Ever since the reveal of Tales of Graces f, we haven't heard much about the original Wii version of the game. That changes as of today, as Nintendo and Namco Bandai have announced that they will be re-releasing the game under the Minna no Susume Selection (translates to "Everybody's Recommended Selection") label.
Tales of Graces on the Nintendo Wii was the first mothership title for the series on the platform (Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was classified as a spin-off sequel). The original release of the game was riddled with numerous bugs, with some even crashing the game altogether. Namco Bandai was forced to issue a bug-fixed version of the game, and a improved port was released in the form of Tales of Graces f late last year.
The re-release of the Nintendo Wii version of Tales of Graces will be released in Japan on March 24, 2011 for 2,800 Yen.
(On the subject of Tales of Graces, the PSN DLC cameo costumes will be released on January 13 and 20. The first batch will include Sophie, Cheria, Malik and Richard's costumes, with the latter batch including Asbel, Hubert and Pascal's costumes.)
For those who have followed Namco Bandai's Facebook wall over the last year, you'll know that their attempts at reaching out to Tales fans hasn't gone over that well. A new post from the company's new Community Manager appears to be turning that around, however.
The new Community Manager, Richard Bantegui, posted this on the company's Facebook wall about two hours ago:
Hey guys! I'm Richard Bantegui, aka "FilthieRich," the Community Manager for Namco Bandai Games. If you've got any thoughts, requests or suggestions about any of our games such as Tekken, SoulCalibur, PAC-MAN and yes, even Tales, let's chat!
He also gives a link to his personal Twitter account, @Filthierich, where fans of all of Namco Bandai's games, including Tales, can tweet him. Currently, the Facebook post has nearly 100 comments and over 50 Likes in just the last two hours. There's quite a few Tales-related tweets showing up in his account as well.
While no localization announcements have come out of this, it is a reassuring sign nonetheless for the company to publicly reach out to their fans and is a welcome change from what occurred last August.
The last Tales release in North America was Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World on November 11, 2008. Since then, Western fans of the long-running Japanese RPG series have heard little to nothing from Namco Bandai. Following the release of Dawn of the New World, there's been a number of unsettling signs, such as Peter Garza, the localization manager for Tales beginning with Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo GameCube, leaving the company and the recent layoffs of personnel in their North American branches.
When the PS3 port of Tales of Vesperia was announced last April, many hopes were dashed when rumors about a possible localization came and went. Although there were no localization rumors for the Wii version of Tales of Graces, fans of the series were still left wondering what the future of the series would be in the West, as two of the mainline console games in the franchise had been passed over.
With Tales of Graces now on the PS3, thanks to the recent release of Tales of Graces f, many have been left wondering which version Namco Bandai would release in the West. For those who analyze the port, there's a likely chance that Namco Bandai might have other plans, namely a Wii version of Tales of Graces f. There are some reports (such as this one, although the validity of the article is in question) that this exact idea might happen, more or less. So what is the likelihood this outcome could become reality?
In yesterday's first part of this article, we detailed the recent events surrounding Namco Bandai's postings on Namco Games's Facebook wall and the misconceptions surrounding comments that it would be incredibly easy for the company to release the PS3 port of Tales of Vesperia. This second part details what both sides can do to help release more Tales games in the west.
What Namco Bandai needs to realize with the Tales series is that while it might not be as big of a juggernaut as other RPGs such as Final Fantasy or the company's very own Tekken franchise, there is a very passionate fan base, much like the fan bases for Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei and NIS America's Disgaea franchises.
The company also needs to realize that part of the lackluster sales can be attributed to two factors: release dates and fan outreach. One such example of the former would be Tales of the Abyss's release in North America. Namco Bandai released the title mere weeks before Final Fantasy XII and had little-to-no advertising, with only a few websites having advertisements for the game, compared to Square Enix's mammoth advertising for the their title. With Square Enix pushing out a limited edition version of Final Fantasy XII, many gamers were forced to pick one of the two and many forgoed picking up Tales of the Abyss if they happened to noticed it. The lackluster sales that followed only helped to push the game to the back of the store, furthering hampering its sales.
Keep on reading for more of the second part of the article.
Late last month Namco Bandai's Japanese branch revealed a series of new Tales games, one of which being Tales of Graces f, a PS3 port of the original Wii version which includes a plethora of new additions and updates. After a small number of fans posted on Namco Games, the branch of the company responsible for causal mobile and PC releases, the company posted the following response on their wall:
Firstly, thank you all for your excitement around the series. We also love the series here at Namco of America and are working with our Japan counterparts to determine if we'll see US releases for these games. Unfortunately, we don't currently have any plans to bring Tales of Graces to the US. If this changes, we'll let you know as soon as we can!
For those who follow the series and the company, Namco Bandai has normally disregarded fan responses to the Tales series, so to have the company acknowledge the fans, let alone comment on talking to their Japanese branch, which has control over what titles the North American branch can and cannot publish, was a welcome sign indeed. Shortly after this announcement, a petition on PlayStation.Blog Share for Sony to help localize both the PS3 and PSP Tales titles was posted, along with a plethora of wall posts on the Facebook wall which totaled over 300 in just a few days time.
Keep on reading for more information, as well as details for how to let Namco Bandai hear your voice on the matter.
Last Friday we reported on Namco Bandai posting a statement on their Facebook wall responding to the comments for a localization of Tales games outside Japan. What followed was over 100 posts to the company's Facebook wall and over 1,000 votes on a petition on Sony's PlayStation.Blog share for Sony to help localize PlayStation titles in the series, among other things. The company responded yet again, but this time things happened quite differently.
The original statement, which was posted less than an hour ago, read: To all Tales fans! We are ecstatic to see all of your responses. Thanks for your loyalty and passion towards the game. Unfortunately we do not have any plans to localize the series at this time. We’ll be sure to let you know if there are any changes to the plans. Thanks again for your support.
For those who closely looked at the comment, it was oddly noticeable that "series" was used instead of Tales of Graces, as in the previous statement. Just the comment alone sparked quite a few negative posts, as was to be expected. But unlike the previous statement, which still can be seen on the company's wall, this new statement, along with its 30+ comments, is now completely removed.
One has to wonder why the company would remove this comment, as it stated almost the exact statement as the previous comment, save the replacing of the game for the series. Namco Bandai has yet to comment on the removal.
Dengeki has just revealed news about a new Mutsumi Inomata-themed costume for Malik Caesars in Tales of Graces. Tales of Graces is the first mothership (the official series term for non-spin off games) for the Wii. The previous Wii Tales of title was Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, which was classified as a spin-off sequel.
Like the previous Mutsumi Inomata costumes, including Pascal, Cheria Barnes and Asbel Lhant, Malik's costume is very unique, a samurai design with some animal printed on the front of it.
According to Dengeki, the DLC will be 400 Nintendo Points and will be released on March 31st starting at 1pm JST (Japanese Standard Time). The only character yet to have received a custom costume is Richard.
Dengeki has just revealed news about a new Mutsumi Inomata-themed costume for Asbel Lhant in Tales of Graces. Tales of Graces is the first mothership (the official series term for non-spin off games) for the Wii. The previous Wii Tales of title was Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, which was classified as a spin-off sequel.
Like the Mutsumi Inomata costumes for Pascal and Cheria Barnes, as well as the costume for Hubert Ozwell, Asbel's costume is very unique, appearing to mesh the ideas of a samurai and a aircraft pilot. According to Dengeki, the DLC will be 400 Nintendo Points and will be released on March 10th starting at 1pm JST (Japanese Standard Time). No information has been given on costumes for Richard or Malik Caesars.
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