Xenoblade Chronicles was finally released in the United States on April 6, 2012 with a retail price of $49.99. The game was developed by Monolith Soft, and published by Nintendo.
Xenoblade Chronicles received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Blood, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence" listed as content for parents to be aware of.
How many hours did Wii owners report playing Xenoblade Chronicles in the first 3 weeks after its release? Let's take a look!
The Brew
Xenoblade Chronicles had 3,134 Wii owners that had reported game-play data through the Nintendo Channel, with 24 days possibly reported.
Xenoblade's average play-time per day/session reported was 3 Hours 11 Minutes for its debut last week.
Being that the game-play hours debuted last week on the Nintendo Channel, the game as of this week currently has 71,588 Total Hours of game-play reported, with an average play-time of 3 Hours 10 Minutes per day/session reported.
The game has seen an increase of just over 500 new players reporting data since last week, now with approximately 3,650 Wii owners reporting data through the Nintendo Channel.
Caffeinated Thoughts
I know many Nintendo fans, thanks to the help of the group (now site) at OperationRainfall, kept Nintendo's feet to the fire on getting this game published in the U.S., and their efforts paid off.
From looking at the debut game-play hours reported, it does appear that Wii owners who purchased the game are sinking a good bit of time into it, with the average hours "Per person" being higher than some Wii games that have been out for a few years now.
If you are not familiar with Xenoblade Chronicles it is classified as a "Role-playing game" by Nintendo, and below is a trailer that will try to give you a look at the game-play and environments you can expect in the game:
I have not played Xenoblade Chronicles, and with my current track record of playing games this year, I probably won't get around to playing it.
I will say (if I haven't before) though, that out of the three games Operation Rainfall is/was trying to get published in the U.S., Pandora's Tower is the one I'm most interested in, and they have just started up another effort to make sure Nintendo of America knows Wii owners would like it to be released as well. You can read more about the efforts HERE, http://operationrainfall.com/callnintendo/.
Questions
Did any of you participate in the OperationRainfall efforts to get Xenoblade Chronicles released in the U.S., and if so, did you end up purchasing the game the day it was released?
If you have been playing Xenoblade Chronicles since it released, what are your thoughts on the game, good and/or bad? Is it a game you would recommend to other Wii owners that enjoy RPG type games, or even perhaps to Wii owners that haven't played many RPG style games before?
If you're interested in purchasing Xenoblade Chronicles from GameStop, you can find the game new/used by clicking the image below:
Already at 135 Hrs played on this bady. Not even halfway through the story yet.
ReplyDeleteI am just 20 hours in, but I haven't log into the Nintendo Channel to upload my data, will do this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThat's incredible! I know RPGs seem to have longer storylines, and branching pathways, decision making, etc.,...and just wandering around if that's what you want to do...but that's pretty incredible.
ReplyDeleteSo, does the game FORCE you to advance the storyline, or can you just wander around forever if that's what you wanted to do?
Thanks for the comment/feedback!
The 20 hours is pretty close to the average hours reported "Per person" this week on the Nintendo Channel, it was right over 19 hours I think, so you're keeping pace with about the average right now.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of what you have played so far?
And people weren't sure the Operation Rainfall games would sell? Pfft to them.
ReplyDeleteI've been a supporter of sorts of Operation Rainfall since around day one, and although being in Australia have been covering it for Nintendo Nation. I was purchased Xenoblade Chronicles for Christmas and simply it is a massive game!
This image sums it up in no words whatsoever.
LOL, glad to know you enjoyed the game. Is that picture your very own artwork?
ReplyDeleteDo you remember how many hours it took you to finish the game?
I own the game (as well as the other two operation rainfall games) since september since i live in europe. Xenoblade is absolutely massive and beautiful. it took me about 80 hours to see the end on my first playthrough but from the halfway point i really started to rush things, so if you take your time i think we are looking at a 100+ hours game. I started a second playthrough but i stopped after 30 hours since i got a lot of other games to play. i plan to resume as soon as i can.
