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Let's convince Nintendo to go region-free!

Well, the first tine they went digital when they went to region-lock on the handhelds. Surely a correlation.

I think it's a misguided attempt to fend off lawsuits. Something that could have been accomplished by asking users to unlock other regions by paying a nominal fee via credit card.
 
My dumb theory is that it's to discourage reverse importing from South Korea, but I really have no idea about the cost difference, if any, between system prices in Japan and Korea. The DSi, the first Nintendo handheld conceived of after the founding of Nintendo of Korea in mid-2006, was also their first region-locked handheld. Circumstantial, I know.
 

Fularu

Banned
Whoa. I didn't expect this to go anywhere, to be quite honest.



Eh, probably not price, in comparison to what's in the box.
The deluxe set is cheaper than a kinect set or a move set (349 VS 399 and 399).

I still don't understand why people think it's "too expensive"
 
The deluxe set is cheaper than a kinect set or a move set (349 VS 399 and 399).

I still don't understand why people think it's "too expensive"

In comparison to the PS4's offerings, it's too expensive. Basically, we're saying that the power should match the price. Xbox One is obscene.
 

L Thammy

Member
Even if physical releases remain locked, there's little reason to lock us out of foreign language digital releases. I'd like to buy, say, EX Troopers and Zangeki no Reginleiv. There's no reason for me to buy the Japanese versions if there were English ones. Even if it was cheaper I still wouldn't want to buy them. But since there is no English version, the difficulty in obtaining them just prevents another purchase.
 

Fularu

Banned
In comparison to the PS4's offerings, it's too expensive. Basically, we're saying that the power should match the price. Xbox One is obscene.
Ps4 + eye + PS+ and a game is way way more than a WiiU deluxe set (399 + 59 + 59 + 59 = 577$, that's 227$ more than a WiiU before tax)
 

Fularu

Banned
Now lets be fair, the camera isn't required.
To have waggle? It is, I just added stuff that come standard and the PS4 offers nothing more than what the EiiU does as the base pack.

But if we were to nitpick, I'll add 60$ for a 1TB hdd so that the WiiU only has double the Space, that still puts the PS4 at 518$, or 168$ more than a U.

Again, the price complains make little sense.
 

trix21

Neo Member
Has anyone seen if these come up on Wii U's home menu? I had a look just now and it doesn't seem to be showing any.
 

Keyouta

Junior Member
Sent off an email, and I'm now thinking towards snail mail.

This was it:
I live in Canada and have purchased a 3DS and Wii U system, which, while they are great, I, along with numerous others, find it very annoying that the two systems are locked to the land you live on. Region locked.

To explain my personal situation, one example would be that I've lived in Japan previously for a short while, where I brought my DS and could freely purchase games while over there, and play them and have fun! With the 3DS and Wii U, this experience is impossible for me. I'm thinking to myself "Does Nintendo as a company not want my money? I can't buy games from anywhere else other that North America!" This is incredibly aggravating as I do travel a lot!

I also like to learn languages and one good resource for that is games! As such, I demand to be able to buy Japanese, and other language titles for my systems! I can do this easily on other manufacturer's consoles! In fact, the upcoming PS4 and Xbox One are region free! What's Nintendo's excuse?

Many, many people are put into many situations that would greatly benefit from region free consoles and games, it's impossible to list every example! Look at Miiverse and all the complaining on there about region free gaming!

If a game is translated into English and releases in only one territory (Ex. Xenoblade), should other territories be denied playing such a title because of where they were born!? Inexcusable!

For the DS, if it was region locked, people wouldn't have imported Ouendan! We would have never gotten Elite Beat Agents! This can never happen again with region locking!

Why am I able to view games from other regions and chat with those people through Miiverse when the console itself won't allow me to play those games?

What if I don't know that there is region locking and buy a 3DS in Japan, come back to NA, then find I can't play games I buy here on it? Does that not sound horrible?

How many consumers are NOT buying a Nintendo console because of region locking vs those that have bought multiple of one just to be able to play games from all regions? It's very lopsided, I believe! I firmly think that there are more lost sales because of it.

Piracy? Going region free only gives one less reason to pirate or hack/mod your console.

So, what's Nintendo's current stance on region locking? I'm not allowed to buy games for my console when I travel, games I find interesting, I can't support developers I like who only can afford to release in one territory, and I truly think that sucks.

Now, yes, it's probably just some customer support worker who'll get it and nothing will be done with the email, but sending stuff off for them to read will help in bringing this situation forward!
 
Sent off an email, and I'm now thinking towards snail mail.

This was it:


Now, yes, it's probably just some customer support worker who'll get it and nothing will be done with the email, but sending stuff off for them to read will help in bringing this situation forward!

People aren't complaining about region-free gaming, they want region-free gaming. They're complaining about region-locking.
 
22 pages? Nintendo doesn't care. They aren't going to care. I wish you guys the best, I really do. But even if you had Nintendo's ear, it seems like something that wouldn't be changed until the next generation if at all.

A lot of Japanese businesses (I would say most) still use fax machines. My company does and most of the places we order materials from want you to still fax the orders in. You think Japan is so high tech...

Faxes are still used in the legal world in NA, at least from what I've seen.
 

