Operation Rainfall

About

Operation Rainfall– is a Fan Campaign, which Originated from the IGN Message Boards, to urge Nintendo of America to bring Three Particular video games to the United States; Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower.

Xenoblade– is a game developed by Monolith Soft and was released in Japan on June 10, 2010.
The Last Story– is a game that was developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive and was released January 27th 2011.
Pandora's Tower– is a game that was developed by Ganbarion and was released in May 26th 2011.

Xenoblade and The Last Story are in the Process of being Localized in Europe with a 2011 release for Xenoblade and titled Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story being slated for 2012 release.

How it Began

Before E3 2011 happened there was a lot of speculation about the Nintendo's New Console WiiU, Which at the time was called "Project Cafe", Along with Nintendo's New Console was people speculating 3DS games and Wii games.
E3 2011 happened and Gamers got stuff that they wanted from Nintendo's E3 Press Conference EXCEPT for announcing the Big Three (Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower) for Localization. At this point most Nintendo gamers were about to give up hope, That is until Nintendo of France Broke the Silence on June 23rd 2011 and stated…

"…Nintendo of Europe wanted to show Xenoblade Chronicles at E3 2011, but Nintendo of America wouldn't let them because they didn't want to show products they aren't planning to sell."
Mathieu Minel, In regards to The European release of Xenoblade which was announced in March

Nintendo of American Gamers felt like they were stabbed in the back.

Meanwhile a Thread in IGN Wii Message Boards had already surfaced and was trying to get people to send letters to Nintendo of America to be persuaded to bring the games to the United States. With Mathieu Minel's comment on NOA not planning on selling Xenoblade the Thread Exploded and started to branch out to different forums, on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

What used to be a simple letter campaign that's similar to TV show letter campaigns turned into something much much bigger. All the way that they had to make a name for the Campaign and they call it. Operation Rainfall, which is to symbolize bringing games from over seas to end a "Gaming Drought" for the Nintendo Wii.

The Campaign

The Campaign officially started on June 22nd 2011 on the IGN Message Boards requesting to send Polite Hand Written Letters to Nintendo of America's Headquarters's in Redmond, WA.

The Following is a quote from IGN Message Boards regarding to the Letters as Letter Templates to who they will be addressed to the Current Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime.

so a few of us have talked about this idea, but nobody has wanted to step up and take the leadership possition so i guess I have to atleast try

the concept: when TV shows are at risk of cancellation, groups of fans have managed to get the networks to bring them back by participating in campaigns that involve writing physical letters (not e-mail) and sending them to the network along with gifts that represent the cause…. in the case of "veronica mars" fans sent mars bars to UPN (and later the CW), in the case of "jericho" fans absolutely flooded CBS with nuts… so lets do the same kind of thing for these 3 games

the proposal: 3 separate campaigns… 1 for each game, all with unique target dates (we make a better impact if we plan our letters to arrive at around the same time)

what we need to make an impact: we need to absolutely flood nintendo of america, so send letters from as many addresses as you can, get friends to participate, and spread the word in any way possible

[hr]

XENOBLADE:
write a polite letter, pointing out the need for the game
optional item – miniature toy swords or cocktail swords
target date – July 11-13, 2011 (plan your letters to arrive around the 11-13th, not to ship on the 11-13th)

bellow is a letter template, but feel free to write your own, just try to be polite if possible
[blockquote]
Dear Reggie,

As a fan of your company and of RPGs, I was extremely excited about the reveal of Monado which was later retitled Xenoblade. After it's reveal at E3 2008 it quickly became one of my most anticipated games for the Wii, and as more information, screens, and trailers were released my interest only expanded. I am deeply concerned that this game has no North American release planned, especially considering the sparse lineup on the wii in the next year. I have been a Loyal fan of this company for over 25 years, and yet there hasn't been a game worth getting on your console for nearly 8 months… and nothing on the horizon to be excited about besides Zelda, and yet Xenoblade sits completed, and soon to be localized for Europe in English. Please consider your company's fans, please bring Xenoblade to us.

Sincerely,
(your name here – signed)
[/blockquote]

[hr]

THE LAST STORY:
write a polite letter, pointing out the need for the game
optional item – a small book, a cover of a book, or the last page/chapter/epilogue of a book
target date – July 18-20, 2011 (plan your letters to arrive around the 18-20th, not to ship on the 18-20th)

bellow is a letter template, but feel free to write your own, just try to be polite if possible
[blockquote]
Dear Reggie,

As a fan of your company and of RPGs, I was extremely excited about the reveal of the Last Story. Being a fan of Mistwalker and Hironobu Sakaguchi, it quickly became one of my most anticipated games for the Wii, and when the gorgeous art and impressive screens and trailers were released I only became more excited for the game. I am deeply concerned that this game has no North American release planned, especially considering the sparse lineup on the wii in the next year. I have been a Loyal fan of this company for over 25 years, and yet there hasn't been a game worth getting on your console for nearly 8 months… and nothing on the horizon to be excited about besides Zelda, and yet the Last Story sits completed. Please consider your company's fans, please bring the Last Story to us.