ReplyDeletei would recommend the game to anyone, it's easily my GOTY 2011 and one of the best RPG ever (it's in my top3 altogether with Skies of Arcadia and Chrono Trigger)
Not my artwork. It's an internet meme IIRC.
ReplyDeleteHaven't finished it but put at minimum ~10 hours. Only the first couple of levels O.o
I got the game at launch but I couldn't play it till I got my Wii repaired. So I have been playing it off and on.
ReplyDeleteI have been apart of the Operation Rainfall movement maybe 3 days after they started up. So pretty much since the beginning.
Still working through the game and it is really great. .
I got the game for my birthday on November 4th and played it for an average of 5 hours till Skyward Sword arrived in the mail on the 20th. After putting nearly 200 hours into the game by the end of January I felt I had seen most of it (except for defeating 3 nasty lvl.100+ unique monsters), and went for the final showdown. The thing is, I still want to play through it one more time, but there's just too many games on my list. Namely The Last Story, which I've just gotten started with, and Pandora's Tower after that.
ReplyDeleteI don't have Nintendo channel installed on my Wii though, so I'm not part of any statistics.
"i would recommend the game to anyone, it's easily my GOTY 2011 and one of the best RPG ever"
ReplyDeleteHmmm, makes me wonder if my wife would like it. She's a huge Final Fantasy fan, or at least was in years past. I wonder if she would find the time now to try a new RPG.
Thanks for the feedback on your time with the game!
BTW, if you have played Pandora's Tower...good or bad?
"I got the game at launch but I couldn't play it till I got my Wii repaired. So I have been playing it off and on."
ReplyDeleteI really hope Nintendo uses a different third party repair service on future consoles, and/or better parts on the Wii U.
I have heard several people, that have had MULTIPLE issues with their Wii systems.
Hopefully your repair went well though, and you have nothing but more gaming hours in your future!
As for Operation Rainfall, I'm just glad that they got one here so far, and I'm hoping that the other two show up quickly...like within a month or so!
"I don't have Nintendo channel installed on my Wii though, so I'm not part of any statistics."
ReplyDeleteYea, it's a small percentage of owners that use it, but it provides a good average overall for the game-play hours most can/will expect from games on a single play-thru.
It seems like I would probably get 100+ hours from it pretty easily, especially with my lack of RPG playing.
Thanks for the comment and stopping by!
"I don't have Nintendo channel installed on my Wii though, so I'm not part of any statistics."
ReplyDeleteYea, it's a small percentage of owners that use it, but it provides a good average overall for the game-play hours most can/will expect from games on a single play-thru.
It seems like I would probably get 100+ hours from it pretty easily, especially with my lack of RPG playing.
Thanks for the comment and stopping by!
Wow! It's good to read all of the positive comments about this game I've been eyeballing since I heard about the campaign to get it in the U.S. Looks like some heavy hours have been put in as well. I think I'm gonna have to put it on the wish list now.
ReplyDelete@Filippo: Chrono Trigger is dear to my heart. :)
Its a wonderful japanese rpg, but would i say its the best of the gen? probably not
ReplyDelete" I think I'm gonna have to put it on the wish list now."
ReplyDeleteI know how that is, so many games, so little time!
You playing anything these days other than GoldenEye occasionally?
Do you have a RPG you would nominate for best of the gen? I don't follow the genre closely enough to know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving the comment/feedback on it!
Theres alot of choices
ReplyDeletefire emblem 10, disiagea 4, the world ends with you, golden sun 3, final fantasy type zero, zhp all come to mind
While I have heard of the series of most of the games you have listed, the only one I remember reading/hearing a lot about when it was released was The World Ends With You. I still own a DS, but it's played only rarely. Perhaps a good RPG on it would get played on our next trip, but for some reason I just don't know!
