lol you've got to be kidding. Xenoblade has the best environments in an RPG ever. It doesn't even need crazy polygons or HD to achieve this.

And they should make a 2D game? Really? Really?

Well firstly I really don't think Nintendo had made a decision up until this announcement. If Reggie had said the games weren't coming then Nintendo changed their minds the world would be more pissed then they are now. If Reggie said the game was coming then it bottomed out in Europe and looked like a complete disaster then again they would look horrible when they cancel it.

Reggie's failure to clarify was a diplomatic move, Nintendo didn't want to commit to either bringing or not bringing the title till they were sure whether or not it could be a success. In this case I think Reggie and Nintendo themselves made the very best decision and they went about it as good as they possibly could.

As for the risk, yes it is diminished Nintendo Of America didn't spend a crap load localizing it since a lot of it was already done by NOE. They also aren't spending a huge amount on advertising and marketing. But it is still a risk, firstly I am guessing that they promised GameStop a certain amount of support meaning they are locked in and need to provide the game to the store. GameStop probably had some conditions in the deal which Nintendo needed to accept to make the game possible. If the game bombs will GameStop sign future agreements to help bring games over?

Essentially Nintendo is reducing risk as much as possible. But their are still risks involved it costs money to localize a game, from the development costs (Which are low) to manufacturing and distributing. Also if the title is launching in all of NA, they need to deal with Government's and all kinds of crap to get the game on store shelves.

Basically Nintendo is reducing the risks as much as possible. But any time you localize a game it is a risk, though in this case I cannot see how Nintendo's risk won't pay off. If even have the whining gamers go out and buy this game from GameStop the risk will pay off, though I think a full localization of the game and full ad campaign etc...etc.. would have been a very very very large risk.

If Last Story and Pandora's Tower both get localized by NOE, then similar lower risk deals could follow. But NOA shouldering the entire localization and it being in all retailers and such. The risk is just so big, yes it could pay off but it could also be disasterous. If XenoBlade sells very well don't count anything out!

As someone who has already played this game to death I can confirm that the shots you are showing are upscaled. Those screenshots are from the game running off Dolphin emulator on PC.

Gaur Plains on the Wii has colors that look more washed out and I can guarantee the game is not jaggy free like your screen shots suggest.

Either way, I still believe the game looks fantastic.

I wouldn't consider it a risk when it is nothing more than NoA reprinting EU copies to work on US Wiis. From what I saw in the trailer they are still using the EU voice acting.

While it is great that we are getting it, it is nothing more than a lazy reprint and I have no doubt they would profit on this even if they sold 25k copies.

Look at 3D Dot Game Heroes as a perfect example. The game has zero voice acting and all Atlus had to do was translate all the text from Japanese to English and they only expected 25k copies to be sold, which would have been more than enough to make their publishing deal worth it. 

Xenoblade is actually LESS work than what Atlus had with 3D Dot Game Heroes.

There is ZERO chance in hell that this could ever be considered a risk. 3DDGH was a full translation while Xenoblade is mearly a reprint.

Then take into account that if this is in fact Gamestop only, of course NoA recieved some kind of monetary amount for that to happen. Cheap and easy money grab done only to quiet the very vocal minority, nothing more, nothing less.

Still glad they did it though.