Warp Zoned Presents
All Articles: Xenoblade Chronicles
The Golden Pixel Awards 2012: Gaming’s Best, Worst, and Everything Else
Welcome to Warp Zoned’s second annual Golden Pixel Awards. It was definitely a good year for gaming. With the fight over Mass Effect 3‘s ending, the resurrection of Sleeping Dogs, and the launch of the Wii U, we were treated to 12 months of interesting stories.
So sit back and relax as we reward the best (and worst) games of 2012 with a series of accolades based on their rather unique accomplishments.
The Apocalypse List
The bombs have fallen, the economy has collapsed, food is scarce, the zombie hordes are scratching at your door, and you’ve boarded yourself up in a bunker that’ll stand for a hundred years. What better way to spend your time in “The Vault” than by playing Warp Zoned’s favorite games from 2012? It doesn’t matter if you call it a “Top Ten List” or “Our Favorites From 2012,” but these are the games we plan to keep playing even if there was no game industry to keep making games. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, Top Story, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Angry Birds Star Wars, Binary Domain, Borderlands 2, Dishonored, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Halo 4, Journey, Lego Lord of the Rings, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Minecraft, Sleeping Dogs, Street Fighter X Mega Man, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, The Walking Dead, Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles Review Revisited
It’s April 6 and Xenoblade Chronicles has finally (FINALLY!) made its way onto store shelves in America. Correction, make that one store’s shelves. Xenoblade Chronicles is exclusive to GameStop. If you’re looking for a review to reassure you that buying one of the last big Wii games is a good idea, you’re in luck, we’ve had one lying around since the game’s European release:
Director Tetsuya Takahashi and writers Yuichiro Takeda and Yurie Hattori have managed to craft a world both unusual and yet familiar, allowing us to accompany Shulk and his band of heroes as they travel across two worlds, dealing with Gods and monsters alike. We share in their accomplishments and wallow in their grief. Xenoblade Chronicles is not just a game; it is an experience you will miss when it is finally over. It manages to raise questions about our own beliefs and spirituality as well as about the role of machines in our lives, and all while, offering up one of the greatest game playing experiences of this generation.
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged Xenoblade Chronicles
New Releases: Kinect Star Wars, Devil May Cry Collection, Xenoblade Chronicles, More
March is over and that means Spring is… well… Spring’s been here for a while now, I guess it’s just a tad more official with the turning of the calendar page.
That said, we’ve got a few new releases that’s sure to interest you including the Devil May Cry HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360), which compiles Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening. It’s joined by the long-awaited Kinect Star Wars and it’s companion R2-D2 Xbox 360 Bundle. The GameStop-exclusive Xenoblade Chronicles will also be available this Friday, April 6. You may squeal now.
What else is new in stores this week? Hit the jump to find out. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Devil May Cry HD Collection, Kinect Star Wars, Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles finally out in US on April 6; XSEED to publish The Last Story
Operation Rainfall supporters, take a bow.
Nintendo has announced that Xenoblade Chronicles will be released exclusively through GameStop on April 6. In addition to the release date, Nintendo has revealed that the game will be packaged in the beautiful (and fan-chosen) wraparound cover to your left. Click on the cover to get a larger look at it.
But that’s not all! Nintendo also announced that XSEED has picked up the North American publishing rights to The Last Story. No release date was announced, but it’ll be available this year, sometime after the release of Xenoblade Chronicles.
“Together, these two games level up the excitement for RPG fans in America,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “Whether roaming the vast landscape of Xenoblade Chronicles or choosing crossbows to battle with or against companions in The Last Story, gamers will recognize these titles as benchmarks for the genre.”
Is Pandora’s Tower next? I’d bet good money we’ll see it sometime before the end of 2012.
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles
First Xenoblade Chronicles trailer: “Sorry I kept you waiting”
As the US announcement trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles builds to a crescendo, one character tells another, “Sorry I kept you waiting.” It’s possible this is just a random line that fit well with the flow of the trailer, or it’s Nintendo subtley saying “we’re sorry” to all its fans. I prefer the latter explanation.
Either way, the first Xenoblade Chronicles trailer is suitably epic for what may be the Wii’s swan song. It’ll be available exclusively at GameStop stores next Spring.
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles to hit US shores in 2012
If there’s one thing I appreciate in this world, it’s a good RPG, and according to our Scottish cohort Andrew, Xenoblade Chronicles is a DAMN good RPG. But it was always a point of sadness for me knowing that Nintendo had no plans to bring what was apparently one of the best JRPGs of the year, if not the generation, to US shores. Well, it turns out plans have been made.
Xenoblade Chronicles will hit US shores in the Spring with a retail price of $49.99, and the only place you’ll be able to find it is at your local GameStop (or GameStop.com).
Whether or not Nintnedo’s decision to localize this game is a result of Project Rainfall, which was an initiative from a large group of American gamers who were campaigning for the localization of Xenoblade Chronicles (along with other Japanese/European-only releases The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower). So far, Nintendo hasn’t announced any plans to localize the other two games.
I, for one, am giddy as a Japanese schoolgirl over this news, and I know I’ll be at GameStop for the midnight release of what is apparently one of the best RPGs of our time.
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles Review: A Love Letter to the RPG That Changed My Life
It was over. I knew as soon as I heard the bones snap. Halfway through an 11-month round the world trip, after witnessing Angkor Wat in Cambodia, scaling the Great Wall of China, bungie jumping and glacier hiking in New Zealand, I managed to break my tibia and fibula in Peru, one day into a four day trek along the Inca trail to the famous Machu Picchu. A five-hour bumpy taxi ride back to civilization. Five days awaiting surgery in a Cusco hospital bed. Then another two weeks lying there, in a country whose language I did not speak, before a 36-hour flight back home to Great Britain.
It is safe to say I needed to escape the depressing circumstance I found myself in. I needed to immerse myself in a world brimming with imagination.
It turns out I needed Xenoblade Chronicles. (more…)
Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii
Tagged Xenoblade Chronicles
Operation Rainfall enters Phase Two
O Ep Operation Rainfall, the passionate, fan-driven campaign to have Wii JRPGs Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower released in North America, has now entered phase two. Since Nintendo of America announced that they would be watching Xenoblade’s reception in Europe, this is a crucial time for fans of the game.
“As part of Phase Two of Operation Rainfall, we very much want to see Xenoblade Chronicles sell exceptionally well in PAL regions,” the press release stated. “To all residents in the regions of Europe and Oceania, we encourage you to pre-order and purchase it at your earliest convenience. In the Americas, we encourage you to promote awareness of these titles. Good sales abroad will be a strong indicator for the title making it to American shores.”
More details about the letter-writing campaign can also be found in the press release. The group also encourages everyone to purchase Final Fantasy on the Virtual Console on August 19th, and reminds everyone that piracy is neither condoned nor cool. They also explain the perils of purchasing a Wii and games from another region – both for your own sake (Nintendo of America will not fix your Wii if it’s been modified) and for their own (it won’t help sales figures if you’re off importing the games, kids).
Whether it’s futile, ludicrous, heroic, or some mixture of all three, Operation Rainfall is definitely determined.
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged Xenoblade Chronicles