Confirmed: Wii U is Region Locked

[Bladexdsl]

Yeah it sucks for the UK who always get shafted by release dates, but, again, Nintendo consoles have ALWAYS been region locked...it's common knowledge. Anyone could have confirmed the WiiU was region locked from the first time its name was uttered.

You think you get shafted? How'd you like to be last on the list to get everything and have to wait up to 3+ months later to get it. It will probably be around feb-march before the wiiu gets released here

 

[tueidj]

You think you get shafted? How'd you like to be last on the list to get everything and have to wait up to 3+ months later to get it. It will probably be around feb-march before the wiiu gets released here

Sure, that's why all the AU retailers are taking pre-orders for a November 30th release date. And who was it who was first in the world to get hold of (and leak and subsequently get sued for) NSMB when it came out?

 

[trumpet-205]

Big reason for region lock is currency exchange rate. Without region lock, you can bet a lot of Japanese gamers will import US/EU games instead because of favorable exchange rate. It is the same reason that Persona 4 Arena have region lock (first PS3 title to do so). Japanese gamers buying their own games actually cost more compared to import.

Then there are other supporting reasons, like different parental rating system, market control, etc.

Not surprised to hear that WiiU is region locked, although I was surprised when I found out that 3DS is region locked. It remains to be seen if Sony will abandon no region lock. Sony had already made it more difficult to play other regions Vita game by requiring dedicated memory card.

 

[NightsOwl]

Expected this much. Oh well. I just have to put up with it. x_x

 

[Pleng]

I don't understand the purpose of region locks. In the modern world where the far side of the world is merely a flight away and people from all races and religions are spread far and wide across the globe, what do we gain from region locks? Why erect walls that don't need to be there?

AFAIK, the reasons used:
- Prices
- NTSC/PAL/SECAM stuff
- Censorship

So far I think only censorship is the most "suitable" reason for region locking.

I think price is the more realistic one. Yea it may seem 'unfair'. Why pay more for a game that you can get dirt cheap elsewhere.

Well if you're entering your products into a country in a country where the average salary is £5000* then you're going to want to sell your games at a price where they're still going to sell. Nobody's going to pay £40 for a game, but £15 to £20 perhaps.

Why is it fair that people in a country where the average salary is £28,000 should get the games for the same price? People in the UK pay more for accommodation, electricity water and food than all over Asia, for example. Basic requirements needed to live. Yet people don't kick up a stink that a pineapple or a bottle of water is a third of the price in Thailand compared to the UK. When it comes to luxury items, that you're we're all bloody well lucky to even have in the first place, we're the first to jump on the evil corporation bandwagon.


Think about this: if region locking didn't exist/wasn't possible, do you think the prices in Nintendo's biggest/wealthiest markets would go down? Or would the prices come up globally to he highest common denominator, making games even less accessible in less wealthy countries?

 

[Just Another Gamer]

I don't understand the purpose of region locks. In the modern world where the far side of the world is merely a flight away and people from all races and religions are spread far and wide across the globe, what do we gain from region locks? Why erect walls that don't need to be there?

AFAIK, the reasons used:
- Prices
- NTSC/PAL/SECAM stuff
- Censorship

So far I think only censorship is the most "suitable" reason for region locking.

I think price is the more realistic one. Yea it may seem 'unfair'. Why pay more for a game that you can get dirt cheap elsewhere.

Well if you're entering your products into a country in a country where the average salary is £5000* then you're going to want to sell your games at a price where they're still going to sell. Nobody's going to pay £40 for a game, but £15 to £20 perhaps.

Why is it fair that people in a country where the average salary is £28,000 should get the games for the same price? People in the UK pay more for accommodation, electricity water and food than all over Asia, for example. Basic requirements needed to live. Yet people don't kick up a stink that a pineapple or a bottle of water is a third of the price in Thailand compared to the UK. When it comes to luxury items, that you're we're all bloody well lucky to even have in the first place, we're the first to jump on the evil corporation bandwagon.


Think about this: if region locking didn't exist/wasn't possible, do you think the prices in Nintendo's biggest/wealthiest markets would go down? Or would the prices come up globally to he highest common denominator, making games even less accessible in less wealthy countries?

