This game is delayed till july 13?

[none123]

I hope you guys fix out any of the bugs and/or problems with the game in the meant time. :D

oh and any update on the limited editions?

[Chaosblade]

I don't remember if XSEED every officially gave a date, the June one was just set by retailers I think (they may have had insider info for a planned date though?)

I wouldn't be surprised if a delay was related to a LE, and that's why they hadn't said anything about it yet.

[Wyrdwad]

Actually, as you suspected, we've never given a date at all. The June date and July 13th date alike were (and are) nothing more than retailer placeholders.

The only release date we've given for the game thus far is "summer 2012." Anything beyond that is pure guesswork on the part of whoever reported it.

-Tom

[none123]

Ah ok. It was based on a news reported email from amazon so I thought it was true. sorry.

[SIN]

A lot of their recently announced titles don't have an exact release date yet, which makes sense. But I'm surprised this one is still without a date and without confirmation for an LE, it would no doubt see more preorders since people are just waiting to see if there will be one before they preorder. I know there are a lot of factors involved, but I guess I just assumed that they would put out more information on this closer to the announced date so that they could keep the hype train rolling.

[omgfloofy]

As an interesting note from my own experience: the backend of a retail website, much more often than not, requires 'active dates' for a product that is in its database. You aren't really able to put a product into the website database without this date. As a result, most retailers will make a guess to the release date so that they can go ahead and put its info in and make it available for preorders, then they will adjust the 'active dates' accordingly as they hear from the publisher.

(Yes, 'dates.' Sometimes, the website infrastructure will require you put down an 'expiration date' for a product as well, like in special orders. Not all websites make them required, but it is capable of being added in on others.)

...but until a publisher comes out to say what a release date is, you should take any of these dates with a grain of salt. Or a pound. Whichever.

[SIN]

As an interesting note from my own experience: the backend of a retail website, much more often than not, requires 'active dates' for a product that is in its database. You aren't really able to put a product into the website database without this date. As a result, most retailers will make a guess to the release date so that they can go ahead and put its info in and make it available for preorders, then they will adjust the 'active dates' accordingly as they hear from the publisher.

(Yes, 'dates.' Sometimes, the website infrastructure will require you put down an 'expiration date' for a product as well, like in special orders. Not all websites make them required, but it is capable of being added in on others.)

...but until a publisher comes out to say what a release date is, you should take any of these dates with a grain of salt. Or a pound. Whichever.

Yeah that is true, but with Amazon at least, I don't think that is the case. I know I have seen some products on there without a specific release date on it. But then again, maybe it was updated to where it did need a specific date.

[Shizuka]

Although I get why XSEED wait (a lot) before announcing the release date, they also lose interest while there's no news of when (except for this blockbuster). It's like RSG and Akai Katana, we only knew it was coming and the date gets announced two weeks before the actual release.

[Wyrdwad]

That's one of the downsides of being a tiny company, unfortunately. The smaller you are, the harder it is to schedule a game launch with any certainty. There's such a huge mountain of work involved just to get a game published -- especially physically -- and there are so many things that can go wrong or cause delays... In a bigger company, there's usually money and manpower available to deal with such things quickly and easily, even at a moment's notice, but when your company's employees number in the single digits, even the slightest unexpected delay can force virtually every other project you're working on to get pushed back while you rearrange resources to account for it.

That's why you'll usually see last-minute release date announcements from small companies like us. (Either that, or you'll see lots of delays. But we prefer to hold off on announcing release dates until we can be sure, rather than announcing them early and constantly pushing them back.)

-Tom

[Ryos]

On the bright side, this latest release guess just made unveiling a hypothetical LE release at E3 a lot more likely.

[Wyrdwad]

I'm confused. Why would we reveal the release of a legume eggsalad at the premiere of Evita 3? ;)

-Tom

[SIN]

I'm confused. Why would we reveal the release of a legume eggsalad at the premiere of Evita 3? ;)

-Tom

Yes. Everyone would be expecting that!

