@sawtooth: Do you (or anyone really) know if I can use a single external HDD on an XB1 and a Wii-U without having to format it each time I hook it up to the other system?

Here's the direct message from Nintendo themselves via their FAQ on USB Storage devices with the WiiU. In Short, the drive is limited to only work with the WiiU and must be formatted to do so (and up to a maximum of 2TB of space, any extra will become inaccessible):

15. Why do I have to format my USB storage device?

• To optimize performance and ensure a consistent experience, all USB storage devices must be formatted and configured on the Wii U console for exclusive use with the console. Once a device has been configured for use with a Wii U console, it cannot be used with another Wii U console, PC, etc., unless it is reformatted.

While Nintendo doesn't recommend it and forum chatter has guessed it would reduce the drive's life, it would be cost-effective to grab a cheap 32+ GB USB drive to expand the storage of the Wii U to fit the ~22 GB Xenoblade Chronicles X or the 10 GB of faster-loading data packs.

Unless you have an extra AC outlet nearby and an old AC-powered external hard drive, using a USB flash drive is the easiest way to go.

That actually sounds like a cheaper alternative, especially because I don't really need it for anything besides this. I haven't hooked my Xbox up yet and doubt I'll need additional storage. Thanks! And thanks @dixavd

@tournamentofhate: I'll still claim it because Nintendo has done this stuff multiple times before and very recently. What they call "localizing" I call "pandering to an audience that doesn't care while compromising major elements of the game". Name one person that wasn't gonna buy this game because it had a boob slider? Name someone that would've boycotted Fatal Frame if it had those skimpy costumes? Would people not like Fire Emblem Awakening if stuff hadn't been taken out? The answer is probably no, but Nintendo wasn't willing to take the chance that someone might see them in a bad light. Instead they choose to censor themselves which is exactly what they did here.

Why do you consider removing a boob slider 'compromising (a) major element of the game?'

Edit to point out that I believe you are stating it IS a major component because you used the word 'pandering' to describe the change. That implies you must be talking about the boob slider, since that's the only change I see that could be construed as such.

Localizing can and should consider the mores of the marketplace the localization is done for. That is why it is distinct from and different than just translating.

Plenty of games released in the West have bust size customization. What is this phantom market that everyone keeps alluding to that calls for the exclusion of bust size customization?

Whether or not that market exists is immaterial. We don't have access to the marketing group or focus data to say one way or another, and we don't know the reasoning in the first place.

Personally, I think it was an artistic decision to remove the boob slider so that female outfits are shown as the original artist intended and not deformed by unexpected geometry.

Edited for clarity.

@nmarebfly: default boobs in Japanese version are bigger than the default in the American version so that whole original art concept is bull, we already accepted that it was changed for marketing reasons, not style. Americans don't like nudity but are totally fine with gore, while Asian markets don't have the whole nudity is taboo thing unless it's shown in a sexual way. Gore is usually censored in Germany; anime in particular is amusing to watch to see fights changed as much as they are. Otherwise markets for these things are small but do exist, I doubt it's enough to hurt sales, but will be noticeable if you watch the numbers.

Someday I'll learn Japanese and play the original as it was intended... that goes for a lot of JRPGs.

@subliminalkitteh: You're leaving out the difference is age of consent and the allowable age of depictions of nudity/sexualization in the U.S. in your analysis, which is more likely the starting point of changes in the localization. I haven't played the game, but I believe I read you could adjust the breast size of underaged characters as well, correct? Even if not, it probably is a decision that got wrapped up in that internal debate.

The one area of the ESRB's weird rating system that would support your hypothesis is that partial nudity is enough to earn an M rating. That's not the case here (at least as far as I understand, someone correct me if any of the outfits involved partial nudity).

Americans love their T&A. Nintendo just published Bayonetta 2 last year, so they're more than happy to put some bare butt on their console. Mass Effect 3 came to Wii U unedited as far as I know.

@cav829: Both Bayo 2 and ME3 were all in house ventures, Nintendo didn't have a hand in localizing those games. You could only change your own character's bust, not your partners.

Super Spoilers

@subliminalkitteh: What I'm saying is the conversation regarding adjustments for the localization likely started with the costumes and there's a good chance the breast slider issue came up there and there was a quick "yeah, nix that as well" decision on it. I seem to remember some artwork being removed from Fire Emblem Awakening for not nudity, but some fan servicey type scenes involving an underaged character. It came up with Bravely Default as well.

They didn't have a hand in ME 3 or Bayonetta, but what I'm saying is they seem willing to let nudity on their consoles in 2015, so the more likely reason surrounding any of these changes is the issue with what's acceptable in Japan vs. the U.S. regarding the age of characters, where yes they do seem to ere on the side of caution. I don't really blame them for that with the increasing scrutiny being placed in the U.S. on dealing with "kiddie porn." And to be clear, I'm not calling anything in the game that.

Almost platinumed Fallout 4 so im more then ready for XCX.

You could only change the bust size of your created character. That's it. Also, it's rated Teen; teens know about breasts and their different sizes. And as for Fire Emblem, in the Summer Scramble DLC, they changed a picture of Tharja, and only Tharja, who's not underage, to cover up her bikini butt. Fire Emblem Awakening is also Teen.

Anyway, Austin had a good chat with someone on Twitter exploring the word censorship, and I disagree with his position in not calling this censorship, but in the end, I can agree with him in that what I really just want here is for games to be unedited content-wise when localized.