I really don't think you understand why people complain about region locking. Games aren't available in every country unlike the common belief that if a game can be bought where I live then it must the same for everyone else on earth, a good example is Devil Survivor Overclocked that was only available in I assume Japan and US not EU so how am I meant to play the game if I only own an EU console? Well I can if region locking didn't exist but in this instance I have to wait for a game that has a possibility of not even coming to my region.

Pricing is another matter as well I mean I live in Australia and we have to pay around $60AUD ($65-70USD) for a game while in the US a game from what I heard costs around $40USD ($35-40AUD) so even with a shipping cost buying games is a lot more expensive locally than importing even more so when buying more than 1 game. This isn't a gaming example but the unlocked GS3 costs $700 if I buy locally but only $550 if I buy online and only $570 with express shipping plus accessories it still comes in about $600 so yea some people don't want to buy local because it is a complete rip off.

 

[Pleng]

I think price is the more realistic one. Yea it may seem 'unfair'. Why pay more for a game that you can get dirt cheap elsewhere.

Well if you're entering your products into a country in a country where the average salary is £5000* then you're going to want to sell your games at a price where they're still going to sell. Nobody's going to pay £40 for a game, but £15 to £20 perhaps.

Why is it fair that people in a country where the average salary is £28,000 should get the games for the same price? People in the UK pay more for accommodation, electricity water and food than all over Asia, for example. Basic requirements needed to live. Yet people don't kick up a stink that a pineapple or a bottle of water is a third of the price in Thailand compared to the UK. When it comes to luxury items, that you're we're all bloody well lucky to even have in the first place, we're the first to jump on the evil corporation bandwagon.


Think about this: if region locking didn't exist/wasn't possible, do you think the prices in Nintendo's biggest/wealthiest markets would go down? Or would the prices come up globally to he highest common denominator, making games even less accessible in less wealthy countries?

I really don't think you understand why people complain about region locking. Games aren't available in every country unlike the common belief that if a game can be bought where I live then it must the same for everyone else on earth, a good example is Devil Survivor Overclocked that was only available in I assume Japan and US not EU so how am I meant to play the game if I only own an EU console? Well I can if region locking didn't exist but in this instance I have to wait for a game that has a possibility of not even coming to my region.

I totally understand the frustrations. I never bought a PS2 because the only games I was really interested in were NiGHTS and Sega Rally, which never came to the UK. The fact is this inconvenience is a by-product of the need to region lock.

Nobody's going "Right. Let's screw these people over and not let them play what they want". They're going "Right, how do we ensure we can enter less wealthy markets and still make a profit". The solution they have is region lock. As a byproduct we unfortunately don't get the games.

Pricing is another matter as well I mean I live in Australia and we have to pay around $60AUD ($65-70USD) for a game while in the US a game from what I heard costs around $40USD ($35-40AUD) so even with a shipping cost buying games is a lot more expensive locally than importing even more so when buying more than 1 game. This isn't a gaming example but the unlocked GS3 costs $700 if I buy locally but only $550 if I buy online and only $570 with express shipping plus accessories it still comes in about $600 so yea some people don't want to buy local because it is a complete rip off.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's not a rip off. You're living in a market that can sustain a $700 price tag. The country you're importing from can not. Not to mention the cost of running the webstore you purchased from would have been considerably lower than the cost of running any shop you may have purchased from in Australlia. Plus I'm guessing you avoided import tax on your online purchase which would have made the prices much closer.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

I totally understand the frustrations. I never bought a PS2 because the only games I was really interested in were NiGHTS and Sega Rally, which never came to the UK. The fact is this inconvenience is a by-product of the need to region lock.

Nobody's going "Right. Let's screw these people over and not let them play what they want". They're going "Right, how do we ensure we can enter less wealthy markets and still make a profit". The solution they have is region lock. As a byproduct we unfortunately don't get the games.

But the DS and PSP weren't region locked and games still sold perfectly well in each country as well as letting people import the games they couldn't get locally. The PS3 and 360 isn't region locked but devs can choose if they wanted to RL their games or not and from what I see none were.

I don't see the need of region locking mainly because it seems redundant to limit what the consumer can get which in this instance is games.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's not a rip off. You're living in a market that can sustain a $700 price tag. The country you're importing from can not. Not to mention the cost of running the webstore you purchased from would have been considerably lower than the cost of running any shop you may have purchased from in Australlia. Plus I'm guessing you avoided import tax on your online purchase which would have made the prices much closer.

