February2014
News New and Sealed Xenoblade Chronicles Copies Available in North America
A rare opportunity
For a Wii game released in 2012 in North America (2011 in Europe), Xenoblade Chronicles has shown an impressive ability to remain relevant to enthusiastic Nintendo gamers. Its limited run in Nintendo of America's domain took on a controversial tone when retailer GameStop began charging $89.99 for copies, while there were even...
January2014
News Monolith Soft Lists "Urgent" Job Postings, Including Requirements in Network Implementation
Online play in 'X', please
As a subsidiary of Nintendo, Monolith Soft has been involved in a number of supporting roles — including some work on A Link Between Worlds — but is best known in recent years for its outstanding Wii title Xenoblade Chronicles. It's understandable, then, that there's some hype about its Wii U project, codenamed X and...
November2013
News Xenoblade Studio Monolith Soft Was Involved With Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Many hands make light work?
Nintendo working with other studios on its big titles isn't anything new, but it's nevertheless interesting to note that Monolith Soft's name appears in the end credits to The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. The Xenoblade creator — which is a subsidiary of Nintendo — isn't a stranger to the Zelda franchise...
July2013
News Monolith Soft's Working Environment and Development Culture Emerge
No crunching here
It's always fascinating to have an insight into development studios. Rather than being fun-lands in the style of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, they're ultimately rows of desks and, in many respects, look like any other office. Of course what's happening is a lot different, as the biggest studios have dozens — occasionally...
June2013
Video Monolith Soft's X Given More Epic Footage
Slated for 2014
There was plenty of game footage on show in Nintendo's E3 Direct, with one eagerly awaited trailer being for Monolith Soft's X. First revealed in January, the fresh footage arrived with a vague confirmation of a 2014 release. Some themes from the first trailer have continued across, such as the use of impressive mechs that can...
April2013
News Project X Zone European Release Date Confirmed
It'll be available in July
Last week Namco Bandai revealed Project X Zone would be coming to North America on 25th June, but Europe was left with its original vague release date of Summer 2013. This lead people to believe European 3DS owners would be getting the game much later than their American counterparts, however, this is not the case at all...
News Project X Zone Release Date Confirmed in North America
Europe still down for Summer 2013
Back in January Namco Bandai confirmed the brilliant-looking tactical-RPG Project X Zone would be coming to North America and PAL regions this Summer, despite sales being relatively poor in Japan. The 3DS title is a crossover that sees characters from the SEGA, Capcom and Namco Bandai universes battle it out for...
February2013
News Monolith Soft Enjoying Its Closer Relationship With Nintendo
Developers at the studio now working as a family
Monolith Soft, the developer behind Xenoblade Chronicles, has built a new studio in Kyoto, Japan so it can be closer to Nintendo. It is now in the process of developing a Wii U game that was briefly teased during a recent Nintendo Direct. Speaking in an internal interview series, translated by
News Monolith Soft's 3DS Title Makes an Intriguing Appearance
Courtesy of a job advert on Facebook
Monolith Soft is, for JRPG fans at least, a name at the top of many Wii U hype lists. The impressive trailer for X, as it's codenamed, reminded many of the sheer scale and epic adventure in Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii, but with greater resources to exploit on the system. This praise won't be news to eager...
January2013
News Nintendo Shows Off Monolith Soft's Wii U Project
Looks like a Xenoblade sequel to us
Xenoblade Chronicles may have arrived fairly late in the Wii's life cycle, and endured a drawn-out release in the West, but it earned plaudits from gamers and boosted the profile of its developer, Monolith Soft. There's little surprise, in that case, that a particularly exciting reveal in today's Nintendo Direct...
December2012
News Monolith Soft: We Want To Be Like Bethesda
Xenoblade Chronicles developer has big ambitions
Monolith Soft is certainly a developer worth keeping a close eye on. In 2007 Nintendo became the studio's parent company by acquiring an 80% stake in the business, and since then the developer has made titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii and Project X Zone — a Japan only crossover RPG...
August2011
News NOA Will Be Watching European Xenoblade Chronicles Sales Closely
Nintendo doesn't want to miss out, does it?
Although Nintendo has no plans to localise sought-after games like the ones at the heart of Operation Rainfall's genesis, that's not to say the situation will necessarily stay the same. For months, fans have been vocal about their desire for Japanese RPGs The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles a
July2011
News Xenoblade Chronicles is Coming Early, UK & Europe
August just got a little bit hotter
Xenoblade Chronicles, the greatly anticipated Wii RPG due out this summer in Europe and the UK, is launching two weeks earlier than the previously scheduled date of 2nd September. The game will now launch 19th August. That makes just a little less time to order that sexy preorder package. The game is also...
Talking Point The Growing Storm of Operation Rainfall
Is gaming's biggest consumer advocacy movement a noble cause, or does NoA know best?
What you see to the right of this text is a poster for Operation Rainfall. It features screen shots and information on Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, all of which Nintendo has published in Japan to positive reviews and sales, and none of...
June2011
News Pachter to Operation Rainfall: "I Agree"
Infamous analyst shows his support
The ongoing grassroots project Operation Rainfall, designed to convince Nintendo to publish Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower in North America, has analyst Michael Pachter chiming in via Twitter to voice his opinion. Earlier today, he tweeted: a grass roots movement to convince Nintendo to...
News Operation Rainfall Responds to Nintendo's "Never Say Never"
No happy dance at OpRa HQ
Yesterday Nintendo announced it has no plans to bring three sought-after Wii games to North America — Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower. One of the groups responsible for raising awareness of these games, Operation Rainfall, has responded to the disappointing news. While Nintendo's choice not to l
News NOA: "Never Say Never," But No Plans to Bring Sought-After Wii Games to NA
Xenoblade Chronicles, Last Story and Pandora's Tower still not coming
Nintendo has just responded to the public outcry for the epic RPGs Xenoblade Chronicles and Last Story and the action RPG Pandora's Tower to see localisation in North America via their Facebook page. The company stated: Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so...
News Xenoblade Chronicles Bundle Pack is Beautiful
Even more incentive to pre-order now
Deciding whether to buy a Classic Controller Pro? Planning on getting Xenoblade Chronicles? Nintendo might have made your purchasing decisions a little easier to make. With the RPG getting its European retail release on 2nd September, gamers will be able to buy a special pre-order bundle pack that comes with a...
News Monolith Soft's New Project is Bound for Wii U
Studio's job listing gets updated
To date, Monolith Soft has had two titles published on Nintendo's current generation of home consoles and the job listing on the studio's website has revealed that its upcoming project is one being developed for the next generation. As translated by Andriasang, the listing appears to be a revised one dating back to...
May2011
News Xenoblade Chronicles' Alternative Cover has been Decided
Is it the one you chose?
It's a shame that companies don't decorate games with alternative sleeve covers more often as it's a great way to introduce more artwork and a level of customisation to gamers. It's a good thing that Nintendo and Monolith Soft are into that sort of thing. Nintendo of Europe recently supplied four pieces of artwork for gamers...
News Xenoblade Chronicles Rated by OFLC
The highly anticipated RPG is headed down under
The OFLC, Australia's ratings classification board, has just rated Xenoblade Chronicles, awarding the title an M for fantasy violence. With this news, it's likely that an announcement of a North American release will be next, and you can rest assured that we'll keep our eyes peeled on the ESRB's new...
