Slashdot Mirror
Wii Now Confirmed to Not be Region-Free
legoburner writes "Contrary to an earlier Slashdot story, Nintendo have now stated that the Wii will not be region free. The original claim came from Nintendo America, but Nintendo UK have gone on record denying the claims. They put it rather bluntly, stating: 'We are region-locked,' and that Nintendo America made a mistake by claiming otherwise."
Yes, that is the resounding sond of Booohs heard across the world. Come on Nintendo, if you're going to play the $250 console card and appeal to the customers, at least do it right.
Justin - Don't be afraid of my blog, it won't bite.
No one is certain..
Title: Wii Now Confirmed to Not be Region-Free
Next line: Nintendo have now stated that the Wii will not be region free.
Bit lower: They put it rather bluntly, stating: 'We are region-locked,' and that Nintendo America made a mistake by claiming otherwise.
Whos right?
liqbase
I think that this is a shame, although my DS is region free and I've never bought a game from either America or Japan, so it's not going to be too big of a problem to be. I doubt many people will be upset about this. Still, it's a shame.
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
It's because we have to pay an extra 17.5% Value Added Tax (VAT).
And, I could be wrong, but there are stricter rule sin the UK about importing some of the chemicals used in technology (leaded solder etc.?).
Oh, and our TVs are PAL over here; that means different hardware.
Found my quote. Had to watch a 20 minute video to get it.
Robert Summa of Destructoid asked Perrin Kaplan, "Is everything region free." Kaplan replied, "Yes. Yeah. Which is a good thing. I've actually had several people ask that of me today."
Here's the video. The quote is near the end. The quote is about 18 minutes in.
the cosmos in 20 words or less: thumbuki.com
They might both be right, and wrong.
Wii will not have a region, as in USA v.s. Japan. But it will have PAL v.s. NTSC versions. (Stupid UK TVs have a different number of pixels on screen and pixel-aspect ratio).
Hence, the UK version will be "region" locked whereas the american and japanese versions will be free to share.
Nintendo US and Nintendo Japan had their events, completely forgetting about Europe with Europe being something console manufacturers apparently don't care that much about with the increased prices and the fact they're always last for console and game releases. Nintendo US and Japan rejoice in the fact that the Wii is in fact probably region free between those countries and mention this publicly. Then someone remembers Europe, Europe no doubt being the centre of shaftdom, a place where companies can screw consumers to the Nth degree without fear of reprisals and brings up the fact that Europe can't in fact use games from Japan or the US because they intend to charge more in Europe to rip customers off and hence they have to correct their mistake that whilst Japan and the US can enjoy game swapping, Europe can't. Okay, now back to reality somewhat I realise that's a totally cynical view and I'm probably off mark but on the same note it is getting kind of tiresome in Europe that we're treated so much worse in terms of releases of games and gaming equipment. The US version of the Wii is going to cost £133, whereas the European version will cost £179. I certainly realise we suffer taxes much more here and I realise with our strong currencies it costs a little more to distribute it here, however I fail to beleive that those two factors add up to a 25% price increase for Europe - some of it HAS to be greed on the manufacturers part, plain and simple. Also, the fact we get it later also adds insult to injury. So whilst my original point had a strong hint of over the top cynicism, I can't help but feel that it might have some slight truth to it that the reason the Wii is region locked - whether for Europe only or all 3 regions that it's again because of sheer greed by Nintendo. I really want a Wii, but when someone's trying to screw me I do feel very tempted to just not bother, not give them my money and buy something else instead. One final note, I do realise Nintendo aren't the only ones guilty of this, I guess I just hoped that Nintendo weren't going to screw Europe like Microsoft did and Sony will... I hoped they were better than that, oh well :/
Well the current VAT less price in the US for the shovelware bundle, is around 178 Euros, but over here they charge 250 Euros for the same even if you count in 17% VAT average which really is average for europe. You are around 208 Euros, I assume the import taxes are pretty much the same here as in the US so I will leave that out and do not compare it to the japanese price which is way lower (no shovelware bundle to justify the higher price) We have a 16% price difference which goes straight into Nintendos pockets thanks to SCAMMING their own customer base over a self assumed price parity of 1 USD is one Euro...! The rest I can say is get your calc out and do the math yourself...
