Princess Viola
Member
Expected. :/
-
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Let's convince Nintendo to go region-free!
- Thread starter Cheesemeister
- Start date
Expected. :/
Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Twilight Gap
Member
Yes please. I want to keep my extra 3DS.
Short answer: No. If there was any possibility of this, Playstation consoles basically would never have gotten any localizations because everything's region free.
Cheesemeister
Member
The petition has passed 11,000 signatures!
New media coverage:
Barrel Roll Gaming
Geimaku
GoPretendo
New media coverage:
Barrel Roll Gaming
Geimaku
GoPretendo
I don't think we should take a "no comment" from Nintendo to mean that we are being ignored. The company likes to be very careful about their responses, even when they ultimately end up responding poorly. Note how their reactions to Operation Rainfall, the 60 hz Virtual Console campaign, and EarthBound fans on Miiverse all came rather suddenly. Their Operation Rainfall response in particular had them doing what the people wanted while denying it at the same time.
Old Starmen.net followers should know that Nintendo had been speaking about the Mother series in hushed tones for a long time, silently releasing test games and that sort of thing.
What we should be looking for now are signs that they are aware. When the dust has cleared, when our Cheesy friend can play all the Adventure Time games he wants, no one will care about how quickly Nintendo responded.
Old Starmen.net followers should know that Nintendo had been speaking about the Mother series in hushed tones for a long time, silently releasing test games and that sort of thing.
What we should be looking for now are signs that they are aware. When the dust has cleared, when our Cheesy friend can play all the Adventure Time games he wants, no one will care about how quickly Nintendo responded.
It came out of nowhere...
Zevenberge
Member
That's a bummer. However, keep it up! Even if they say they don't comment, they should be aware by now. Is the campaign still going, though, or is it already dying out?
Cheesemeister
Member
Still going. Never give up!
Cheesemeister
Member
That was pretty uncalled for.
Bulbagarden
Member
Honestly, a Nintendo rep refusing to answer the question isn't exactly a setback. If Iwata said anything in the interview with Rich that's still not been posted, they're not going to want to preempt it. For that matter, a PR rep probably won't be up to commenting yet on something that will likely take a while to be discussed and decided quite a few rungs up the chain from them.
GoPretendo link doesn't work, sir.
EDIT: Forgot it was a banned site on GAF. Carry along.
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
Signed the petition. 11k is impressive IMO.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
Did my part, I really hope this succeeds in the end.
Cheesemeister
Member
Statement via Barrel Roll Gaming:
This holds absolutely ZERO water, as I'm an adult and don't need ratings systems. Even when parental controls do come into play, it would be extremely simple for there to be a setting to block games from unfamiliar ratings systems by default. Even parents should have the option to allow foreign games.
The campaign continues!
Nintendo of America said:
This holds absolutely ZERO water, as I'm an adult and don't need ratings systems. Even when parental controls do come into play, it would be extremely simple for there to be a setting to block games from unfamiliar ratings systems by default. Even parents should have the option to allow foreign games.
The campaign continues!
Domstercool
Member
PS3 has parental controlling... and it's not done on rating systems, but by what number the game fits into. It's from a selection of 1 - 11 I think.
Lame excuse...
Lame excuse...
Zevenberge
Member
This makes no sense. First and foremost, why does Nintendo tell us "this game might potentially in a worst-case scenario be rated just ever so slightly not quite the same as your local rating, so you can't play it"? Isn't that what parental controls are for?
Secondly, what parent allows their child (as we are talking about ratings, I am assuming children at an age of 10 or lower) to import random games from overseas? It is not something a kid could do on their own. Heck, I'll even have trouble importing. Let alone someone less than half my age. Conclusion: the parent needs to help importing the game. If the game is potentially unsafe, the parent won't buy it. Problem solved.
Edit: The third problem is that the "person" responding to it is Nintendo of America and not Nintendo of Japan (forgot the official name). I don't think the American branch can make decisions like this, so they can only echo what they would have said before the campaign started.
Dion Blaster
Member
Signed! Wow, amazing job guys, I was cynical this would really go anywhere.
sakipon
Member
I disagree a bit. Atleast in Europe there are some US PS3 games floating in the second hand stores and online auctions. Since they work fine and not everyone looks at the ESRB/PEGI label, sometimes people realize the version only after they bought it. Still, I do like the idea that one could simply restrict foreign rated versions in parental settings.
Eh, Nintendo of America has little say in the region locking anyway, I presume. I hope Iwata makes a statement soon, and Riches interview is posted.
It's kind of funny how this is the excuse that's given though, as the other console manufacturers seem to be getting along greatly without region locking. Also, most people who are importing aren't children and shouldn't be treated like one. The parental controls on the console should have a region locking setting for parents to fool with to block foreign titles completely, or only allow games with xyz ratings playable.
Um....can we get more context on this "response"? Was this a customer service email reply? An executive? A press release? Context is ridiculously important here.
Infernal Monkey
Member
Plus this means even less with regards to a PAL 3DS system. I often import games from the UK to play on my Australian 3DS. Whoops, they don't follow the local rating system!
My parents let me import games from Japan when I was pretty young. Not quite 10 or younger, but young enough that they still paid attention to ratings. Also, I would assume that some children belong to families that travel, so they could move from one region to another and pick up games from different regions.
Zevenberge
Member
Wow. The person who gave the statement really overlooked something.
(Credits to Sadist.)
(1) Did your parents supervise you while you were ordering the game?
(2) At the moment that would mean those kind of people can't buy Nintendo games at all. I doubt that is what Nintendo wants.
Great thread and amazing how many signed the petition.
