coincide with the release of Nintendo's newWii Uhome console in November 2012.[3]The first phase of the campaign focused onXenoblade Chronicles,with a part of their campaign resulting in large numbers of pre-orders being placed for the game onAmazonunder its placeholder name: the game reached #1 in the site's pre-order list, beating bothThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3Dand thePlayStation 3bundle forCall of Duty: Black Ops.[2][12]The second phase of the campaign coincided with the European release ofXenoblade Chronicles,with the aim being for fans to make Wii purchases on its release date of August 19, 2011, in addition to further letters to Nintendo of America.[13]Following the announcement of the game's North American release, the group refocused their efforts onThe Last Story.[14]ForPandora's Tower,the campaign expanded to pitching to recognized publishers of niche Japanese games, includingAtlus,Xseed Games,Aksys Games,andNIS America.To fund the campaign, they asked for donations, offering a special wallpaper in return, and for larger contributions a special slip case for all three games.[15]
WhileXenoblade Chronicleswas published in North America by Nintendo,The Last Storywas taken up by Xseed Games.[16]With the announcement of the North American release ofThe Last Story,the fan community launched their own site. Dubbed "Oprainfall", it continued news coverage of the original three games, in addition to extending to other similar niche games and hosting fan petitions.[3]Pandora's Towerwas also eventually released in North America, once again by Xseed Games.[17]As of 2015, the site has transitioned from a fan campaign hub to a blog and news site focusing on Japanese games considered niche in the West, in addition to continuing support for similar fan campaigns.[18][19]
Public reaction
[edit]When it first appeared and gained popular support, Operation Rainfall drew considerable media attention, being covered byKotaku,[2]IGN,[20]Eurogamer,[21]GamesRadar,[22]Joystiq,[23]Game Informer,[24]Destructoid,[12]and Japanese gaming sites Inside Games and ITMedia.[25][26]In addition to popular and press support, it received favorable responses fromSoraya Saga,the writer forXenogearsandXenosaga,and Mistwalker.[12]
More extensive coverage has been given by some sites. VentureBeat noted that, while comparable with other similar campaigns, Operation Rainfall was notable for maintaining an identity during its efforts.[16]Zach Kaplan of Nintendo Life said that the campaign needed to make a clear mark, showing that the success of the then-announcedXenoblade Chronicleswas not a fluke.[27]In a later feature for the same website, Thomas Whitehead said that the otherwise niche and slightly unremarkablePandora's Towerhad been granted a level of mystery and anticipation among fans through its inclusion in the Operation Rainfall campaign.[28]In an interview feature conducted after the announcement of a North American release forPandora's Tower,PC Worldnoted that Operation Rainfall was going against the trend with its complete success in pushing to bring all three games to North America. In particular, it compared them to the unsuccessful efforts by fans to bring Japan-exclusive installments of theMotherseries to the West.[3]
The campaign was also noted by the game's publishers. Nintendo acknowledged the campaign and its effort in the same month it began, but said that there were no plans to release the three games in North America.[29]Three months into the campaign, several Nintendo employees were asking the group to stop their campaign.[3]In 2013, speaking aboutXenoblade Chronicles,Fils-Aimé said that while the campaign had not been a decisive factor in their ultimate decision to release the game in North America, they did take it into consideration.[30]In an interview concerning their role in localizingThe Last Story,Xseed stated that Nintendo had long been open to partnering with another company for a North American release, and that Operation Rainfall had not influenced Nintendo.[31]Later, in their press announcement concerningPandora's Tower,they acknowledged that it was a game with a "vocal" fan base, but did not mention Operation Rainfall by name. They also stated that it was the positive sales and fan efforts forThe Last Storythat prompted them to release the game in North America.[17][32]
References
[edit]- ^themightyme."xenoblade, the last story, pandora's tower mail campaign for localization".ign.Archived fromthe originalon 27 June 2011.Retrieved15 April2018.
- ^abcdefgMcWhertor, Michael (27 June 2011)."How Badly Do You Want The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade for Wii?".Kotaku.Archivedfrom the original on 2 February 2016.Retrieved27 June2011.
- ^abcdefgGagne, Ken (4 March 2013)."Operation Rainfall: How a fan campaign brought Nintendo to its knees".PC World.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^East, Tom (3 June 2009)."E3: Nintendo Release Monado Wii Trailer".Official Nintendo Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon 7 June 2009.Retrieved9 April2010.
- ^abKohler, Chris (29 January 2010)."Nintendo To Publish The Last Story, Mistwalker RPG".Wired.Archivedfrom the original on 19 May 2015.Retrieved29 January2010.
- ^"Sakaguchi's Last Story".Computer and Video Games.20 February 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 21 February 2012.Retrieved10 January2016.
- ^Gifford, Kevin (5 January 2011)."Hironobu Sakaguchi Reflects on His Last Story".1UP.Archived fromthe originalon 23 November 2015.Retrieved10 January2016.