As for playing the game, I haven't finished Trails in the Sky FC yet, but hopefully I will by Friday. After watching the quick look, I'm excited about the scale of the world but also a bit worried XCX's flame may dim the further I get into the game — looked like it was drowning in meaningless side-quests more so than Xenoblade Chronicles.

You folks decrying the removal of the bust size slider are the exact reasons people who look from the outside stereotypically identify gamers as perverted nerds who get hard-ons over virtual half naked females.

Of course, most of you won't get that because you're framing your argument as an artistic or free choice one. It's also laughable at how many times I hear "It's not really that big of a deal, and I'm not one of THOSE kind of guys" comments quickly followed by a one track post about the unfairness of not being able to maximize the size of virtual boobs.

Just bring on the game and let me put my focus into all of the stuff that comes AFTER I create my character.

The reviews have rolled out and there's a spread of scores from the 9s to the 7s. It the average I expected after indulging in much of the pre-release coverage. From reading the reviews at Nintendo World Report, GameSpot, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Jimquisition, the gist of the bad of Xenoblade Chronicles X is that Monolith Soft has missed a few marks in its effort to make an even bigger successor to Xenoblade Chronicles. It's disappointing to read that some of the resource and battle systems are poorly or not at all explained. Most distressing to me are statements of poor pacing. Xenoblade Chronicles can get bogged down if the player gets lost in the weeds of simple side quests and lacks discipline avoid task that feel more like work. It's a shame that Monolith Soft has failed to address this in Xenoblade Chronicles X and has seemed to make it worse. Jim Sterling mentions a quest being slogged by the RNG of the material drops, and that is terrible. Lastly, those that enjoyed the story of Xenoblade Chronicles will be disappointed in Xenoblade Chronicle X's weaker offering.

Xenoblade Chronicles X's shift in focus on exploration of vast spaces seems to have brought good and bad. If there's a silver lining to the disappointing aspects of Xenoblade Chronicles X it's that Monolith Soft has made an effort to make a follow-up with significantly different aspects and goals.

I want Monolith Soft's next game to dial back on the scale it plays at, seeing how doing so has bitten back in their recent game. Until that distant time, I can't wait to start exploring planet Mira.

I kind of ignored the Gamespot and Game Informer reviews as soon as I saw they didn't like the soundtrack. I just knew of we didn't agree on that base point I wouldn't agree with a lot of what they said.

Something about this game has major appeal to me. I haven't played a JRPG in almost a decade, but the weirdness and massive scale of this game seems amazing. After watching about 20 minutes of the quicklook, and hearing Austin talk about it on various Beastcasts, I really wanted to pick this game up, so I did! They had it at my local NEX, even though the release date says Dec 4th when I looked it up...is that when it's supposed to be out officially?

Either way, there is something very exciting about a game I know almost nothing about, lore wise or mechanic wise, and I haven't had that feeling of "going in blind" for a long, long time, as games have become more or less very formulatic. I'm excited!

I'd actually like to make my character's boobs smaller. Sigh, oh well.

Gotta say turning on this game and hearing Sawano's signature sound was fucking rad. Oh fuck, I can't wait to hear more.

i like how there's a quaint little suburban town in the middle of this gigantic space ark. you think maximizing space on one of these things would be a prime necessity.

Am I doing something wrong or is this game just really hard? I've pretty much been doing what the game has been telling me, I'm on chapter 3, and the boss destroyed me. Am I already supposed to be grinding? This is the very beginning of the game. Ugh, shit like this really gets on my nerves. Fucking video games.

@razzuel: So far the game hasn't been too far, but I've been splitting my time with a lot of mission board quests and exploring/probe installing. I can start Chapter 7 at the moment and nothing has been challenging, story wise. There are defiantly some missions that have you skirting really high level zones to get to your objective though, but I think it's kinda fun.

Also is there enough interest/people on GB to try to get a GB squad going? It's Nintendo so their online systems are weird as hell, but I think if a lot of us all exchange friend codes, we can theoretically make an entire GB squad by choosing the "friends/favorites" option when choosing squads.

@takayamasama: I'm 4 days late in reply, but yeah, Dec 4th was the release date. But what I wanted to mention is how positive your position is about a new game. Personal experience goes a long way in a game like this, I would think. I have found that many titles on the Wii U and the 3DS have been fun simply because I didn't bother finding lots and lots of information/videos about the game before deciding to play. One recent example is Pikmin 3. I knew about the game, but didn't know the game's main characters, and I didn't learn about the intricacies of the game's mechanics until trying the game myself. That led me to enjoy what I have played so far.

Also, I should add that Nintendo did allow people to pre-load the game before launch day, requiring then an update on launch day that would allow the game to be played.

Enjoy the game, and share thoughts in a blog or something like that down the road.

@takayamasama: I ended up getting past it just by retrying it a couple more times. Still frustrating. Hopefully that doesn't happen again, haha.

Yeah, I'm totally up for a GB squad. Should that be a separate thread? My Nintendo Id is Razzuel by the way, if anyone just wants to add me now.

Yes, I was thinking that we should have a GB group. Haven't started my game up yet, but does anyone want to volunteer making a new group thread with an equally silly and badass title?

Well, Phil Kollar in Polygon's review did state that the game has no sense of pacing!