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[Pureauthor]

For so, so long, handhelds was the one area where Nintendo never screwed up for me.

Oh well. It had to die sometime.

 

[Danj]

A gimped DS Lite that smaller, has bigger and brighter screens, louder speakers among others? The lack of a GBA slot doesn't worry me and there is plenty of reasons for me to get one for my site.

Okay, well if you have a website that reviews games then I concede that you need to have one. Bigger and brighter screens also sound nice, but aren't they the cause of the lower battery life? Also, do the speakers really get much use? I mean, I could see using them at home, but while out and about I'd have thought people would use headphones? It's very much swings and roundabouts as far as I can tell and there doesn't really seem to be any net advantage to owning a DSi. Unless they did something insane like, say, allowing people to legitimately copy their owned DS games to an SD card.. something like that could be possible if they wrapped some DRM around it. Can't see it happening though.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Such as what, exactly?

One could be a fan of the camera and larger screens, or hate battery life and GBA games.

 

[abstract alien]

People can still buy US games on a US Wii or JP games with a JP Wii here in Australia, there will be a way around it.

Oh well some lucky J-Gaffer will be able to a DSi cheap off me when I sell my JP one for the local one sometime in September next year.

Haha, same here...i say i wont get one because of the import price, but i know i will.

 

[alex1893]

kind of expected this

oh well, gotta wait till next year then... but I want Chrono Trigger so bad.

 

[x3sphere]

Such as what, exactly? Without the DLC, isn't the DSi just a gimped DS Lite? Also, people are saying that imported systems will be able to download software from the system's country of origin, but how do you know they won't do IP geolocation and/or checking the address of your credit card?

Well, I'm almost sure they would check the credit card but you wouldn't need one... could just import Nintendo Points cards when they come out.

It's important to note that this doesn't only affect downloadable software, if you read the CVG article:

They confirmed that this means BOTH download-able games and future DSi-only cartridge-based games would be region locked.

 

[Drkirby]

ntsc does not exist for handhelds.

Fine, its still a japanese DSi in the US or in Japan, and will have access to the Japanese DSi store anywhere in the world. Happy Mr. Technical >_>

 

[Fuzz Rez]

Long as cartridges are region free I'm happy.

 

[VOOK]

Okay, well if you have a website that reviews games then I concede that you need to have one. Bigger and brighter screens also sound nice, but aren't they the cause of the lower battery life? Also, do the speakers really get much use? I mean, I could see using them at home, but while out and about I'd have thought people would use headphones? It's very much swings and roundabouts as far as I can tell and there doesn't really seem to be any net advantage to owning a DSi. Unless they did something insane like, say, allowing people to legitimately copy their owned DS games to an SD card.. something like that could be possible if they wrapped some DRM around it. Can't see it happening though.

I don't need a DSi (I have two Lites for reviews), I don't think ANYONE really needs one but It'll be nice to have one in the country months before it's out here. I use the speakers all the time, I never play with headphones I'm never in a position to play it with headphones, I don't use public transport.

You're right there is no main reason to get one over a Lite or to upgrade, except maybe except for the downloadble games but at this stage it's only 2 brain training games.

For so, so long, handhelds was the one area where Nintendo never screwed up for me.

Oh well. It had to die sometime.

Just accept it man, I figured it out a long time ago.

 

[Phife Dawg]

So... They are Region Locking the downloadable content? Did anyone think they weren't going to have the downloadable stuff Region Specific?

Yeah, seriously. The writing was on the wall with WiiWare/VC. No surprise here at all.

Isn't this just putting up a big sign 'modders, please hack here'?

Just out of curiousity: Has the WiiWare region lock been hacked?

Excellent, that just crippled the worth of the Downloadable store content that would've persuaded me to get one. Now I won't even bother!

I always love when companies put region locks on digitally distributed content. It is infuriating and tragic all at the same time.

You won't get it because you can't play downloadable content in Japanese?

 

[Nemo]

Well, I'm almost sure they would check the credit card but you wouldn't need one... could just import Nintendo Points cards when they come out.

It's important to note that this doesn't only affect downloadable software, if you read the CVG article:

What? Did I miss something? I didn't know they were going to release DSi only cartridge games.

 

[JonathanEx]

Just out of curiousity: Has the WiiWare region lock been hacked?

Yup.

 

[Fireblend]

Well, I'm almost sure they would check the credit card but you wouldn't need one... could just import Nintendo Points cards when they come out.

It's important to note that this doesn't only affect downloadable software, if you read the CVG article:

...what? DSi-only carts? where did this come from?