- ^"Iwata Asks: Pandora's Tower for Wii".Nintendo UK.23 May 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 3 September 2013.Retrieved15 January2016.
- ^Yin-Poole, Wesley (20 January 2011)."Why The Last Story is Japan exclusive".Eurogamer.Archivedfrom the original on 16 January 2015.Retrieved11 January2016.
- ^abRonaghan, Neal (23 June 2011)."Xenoblade Chronicles Not Coming to North America".Nintendo World Report.Archivedfrom the original on 2 February 2016.Retrieved25 June2011.
- ^Sterling, Jim (24 June 2011)."Letter writing campaign for Last Story, Pandora's Tower".Destructoid.Archivedfrom the original on 17 June 2016.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^abcHolmes, Jonathan (26 June 2011)."Fans bring Xenoblade to #1 on Amazon, internet goes wild".Destructoid.Archivedfrom the original on 1 February 2016.Retrieved22 January2014.
- ^Max, Josh (12 August 2011)."Operation Rainfall Enters Phase Two".Nintendo World Report.Archivedfrom the original on 29 November 2016.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^Sterling, Jim (24 January 2012)."Operation Rainfall regroups, focuses on The Last Story".Destructoid.Archivedfrom the original on 6 September 2015.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^Zeidler, Brett (22 April 2012)."Operation Rainfall to pitch Pandora's Tower to publishers".Destructoid.Archivedfrom the original on 5 March 2016.Retrieved24 September2016.
- ^abLopex, Jacob (8 June 2012)."The Last Story developer talks Operation Rainfall, reason for cover system, and Wii U".VentureBeat.Archivedfrom the original on 19 June 2015.Retrieved11 January2016.
- ^abCarmichael, Stephanie (16 January 2013)."Xseed completes Operation Rainfall trilogy with Pandora's Tower this spring (updated)".VentureBeat.Archivedfrom the original on 5 October 2016.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^"Oprainfall / About".Oprainfall. 3 July 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2016.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^Khan, Zarmena (17 October 2015)."XSEED Vice President Talks Video Game Censorship, Says Platform Holders Don't Accept Adult-Only Games".PlayStation Lifestyle.Archivedfrom the original on 8 August 2016.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^George, Richard (25 June 2011)."Nintendo Fans Campaign for Missing Wii Games".IGN.Archived fromthe originalon 30 May 2012.Retrieved25 June2011.
- ^Dutton, Fred (24 June 2011)."Fans spam Nintendo for Last Story release".Eurogamer.Archivedfrom the original on 14 January 2016.Retrieved25 June2011.
- ^Gudmundson, Carolyn (27 July 2011)."Join Operation Rainfall to help get Wii JRPGs localized".GamesRadar.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2015.Retrieved14 December2015.
- ^Fletcher, JC (27 June 2011)."'Operation Rainfall' campaign seeks localization of Wii RPGs ".Joystiq.Archived fromthe originalon 26 August 2011.Retrieved11 July2011.
- ^Kollar, Phil (25 June 2011)."Join The Fight To Bring Some Good RPGs To The Wii".Game Informer.Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2016.Retrieved25 June2011.
- ^Bắc mễ でも phát bán してくれ! Hải ngoại bản 『ゼノブレイド』 phát bán chưa định にも quan わらず mễ アマゾン の No.1ベストセラーに(in Japanese). Inside Games. 27 June 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 29 June 2011.Retrieved27 June2011.
- ^ぼくらは “ゼノブレイド” が du びたいんだ! Hải ngoại の JRPGファンが “オペレーション・レインフォール” を bắt đầu.ITMedia. 29 June 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 28 April 2015.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^Kaplan, Zack (2 July 2011)."Talking Point: The Growing Storm of Operation Rainfall".Nintendo Life.Archivedfrom the original on 15 May 2012.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^Whitehead, Thomas (14 April 2012)."Feature: The Odd One Out in Operation Rainfall".Nintendo Life.Archivedfrom the original on 6 September 2015.Retrieved29 November2016.
- ^Pereira, Chris (29 June 2011)."Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower, Last Story Still Not Planned for U.S. Release".1UP.Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2016.Retrieved15 December2015.
- ^Ward, Roberd (4 December 2013)."Nintendo's Reggie Talks Wii U, Western Development And Operation Rainfall".Siliconera.Archivedfrom the original on 26 November 2015.Retrieved15 December2015.
- ^Schreier, Jason (15 June 2012)."The Surprisingly Simple Story Behind What Might Be The Last Great Wii Game".Kotaku.Archivedfrom the original on 11 September 2015.Retrieved11 January2016.
- ^"Xseed Games Announces Pandora's Tower for Spring 2013 Release".Xseed Games.16 January 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 8 December 2013.Retrieved1 December2016.
