Has anyone seen this. the zelda part looks really cool but the mario part I just can't take seriously. It feels like an April 1st Nintendo direct

I guess I forgot to put the link to the video clip http://www.youtube.com/v/oiRJE1Q_gN8&hl=en_US&fs=1&

Is that trailer for real? Pretty cool if so (and funny, either way).

Yes I'm pretty sure it's for real from the Japan only Nintendo Direct. Or at least I thought it was for real, but since none of you guys are covering it like you usually cover Nintendo Directs I'm starting to wonder.

Hey Guys,

I am one of the Co-Founders of Operation Rainfall, and I would just like to say that it makes me really happy to hear some of you and your listeners are enjoying Pandora's Tower.  Through the process of campaigning for these games we would receive constant complaints about this game's inclusion amongst the other 2.  We even saw articles referring to it as the weakest link.  So it is great to hear some people talk about it in a mostly positive light.

Pandora's Tower was perhaps the hardest of the 3 to campaign for as there just simply wasn't enough information. In fact, much of the information that was available contradicted what little else was there.  Around the time the game launched in Europe we initiated a Pandora's Tower month (we did the same for the Last Story) in order to raise awareness of why we thought the game looked so promising.

I though I would include some links to some of the coverage we provided if any of you or your listeners would be interested.

http://operationrainfall.com/press-release-operation-rainfall-to-promote-pandoras-tower-month/

a 3 part article/roundtable series I wrote/hosted
http://operationrainfall.com/whypandora1/
http://operationrainfall.com/whypandora/
http://operationrainfall.com/whypandora3/

http://operationrainfall.com/why-pandoras-tower/

a series that another member did about the music (btw, most of it is quite famous classical music)
http://operationrainfall.com/pandoras-tower-music-origins-part-1/
http://operationrainfall.com/pandoras-tower-musical-origins-part-ii/
http://operationrainfall.com/pandoras-tower-musica-origins-part-iii/

a video explanation of the game we made before any of us had played it
http://operationrainfall.com/what-is-pandoras-tower/

http://operationrainfall.com/evolution-music-pandoras-tower/

an article/roundtable we did about how the game could have been made available (we did a whole series of these for the last story)
http://operationrainfall.com/pondering-pandora/

P.S. - Pandora's Tower actually had the msot interesting aspect of our mail in campaign... we sent meat, such as beef jerky to Nintendo.

P.P.S. - Is it just me, or did they put an exceptional amount of detail into Elena's mouth and tongue, which just made the feeding scenes more powerful.  They also did a great job animating her trembling fingers and worrisome eyes. I felt these touches really made me feel attached to the character in a way I have rarely been before.

Great podcast, guys. First, I'm glad to hear the praise for Wario Land 3, it was one of my favorite GBC games in my youth and I find it superior to Wario Land 2, which does feel a bit too linear for my tastes. Also, great to hear such healthy discussion of Pandora's Tower. To be honest, I played with the volume on pretty low, but I seem to recall not finding many of the tracks particularly memorable. But now that I look back on it, the Observatory theme is extremely pleasant, the boss theme is intense, and the final boss theme is just freaking amazing. I'll have to give it another go with higher volume.

If there's one thing I can say about the Rainfall Trio, it's that I love them all separately for very different reasons, and for Pandora's Tower, I appreciate the vast amount of lore in a relatively confined game and the macabre feel that is a major selling point- I'd love to see the world of Pandora's Tower appear again as an established franchise, because the mechanics and the style of gameplay is unique among Nintendo IPs and it has a more mature air about it that could suit it as a core gaming experience.

Also, the second grass-themed tower is absolutely gorgeous. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Good show.

On Pandora's Tower: Thinking back, I was overwhelmed with the options and tutorials at the beginning as well. The game front loads its systems and mechanics in the first 3-4 hours in the first two towers. After that, you know all of the controls and systems you will use for the remaining 20-26 hours. Some moves, such as the multiple chain shots Gui described, aren't all that useful in the game. The ones that I feel are essential are linking two enemies and binding an enemy by shooting the chain twice at it.

Hearing Jame's impassioned statement on Xenoblade Chronicle's title screen and music made me want to boot up the game and leave it on the title screen.

I actually have a program that allows me to make videos my desktop background so I downloaded a 1080p Xenoblade title screen video for my background.

I actually did boot up Xenoblade last night and sit there on the title screen, I had no idea the scene changes after a few minutes.

Wait, you didn't just watch that title screen when you first booted up the game? :o

No, it didn't appear to do anything and I wanted to well you know, play the game!

Haha yeah, dreamscene. I did that a while back too. I had to reinstall windows over the summer though, and I never reapplied the background. I might have to go do that now....

Also, even if you skipped past the title screen (in which case, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgPcl1WJ98Y), I'm surprised that the Prologue music didn't give you an accurate preview of the brilliance of Xenoblade's soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FkRenJs0N4&list=PLAFE9CD20601795DE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hnpPXJsN3E&list=PLAFE9CD20601795DE

How can anyone not love this?!

The music in that game is so good that my mom, who majored in music in college, remarked on how fantastic it was multiple times while I played it this summer. She even loved the title theme so much that she decided to learn to play it on the piano, and then remarked that it was more technically difficult to play than most classical pieces she had learned.

Here's one more underappreciated song from Xenoblade that I just have to share (last link I promise): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0DE5zyRI6U&list=PLAFE9CD20601795DE

YOKO SHIMOMURA IS A FREAKING GENIUS.