Confirmed: Xenoblade North American release a go

It's been quite some time since North Americans dared to be optimistic about a North American release for Xenoblade Chronicles, the Nintendo-published RPG from Monolith that has seen release in Japan and Europe. Over the summer, a fan campaign was launched to convince Nintendo to bring Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower, and The Last Story to the west. It sort of worked, as all three games have been announced for or released in Europe, though when they finally responded to requests for them in North America Nintendo responded with a cheerful "You fans are the greatest, we love your enthusiasm, no."

It's been quite some time since North Americans dared to be optimistic about a North American release for Xenoblade Chronicles, the Nintendo-published RPG from Monolith that has seen release in Japan and Europe. Over the summer, a fan campaign was launched to convince Nintendo to bring Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower, and The Last Story to the west. It sort of worked, as all three games have been announced for or released in Europe, though when they finally responded to requests for them in North America Nintendo responded with a cheerful "You fans are the greatest, we love your enthusiasm, no."

Well, they seem to have changed their minds, at least concerning Xenoblade. Above is a picture of what is allegedly a GameStop release list, posted on NeoGAF. Note that the listing refers to the game as a GameStop Exclusive. This could be referring to the game itself or just a specific version of the game. Time will tell.

Adding fuel to the fire, Nintendo uploaded Xenoblade art to its Facebook album mere hours ago. It could be a coincidence or a sick joke to play on the hopeful, but it could also be evidence that an announcement is imminent.

The game is listed for release on April 3rd, 2012.

UPDATE And as if on cue, Nintendo has confirmed Xenoblade's North American release for April. Commence celebration, and take a look at the announcement press release below.

It’s man vs. machine in a new game coming to Nintendo’s Wii™ console in spring. Xenoblade Chronicles™ asks players to use the Monado blade to take on a seemingly endless series of invading Mechon robots in a sweeping role-playing adventure.

The main character is Shulk, a weapons researcher who must confront the Mechon by wielding the ancient Monado blade. It’s the only weapon that has any effect against the Mechon, and it also enables Shulk to see the future.

Players can customize their characters with a variety of weapons and armor choices, as well as headgear, boots and gloves. As in many role-playing games, players can then gain experience and upgrade their characters. Players can watch their enemies, learn their tactics and unleash real-time counterattacks.

The vast open world of Xenoblade Chronicles is ripe for exploration. Players can avert their focus from the main story and venture out looking for other challenges and side quests. Hidden areas and unique monsters are scattered throughout the game’s massive world, which players can explore freely.

Xenoblade Chronicles has already launched in Japan and Europe, and has received unanimously positive reviews, including several perfect scores.

Xenoblade Chronicles will be available exclusively through U.S. GameStop retail locations, http://www.gamestop.com and http://www.nintendo.com at a suggested retail price of $49.99 in the United States. Additional information about the game will be announced in the future. For more information, visit http://xenobladechronicles.nintendo.com.

Staff article by Rhody Tobin (December 02, 2011) Rhody likes to press the keys on his keyboard. Sometimes the resulting letters form strings of words that kind of make sense when you think about them for a moment. Most times they're just random gibberish that should be ignored. Ball-peen wobble glurk.