Sincerely,
(your name here – signed)
[/blockquote]

[hr]

PANDORA'S TOWER:
write a polite letter, pointing out the need for the game
optional item – MEAT, preferably a dried meat such as Beef Jerky, Slim Jims, or Landjager (Hunter's Sausage)
target date – July 25-27, 2011 (plan your letters to arrive around the 25-27th, not to ship on the 25-27th)

bellow is a letter template, but feel free to write your own, just try to be polite if possible
[blockquote]
Dear Reggie,

As a fan of your company and of games like Castlevania, I was extremely excited about the reveal of Pandora's Tower. From the initial cryptic reveal, to the delightfully twisted plot details that followed, I have been craving this game all year. I am deeply concerned that this game has no North American release planned, especially considering the sparse lineup on the wii in the next year. I have been a Loyal fan of this company for over 25 years, and yet there hasn't been a game worth getting on your console for nearly 8 months… and nothing on the horizon to be excited about besides Zelda, and yet Pandora's Tower sits completed. Please consider your company's fans, please bring Pandora's Tower to us.

Sincerely,
(your name here – signed)
[/blockquote]

[hr]

send your individual letters to:

Reginald Fils-Aime (President and COO)
c/o Nintendo of America
4600 150th AVE NE.
Redmond, WA 98052

spread the word…. if we flood their offices we might still have a chance at getting these games

so c'mon guys, lets do this

link is linky[/link]

[/quote]

Later after the Campaign kicked off, users from the IGN Message Boards found out that the Amazon Listing for the Original Name for Xenoblade, Monado: Beginning of the World, was still up.

So then the Word was to spread that if Nintendo won't listen to the Letters, Calls, or Twitter Postings, then Nintendo would definitely listen to Money, and To Go Pre-Order Monado: Beginning of the World on Amazon.com.

From with in 1 day of the Campaign the Game went from Rank 150000 in the Video Games Bestsellers Charts to #4 and from the Following Day, Saturday June 25th 2011, Monado: Beginning of the World hit #1 in Bestsellers in Wii Action games, Wii Games, and in ALL Video Game sales.
As of the time of this Article's Writing the game now sits in the #3 Seat with only the Xbox 360 Kinect Console and PS3 Call of Duty Bundle beating it.

A Website was also made for the Campaign on Blogspot called "Operation Rainfall".

Media Attention

Since the Campaign started and Monado soaring to the Top of Amazon Charts, Some Media Outlets have been reporting on this and showing support.
Some of these Sites are…
Kotaku , IGN, Eurogamer , Joystiq , GameInformer , Destructoid, etc….
Even Nintendo has taken Notice and the only thing they have said about this matter is this Twitter and Facebook Stat.

Hey fans, we appreciate your enthusiasm. Look for more updates to come soon!

Operation Rainfall's Press Release

JUNE 28, 2011

NETROOTS EFFORT SPOTLIGHTS M.I.A. NINTENDO GAMES



Fans of Nintendo's Japan-only release Xenoblade (aka Monado) pushed the videogame to the top of Amazon's preorder chart this past weekend in a bid to request a Western release.

The movement began June 22 on IGN's Wii message board and was soon organized into a campaign known as Operation Rainfall. Initially built around a coordinated letter writing effort requesting the Western release for three Nintendo-published Wii games currently available only in Japan (Monolithsoft's Xenoblade, Mistwalker's The Last Story and Ganbarion's Pandora's Tower), Rainfall soon morphed into a hybrid lobbying effort with its own blog, Twitter and Facebook sites. However, the most noticeable outgrowth was the spontaneous Amazon pre-ordering effort for Xenoblade that topped the online retailer's chart from June 25-27. During the same time period, fans sidetracked a posting on Nintendo's Facebook page that offered birthday wishes for Sonic the Hedgehog, with the majority of the over-3,400 replies requesting information pertaining to a Western release date for Xenoblade (the first game Rainfall has targeted). Nintendo took notice: their ensuing Facebook update thanked fans for their enthusiasm and urged them to watch for updates.

Rainfall has been noticed by the media, too, with articles appearing on IGN, Kotaku, Joystiq, Eurogamer, Destructoid, Siliconcera and other gaming sites, some of whom have contacted Nintendo directly for comment.

"Nintendo assures me a statement is coming," said IGN Nintendo Editor Rich George in an update on that site's message board. "They generally don't keep quiet like this unless they're mulling over what to say or are approving through Japan."

Releasing games in Western territories that had been exclusively available in Japan is not a new idea for Nintendo. In a November 2010 meeting with investors, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata broached the possibility of localizing games for Nintendo's handheld DS system.

"Some software has already proved its marketability in Japan but is still not available in the overseas’ markets, and for some software titles, our localization teams are currently spending time to localize them," he said.

With the Wii's 2011 release schedule lacking marquee Nintendo-published titles, some analysts expected the company to announce Wii localizations to bolster the console's library. However, gaming's biggest media summit, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), passed in June without any release dates given. Reggie Fils-Aime, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, was quoted at E3 by Kotaku as having "nothing to announce" regarding any of the games in Operation Rainfall's campaign.

That may change when the original letter-writing campaign kicks into high gear. Letter templates are available on Rainfall's blog (http://oprainfall.blogspot.com) and original IGN message board post, along with target dates for their delivery (July 11-13 for Xenoblade, July 18-20 for The Last Story and July 25-27 for Pandora's Tower).

"Even if nothing comes of it, the folks involved with Operation Rainfall have managed a pretty cool (and calm) feat here," said IGN's George. "It's admirable to say the least."

References

Nintendo Facebook.

Kotaku
IGN
Eurogamer
Joystiq
GameInformer
Destructoid
Operation Rainfall Blog
Operation Rainfall Twitter
Operation Rainfall Facebook