ReplyDeleteIf your wife is/was a huge FF fan probably The Last Story is more suited to her. Apart from beeing from the same creator of Final Fantasy is a much more condesed experience and if she doesn't have much time to spare a 25 - 30 hour game is much easier to tackle than a 80 - 100 one. Usually i find FF fans more interested in story and characters than gameplay mechanics, but what sets xenoblade apart from the bunch of traditional JRPG ARE the gameplay mechanics(and the huge evironments/suggestive settings). Sure, the story itself is pretty good, but at least for the first 2/3 of the game isn't very prominent. i think about 70% of the story is condensed in the last 30% of the game
ReplyDeleteAbout Pandora's Tower, i'm playing right now and i'm almost at the end. It's a really good game and it's way better than what the reviews say. its only issue was to be included in operation rainfall together with games from much bigger developers and with much bigger hype. It doesn't help that it's not a JRPG like the other two games. it has some very light RPG elements and some of the aesthetics of a JRPG but at it's core is some sort of cross between an hack 'n' slash beat up and an exploration game a-la zelda and metroid. the setting and the backstory are quite charming and the gameplay is addicting, with well crafted dungeons and puzzles and resilient enemies (boss fights are always epic). it has some faults, graphics are at PS2 level, and while dungeons become more and more complicated while you advance in the game, the basic gameplay structure is quite repetitive. There is also a costant time limit that may put off someone, even if i personally found it very stimulating. In the end it's not as polished as xenoblade or as the last story, but it's a pretty good game with refreshing concepts.
"If your wife is/was a huge FF fan probably The Last Story is more suited to her. Apart from beeing from the same creator of Final Fantasy is a much more condesed experience and if she doesn't have much time to spare a 25 - 30 hour game is much easier to tackle than a 80 - 100 one."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder, I do remember reading about The Last Story's creator being the same as Final Fantasy, now that you mentioned it!
As for the feedback on Pandora's Tower, super thanks! The graphics issue isn't a big deal for me, as long as the game-play holds up...
I was kind of hoping we would see new series of games created on the Wii from Nintendo (not just Wii Sports, and Wii Fit type stuff), like how they started off showing Disaster: Day of Crisis, but never releasing it in the U.S., and just taking forever in general to release it.
Pandora's Tower is another game I am hoping may end up branching into a series for Nintendo, kind of like the God of War series for Sony...only I don't know how much of the game-play is the same between them, just from what I have seen of Pandora's Tower, the game-play seems pretty similar.
Thanks for the detailed response!
Welcome back Coffee! I missed these data posts :D
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a big fan of this game, and I really didn't like The Last Story. Pandora's Tower, however, is well worth the Operation Rainfall hype. Not a very good game, but a wonderfully operatic experience.
Glad to see the game was such a hit though. Proves there's legs in the JRPG genre yet.
Did you complete all three of those games?! Shame you only "enjoyed" Pandora's Tower...
ReplyDeleteYeah, 70 or so hours for Xenoblade, 25 or thereabouts for The Last Story, and about the same for Pandora.
ReplyDeleteWow - awesome seeing all of the traffic in your posts here. Apparently the key to me getting more comments is to take a 3 month break. *grins* Sadly - I haven't gotten to play this one yet - and based on the hours feedback above? I don't have the time for it yet, either.
ReplyDeleteCurrently taking on Mario Galaxy 1, Dead Space, Final Fantasy X (continuing to take my wife through the series), and a little bit of Lego Pirates of the Carribean. That spread me a little thin, so I'm focussing more on Dead Space and Mario Galaxy. MG and LPoC are games that my wife can actually participate in, and MG is refreshing in the sense that you can just pick it up and play. Been playing too many games that have deep plots, lengthy exposition, and heavy characters.
ReplyDeleteyou should research more
ReplyDeletewhats with all the bashing?
ReplyDeleteWOW, nice response from the CWG readers. I haven't checked my Nintendo Channel recently. but I would estimate that I am around the 20hr mark, and I have only just now make it to Colony 6, which is the second town you make it to. The game is absolutely huge in every regard, and is an almost action RPG with real-time-auto-battles. I have heard you can complete the game in as little as 50 hours, but the OCD completionist will take 200+. I really like the game and hope I can keep up with it in order to see the ending. I recommend it, you certainly get $50 worth of entertainment out if it.