[Shizuka]

That's one of the downsides of being a tiny company, unfortunately. The smaller you are, the harder it is to schedule a game launch with any certainty. There's such a huge mountain of work involved just to get a game published -- especially physically -- and there are so many things that can go wrong or cause delays... In a bigger company, there's usually money and manpower available to deal with such things quickly and easily, even at a moment's notice, but when your company's employees number in the single digits, even the slightest unexpected delay can force virtually every other project you're working on to get pushed back while you rearrange resources to account for it.

That's why you'll usually see last-minute release date announcements from small companies like us. (Either that, or you'll see lots of delays. But we prefer to hold off on announcing release dates until we can be sure, rather than announcing them early and constantly pushing them back.)

-Tom

Well, that's reasonable. It makes sense, that's why I like when we can get information of how the company works how it works.

[321jassman]

Well, that's reasonable. It makes sense, that's why I like when we can get information of how the company works how it works.
And hopefully all those out there might just understand why XSEED can't always do a physical release especially in such a market.

[Shizuka]

And hopefully all those out there might just understand why XSEED can't always do a physical release especially in such a market.

And the company's situation regarding SC and TC.

[321jassman]

And the company's situation regarding SC and TC.
Yeah, that too. Though both just have enormous amounts of text in them and the release format is still up in the air.

[Shizuka]

Same thing with GHK as well. I think they're all very discussed topics because XSEED actually replies to them, because we don't see many people talking about BRS on NISA Forums or any sort of think on Aksys Forums at all.

[321jassman]

Same thing with GHK as well. I think they're all very discussed topics because XSEED actually replies to them, because we don't see many people talking about BRS on NISA Forums or any sort of think on Aksys Forums at all.
So what can you say about NISA and Aksys forums?

[momo]

@Wyrdwad (http://xseedgames.com/forums/member.php?3-Wyrdwad)

Is XSEED Games also responsible for printing the games?

Cause I would like to know, how much time does it take a company to print copies of a game for retailers?
(http://xseedgames.com/forums/member.php?3-Wyrdwad)

[Wyrdwad]

@Wyrdwad (http://xseedgames.com/forums/member.php?3-Wyrdwad)

Is XSEED Games also responsible for printing the games?

Cause I would like to know, how much time does it take a company to print copies of a game for retailers?
(http://xseedgames.com/forums/member.php?3-Wyrdwad)

Erm, we have them printed, yes... but we don't do the printing ourselves! ;)

There are companies out there who produce and package video games for retail markets, and we make use of them. It does take some time, but it only really entails that we finalize a game's packaging at least a month or two before the game ships to retailers.

-Tom

[SIN]

The artbook for Xenoblade was cool, but I do wish it had a cool LE box or something like Xseed's LEs or NISA's.

[Raguna]

The artbook for Xenoblade was cool, but I do wish it had a cool LE box or something like Xseed's LEs or NISA's.

Its rather surprising Xenoblade LEs didn't come over here in maybe larger quantities. I just think they would sold more if they had more though the Xenoblade sales were pretty good so they could had made more money?

[SIN]

Its rather surprising Xenoblade LEs didn't come over here in maybe larger quantities. I just think they would sold more if they had more though the Xenoblade sales were pretty good so they could had made more money?

Well it was a Gamestop exclusive, and the artbook was a preorder bonus. So I'm not surprised at the low amount. Though it still could have seen a bit of larger success with more quantities probably.

[Deepthroat]

Its rather surprising Xenoblade LEs didn't come over here in maybe larger quantities. I just think they would sold more if they had more though the Xenoblade sales were pretty good so they could had made more money?

