Pandoras tower getting released in NA by XSEED games this spring

[PreZZ]

Finally! I didnt have hope for this one coming over, good job XSEED! I will definitely buy it! this one may become one of the rarest rpgs for wii since its such a late release.

[Nz17]

To be honest, I'm surprised too. At this point I didn't expect any releases of note to be announced for the Wii, let alone Pandora's Tower.

[Tron 2.0]

Better late then never id say at this point i know i'll preorder the game :D

[wingzrow]

I hope we get the sexy black case japan got, or maybe a collector's edition or something. But yeah, this did really surprise me.

[Esquire Fox]

Ah, so Operation Rainfall was a complete success after all. Perhaps XSEED would be kind enough to localize Bravely Default next.


I hope we get the sexy black case japan got, or maybe a collector's edition or something. But yeah, this did really surprise me.

Considering the treatment they gave 'The Last Story', I'd say we can expect at least some kind of special first print edition. They'll probably throw in the soundtrack as a pre-order bonus if it isn't already included in the box.

[Tanooki]

Hate to be down on it, but too little too late for me. Perhaps when wii gets into that ghetto basement pricing before age hits a level prices go upward again I may nab it (and Last Story) but not now, wii is very dead for me as I have enough on my plate as it is with the WiiU I can barely find time for and my 3DS, plus I got Doshin the Giant the other day for GC and that's fun and bite sized with 30min days.

[xelement5x]

Hate to be down on it, but too little too late for me. Perhaps when wii gets into that ghetto basement pricing before age hits a level prices go upward again I may nab it (and Last Story) but not now, wii is very dead for me as I have enough on my plate as it is with the WiiU I can barely find time for and my 3DS, plus I got Doshin the Giant the other day for GC and that's fun and bite sized with 30min days.

Well you might not want to wait too long, Last Story and Xenoblade are still holding their current prices pretty darn well considering their age. It's just conjecture, but I would guess that since they both had pretty small print runs as well they may be pricier titles in the future since they came out near the end of the Wii's life.

Oddly enough, I got an email from GameStop a couple of months ago telling me to trade in Xenoblade since the trade in value on it went up. I just chuckled at the whole thing.

[Bojay1997]

Ah, so Operation Rainfall was a complete success after all. Perhaps XSEED would be kind enough to localize Bravely Default next.



Considering the treatment they gave 'The Last Story', I'd say we can expect at least some kind of special first print edition. They'll probably throw in the soundtrack as a pre-order bonus if it isn't already included in the box.

Actually, Operation Rainfall had nothing to do with it. In fact, they defrauded a bunch of people out of those crappy cardboard cases they promised to send out for people who donated.

[Aussie2B]

Well you might not want to wait too long, Last Story and Xenoblade are still holding their current prices pretty darn well considering their age. It's just conjecture, but I would guess that since they both had pretty small print runs as well they may be pricier titles in the future since they came out near the end of the Wii's life.

Oddly enough, I got an email from GameStop a couple of months ago telling me to trade in Xenoblade since the trade in value on it went up. I just chuckled at the whole thing.

There's no knowing what crazy things demand could do (just look at Final Fantasy VII), but XSEED has publicly stated that The Last Story is their most successful release to date. So, unless they mean that in some kind of strange way, we can take that as meaning The Last Story has had a bigger print run than any other XSEED release, late Wii release or not, and therefore is probably fairly common and shouldn't pull in that much money down the road unless the demand gets really ridiculous.

[xelement5x]

There's no knowing what crazy things demand could do (just look at Final Fantasy VII), but XSEED has publicly stated that The Last Story is their most successful release to date. So, unless they mean that in some kind of strange way, we can take that as meaning The Last Story has had a bigger print run than any other XSEED release, late Wii release or not, and therefore is probably fairly common and shouldn't pull in that much money down the road unless the demand gets really ridiculous.

Wow, I didn't know that. I'm always happy when XSEED does well, because it means more Ys games if we're lucky :) Was it only the first printing which had all the bonuses and stuff too then?

