Xenoblade gets US release as GameStop exclusive
Operation Rainfall finally gets its way.
UPDATE: Nintendo of America has confirmed an April 2012 US release, via its Twitter feed.
ORIGINAL STORY: Xenoblade Chronicles, Nintendo's phenomenal Wii JRPG that so far has only been released in Japan and Europe, is finally getting a US release, judging by an eagle-eyed NeoGAF poster.
According to a retail database listing, it'll be out in The Land of the Free on 3rd April 2012 as a GameStop exclusive.
Online retailer Amazon will no doubt love that, considering the game got to the top of its pre-order chart thanks to the Operation Rainfall movement.
Nintendo had originally announced that it had no plans to bring the title to the US, despite the noisy fan campaign to convince the platform holder there was a market for the game.
"Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so here it is. We never say 'never,' but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time," read a post on its Facebook page back in June.
The Monolith Soft-developed RPG arrived in the UK back in August to universal acclaim.
"No Japanese RPG has more successfully married its various components this hardware generation," read Simon Parkin's 9/10 Xenoblade Chronicles review.
"It's a game that invites us to reassess an entire genre, pointing to a bold future while nodding its respect towards the past. It's a towering triumph."
Operation Rainfall still has two more Nintendo-published Wii titles still absent from US release schedules in its sites - Mistwalker RPG The Last Story and stylish button-masher Pandora's Tower. European launches have already been confirmed for both games.