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Nintendo Cracks Down On European Importers

Posted by simoniker on from the swimming-monkeys-now-only-safe-method dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamesindustry.biz article describing Nintendo's attempts to stop European retailers importing Gamecube/GBA games. According to the piece, "..cease and desist orders have been issued to a number of independent retailers by Nintendo this week, demanding that they stop selling imported Nintendo titles and supply details of their suppliers." With handheld titles such as Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire lacking regional lock-outs, and even US/Japanese Gamecube games being playable with the help of Freeloader, Nintendo are clearly worried about imported titles taking away from native European sales, but as Gamesindustry.biz points out, "..the move will prevent [consumers] from playing titles which Nintendo of Europe has failed to release in this territory, such as the highly acclaimed Animal Crossing."

4 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Nintendo shmucks by n1ywb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Did anybody else here get their $20 check from Nintendo for price fixing the NES many years ago? Some things never change.

    --
    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  2. Who cares? by lightspawn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Nintendo doesn't want us as customers, Sony and Microsoft might.

  3. Re:What's the point? by Snowspinner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Here's what you're missing:

    Retailers in Europe want to make money. They make money when they sell things. For instance, games. While it is all the same to Nintendo whether you buy their game in America or in Europe (Barring, of course, the fact that they'd like all of their regional offices to be profitable, and the fact that it's a lot easier to get a sense of where your system is popular if you have some region control), it is not the same to a British game store whether you buy the game in America or in Europe.

    So if Nintendo begins having a high import rate, their retailers begin to complain about lost sales. If the retailers get angry enough, they stop stocking Nintendo products at all, because they're insufficiently profitable, and the shelf space could be used for, say, Sony products that sell better.

    This would make Nintendo very sad.

    Therefore, they have to keep their regional retailers happy, and to do that they have to enforce region-based distribution.

    --
    Philip Sandifer's academic website
  4. Nintendo is dying by WildBeast · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What a stupid move, anyway Sony and Xbox will gladly take over.