Xenoblade Chronicles Strongly Rumored as GameStop Exclusive in US

Xenoblade Chronicles has been strongly rumored to arrive in North America, but there's a catch. The game will be sold exclusively at GameStop, and nowhere else.

Judging from a leaked photograph of Xenoblade Chronicles, which features right at the bottom of the release date list, the game will be released as a "GS Exclusive" on April 3, 2012.

It's certainly disappointing for anyone who doesn't buy their games from GameStop, but getting the game itself should prove a good compromise for any American gamer who's been looking forward to the Wii-based JRPG ever since it was announced years ago.

Xenoblade Chronicles went through an arduous release due to Nintendo's insistence against releasing it stateside, despite its successful sales figures in both Japan and Europe. Now, at least, players won't have to modify their Wii to run European games or emulate the console on their PCs to play the game.

This may be the first, but it will hopefully be the last time a game is declared a "GameStop Exclusive." The last thing this industry needs is for GameStop to maintain a monopoly on physical sales.

Update: Fellow journalist and Wired writer Jason Schreier noted to me that the "GS Exclusive" could well refer to exclusive packaging or a limited edition of the game. I certainly stand to be corrected.