It wasn't really a Limited Edition in Europe : just the game and a red pad... But the artbook I got after that is totally awesome ! :p

[Terro]

Oh lucky you! The France exclusive artbook... And yet, I still argue with people when I say that Europe gets spoiled^^ They don't seem to think so >_> You guys really do get spoiled by most niche companies, and it drives me to jealousy :p

[Deepthroat]

I wouldn't say "spoiled" : no Kingdom Hearts RE Chain of Memories in Europe, no .Hack GU, no Romancing Saga : Ministrel Song, Xenosaga 3... We missed a LOT of games ! But yeah, I'm glad to be a European in 2012 :p

[momo]

Its rather surprising Xenoblade LEs didn't come over here in maybe larger quantities. I just think they would sold more if they had more though the Xenoblade sales were pretty good so they could had made more money?

There was no Xenoblade LE. Europe just got a controller with the game. NoA offered the same controller bundle (http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=193208&storeId=10001) for Xenoblade.

LEs shouldn't be in larger quantities, it should stay limited. That's why it is called limited edition.

[Terro]

Correction, the bundle itself was still a form of limited edition, it was a boxed bundle, and the controller was red. Nintendo.com's bundle was just where you saved $5 if you bought the game with the controller. So no, not the same thing.

[Lazy_Penguin]

I agree with momo, Limited Editions shouldn't be in large quantities, it kinda defeats the purpose of the title of 'Limited'
While the Xenoblade bundle, if you want to call it a Limited Edition bundle then that's fine. Though personally I don't think of it as a Limited Edition, just a bundle.

[Terro]

What about if it was titled as "Collectors' Edition"? I really use that and "Limited Edition" interchangably, since they are the same thing. Limiteds are supposed to be limited but well, we've all seen a surplus of Halo, Gears, etc. LEs left in stores for months.

[Lazy_Penguin]

That would be their own fault then, since you're right they do make a ton of those, probably because its an easy sale. Making people who were bond to buy your game, but get them to pay for more with a couple of goodies, and why stop at only a 'limited' number. Pretty smart business tactic if you ask me.

If you want to use Collectors Edition, that's is fine as well, since you can still find the bundle quite easily(same goes for Last Story's LE, probably the same thing will occur with Pandora's Tower LE).

[Terro]

I don't think it's a smart business tactic though. When stores are overstocked and there is no more interest to buy them, money is lost. Next time, it's possible that the store won't buy nearly as many because of what happened with the last title (making it this time, actually limited). I wouldn't be surprised if that starts happening, to be honest. Using Gamestop as an example, I heard that for the CEs/LEs of JRPGs, there is an asterisk * beside every one on preorder. I've also seen stores with leftover copies of them, so maybe what they might be doing is ONLY ordering in LEs/CEs for preorders, and nothing extra. This will... probably make them even more rare now. It's always nice to stock extras for people who didn't preorder, but it's not a smart business decision if you lose money since you bought too many and no one is buying them.

[Shizuka]

I wonder if by not being retailer-exclusive, The Last Story could outsell Xenoblade Chronicles.

[Terro]

Xenoblade has a higher critic score, but Last Story will sell at more stores... Yeah I'd say there's a really good chance. Especially if it gets advertised as "from the guy who worked on FF..."

[Shizuka]

Hopefully, but it's sad that we'd only get a clue on how much it sold on the month after the release, with the top 10 from the NPD.

[Terro]

I doubt Nintendo will reveal the numbers, since they only really do for stuff that hits over a million :/

[Shizuka]

That's why NPD is our only chance.

[Lazy_Penguin]

I should rephrase that, it's a smart idea in hindsight, but it doesn't always work out. While sales for Last Story, I don't know the game pretty much fell flat on it's face in Europe, it will probably sell better here, but better then Xenoblade though? I kinda doubt it.

[Shizuka]

Xenoblade is bigger than TLS, and TLS is bigger than Pandora's Tower. The only reason TLS could possibly outsell Xenoblade is by not being retailer-exclusive.

