Splatoon is proof that Xenoblade is the savior of the JRPG.

[FunFan]

When the original Xenoblade came out for the Wii in Japan, there was a lot of doubt that the game would ever come out anywhere else. The reason was Nintendo's lack of confidence in the feasibility of the product on the global market. Thanks to the localization of the game by NoE and a publishing deal between GameStop and NoA, the game was released worldwide to massive critical acclaim. But more importantly, the sales far exceeded Nintendo's expectations as the game had even more success outside of Japan. This has obviously created a positive change in Nintendo's perception of the potential success high profile console JRPGs can achieve worldwide, which is reflected in Xenoblade Cronicles X higher budget and the fact that the game will release in EU and NA withing the same year. Nintendo, itself, is publishing the game on all markets.

The fact that Nintendo is having a more positive posture about big budget console JRPGs worldwide will mark the single biggest shift of the JRPG subgenre status in the console market. After all, Nintendo is getting serious about the genre, and when Nintendo gets serious about a genre, big things happen. This was evidenced earlier this year with the release of Splatoon and the massive success it had. Before Splatoon came out, I could confidently say that shooters are never becoming big in Japan. Or that a children friendly shooter had not commercial viability. Many people believed it had no chance against the likes of Halo 5. Yet the game is putting down a fight. It might loose at the end, but the fact that is even competing reflects a disruption in the market. Thing is, it shouldn't even be competing. It is a new IP and is not exclusively oriented towards a teenag… sorry, I meant mature audience. As many people have pointed out, it should had been murdered in sales. Yet it hasn't. Nintendo is changing the status quo of shooters, and it can do the same with RPGs. Now, is truth that Nintendo didn't put the same marketing effort into Xenoblade Chronicles X as it did with Splatoon and is clear they don't yet have the same confidence in the series, or JRPGs in general, as they have with other series since they opted to give the immensely important November slot to Mario Tennis instead. But, thanks to the original Xenoblade, the stage is set in, to have a more RPG supportive Nintendo if Xenoblade Chronicles X proves successful.

It is truth that success on one front, doesn't necessarily translate on another. And is perfectly understandable that some of you might want to play that card. After all, it is the best scapegoat argument if you don't want to accept that Nintendo can become one of the biggest players in the RPG genre, just like it did with the multiplayer shooter genre. I'm not saying that there is no merit to this argument, because it has and, at the risk of sounding self-defeating, I accept that it points out the obvious hole in my logic. But that hole only works against my claim if there was a chance that Nintendo couldn't make a game in the RPG genre as successful as Splatoon, assuming the same effort is being put into it. That, to me, makes the entire argument absurd because I have no doubt that Nintendo have more chances of hitting it big with a JRPG than they ever did with a multiplayer shooter. Of course, the same effort has to be put into it, but that's why the performance of Xenoblade Chronicle X worldwide is all the more important. Thing is that, if you don't want Nintendo to be a massive player in the console RPG front, you better pray that Xenoblade Chronicles X bombs really hard. Because, if it becomes a big success, gamers will notice, the industry will notice, SquareEnix will notice : ) and, more importantly, Nintendo will surely know.

 

Abridged version for the lazy:

Xenoblade is making Nintendo serious about the RPG genre.

Splatoon is proof of what happens when Nintendo gets serious about a genre.

Simple.