Wii U will be region locked, Nintendo confirms

quote LZ Schneider

How does region locking a console benefit Nintendo?

Simply put IMPORTING. Buying an American game is much cheaper than other countries. IF a game were to have a close release schedule. People from Japan or Europe would just wait and buy the cheaper American version. Nintendo wouldnt have an accurate reading on what people like in that specific region.

just one more reason to buy an Xbox!!!

nah, just kidding guys. we all know that some of the better games will be region exclusives. there will be hardware for that. every Nintendo console had it so far.

whether it's universal game adapters, fast swapping, or just a disc that tricks the console loading process i have a good feeling there will be a solution for it sooner or later.

This is worth reporting on?
When has Nintendo not region locked a system?
Heck the cartridges from the SNES and NES days don't even have the same shape.
This is really just standard operating procedure coming from Nintendo.

quote PaiZuriSan

quote LZ Schneider

How does region locking a console benefit Nintendo?

Simply put IMPORTING. Buying an American game is much cheaper than other countries. IF a game were to have a close release schedule. People from Japan or Europe would just wait and buy the cheaper American version. Nintendo wouldnt have an accurate reading on what people like in that specific region.

Its not if a game is cheaper or more expensive that bugs me, its when games don't get released outside Japan that bugs me. I mean look at Namco bandai with their tales of games, many of those game don't get released.

If many company release game world wide then I wouldn't care about region lock, but fact is many game don't get released to Europe and USA.

If people stopped whining about a game being dubbed and would accept subtitles like with Yakuza...I guarantee there would be NO PROBLEM bringing most of those games over.

PiaZuriSan If it was just a matter of using subtitles we probably wouldn't even be having this discussion. Do you really think most Tales fans or any niche game fan for that matter would have a problem with subtitles if that meant seeing a game localized? They're mostly the ones who import in the first place. Most niche games have a really small fan base outside Japan and it becomes a matter of will the game sell enough to be worth it.

I understand why they do it but while Sony gets a bad rap for the stupid things they do, Nintendo comes off as really naive when they do things like this. They usually claim its for simplicity and ease of use and that its strictly a game machine but theres a point where it becomes restrictive hand holding. I guess this is a case of it no longer being a surprise in the same way your no longer surprised when a bad kid misbehaves, but its annoying when people tell you to stop whining yet if your complaining about something Sony or MS did its ok.