 

[manzo]

I'll wait until the hackers fucking destroy the region locking with a fist of an angry God.

Nintendo. The company that invented region locking for video games. How low can you go?

 

[VOOK]

Just out of curiousity: Has the WiiWare region lock been hacked?

Everything Wii, games, VC and WiiWare has been blown wide open. Apparently it's like a 10 minute job to pirate a WiiWare game, and you don't even need a modchip any more.

 

[Kagari]

Region locking shouldn't exist in this day and age.

 

[Stumpokapow]

...what? DSi-only carts? where did this come from?

It didn't.

 

[lastendconductor]

This is fucking retarded. One would think one of the biggest advatages of digital distribution is that it doesn't need to be region locked, it's the fucking internet! ok, I'm not buying this shit (and I was going to day 1, tired of my fat ds already), until this is hacked into oblivion, and if it never falls, so be it.

 

[Drkirby]

Yeah, seriously. The writing was on the wall with WiiWare/VC. No surprise here at all.


Just out of curiousity: Has the WiiWare region lock been hacked?


You won't get it because you can't play downloadable content in Japanese?

Wiiware never was regened locked, the Wii Store was just region specific. Heck, the Wii Store checks your systems records for what has and hasn't been bought rather then something on there side, so Nintendo hopefully fixes that, or we are going to be getting a DSi Homebrew app that just sets your system to "Yes, I have bought everything and deleted it, I would indeed like anther copy" :lol

(Also, to be honest, I wouldn't put it past Homebrewers to find a way to get DSi Apps that don't use the camera to work on the older DS modles)

 

[Pureauthor]

This is fucking retarded. One would think one of the biggest advatages of digital distribution is that it doesn't need to be region locked, it's the fucking internet! ok, I'm not buying this shit (and I was going to day 1, tired of my fat ds already), until this is hacked into oblivion, and if it never falls, so be it.

BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Yes Boss!]

Still a shot we can buy points cards from play-asia and download like we can do with the Japanese Wii. I'm waiting till it hits North America but those importing don't give up hope yet.

 

[Rufus]

Everything Wii, games, VC and WiiWare has been blown wide open.

So there's a reliable way to play imports, I take it? Could Nintendo close those gaps with future updates? I won't be waiting for NoE to localize games if I can help it...

 

[Danj]

Everything Wii, games, VC and WiiWare has been blown wide open. Apparently it's like a 10 minute job to pirate a WiiWare game, and you don't even need a modchip any more.

Ah so I see Nintendo are hell-bent on turning yet another generation of PAL-landers into dirty pirates now then. And I really hate this whole "it's for the children" parental-locking excuse bullshit they are offering up.

 

[Drkirby]

So there's a reliable way to play imports, I take it? Could Nintendo close those gaps with future updates? I won't be waiting for NoE to localize games if I can help it...

Technicly, but they just find more holes.

 

[johnl]

Haha
This is a load of bollocks.
Guess I'll just crack my handheld even faster next time.

 

[x3sphere]

...what? DSi-only carts? where did this come from?

It's from the original source... not the Gamasutra article linked in the OP:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=198728

 

[VOOK]

So there's a reliable way to play imports, I take it? Could Nintendo close those gaps with future updates? I won't be waiting for NoE to localize games if I can help it...

Off topic but yeah the Gecko loader works faultlessly now.

Ah so I see Nintendo are hell-bent on turning yet another generation of PAL-landers into dirty pirates now then. And I really hate this whole "it's for the children" parental-locking excuse bullshit they are offering up.

I wouldn't know you'd have to ask the pirates.

 

[elostyle]

How can they not know this for certain? Do they not realize how annoying these region locks are? So far having to play 50hz PAL versions of games on VC that don't even have text or have never been localized in the first place takes the cake.

 

[mrklaw]

their arguments are dumb. Saying about legal age ratings is stupid when the cart games are region free. Also stupid as sony manage to do region free on downloadable games. Its just Nintendo being Nintendo.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

It's important to note that this doesn't only affect downloadable software, if you read the CVG article:

That shouldn't be too big a deal, at least, since the vast majority of games should continue to not be DSi-only. In fact, it's little enough a deal I wonder why they bothered.

their arguments are dumb. Saying about legal age ratings is stupid when the cart games are region free. Also stupid as sony manage to do region free on downloadable games. Its just Nintendo being Nintendo.

Don't people have to jump through hoops to access the stores for other regions?