[Lazy_Penguin]

Well Xenoblade if you believe the sales on Vgchartz did quite well in the NTSC region, even beating out games that are sold everywhere, plus word of mouth pretty much saved Xenoblade( I say pretty much the reason for it's success was mostly thanks to word of mouth). I just don't think Last Story will have the same impact, good sales, but not the highest. Just my opinion, could be wrong and it can outsell even Monster Hunter Tri's sales in North America for all we know.

[omgfloofy]

I don't exactly trust vzchartz, however, as a reliable source for numbers. NPD didn't publish Xenoblade's numbers because, to my knowledge, it's a retailer exclusive. By publishing the numbers from a retailer exclusive, they are revealing numbers to other companies that could be seen as proprietary information in this position, and competitors can use it against them.

While I like the idea that Xenoblade sold 200,000+ units, as a retailer exclusive, I think that number is skewed high. 200,000+ is a hard number to push. Remember that Atlus made a big deal over Catherine selling over 200k, and that was on two platforms without retailer exclusivity.

[Wyrdwad]

VGChartz numbers should never be trusted for North American sales. They are almost always incorrect, and usually by a very, very large amount. Many of our games sold 5 to 20 times less than what VGChartz claims, for example.

NPD data is the only even remotely accurate gauge of North American game sales. Without it, it's anyone's guess how well a game sold.

-Tom

[Chaosblade]

Well, Xenoblade probably sold well. And by well I mean relatively to expectations, 200k would likely be far, far above what NoA expected (and printed). Given that it was retailer exclusive, presumably had a low marketing budget, and was basically the PAL game with an NTCS region lock, Nintendo shouldn't have had to sell many copies.

I'm sure they and XSEED are pretty thankful for Operation Rainfall, even if they were initially a giant negative PR engine. Because I'm sure they've helped the sales of the games they pushed in every region (IIRC sales even in Japan got a boost after they started).

[Terro]

VGChartz numbers should never be trusted for North American sales. They are almost always incorrect, and usually by a very, very large amount. Many of our games sold 5 to 20 times less than what VGChartz claims, for example.

I try telling people, but everyone hopes that it's right :/ Honestly, I don't even know why it exists. Why have a site, whom everyone assumes is "accurate" when they are really a "we guess our numbers and make a website out of it!" I don't understand...

[Aria]

TLS did sell more in Japan, supposedly. Not exactly sure what's happening in Europe but we'll just have to wait and see how well it sells here in NA. True that Xenoblade got higher critic scores but I should think any game with Uematsu and Sakaguchi attached to it won't do too horribly.

[Shizuka]

Supposedly, not. It did sell more in Japan than Xenoblade, by a margin of 40k more copies.

[Lazy_Penguin]

TLS did sell more in Japan, supposedly. Not exactly sure what's happening in Europe but we'll just have to wait and see how well it sells here in NA. True that Xenoblade got higher critic scores but I should think any game with Uematsu and Sakaguchi attached to it won't do too horribly.

It was more of how people described the game then it having good scores(or at least I hope) relying solely on scores to buy games is just, well dumb in my opinion. Yes I know it's a tough time(That's why used games sales are booming) but you should take a gamble every so often, you never know what you may find. I know Way of the Samurai series is quite hated by reviewers yet curious buyers found it more enjoyable then most games sites give 10s out these days(To the point of throwing them out like candy). Then again you can say that about any game really. Especially Koei games, quite hated by sites, yet people buy them knowing what there getting into.

[stealth20k]

i shall be the one to claim it regardless

[WillAdams]

I hope that one of the things delaying this release is adding the _option_ of using IR pointing to aim the crossbow when using the Wii Remote.

[momo]

I hope that one of the things delaying this release is adding the _option_ of using IR pointing to aim the crossbow when using the Wii Remote.

Unlikely, they don't do the coding.

@Wyrdwad (http://xseedgames.com/forums/member.php?3-Wyrdwad)

Is XSEED Games responsible for making the cover art, or is it Nintendo's?