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qq more · Jun 28, 2013

Cheesemeister said:
The petition has reached over 7000 signatures!

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitio...n-blocking-make-the-3ds-and-wii-u-region-free

Nice! Not an importer myself but it's pretty bullshit region locking exists in the first place. Hope Nintendo will listen.

...Actually I would totally import one of those cool Chinese red 3DSXL if region locking was gone.

Cheesemeister · Jun 28, 2013

Media coverage!

GameTrailers

YouTube videos!

NSFDarkIce
TheZXSCoreShow

ramparter · Jun 28, 2013

Petition will do nothing, media coverage helps a lot but it's the people that need to speak up now. They must continue to post on miiverse and nintendo social media untill we get at least an official response.

scakko84 · Jun 28, 2013

Has Nintendo replied in some form?

Neff · Jun 28, 2013

I don't think this petition will work. Nintendo will have to move mountains to implement a solution, not to mention that it's something that they currently genuinely benefit from, in that tightly-controlled region locking ensures effective RRPs and accurate return data. And I honestly think they're going to look at the campaign and assume that people are demanding it simply because it's something the competition has, rather than anyone genuinely wanting it. So far there really isn't a great deal of information as to why people want region free. Just a lot of baseless, rather unreasonable demands.

The Xenoblade/60hz campaigns were much more practical and realistic, so Nintendo was at least able to offer mostly satisfactory solutions in those cases, and were (are) battles much more deserving of effort and attention.

Cheesemeister · Jun 28, 2013

Neff said:
I don't think this petition will work. Nintendo will have to move mountains to implement a solution, not to mention that it's something that they currently genuinely benefit from, in that tightly-controlled region locking ensures effective RRPs and accurate return data. And I honestly think they're going to look at the campaign and assume that people are demanding it simply because it's something the competition has, rather than anyone genuinely wanting it. So far there really isn't a great deal of information as to why people want region free. Just a lot of baseless, rather unreasonable demands.

The Xenoblade/60hz campaigns were much more practical and realistic, so Nintendo was at least able to offer mostly satisfactory solutions in those cases, and were (are) battles much more deserving of effort and attention.

Defeatist attitudes have never accomplished anything. Have you forgotten the Xbox One DRM fiasco? Microsoft stood to "benefit" from locking down used games until gamers spoke up for their own consumer rights. Were the demands to remove DRM baseless and unreasonable?

Lord Ghirahim · Jun 28, 2013

Neff said:
Just a lot of baseless, rather unreasonable demands.

Nintendo has been making plenty of those for several years now.

chaosblade · Jun 28, 2013

I don't think the petition will do much because slacktivist efforts rarely return significant results.

Word of mouth is a whole lot more powerful, those that really support this should talk about it and spread the word to encourage support. Hopefully we see results, but Nintendo doesn't stand to gain much so it's definitely an uphill battle.

Froli · Jun 28, 2013

Wow, this one is gaining some momentum. Good work so far guys

Shokio · Jun 28, 2013

I will have a video up tomorrow on my YT channel promoting this.

Cheesemeister · Jun 28, 2013

Shokio said:
I will have a video up tomorrow on my YT channel promoting this.

Cool! Be sure to post a link when it's up!

gingerbeardman · Jun 28, 2013

Ignore the naysayers. We prevailed to get F-Zero at 60Hz. We can do this!

Lord Ghirahim · Jun 28, 2013

Shokio said:
I will have a video up tomorrow on my YT channel promoting this.

Somebody linked me your videos for the first time yesterday, I didn't know you posted here ;//

nckillthegrimace · Jun 28, 2013

What happened with Rich from IGN asking Iwata about region locking?

L Thammy · Jun 28, 2013

Habieru · Jun 28, 2013

My little contribution. I made this for the Game & Wario Miiverse Drawing Contest.

https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYQHAAABAAABUaWzYLgXqg

Neff · Jun 28, 2013

Cheesemeister said:
Defeatist attitudes have never accomplished anything. Have you forgotten the Xbox One DRM fiasco? Microsoft stood to "benefit" from locking down used games until gamers spoke up for their own consumer rights. Were the demands to remove DRM baseless and unreasonable?

That was quite different. Microsoft was at the point where it was obvious that they were going to get fucking steamrolled by Sony when it came to consumer preference this generation. They needed to do something to save their ass, and they did.

Nintendo however are onto a good thing. Why would they give that up simply because people are saying "well those guys are doing that, why aren't you?"