 

[Struct09]

This is fucking retarded. One would think one of the biggest advatages of digital distribution is that it doesn't need to be region locked, it's the fucking internet! ok, I'm not buying this shit (and I was going to day 1, tired of my fat ds already), until this is hacked into oblivion, and if it never falls, so be it.

Not trying to defend region locking, but look at services like Hulu. There's definitely some region issues surrounding digital distribution.

 

[johnl]

Ah so I see Nintendo are hell-bent on turning yet another generation of PAL-landers into dirty pirates now then. And I really hate this whole "it's for the children" parental-locking excuse bullshit they are offering up.

Serves them bloody well right.
No guilt, only retribution.

 

[The Faceless Master]

once again, nintendo fails.

 

[Shard]

Dunaway: 'No Plans' For DSi-Exclusive Retail Titles

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20518

Nintendo currently has “no plans” to introduce retail cartridge software that is only compatible with the newly unveiled DSi hardware, says executive vice president of sales & marketing Cammie Dunaway in a new interview.

Speaking to Wired News, Dunaway qualified the statement by saying: "As we've historically done, you’ll see us do interesting things with software to take advantage of the hardware capabilities."

"As Mr. Iwata talked about last night, this new memo pad is one of the cool technologies. It's not necessarily a game, but it certainly enables people to act as an animator and use their photographs in an interesting and entertaining way."

Nintendo has previously been happy to release titles compatible only with the most advanced versions of a format, most notably the Game Boy Color and Expansion Pak-equipped Nintendo 64. Downloadable software unique to the DSi has already been announced, beginning with new versions of Brain Age.

Dunaway also indicated that the DSi is unlikely to be region-locked, allowing any software from around the world to work on the hardware. Although Nintendo’s home consoles have always been region-locked, with very different released dates and marketing campaigns globally, portable formats have traditionally always been region free.

On the question of whether the existing DS Lite hardware would still be sold alongside the DSi, Dunaway was less clear. "Right now, we’re still working through what the strategy's going to be here," she said.

"You’ve seen some of the work we’ve done this year with celebrities, that we're bringing a lot of new consumers in to the DS. So I think there’s opportunity for both of them to coexist for some period of time."

Dunaway was also able to confirm that the pricing of the DSi in the U.S. would be higher than the DS Lite, although no specifics were given. In Japan, the DSi is priced at ¥18,900 ($183), compared to ¥16,800 ($163) for the DS Lite.

 

[grandjedi6]

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Dunaway: 'No Plans' For DSi-Exclusive Retail Titles

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20518

And from such a trustworthy person, too.

I'm inclined to believe.

 

[grandjedi6]

YES YES YES ALL OVER MY TITS!!!

 

[Steeven]

Fuck that, no DSi for me then.

 

[CTLance]

Eh. As expected.
Another reason why I won't buy one in the foreseeable future. I was highly sceptical of it at first, but now... unless they're making fuck-awesome eyeball-melting feel-funny-in-mah-pants DSi-specific quadruple-A+ games I have absolutely zero interest in ditching my old DS phat.

 

[johnl]

Not trying to defend region locking, but look at services like Hulu. There's definitely some region issues surrounding digital distribution.

What is that supposed to mean?

Also, am I the only who associates this Carrie wan from Nintendo and Sarah Palin?!

 

[Rolf NB]

Oh the stupor.

 

[Struct09]

What is that supposed to mean?

He stated that because of the internet, region locking shouldn't be an issue. The publishers of the digital content (Hulu in my example, and Nintendo for the DSi downloadable stuff) obviously have some reason they believe is important for keeping content region locked.

 

[Fuu]

Yeah, there's region-locking even on Youtube these days.

 

[LiK]

f u nintendo.

 

[Orin GA]

Wow...were some of you born yesterday? Seriously. This is how its been ever since DLC content came to consoles/handhelds unless its cracked or using a false store account.

 

[pswii60]

Now we know the real reason for the DSi.

 

[inner-G]

-1 sales.



I wanted bigger screens T_T

 

[Stumpokapow]

Wow...were some of you born yesterday? Seriously. This is how its been ever since DLC content came to consoles/handhelds unless its cracked or using a false store account.

yeah i'm lollin' at all these people who say they were going to buy this but now won't because they can't download japanese dlc.

 

[Fuu]

Loving the jaded people in here. So, since "everyone" does it it's automatically a non-retarded decision and we should all have expected bullshit and simply don't care.

 

[inner-G]

yeah i'm lollin' at all these people who say they were going to buy this but now won't because they can't download japanese dlc.

Sorry, I'm used to being able to play Japanese DLC on my other systems.