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Wii to be Region Free

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the wiiiiii dept.

Chris Kohler is making it a point to single out the fact that, like its cousin the DS, the Wii is to be Region-free. They also discuss how Virtual Console titles will associated with a console owner, and some details on the Opera browser. From the article: "Like the Nintendo DS, the Wii will be able to play games from other regions, such as Japan, without any restriction. Kaplan implied there might be a region lock that publishers would be able to flip on, but it doesn't sound like the first-party titles from Nintendo will be restricted."

9 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. I think we have a winner by neonprimetime · · Score: 3, Insightful

    $250 and region free? Sounds like a winner to me.

    1. Re:I think we have a winner by AuMatar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And charge you ten bucks more a game. I'll take Nintendo's version, thanks.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    2. Re:I think we have a winner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well, that'll be useful once.

    3. Re:I think we have a winner by ElleyKitten · · Score: 3, Insightful
      250 Dollars.. Only one controller. Shit I can't play games with my son for less than $310 dollars. I wanted one bad. I've been following it for months. But now I am out. $250 with two controllers? Sure. Maybe, if I could have got it past my wife. $310? She'll never OK it. I'm out Nintendo. Got it? You failed.
      I guess the whole game industry failed you then. Sorry dude, sucks to be poor.
      --
      "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
  2. Smokeable nicotine stick non-smoking aides by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Kaplan implied there might be a region lock that publishers would be able to flip on, but it doesn't sound like the first-party titles from Nintendo will be restricted."

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this like telling people they can stop smoking by transitioning to smokeable nicotine sticks? If a developer can arbitrarily flip on region restrictions (which are, of course, keyed to region codes that *are* sold on this "region-free" device), then anyone who wants to restrict regions can. And before you pop a blood vessel, I think it's great that first party games will be like this, and I'm definitely getting a Wii, but this victory seems a tad hollow. I just don't think it's going to lead to "omg! I can get the Japan-only release and play it on my regular system!"

    --
    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  3. Re:aside from hurting your own sales... by ArmyOfFun · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You have more trouble pricing things differently if the regions are free. A company could release their FPS in Japan for $20 and in the US for $50 because of the differences in demand. Without region restrictions, the import ends up cheaper than the domestic version. People are already doing this for 360 games that keep getting discounted in Japan but still cost $60 in the US.

  4. 250 bucks, region free, and lots of games! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't know about you, but now that we know the release date, I'm planning on buying one the first weekend they come out.

    FPS and Sports might be nice for some, but I find them ultra-boring. Probably because both were so much a part of my life, having spent so many years in the Army and playing sports since I was a kid.

    Game consoles are so you can get away from what you know.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  5. Piracy? by twoallbeefpatties · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have to wonder if that wasn't part of Nintendo's decision to allow for region-free coding - that they realized that region coding ain't stopping anybody from pirating games to begin with...

    --
    Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
  6. Re:No USB Hard Drive support? by DeadMilkman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well lets think about this.

    Which do you think is fairer?

    #1 Opera is default and everyone effectively pays for it?

    #2 Opera is cheaply available to those who will use it (based on game prices say 5$-10$) and the console was effectively CHEAPER because of this.

    Personally I'd rather the option to pay for what I use, instead of paying for others to have something i might never use.