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NEWS: Nintendo Confirms Wii U Is Region-Locked


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timesteel



Joined: 04 Aug 2009
Posts: 202
Location: California
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:41 pm Reply with quote
No surprise there, nintendo always region locks they're main consoles, not always their handhelds, but their main consoles are always region locked even its just plastic tabs(snes/n64) lol.

Last edited by timesteel on Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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blaizevincent



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 407
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:42 pm Reply with quote
Another reason not to buy a Wii U, Thanks Nintendo!

Seriously i'am totally ready for Nintendo to leave the hardware market. Without all their IP's they would have done along time ago. I'm totally ready to play the next Zelda or Mario on Xbox 720/PS4, assuming i really want to play one of those games again anyway.

It was fun Nintendo but the longer you choose to approach the gaming industry like its still the late 90's/early 00's then i will not spend money on your products.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8501
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:48 pm Reply with quote
The logo for Nintendo should be Satoru Iwata putting a gun to his own head.

Because this is f***ing suicide.
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Son Gokou



Joined: 29 Jun 2011
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:13 pm Reply with quote
I wonder why I'm not surprised. Nintendo still thinks they're in the 90's, not knowing that the gaming east (or west) exists and that everyone from 3rd party publisher to gamers themselves follow their strict rules. Well that is so 20 years ago and people are smarter than before.

Well not exactly, sadly die-hard Nintendo fans would still buy this thing regardless of the 3rd party games, specifications and price. Much like worms who can't resist every apple out there.

After Virtual Boy and N64, this may be the third one and if I'm correct in comparing this to the other two, then I hope this would be the last for Nintendo.
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outlawwolf



Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 645
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:20 pm Reply with quote
You know, this more than likely hurts the japanese consumer more than it does the American consumer. The yen is higher than the American dollar and prices are always less in America than they are in Japan anyway so they probably want to prevent things like reverse importing. I don't think they really care who buys what japanese game anywhere else in the world since your already going to be paying a premium price.

This will probably just tick off the people who want to play those niche, esoteric games that most people wouldn't care about in the first place that never come out of Japan, sure, but they aren't any kind of main focus.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:21 pm Reply with quote
blaizevincent wrote:
Seriously i'am totally ready for Nintendo to leave the hardware market. Without all their IP's they would have done along time ago. I'm totally ready to play the next Zelda or Mario on Xbox 720/PS4, assuming i really want to play one of those games again anyway.


Could not agree more. At this point Nintendo making their own console is purely a detriment to gamers. I can't help but hope this one fails if only so they pull out of the console market and become a publisher/developer only.
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1256
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:38 pm Reply with quote
I like how people are still saying "I hope it fails", despite Nintendo having already basically sold out it's initial Wii U stock. I don't really enjoy region-locking either, but there's a limit to wishful thinking.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:38 pm Reply with quote
I have a feeling that Nintendo won't get out of the hardware race for a LONG time, by sheer virtue of a pseudo-grandfather clause. Ninty's been around since Video games started. A VG world without a nintendo console would just seem bizarre.

I do agree that they seem to be losing their touch with their latest consoles. The Wii had almost no good games, I just can't find the drive to fork over the money for a 3DS, and the Wii U is...not impressing as of now.
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Lynx Amali





PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:44 pm Reply with quote
I can understand the Wii U being region locked as Nintendo has a habit of region locking their consoles but I'm still slightly confused about the 3DS fiasco as Nintendo handhelds have for mostly been region free.

I guess I'll have to get 2 consoles. Again.
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ValkyrieZeroZeroOne



Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 434
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:00 pm Reply with quote
ikillchicken wrote:
blaizevincent wrote:
Seriously i'am totally ready for Nintendo to leave the hardware market. Without all their IP's they would have done along time ago. I'm totally ready to play the next Zelda or Mario on Xbox 720/PS4, assuming i really want to play one of those games again anyway.


Could not agree more. At this point Nintendo making their own console is purely a detriment to gamers. I can't help but hope this one fails if only so they pull out of the console market and become a publisher/developer only.


For the Wii U to fail, the Wii U would have to fail in Japan. I just don't see that happening.
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zeopower6



Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:14 pm Reply with quote
Saffire wrote:
I like how people are still saying "I hope it fails", despite Nintendo having already basically sold out it's initial Wii U stock. I don't really enjoy region-locking either, but there's a limit to wishful thinking.


Yeah, a stock of what, 500 Wii Us? jk.

But seriously, this reminds me of iPhone fever a bit just with Nintendo. >_>
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:23 pm Reply with quote
Saffire wrote:
I like how people are still saying "I hope it fails", despite Nintendo having already basically sold out it's initial Wii U stock.


Laughing So did the Dreamcast if I'm not mistaken.

At the end of the day, initial sales are utterly insignificant next to long term success. That's not to say this means Wii U will fail. However, if you seriously take this as some kind of surefire proof that the Wii U will succeed...well it's pretty apparent who is guilty of wishful thinking.

ValkyrieZeroZeroOne wrote:
For the Wii U to fail, the Wii U would have to fail in Japan. I just don't see that happening.


Yes, that's a fair point. I think there are some serious questions that can be raised about the Wii U's viability in the west but Japan may be a different story. I really don't feel like I know enough about that market to make an especially educated guess. Mind you, I don't think I'd take success there for granted but in any case we'll have to wait and see what happens.
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6172
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:24 pm Reply with quote
This doesn't surprised me. It's one of the reasons why I never bothered buying one. Also one reason why I've hesitated buying a 3DS. Meanwhile both XB360 and PS3 are both region free. But again they have their reasons for sticking to keeping it this way. While I expect this from the larger consoles the days of the portables not being region locked are over.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2428
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:33 pm Reply with quote
The reason behind every region lock right now is basically "reverse importing." They don't want their Japanese fans buying the American goods.

Does it suck? Yes. But it's not so hard to understand that I think we should bash the company for it. Even if I personally think there are better reasons to not have a region lock (I don't know how many Japanese reverse-import, but I certainly import a lot of stuff from Japan, too).
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superdry



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 1309
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:38 pm Reply with quote
outlawwolf wrote:

This will probably just tick off the people who want to play those niche, esoteric games that most people wouldn't care about in the first place that never come out of Japan, sure, but they aren't any kind of main focus.


If you're an importer and like playing quirky Japanese games that will never be released outside of it's own market, then region-locking should mean nothing to you. Now, if you're a casual importer, then I can see one be annoyed.

Still...I find region-locking to be silly....

Chrno2 wrote:
Meanwhile both XB360 and PS3 are both region free.


Just to clarify, the systems themselves are region-free, but the games can be region-locked.
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