NoE loves annoying the hell out of their customers and generally try to make us realize we're much better off with a PC. Wouldn't surprise me if NoA made everything region free but NoE added a lock so Europeans can't use those region free games.
Maybe I should respect their wish and not buy a Wii, then.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
As a person who is bilingual in Japanese and English, I'd planned on buying a Wii and getting games from both sides of the Pacific Ocean (primarily English games, but a few Japanese games that would never be translated and brought to the US). If it is true that the Wii will not be region-free, I don't think I'll be buying one: I make it a point not to buy region-locked things unless I can easily get around them (e.g. DVDs which I play with VLC). I guess I'll wait until someone discovers a hack to get around the region problem.
Nintendo, you just lost a sale of console and all incidental game purchases I would have made. Congratulations!
I'm just guessing, but I'll put it out here anyway: if you've got a Gamecube controller, you probably won't need a classic controller anyway. Unless Nintendo has changed what they said in the past, and GC controllers are no longer usable with the Wii, you don't need to buy a new one anyway.
Hopefully, most of the games that lend themselves to four players won't require the use of the nunchuck extension, only the Wiimote itself. Really, though, you shouldn't need four Wiimotes yourself: through implimentation of the while Mii! idea, with the character you create stored on your own controller, it seems they're encouraging people to take these things with them when they visit with their friends. Just make the party a BYOC, and no problem.
No, Mr. Green. Communism is just a red herring.
Has a case against region locking ever reached a court in any country?
I'd imagine the US or at least the EU should have slammed protectionism attempts like these long ago. DVD movies should have provided ample opportunity for making an example out of this free market prevention tactic. Since I still see region coded movie DVDs being sold, I simply have to conclude that the EU has failed miserably in their vigilance to promote free flow of goods. Since the free flow of goods is one of the cornerstones for existance of the EU, this is pretty serious from a European standpoint. It turns the stated goal into a mockery, where one could add subjective exceptions to the statement like "Free flow of goods some goods" or "Free flow of goods unless you pay to get an exception".
In my mind, there can be no logical reason other than bribery for why region coding / locking is still permitted in countries at least trying to pay lip service to the notion of a free market. No wonder a lot of people in Europe view the EU as a big scam, there to serve not it's citizen foremost, but some other stake holder.
In a society that believes in nothing, fear becomes the only agenda ~ Bill Durodié
1. Nintendo is making a mistake by packaging only one controller into the bundle, when the game that is packaged into the bundle is best played with two or more players.
2. They are targeting non-gamers, and the best way to win them over is to let a person have fun while playing with at a friends house who has already bought a console. 3.I'd rather have a gamecube with two wii-motes and Wii-sports for (100+60+60+30) 250 dollars than the Wii package plus another wiimote for 310 dollars. The Wii isn't much more powerful than the GC, but they aren't the same. They spent research dollars on making the technology small and energy efficient. These are good things, but they also drove up the cost of the Wii. 4. People praise Nintendo for not selling the Wii at a loss. Sure, it might make business sense, but I'd rather have them make it back through having a large userbase. I am a consumer, and I want to see the same discounts that are applied elsewhere in the industry. I want the Wii package for below $200. Besides, if they want to expand their base into non-gamers then they need a lower price to encourage sales.
5. Finally. I think Nintendo began to be encouraged by the internet hype and got overly greedy. Greed is natural for businesses, but too much greed can hurt their business. I believe that Nintendo thought that the Wii is SO popular that success is ensured already. I tell you what. Most people(read: non-gamers) don't know what a Wii is. Its going to take word of mouth, grass roots viral .. And to do that they need a critical mass to set things off. A low, heavily subsidized price($190 with 2 Wii-motes) would create that critical mass. I think Nintendo is being too conservative and will thereby limit the extent of their dominance and cultural penetration. THey have a console that is addictive, versatile, and friendly to all age groups. They have caught the competition flat-footed, and now is the time to be aggressive for mindshare and market share. This is their chance to let it be known that they are the gaming company, and that gaming is for everyone. No, Nintendo is hedging their bets and being conservative.
A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.
I could be wrong, but don't some countries have laws against region-locks (I know some, at least, allow you to buy region-free or deregionalize your device without legal repercussions).