MogCakes · Jun 28, 2013

The miiverse illustrations are incredible. Really neat to see artistic talent put to use this way.

Shokio · Jun 28, 2013

Here's my video, as promised:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxQ9ykpwNSw

gingerbeardman · Jun 29, 2013

Post about GAME & WARIO - #Miiverse | Nintendo
https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYQHAAABAADYUV6mvi4Tcw?sctw=1

Effect · Jun 29, 2013

scakko84 said:
Has Nintendo replied in some form?

Don't believe so and they likely won't.

Conrad Link · Jun 29, 2013

If Miiverse doesn't work nothing will.

Deleted member 13876 · Jun 29, 2013

Alright, tried to do my part. Went to a post-E3 Nintendo event here in Belgium and asked the head of marketing if she had heard about the campaign. At first she was a bit coy about it, but as I elaborated more she did mention seeing a lot of creative stuff about it. After that I basically got an answer along the lines of "but we are always looking at what consumers are saying and will sometimes make changes accordingly such as adjustments based on demo feedback at events". Of course a Belgium employee won't be able to change much or have a significant impact on policy globally, but it is at least somewhat nice to hear that she was aware of the campaign to some extent.

Other than that I got someone from a magazine to write an article about it for their next issue. Sent some news tips to some of our bigger sites, but they didn't seem to bite. Maybe should have asked some of the writers there directly.

L Thammy · Jun 29, 2013

I saw Tri[cell]'s region unlocking image on Wara Wara Plaza. Didn't someone say this was curated? There was also text comments demanding E3 demos, a unified account system, Gamecube on VC, and a new Star Fox.

Toad.T · Jun 29, 2013

A thought just popped into my head, and this seems like the perfect place to ask this:

I know America and Europe want no region locking for titles that will never come over due to series being cult classics and the like (Soon, Umihara Kawase, soon.), but is this the same for Japanese gamers?

I mean, I understand western immigrants to japan wanting a home-grown game feel in a language they can understand, but not so much Japanese gamers wanting American exclusives (Sorry if this sounds weebooish, I don't mean for it to be.). Considering the fact that the cream of the crop in regards to western titles often get localized/released over there, along with movie tie-ins. I just don't see what's left for Japanese gamers after all of that has been released.

Or maybe they're all just fans of New Carnival Games Western Rodeo EX or something?

(I know it's probably just the principal of the thing, just being curious.)

Deleted member 13876 · Jun 29, 2013

SolarPowered · Jun 29, 2013

Cheesemeister said:
The petition has reached over 7000 signatures!

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitio...n-blocking-make-the-3ds-and-wii-u-region-free

At this rate it'll pass 8k by tomorrow night.

Amir0x · Jun 29, 2013

I'll sign it. Hopefully they can add it to the first Wii U revision and price drop

MisterC20XX · Jun 29, 2013

Wait a minute, something just dawned on me... if Nintendo ended region locking on the 3DS that means I could buy a Japanese, UK, or AU 3DS XL and play US games on it, right?

EDIT: Of course it would! Doh! Up till now I've only been thinking about importing games--I want to import region free systems!

Cheesemeister · Jun 29, 2013

Media coverage from USgamer!

MisterC20XX said:
Wait a minute, something just dawned on me... if Nintendo ended region locking on the 3DS that means I could buy a Japanese, UK, or AU 3DS XL and play US games on it, right?

Right. Consumer freedom would be a wonderful thing.

Meelow · Jun 29, 2013

Amir0x said:
I'll sign it. Hopefully they can add it to the first Wii U revision and price drop

They could do it on the current Wii U if they want too.

Amir0x · Jun 29, 2013

Meelow said:
They could do it on the current Wii U if they want too.

is that possible? Cool then, hope they do that too

Meelow · Jun 29, 2013

Amir0x said:
is that possible? Cool then, hope they do that too

Yep, with a system update.

DaBoss · Jun 29, 2013

Amir0x said:
is that possible? Cool then, hope they do that too

If it is firmware-based, then yes. I find it highly unlikely that it is locked at the hardware level.

L Thammy · Jun 29, 2013

Well, that's assuming that they could disable region locking with a firmware update. Hey, if they could add in basic features with an eShop update, why not?

Bombadil · Jun 29, 2013

I signed it.

Amir0x · Jun 29, 2013

sweet you guys made me excited. I feel after the #NoDRM stuff, I take these things ever slightly more seriously if they're set up right.

Cheesemeister · Jun 29, 2013

John Benyamine of USgamer asked Nintendo the region-locking question this week, and is expecting a response via e-mail next week!