ReplyDeleteResearch the RPG genre more? Or those games you listed?
ReplyDeleteAh, so the 70 hours in Xenoblade means you stuck mainly to the storyline, with little to no branching I take it...at least from what others have said here on the game-play hours.
ReplyDeleteAs for Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower, I'm glad to hear that Pandora's Tower has a good bit of game-play to it, as I was expecting it to only be about 10-ish hours for some reason.
Thanks for the feedback!
"I don't have the time for it yet, either."
ReplyDeleteIs this the same guy, that can complete the entire PS2 library in like a weekend?
*doesn't have time for it...HA!
research the rpg genre more.
ReplyDeleteROFL - My played games lists have GREATLY shrunk over the last several months while you have been away. A combination of a job promotion and me choosing a lot of bigger, lengthier games has really cut back on the sheer number of titles I've been getting in
ReplyDeleteI can say that The World Ends With You was one of my son's favorite DS games ever. He borrowed it from a friend, beat it, and then went out and bought a copy of it for himself so he could play it through a 2nd time.
ReplyDeleteI would say in response to Vampiric, a few of those titles mentioned might not be considered pure RPG's as FireEmblem and Disgae 4 are more strategy games with RPG elements in my opinion
Well, that's kind of what Coffee's doing as he's asking for some thoughts from others more familiar with the genre than himself. :)
ReplyDeleteyeah and the best way to get more familar is dive in
ReplyDeleteBest of this gen... now that's tough. Depends on what area you are looking to fill. RPG's have branched out quite a bit over the last few years - in a way Vampiric demonstrated this by mentioning a couple of titles that were as much - if not more - strategy games than traditional RPG's in his list.
ReplyDeleteYou also have more western/action-oriented ones like Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amalur, or more JRPG-heavy titles like Final Fantasy XIII and 2 (which I liked more than a lot of people) or earlier entries like Lost Odyssey this gen.
There's also a case to be made for non-swords & sorcery RPG titles - like the Mass Effect series, which are a mesh of 3rd person shooter with RPG framework for story and even equipment.
I would have to say the first Dragon Age or any of the Mass Effect games were probably my favorites from this generation.
Hm, I wonder how far over Disqus will allow theses to go....
ReplyDelete"I have heard you can complete the game in as little as 50 hours, but the OCD completionist will take 200+."
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I was kind of wondering after all the comments, how quickly someone would beat it sticking straight to the story elements, and just going through.
As for the OCD completionist in games, it really depends on the game for me...and if I think it's a challenge/worth playing again and getting everything. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, I was OCD completionist!
Thanks for the feedback!
"He borrowed it from a friend, beat it, and then went out and bought a copy of it for himself so he could play it through a 2nd time."
ReplyDeleteThat's actually very interesting, an d impressive these days. I think that shows they did a very good job with the game, to make it where someone would WANT to play through a 2nd time so much, that another copy was purchased for that very purpose.
I have borrowed games from friends in the past, but never had one that I went out and purchased after borrowing it from what I can remember.
Ok, after doing some checking I really gotta bag my side quests and actually move forward in this game. So right now, my team is just getting into Colony 6, meaning I have completed 5 sections of the game. According to a Walkthrough I looked at (just to guage length) I have 38 sections left to go. At my current pace of spending 3.2 hrs per area, I have a whopping 121 hours left to play on this game!! Time to ditch the side quests.
ReplyDelete"Ok, after doing some checking I really gotta bag my side quests and actually move forward in this game."
ReplyDeleteHAHA! I know that feeling, last year I was trying to burn through some games quickly for a resolution I had going, and one I was like, "Ohh, that sounds like an interesting side quest", and I was like..."I DON'T HAVE TIME! It's almost the end of the year!"
Perhaps you can be the first person to complete every single side quest in the game though? Then write the full user guide/strategy guide and retire? Could be a strategy...
Thanks for the feedback and checking back in with your update on what Colony you are in, and how long you have been spending in each are!
merry Christmas wishes
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