Mighty Bitch Force!

Operation Rainfall danced the victory dance last month with the limited release of Xenoblade Chronicles in North American GameStops. Pyrrhic as that was, everyone seems to be happy and content that Nintendo finally threw them a bone. I’ve gone on virtually all of last year saying how Operation Rainfail is selfish and not as virtuous as the press makes them out to be, but I didn’t think that I would be able to add narcissism to their list of sins as well. I’ve been meaning to write this forever, but the below image forced me to shove it to the top of my to-do list.

Never mind that the website makes clear that this is “NOT FINAL ART”. Forget the obvious implications of calling these three games “an epic collection”, even though the website also states that the word “epic” has lost its meaning yet they still saw fit to use it for publicity purposes. Let’s not even mention that they are now collecting money that will somehow allow them to market these games to publishers in exchange for one of the above boxes. “Operation Rainfall Presents” three games that they think they have any claim to whatsoever, as punctuated by the huge logo on the front giving themselves a huge pat on the back.

When I read that line, and even before when I first learned about their plans to pitch this game to publishers, I was immediately brought back to my childhood when I would pitch to my parents some great toy or game that I wanted with reasons why they should buy it for me. This is the exact same scenario, only with disenfranchised grown-ups pitching this to other grown-ups with better things to do. If they really cared about region equality or seeing these three games because they were promised them earlier, they wouldn’t make so much effort to put their own name on the forefront because the releases matter more, not them. Instead of trying to make themselves look more important than they are, they could have said, say, “Mistwalker Presents An Epic Collection” and give credit where it’s due. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but people taking credit for things they haven’t done is one of the biggest injustices in the world to me. Even if they didn’t, this backseat marketing is indicative of a gamer mindset that desperately needs to be cleaned out. If you don’t believe their narcissism is the biggest problem, behold exhibit A:

This man-child is the same charlatan behind that puke-inducing “Why Won’t You Let Me Take My Money?” video. (I’m so sick of that meme. I need to write about its troubling implications as well someday.) This guy, a nobody on the internet with a webcam, a radio voice, and an ego worth a million dollars, thinks that his money is somehow more valuable than anyone else’s and thus Nintendo is sorely hurt for not ripping it out of his hands at the first opportunity. Moreover, he states that he specifically is the type of customer Nintendo should target. Operation Rainfall and other movements like it inspire videos like these. They make people think that individuals matter in the eyes of businessmen, because $50 from some webcam whore with 100,000 views is worth more than my $50 or even your $50. Sure, he says this is a parody and he claims that he doesn’t expect his videos to cause anything, but that he thinks he can do this and get media attention despite admitting to be completely ineffectual in influencing mutinational business practices says a lot about the entitled petitioner mindset. This and the previous video would have been just other videos on the internet if not for the arrogance brimming from them. Just look at his face in the video thumbnail and tell me it’s not due a corporate punching.

This comment from BoomingEchoes on a matching Destructoid article says it all.

I really hope they know that they probably had nothing to do with Xenoblade and Last Story released other then proving to publishers that gamers are whiny and misguided.

The fact that they need to ask for donations when they can’t come up with the money amongst themselves is sad..

The fact that they’re going to give people a slip cover to hold all 3 games, as if they own the rights to all 3 games simply because they fought for them, is egotistical.

“The only catch is this plan is not a guaranteed thing, and the donations will be used as they come in.”

Problem is that no donation based anything is an absolute, that fact is not limited to just these guys. And I’m fairly sure theres no refunds on donations usually.. But I’m probably wrong there.

Plus… THESE GUYS AREN’T MAKING THE GAME.. They’re pitching hypotheticals to companies on something THEY DON’T OWN THE RIGHTS TO. Seriously, what they’re doing should be illegal.

“It seems weird to me that Operation Rainfall is going this way about it..”

In a way its not.. They really didn’t have personal success with getting the other titles here, I believe 100% that Nintendo just finally did it on their own, and that shows in how Nintendo only bothered to half ass their releases then thinking they’d be strong enough for a real one.

Now that Rainfall is seeing the Kickstarter craze taking off they figure they can jump on it, but it a way that’s completely stupid. If they were raising the money to send to the Pandora’s Tower team with a note saying “this needs to be used to pitch the game to publishers for the west, and only that” then yeah, it’d be nice.. But they’re basically going rogue at this point, and frankly I don’t know how anyone can trust that they’ll really get results when they have NOTHING to do with the game beyond wanting it released this, ridiculously, bad. Just cause they may get one of these companies to agree to publish it, doesn’t mean the Pandora team even agrees with the terms at all.

“Besides, what’s a measly $10 for a great cause?”

Now say that another 20 times, for a plethora of games, without realizing it adds up -you just missed your rent and those games may still never be released. Its hardly a great cause when the developers should be doing this themselves -And seriously, what about the fact that they haven’t?

I don’t have much more to add to this. I’ve stated my opinion too many times for me to go on with any passion. I even said to myself that I would stop caring once Xenoblade Chronicles is released (and I had little doubt it eventually would), but “operations” with ulterior motives just make my stomach turn. I may be a nobody on the internet with a tumblr that only 10 people have ever read, but I certainly don’t expect to gain any fame for presenting myself in a dashing manner.

Hey Exy, aren’t you doing the same thing with that retarded Revive La-Mulana For WiiWare page, even though it’s already coming out in America on PC anyway? Unlike them, I’m motivated by experimentation, not by greed. I’ve said more times than I care to mention that I am the minority, so I want to see just how petty the minority of the minority can get. I fully expect this movement to fail, so if it doesn’t, the experiment fails as well.

And just for the record, I have never stated anything about the quality of any of these games. I’m sure they’re great, but the fans have—once again—soiled any chance of me enjoying something for at least five years. Exy, you need to lighten up. Just as soon as internet people realize what they’re doing. There’s a lot more to be said about the state of Japanese-to-English localization, but that’s all for another day.

[Update May 2 2012]Xseed Games, the North American publisher for The Last Story, has announced they are cancelling another one of their planned games, Grand Knights History, because it doesn’t have the resources to localize it. Score one more victory for Operation Rainfall! Take all the resources for your own ambitions! Screw the other minorities!