Keyouta

Junior Member
People aren't complaining about region-free gaming, they want region-free gaming. They're complaining about region-locking.

My wording may have been off.

But yeah, it's not just about the games. We should be able to buy both consoles and games from anywhere around the world and have them work on the systems with no hassle.
 
I'm very happy to find out that the campaign is gaining angular momentum. I hope it is enough to help rotate Nintendo towards region free gaming.

All lame physic jokes aside and continuing on the above post, I surely wonder if Iwata will say something about this during today's Nintendo Direct. Although it is very likely the ND has been shot before this action gained media coverage and, therefore, momentum.

Edit: Another creation from someone from another forum:
zlCfzRB0_YAl13eyYs

https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYQHAAABAACNUKEXGXWDFw
(Sorry if I or someone else posted this already.)
 

MLH

Member
The fact Nintendo haven't shot this down straight away shows they are listening, they will at least address this at some point with a meaningful statement. Will it be something that everyone wants to hear? I'm not sure, but we will get a proper answer.
 

gngf123

Member
The fact Nintendo haven't shot this down straight away shows they are listening, they will at least address this at some point with a meaningful statement. Will it be something that everyone wants to hear? I'm not sure, but we will get a proper answer.

Shooting it down entirely would cause a significantly bigger outcry than just pretending it doesn't exist.

We don't know for sure if Nintendo are listening, they might just be not paying attention to it.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Emboldened from the 60hz victory and watching MS back down over DRM, some peoples world views are going to come crashing down when Nintendo either ignores this or issues a "region locking is best for you, sssshhhhh" response.

Worse still, because region locking has been in place, games already released could be subject to specific licensing rules that would need rewriting and re-agreement from all parties involved.

Honestly you should have been making all this noise pre-3DS release and pre WiiU release or by voting with your wallets as people did with PS4 vs Xbone. But I know thats an impossibility.
 

Mokaman51

Neo Member
I put all my money down that Region Lock is freed on this Direct!

SPOILERS: I get bankrupt, become homeless and lose EVERYTHING...
 
There has been administrator action on a few posts in some of the bigger region locking threads on Miiverse, so we know at least that they are looking at it. If they're really listening is the question...
 

Broken Joystick

At least you can talk. Who are you?
There has been administrator action on a few posts in some of the bigger region locking threads on Miiverse, so we know at least that they are looking at it. If they're really listening is the question...

My "Profile comment has been hidden by an administrator" since I started making posts. None of my actual posts have had any action taken upon them though.
 
Emboldened from the 60hz victory and watching MS back down over DRM, some peoples world views are going to come crashing down when Nintendo either ignores this or issues a "region locking is best for you, sssshhhhh" response.

Worse still, because region locking has been in place, games already released could be subject to specific licensing rules that would need rewriting and re-agreement from all parties involved.

Honestly you should have been making all this noise pre-3DS release and pre WiiU release or by voting with your wallets as people did with PS4 vs Xbone. But I know thats an impossibility.
I thought society by and large already had.
 
People didn't make noise pre-Miiverse as it wound up getting walled off in customer services. Likewise PR twitter and Facebook accounts suffer from similar.

My dumb theory is that it's to discourage reverse importing from South Korea, but I really have no idea about the cost difference, if any, between system prices in Japan and Korea.
IIRC Korea was cheaper for Wii. Making it a popular target for being region swapped. Weather the error 003 bricking (firmware 4.1 on Wii introduced a bootup check that resulted in Korean Wiis running non-Korea system menus to show up error 003) was intentional or not is another matter.

But was such importing a problem on any of the other systems? IIRC North American N64 games work perfectly on a Japanese system with no modification (Japanese games on US hardware need a slight modification) and also Korean GameCubes were Japan region; not American region (despite having English games).

But maybe it started to become a problem...
 
Emboldened from the 60hz victory and watching MS back down over DRM, some peoples world views are going to come crashing down when Nintendo either ignores this or issues a "region locking is best for you, sssshhhhh" response.

Worse still, because region locking has been in place, games already released could be subject to specific licensing rules that would need rewriting and re-agreement from all parties involved.

Honestly you should have been making all this noise pre-3DS release and pre WiiU release or by voting with your wallets as people did with PS4 vs Xbone. But I know thats an impossibility.

I don't know what world you're living in but the 3DS and the WiiU didn't exactly light the world on fire when they both launched. Still region locked.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
I thought society by and large already had.

I think perhaps a campaign based around Miiverse art and yeahs might be sending the wrong message on the WiiU front!

Iwata: you bought it anyway *laughs*
 
I think perhaps a campaign based around Miiverse art and yeahs might be sending the wrong message on the WiiU front!

Iwata: you bought it anyway *laughs*

"Voting with your wallet" doesn't give the company anything but statistical noise. After all, you didn't tell them why you didn't buy it, just that you didn't buy it period.
 

mclem

Member
I think perhaps a campaign based around Miiverse art and yeahs might be sending the wrong message on the WiiU front!

Iwata: you bought it anyway *laughs*

I'm sure Iwata would be much happier if he was selling more software, which is the implication of this venture.
 

9BR

Neo Member
Damn this is spreading everywhere. I was just gifted a European 3DS XL when all of the games I own are American. I need this Nintendo. :(
 
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