Region locking is for me the second most consumer unfriendly thing right after DRM and one reason why I'm still hesitant about buying a Wii U. Not that I will import that many games, probably not even use it much but we are a open and connected world and people should be able to buy the games they want even if they are not available in their country.
Region locking is for me the second most consumer unfriendly thing right after DRM and one reason why I'm still hesitant about buying a Wii U. Not that I will import that many games, probably not even use it much but we are a open and connected world and people should be able to buy the games they want even if they are not available in their country.
Well that's their problem. ESRB and PEGI are both crystal clear. CERO can be a bit confusing but I don't imagine Japanese games just randomly being resold around. Can't protect a system against dumb users.
It's even more of a problem this generation than any other. The amount of fantastic content releasing on the 3DS in the East is staggering. And considering that today's market is dramatically different from that of the DS generation, it's becoming more and more unlikely that we're going to see some great stuff ever making it to the West.
Where the fuck is Fantasy Life, Dragon Quest VII, Bravely Default, Tomodachi Collection or Slime Mori Mori 3. Where the fuck is my release date or anything regarding Monster Hunter 4.
It's becoming a serious problem, and NoA and other western branches refusal to localize is disheartening to say the least. I miss the DS days when everything ever was localized, and the handful of titles worth importing were available to play on a DS you already own.
I don't understand what you're referring too.
Where the fuck is Fantasy Life, Dragon Quest VII, Bravely Default, Tomodachi Collection or Slime Mori Mori 3. Where the fuck is my release date or anything regarding Monster Hunter 4.
It's becoming a serious problem, and NoA and other western branches refusal to localize is disheartening to say the least. I miss the DS days when everything ever was localized, and the handful of titles worth importing were available to play on a DS you already own.
Wat?
I don't understand what you're referring too.
Cheesemeister
Member
More media coverage!
GamePolitics
Gamereactor Italia (Italy)
Headlines and Global News
Just Push Start
Customer service reply.
GamePolitics
Gamereactor Italia (Italy)
Headlines and Global News
Just Push Start
Customer service reply.
LOL. So that essentially means....nothing. Alright, nothing to see here folks. Keep up the pressure, but an email response from a customer service rep who's job it is to reply to emails about this issue with that exact response isn't news.
If Iwata or Reggie comment....or we get a press release, THEN we got a story.
Viola of the Abyss
Member
This doesn't make any sense, if Nintendo were worried about that they could just block foregin region games by Parental control by default making it an option without having to force it upon adults.
Of all the lamest excuses....
Of all the lamest excuses....
Bulbagarden
Member
Well, the customer service reply isn't entirely worthless....
Let's put it in context here. It tells us that customer service have a scripted reply to these issues. If we dug through the depths of the internet, I imagine we'd fine that's the reply they've given to many consumers who've asked the exact same question from them for years.
So, why is this interesting? Well....why the hell did a Nintendo PR rep "decline to comment" to a journalist about region locking? Why would they not simply quote from the old standby script? To me, the fact that they didn't stick to the old script there speaks volumes. It suggests that not only are the upper management aware of the campaign, but it's actively being discussed, and that it at least has a chance of succeeding. Because if they've already decided to ignore it, there's no way the PR rep wouldn't have stuck to the script.
Let's put it in context here. It tells us that customer service have a scripted reply to these issues. If we dug through the depths of the internet, I imagine we'd fine that's the reply they've given to many consumers who've asked the exact same question from them for years.
So, why is this interesting? Well....why the hell did a Nintendo PR rep "decline to comment" to a journalist about region locking? Why would they not simply quote from the old standby script? To me, the fact that they didn't stick to the old script there speaks volumes. It suggests that not only are the upper management aware of the campaign, but it's actively being discussed, and that it at least has a chance of succeeding. Because if they've already decided to ignore it, there's no way the PR rep wouldn't have stuck to the script.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Bullshit. Sony and Ms are both doing it too and I'm sure they have parental controls too.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
I admire the persistence of the OP 
Keep it up, OP! Hopefully you don't give up no matter how impossible things may appear to be.
Keep it up, OP! Hopefully you don't give up no matter how impossible things may appear to be.
Wow. The person who gave the statement really overlooked something.
(Credits to Sadist.)
(1) Did your parents supervise you while you were ordering the game?
(2) At the moment that would mean those kind of people can't buy Nintendo games at all. I doubt that is what Nintendo wants.
1. Kind of. They didn't really look at what the games actually were, but the supervised with the ordering process and obviously inputted all of the personal info. I recognize this is an abnormal case though.
2. Nintendo makes a lot of money, and these people are a relatively small market. They'd probably try to avoid anything that could cause any sort of problems with parental controls. They probably want to avoid any sort of problem that could ever exist whatsoever with parent controls in order to maintain a family friendly image.
Granted I'm just playing devil's advocate at this point. I yeah'd dozens of Miiverse posts, posted a couple of my own, and tweeted about this. I think that it's definitely within Nintendo's best interest. And whoever brought up the Europe/Australia thing had a good point.
Cheesemeister
Member
Andrefpvs
Member
This.
Cheesemeister
Member
bequietdrive
Member
I can't believe there's a petition for this but not for a unified wii u account system.
sixteen-bit
Member
Because you haven't started one.
Crying and moaning only gets you so far. If you want something, take action.
Pancakes R Us
Member
So true, hah. Not that it would help you, but by the logic Nintendo provided, Australia should have its own region in terms of hardware and games.
Fuck you, Nintendo. Fuck you.
Complete bullshit indeed. If you import a foreign console and game you'll be avoiding those same "regional standards and rating systems", so saying that's the reason for region lock is basically calling their customers stupid.
Feel free to start one.