I was probably thinking more about Xenoblade specifically even though the OP didn't mention it, that seems to be going for rather high prices at this point already.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, it was when they sold out of all the premium copies of The Last Story that they announced that it had been their most successful release and that they were doing another print run of standalone copies. Although I guess they must've manufactured plenty of premium copies for those alone to outsell every other XSEED release.

[joshnickerson]

Eh, I wasn't as keen on this one as Xenoblade or Last Story, but I'll still pick it up to support Xseed and let the Big N know we still love our niche titles.

[PreZZ]

I played it for about 2 hours, its not as good as xeno or last story, but its definitely not a bad rpg. id give it a 7 out of 10 so far...

[Press_Start]

Hate to be down on it, but too little too late for me. Perhaps when wii gets into that ghetto basement pricing before age hits a level prices go upward again I may nab it (and Last Story) but not now, wii is very dead for me as I have enough on my plate as it is with the WiiU I can barely find time for and my 3DS, plus I got Doshin the Giant the other day for GC and that's fun and bite sized with 30min days.

You're going to regret it. Xenoblade Chronicles already selling on Ebay for $60 or $70 after NA numbers destroyed sales in Europe and Japan and that's just being a Gamestop exclusive alone. Last Story was and still is XSEED's best selling release to date that they've already published a second print run and I bet a big reason pushing them into localizing Pandora too. My buddy at Gamestop already beat himself up for trading in his sealed TSL copy, now has to drive 12 extra miles to the nearest one as all the local Gamestops have sold out.

The niche market is small but reliably solid and with a powerful voice....our money. So far, both games here have surpassed Europe's and have equal/overtaken Japan's, I'm definitely sure we'll do it again with Pandora's Tower as the Wii does live on in the WiiU and all XSEED has to do to remind people it's "Wii U compatible".

[Ryudo]

Imported the game last year. It's a decent romp and fun if you like a Castlevania/Rygar vibe. Now can Xseed please bring over Earthseeker. My Japanese copy I only made it 10 min in as I could not get what to do as I don't speak Japanese

[Aussie2B]

You're going to regret it. Xenoblade Chronicles already selling on Ebay for $60 or $70 after NA numbers destroyed sales in Europe and Japan and that's just being a Gamestop exclusive alone. Last Story was and still is XSEED's best selling release to date that they've already published a second print run and I bet a big reason pushing them into localizing Pandora too. My buddy at Gamestop already beat himself up for trading in his sealed TSL copy, now has to drive 12 extra miles to the nearest one as all the local Gamestops have sold out.

The niche market is small but reliably solid and with a powerful voice....our money. So far, both games here have surpassed Europe's and have equal/overtaken Japan's, I'm definitely sure we'll do it again with Pandora's Tower as the Wii does live on in the WiiU and all XSEED has to do to remind people it's "Wii U compatible".

I don't follow your argument here. If these games are selling so many copies, why do you think they're going to be so hard to find and expensive later on? I don't know about Xenoblade since, as far as I know, it's only gotten a single print run and they may have underestimated the demand and went with a fairly limited run, but still, if game collecting history has taught us anything, it's that the more common a game is, the cheaper it'll be (outside of lunacy like with FFVII). They may not be cheap now, but I'm not so sure that they won't be once the initial hype has passed. I would be more inclined to think that Xenoblade and Last Story would end up valuable if the sales were poor. Then it would just be a matter of the acclaim snowballing over the years and people fighting over the limited number of copies, like with Suikoden 2 and Valkyrie Profile. Granted, I don't expect games like Xenoblade and Last Story to see heavy markdowns, and being well-loved RPGs, they'll probably never be dirt cheap. But down the road I wouldn't be surprised if they could be had for around $20.

[Ryudo]

I don't follow your argument here. If these games are selling so many copies, why do you think they're going to be so hard to find and expensive later on? I don't know about Xenoblade since, as far as I know, it's only gotten a single print run and they may have underestimated the demand and went with a fairly limited run, but still, if game collecting history has taught us anything, it's that the more common a game is, the cheaper it'll be (outside of lunacy like with FFVII). They may not be cheap now, but I'm not so sure that they won't be once the initial hype has passed. I would be more inclined to think that Xenoblade and Last Story would end up valuable if the sales were poor. Then it would just be a matter of the acclaim snowballing over the years and people fighting over the limited number of copies, like with Suikoden 2 and Valkyrie Profile. Granted, I don't expect games like Xenoblade and Last Story to see heavy markdowns, and being well-loved RPGs, they'll probably never be dirt cheap. But down the road I wouldn't be surprised if they could be had for around $20.

