Wii is region-locked - Nintendo UK

Vikingod · Sep 16, 2006, 02:15 PM

Source: GamesIndustry
___________
Nintendo UK has admitted that the Wii console is region-locked after all, despite comments from Nintendo of America to the contrary.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in London this afternoon, a spokesperson admitted, "We are region-locked," and said the US arm of the company had made a mistake in saying otherwise.

Earlier we reported on a piece by Wired News, which spoke to Nintendo vice president of marketing Perrin Kaplan during yesterday's showcase event in New York, during which they were told that Nintendo would not impose regional restrictions on game software.

Bar81 · Sep 16, 2006, 03:08 PM

Those Bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Judas · Sep 16, 2006, 06:10 PM

OMG NO.

The euopean version of the games are usually the best, specially in the metroid series, the NA version always ALWAYS BLOWS

TheBlackCat · Sep 16, 2006, 06:35 PM

Not unexpected. Different regions tend to have different market characteristics, and thus require different prices. In order to enforce those prices and maximize efficiency companies must keep people within a region buying the games in that region. I can't really blame them, I would do the same thing under the circumstances.

Bar81 · Sep 16, 2006, 06:39 PM

It's not that it was a shock. It's that the bastards claimed it would be and then the 180 degree change of face.

Both Nintendo and Sony do it on handhelds with no loss of "efficiency" so that argument doesn't hold up.

***Veridian3*** · Sep 16, 2006, 07:45 PM

Action Replay...

...no reason why there wont be one for the Wii...

...so no problems as far as playing games from other regions go.

CDsDontBurn · Sep 16, 2006, 08:14 PM

i wouldn't care one way or the other. i would still buy the games from my local video game or toy store.

YAYitsAndrew · Sep 17, 2006, 12:35 PM

This whole thing hasn't been cleared up yet. There were two contradicting statements made within two days of each other. I think the confusion is in the details. Supposedly all first party titles will be region free whereas third party publishers can decide on their own whether they want their titles to be region free or not.

So technically the wii is and isn't region free...

Erroneus · Sep 17, 2006, 01:41 PM

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...ocidfeed&hl=en

Bar81 · Sep 17, 2006, 03:16 PM

It's been cleared up by NOA reps - completely region locked as to system and first party games.

BlueMak · Sep 17, 2006, 03:48 PM

I don't care for the Wii, but, it comes as no surprise to me. Their ideology is to screw the little european guy for games as always. Pay more for the same games that arrive later...
The only good thing is that we tend not to get so many cencored games.

Sep 16, 2006, 02:15 PM	#1
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Wii is region-locked - Nintendo UK Source: GamesIndustry ___________ Nintendo UK has admitted that the Wii console is region-locked after all, despite comments from Nintendo of America to the contrary. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in London this afternoon, a spokesperson admitted, "We are region-locked," and said the US arm of the company had made a mistake in saying otherwise. Earlier we reported on a piece by Wired News, which spoke to Nintendo vice president of marketing Perrin Kaplan during yesterday's showcase event in New York, during which they were told that Nintendo would not impose regional restrictions on game software.

Sep 16, 2006, 03:08 PM	#2
Bar81 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UAE Posts: 176 Rep Power: 0	Those Bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! __________________ Opteron 170 l Scythe Ninja l Sapphire A9RD580 PURE Crossfire l 2x 1024MB Mushkin Redline XP4000 l ATI X1800 XL l Terratec DMX 6fire with Roland SCB-55 MIDI l JMicron JMB360 PCI-E x1 eSATA l WD740GD Raptor l 2x WD SE16 500GB (RAID 1) l 2x Maxtor MaXline III 300GB (RAID 1) l BenQ 1640B l Antec P180 l Silverstone SST-30NF 300W Fanless

Sep 16, 2006, 06:35 PM	#4
TheBlackCat DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Searching for the Candle in the Dark Posts: 567 Rep Power: 0	Not unexpected. Different regions tend to have different market characteristics, and thus require different prices. In order to enforce those prices and maximize efficiency companies must keep people within a region buying the games in that region. I can't really blame them, I would do the same thing under the circumstances. __________________ [color=#000000]There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible and wrong.[/color] -H. L. Mencken

Sep 16, 2006, 06:39 PM	#5
Bar81 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UAE Posts: 176 Rep Power: 0	It's not that it was a shock. It's that the bastards claimed it would be and then the 180 degree change of face. Both Nintendo and Sony do it on handhelds with no loss of "efficiency" so that argument doesn't hold up. __________________ Opteron 170 l Scythe Ninja l Sapphire A9RD580 PURE Crossfire l 2x 1024MB Mushkin Redline XP4000 l ATI X1800 XL l Terratec DMX 6fire with Roland SCB-55 MIDI l JMicron JMB360 PCI-E x1 eSATA l WD740GD Raptor l 2x WD SE16 500GB (RAID 1) l 2x Maxtor MaXline III 300GB (RAID 1) l BenQ 1640B l Antec P180 l Silverstone SST-30NF 300W Fanless

Sep 16, 2006, 08:14 PM	#7
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	i wouldn't care one way or the other. i would still buy the games from my local video game or toy store. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Sep 16, 2006, 07:45 PM	#6
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,027 Rep Power: 181	Action Replay... ...no reason why there wont be one for the Wii... ...so no problems as far as playing games from other regions go.

Sep 17, 2006, 12:35 PM	#8
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	This whole thing hasn't been cleared up yet. There were two contradicting statements made within two days of each other. I think the confusion is in the details. Supposedly all first party titles will be region free whereas third party publishers can decide on their own whether they want their titles to be region free or not. So technically the wii is and isn't region free... __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Sep 17, 2006, 01:41 PM	#9
Erroneus Get off my lawn! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,417 Rep Power: 119 System Specs	http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...ocidfeed&hl=en __________________

Sep 17, 2006, 03:16 PM	#10
Bar81 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UAE Posts: 176 Rep Power: 0	It's been cleared up by NOA reps - completely region locked as to system and first party games. __________________ Opteron 170 l Scythe Ninja l Sapphire A9RD580 PURE Crossfire l 2x 1024MB Mushkin Redline XP4000 l ATI X1800 XL l Terratec DMX 6fire with Roland SCB-55 MIDI l JMicron JMB360 PCI-E x1 eSATA l WD740GD Raptor l 2x WD SE16 500GB (RAID 1) l 2x Maxtor MaXline III 300GB (RAID 1) l BenQ 1640B l Antec P180 l Silverstone SST-30NF 300W Fanless

Sep 17, 2006, 03:48 PM	#11
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,465 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	I don't care for the Wii, but, it comes as no surprise to me. Their ideology is to screw the little european guy for games as always. Pay more for the same games that arrive later... The only good thing is that we tend not to get so many cencored games. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*