Meelow · Jun 29, 2013

Cheesemeister said:
John Benyamine of USgamer asked Nintendo the region-locking question this week, and is expecting a response via e-mail next week!

"Hopefully it's, no more region locking with the next update

"

RedSwirl · Jun 29, 2013

Toad.T said:
A thought just popped into my head, and this seems like the perfect place to ask this:

I know America and Europe want no region locking for titles that will never come over due to series being cult classics and the like (Soon, Umihara Kawase, soon.), but is this the same for Japanese gamers?

I mean, I understand western immigrants to japan wanting a home-grown game feel in a language they can understand, but not so much Japanese gamers wanting American exclusives (Sorry if this sounds weebooish, I don't mean for it to be.). Considering the fact that the cream of the crop in regards to western titles often get localized/released over there, along with movie tie-ins. I just don't see what's left for Japanese gamers after all of that has been released.

Or maybe they're all just fans of New Carnival Games Western Rodeo EX or something?

(I know it's probably just the principal of the thing, just being curious.)

Japanese "reverse importers" is actually one of the main reasons some companies region-lock. Retail games in Japan are a lot more expensive than in the US and Europe. The whole reason Index region-locked Persona 4 arena was because they were afraid of Japanese players importing the US version, which was around half the price I think.

Drago · Jun 29, 2013

Cheesemeister said:
John Benyamine of USgamer asked Nintendo the region-locking question this week, and is expecting a response via e-mail next week!

"Nintendo has nothing to discuss at this time"

L Thammy · Jun 29, 2013

RedSwirl said:
Japanese "reverse importers" is actually one of the main reasons some companies region-lock. Retail games in Japan are a lot more expensive than in the US and Europe. The whole reason Index region-locked Persona 4 arena was because they were afraid of Japanese players importing the US version, which was around half the price I think.

Isn't that the reason why Japanese heavy metal albums (or power metal albums, at least) have extra songs?

Amir0x · Jun 29, 2013

Drago said:
"Nintendo has nothing to discuss at this time"

"but if we did, the answer is a distinct 'Fuck off."

Javier · Jun 29, 2013

And even if Nintendo can't region-unlock the Wii U and 3DS through firmware, they could at least make the American, Euro, and Japanese eShops available on every system worldwide. "Hardware-based" isn't an excuse there.

sakipon · Jun 29, 2013

L Thammy said:
Isn't that the reason why Japanese heavy metal albums (or power metal albums, at least) have extra songs?

That goes for other music genres aswell. So the question is, why doesn't the game industry do the same (add bonuses) in order to bring some extra value for Japanese gamers?

also · Jun 29, 2013

RedSwirl said:
Japanese "reverse importers" is actually one of the main reasons some companies region-lock. Retail games in Japan are a lot more expensive than in the US and Europe. The whole reason Index region-locked Persona 4 arena was because they were afraid of Japanese players importing the US version, which was around half the price I think.

Yeah, no. Persona 4 Arena was a special case because the Western release also featured Japanese voices and text, so it was basically the same as the Japanese one. Not many games are like that so the market for reverse importing is tiny.
Also, the difference in price wasn't nearly that big (60$ Vs 7329¥ ~ 74$) and when you factor in shipping cost, the price is pretty much the same. You would probably have more luck finding a second hand or discounted copy in Japan than waiting for the US copy to arrive.

People always say how region free will destroy local publishers,discourage localization or whatever, but I have yet to see a single story about actual negative effects of region free gaming. AFAIK, importing has only had positive effects; we got Elite Beat Agents, Rhythm Heaven GBA generated a lot of buzz so we got the DS one...

Jaded Alyx · Jun 29, 2013

Javier said:
And even if Nintendo can't region-unlock the Wii U and 3DS through firmware, they could at least make the American, Euro, and Japanese eShops available on every system worldwide. "Hardware-based" isn't an excuse there.

And still lock them via credit card like the US shop lol

L Thammy · Jun 29, 2013

Ronin · Jun 29, 2013

Neff said:
That was quite different. Microsoft was at the point where it was obvious that they were going to get fucking steamrolled by Sony when it came to consumer preference this generation. They needed to do something to save their ass, and they did.

Nintendo however are onto a good thing. Why would they give that up simply because people are saying "well those guys are doing that, why aren't you?"

For most of the people asking, Nintendo already has their money too.

Cheesemeister · Jun 29, 2013

New YouTube video! ScottishDuckTales
Also covered by NinBuzz.
Let's see some more videos on there!

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