TLS only sold around 100K est. So it's not a whole lot. XB is already fetching prices of 60$ used in some places.

[joshnickerson]

I don't follow your argument here. If these games are selling so many copies, why do you think they're going to be so hard to find and expensive later on? I don't know about Xenoblade since, as far as I know, it's only gotten a single print run and they may have underestimated the demand and went with a fairly limited run, but still, if game collecting history has taught us anything, it's that the more common a game is, the cheaper it'll be (outside of lunacy like with FFVII). They may not be cheap now, but I'm not so sure that they won't be once the initial hype has passed. I would be more inclined to think that Xenoblade and Last Story would end up valuable if the sales were poor. Then it would just be a matter of the acclaim snowballing over the years and people fighting over the limited number of copies, like with Suikoden 2 and Valkyrie Profile. Granted, I don't expect games like Xenoblade and Last Story to see heavy markdowns, and being well-loved RPGs, they'll probably never be dirt cheap. But down the road I wouldn't be surprised if they could be had for around $20.

You also have to account for desirability. It all comes down to how much people are willing to spend on a game, and how much people are willing to sell it for.

[xelement5x]

You also have to account for desirability. It all comes down to how much people are willing to spend on a game, and how much people are willing to sell it for.

True, they made billions of copies of Super Mario World (hyperbole, I know) but it still goes for $10-$15 because it's a good game and people want to play it. If quantity available always dictated price than it would probably be like a $3 game.

[Aussie2B]

100,000 is pretty decent by US-released Japanese RPG standards. Off the top of my head, I know Radiata Stories sold 120,000 in total overseas (non-Japan) sales (so less yet for the US), and that game isn't remotely considered rare. In fact, it has a rarity of 1 in the Digital Press guide, which is as common as the scale gets, and we can assume The Last Story would get a 1 or 2 too with its similar sales. Plus, this is not even getting into the fact that there was a second print run, which I would guess is probably not less than 50,000. When all is said and done, The Last Story is probably going to be more common than most US-released Japanese RPGs. I mean, we already know it's more common than every single other RPG in XSEED's catalog, so I'd be more inclined to pick some other well-loved title in their library as something that would likely go up in value down the road.

I don't put a lot of weight into initial hype-spurred spikes in value. Games like The World Ends With You, Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Disgaea, Katamari Damacy, Final Fantasy Tactics, etc. etc. were all selling for more than their full MSRP not that long after their releases because the initial demand was surpassing their availability. Then after reprints (some of which some people never saw coming [and were crushed and angered when their expensive game lost value]) or the interest simply waning as the games got older, the values dropped.

I am accounting for demand, which is why I'm saying they could possibly pull in $20, which is about the average price for PS1 RPGs that are well-liked, but I think expecting them to have high values later on is a bit much. Sure, it's theoretically possible, just like how Final Fantasy VII went for a lot despite boatloads of copies being out there, but just assuming that they're going to be impossible to find and really expensive when the signs aren't really there borders on fear-mongering. It's like with the old adage about how Atlus games supposedly always become rare/valuable, which convinced many gamers/collectors to snatch up all their games at the full MSRP, despite that many of their games, RPGs included, have seen heavy markdowns and are still extremely cheap and common. But as long as gamers are kept scared, thinking they'll have to pay out the nose later on, they'll keep dropping full price on game after game. In fact, it might be fear to blame for Xenoblade selling above MSRP right now. These people may be rushing to buy and paying extra because everybody is convincing them that it'll be even more expensive later.

[Carnby]

FYI, despite both GameStop and Amazon having the same info, that price and date are both placeholders. We haven't announced an exact date OR a price yet. Just "spring 2013." And honestly, that's all we know for sure right now, so that's all we really CAN say.

Once we have more specific information, you'll definitely hear about it.

Also, if anyone is holding off preordering due to the possibility of other editions being announced or something... erm, don't? ;) We'll most likely ship only a single SKU at launch (as we usually do), so preordering now would be no different than preordering later.

And... well, we like preorder numbers! So give us some good ones! Pleeeeeeease? ;) Heheheheh...

-Tom

A person from XSEED marketing posted this on NeoGAF.

[Ryudo]

A person from XSEED marketing posted this on NeoGAF.

It's Tom Lipshultz. He uses the same name at the Ys forums. 2:04


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnCvA181qAQ

[Carnby]

It's Tom Lipshultz. He uses the same name at the Ys forums. 2:04


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnCvA181qAQ

I never doubt it when developers or other "celebrities" post on NeoGAF. David Jaffe, Cliffy B, and Gary Whitta all have accounts there. There are also some developers from Viscera and Atlus who post on Gaf.

[Press_Start]

I don't follow your argument here. If these games are selling so many copies, why do you think they're going to be so hard to find and expensive later on? I don't know about Xenoblade since, as far as I know, it's only gotten a single print run and they may have underestimated the demand and went with a fairly limited run, but still, if game collecting history has taught us anything, it's that the more common a game is, the cheaper it'll be (outside of lunacy like with FFVII). They may not be cheap now, but I'm not so sure that they won't be once the initial hype has passed. I would be more inclined to think that Xenoblade and Last Story would end up valuable if the sales were poor. Then it would just be a matter of the acclaim snowballing over the years and people fighting over the limited number of copies, like with Suikoden 2 and Valkyrie Profile. Granted, I don't expect games like Xenoblade and Last Story to see heavy markdowns, and being well-loved RPGs, they'll probably never be dirt cheap. But down the road I wouldn't be surprised if they could be had for around $20.

Eh, I think you misunderstand. I was stating that Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story, as niche-RPGs on a not-on-the-surface-known-for-niche-RPG-but-really-is-niche-RPG-friendly Wii, are selling so prominently well in the US market that Pandora's Tower will not "bomb" and in fact, I wanted to say you will not very easily find a dozen copies mixed in with the other Wii party schluck in the $5 bargain pit at your local Best Buy/Target/Walmart as Tanooki predicted would be.

[Nz17]

Off the top of my head, I know Radiata Stories sold 120,000 in total overseas (non-Japan) sales (so less yet for the US), and that game isn't remotely considered rare. In fact, it has a rarity of 1 in the Digital Press guide, which is as common as the scale gets, and we can assume The Last Story would get a 1 or 2 too with its similar sales.

You probably shouldn't rely on the Online Rarity Guide's numbers as they haven't been updated in far too long. They are really only good for N64 and earlier, and even then only on the rarity side of things as game prices have changed quite a bit in the past few years. Basically, if anything listed on there has a price of "0" or a rarity of "0" then it typically has incomplete information. Thus I'm fairly certain that Radiata Stories's rarity rank of "1" is incorrect.

[Sailorneorune]

Hoping the price doesn't go up... just placed my preorder at the (awesome, especially as far as Gamestops go) Henderson Gamestop.

Will probably enjoy it until I hit a choke point and not touch it for 4+ months like with Xenoblade Chronicles, but I hope it'll be fun.

(now currently stuck in Final Fantasy IV, PSP version)

[Aussie2B]

You probably shouldn't rely on the Online Rarity Guide's numbers as they haven't been updated in far too long. They are really only good for N64 and earlier, and even then only on the rarity side of things as game prices have changed quite a bit in the past few years. Basically, if anything listed on there has a price of "0" or a rarity of "0" then it typically has incomplete information. Thus I'm fairly certain that Radiata Stories's rarity rank of "1" is incorrect.

Ah, thanks for the info. I know about the rarity 0 games, but I had assumed that if an actual number was given, that was real info. So does anybody know what rarity rank would be applied to a game with a print run of 100-150k copies? I know Valkyrie Profile's overseas sales were 73,000, and since the original PS1 version was only released in Japan and the US, that figure has to be the entirety of the US sales. It has a rarity number of 3 in the guide, so I'd guess that The Last Story couldn't get anything higher than a 2.

[Leo_A]

The online rarity guide isn't anywhere near that scientific.

[Aussie2B]

While there is a degree of opinion involved, it's not like people just pulled the rarity numbers out of a hat. Each is based on some form of data, and I'm sure print run/sales figures are some of the most valuable forms of data if made public. Each rarity number must represent some range of copy numbers.

[Bojay1997]

While there is a degree of opinion involved, it's not like people just pulled the rarity numbers out of a hat. Each is based on some form of data, and I'm sure print run/sales figures are some of the most valuable forms of data if made public. Each rarity number must represent some range of copy numbers.

I'm not aware of anyone ever really using print runs to generate the rarity numbers here or elsewhere. After all, on older games, how would you ever know how many copies of any given game still survive? Even newer games that don't sell well could have had significant numbers of copies destroyed to clear stock. My understanding is that the rarity in the DP guide is all based on opinion and the experience of the collectors who helped create that particular section. It's not just pulling numbers out of a hat, but it's also not objective in any meaningful way.

[Aussie2B]

Well, sales figures are obviously more valuable than print run figures, but print run numbers are definitely better than no official number. And if a company states that a print run has sold out, then the print run and sales figures are one in the same at that point, like with The Last Story and its initial 100k that had already sold.

I'm sure many of the numbers are a result of years of collected experience from collectors and/or shop owners. But if you have a great deal of experience with two games that appear to be equally common, with sales figures known for one and no public figures available for the other, it's not unreasonable to assume that the one with an unknown amount probably sold a number in the same ballpark. Or, for the reverse perspective, if a game with no figures is considered mildly rare and a game that sold so-and-so number is also considered mildly rare, then all games that sold around the amount of the second game should be considered mildly rare and get the same rarity number, even before gathering data in the wild.

[Bojay1997]

Well, sales figures are obviously more valuable than print run figures, but print run numbers are definitely better than no official number. And if a company states that a print run has sold out, then the print run and sales figures are one in the same at that point, like with The Last Story and its initial 100k that had already sold.

I'm sure many of the numbers are a result of years of collected experience from collectors and/or shop owners. But if you have a great deal of experience with two games that appear to be equally common, with sales figures known for one and no public figures available for the other, it's not unreasonable to assume that the one with an unknown amount probably sold a number in the same ballpark. Or, for the reverse perspective, if a game with no figures is considered mildly rare and a game that sold so-and-so number is also considered mildly rare, then all games that sold around the amount of the second game should be considered mildly rare and get the same rarity number, even before gathering data in the wild.

That sounds great and all, but up until the last few years, sales figures haven't really been readily available to the public and the time involved in trying to find all of them and then correlate them to rarity really hasn't been a priority here or elsewhere as far as I can tell. Plus, a game can be numerically rare but not be in demand at all and therefore far more common and available than something that had a far larger print run or sales but is wanted by more collectors. Availability and demand can also change radically over time as more copies surface or collectors discover a hidden gem. In any event, XSeed also seems to print a good quantity of their games and I wouldn't call any of their recent releases "rare", at least not yet.

[Leo_A]

While there is a degree of opinion involved, it's not like people just pulled the rarity numbers out of a hat.

Not heavily relying on sales figures hardly means that the numbers were just selected at random. They're primarily based on the experience of the member's that have contributed to it over the years.

I'd be very surprised to learn that even with the last couple of generations that a lot of statistical analysis based on things like NPD data has been utilized. It's taking it to an extreme what collectors can quantify just based on their personal experiences going after the items in question.

It's not a Bible, it's a guide. That perhaps one could argue with statistics that a game should be rated differently based on sales data compared to its peers is irrelevant. It's just a guideline to give someone a rough idea on how common or rare a game is and really doesn't call for such detailed analysis.

[Lady Jaye]

...And today's the day that Pandora's Tower is finally out in North America. At least in theory: the EBGames near my workplace where I pre-ordered the game hadn't received their copies as of this morning, but they're supposed to receive it around 1pm. Even if I did have it in my hands, I couldn't play it till late tonight anyway.

[xelement5x]

I just got my shipping notice earlier this morning as well from Amazon. Now to wait :)

[-dustburn-]

Got mine today!