No the retailer wants a profit so they overcharge for the price tag cause lets be honest no one walks around with $700 handy in their wallets, if anything alot of people now in Australia are struggling with bills and everything so they can't even get things that are that are around $200 let alone $700. People everywhere wants the lowest price possible but a good quality product and will actively look until they find it and trying to say "buy expensively local is better than buying cheaply overseas" will just have people annoyed and less likely to follow that instruction.

 

[DiEnd]

Pricing is another matter as well I mean I live in Australia and we have to pay around $60AUD ($65-70USD) for a game while in the US a game from what I heard costs around $40USD ($35-40AUD) so even with a shipping cost buying games is a lot more expensive locally than importing even more so when buying more than 1 game. This isn't a gaming example but the unlocked GS3 costs $700 if I buy locally but only $550 if I buy online and only $570 with express shipping plus accessories it still comes in about $600 so yea some people don't want to buy local because it is a complete rip off.

Here in Russia we have the $80 USD pricetag for one game. Yet most people don't even think about importing because they can't speak any foreign language. Those who can, usually import games and consoles from Amazon.de, where the pricetag can be way lower. The best example here is Sonic Colors on Wii. It costs $60 USD in Russia, on Amazon.de - ~20 EUR (~$26 USD) + 2 EUR for shipping to Russia. Yet no one has decided to region lock Russia out of PAL region.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Pricing is another matter as well I mean I live in Australia and we have to pay around $60AUD ($65-70USD) for a game while in the US a game from what I heard costs around $40USD ($35-40AUD) so even with a shipping cost buying games is a lot more expensive locally than importing even more so when buying more than 1 game. This isn't a gaming example but the unlocked GS3 costs $700 if I buy locally but only $550 if I buy online and only $570 with express shipping plus accessories it still comes in about $600 so yea some people don't want to buy local because it is a complete rip off.

Here in Russia we have the $80 USD pricetag for one game. Yet most people don't even think about importing because they can't speak any foreign language. Those who can, usually import games and consoles from Amazon.de, where the pricetag can be way lower. The best example here is Sonic Colors on Wii. It costs $60 USD in Russia, on Amazon.de - ~20 EUR (~$26 USD) + 2 EUR for shipping to Russia. Yet no one has decided to region lock Russia out of PAL region.

For reference brand new games in the US are $60. Odds are you'll spend more money importing.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Pricing is another matter as well I mean I live in Australia and we have to pay around $60AUD ($65-70USD) for a game while in the US a game from what I heard costs around $40USD ($35-40AUD) so even with a shipping cost buying games is a lot more expensive locally than importing even more so when buying more than 1 game. This isn't a gaming example but the unlocked GS3 costs $700 if I buy locally but only $550 if I buy online and only $570 with express shipping plus accessories it still comes in about $600 so yea some people don't want to buy local because it is a complete rip off.

Here in Russia we have the $80 USD pricetag for one game. Yet most people don't even think about importing because they can't speak any foreign language. Those who can, usually import games and consoles from Amazon.de, where the pricetag can be way lower. The best example here is Sonic Colors on Wii. It costs $60 USD in Russia, on Amazon.de - ~20 EUR (~$26 USD) + 2 EUR for shipping to Russia. Yet no one has decided to region lock Russia out of PAL region.

I don't think its a good marketing tactic to region lock a console or anything to a specific country.

 

[DiEnd]

I don't think its a good marketing tactic to region lock a console or anything to a specific country.

Nintendo does it for Japan and Korea, and many retail PC games are region-locked for Russia.

For reference brand new games in the US are $60. Odds are you'll spend more money importing.

We don't have to pay any taxes for importng anything cheaper than 1000 Euros, so it depends on postage costs.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

I don't think its a good marketing tactic to region lock a console or anything to a specific country.

Nintendo does it for Japan and Korea, and many retail PC games are region-locked for Russia.

I thought that was locked to the Asia region.

 

[DiEnd]

I thought that was locked to the Asia region.

I don't know about the whole Asian region, but I'm aware that Japan and Korea are separated. That was from the first news about 3DS's region lock:

There are no Region codes in DS and DS Lite, but DSi, DSi [XL], and 3DS have region codes. The region codes are installed in each game and the 3DS itself. … You can’t play if the region codes are different.

For example, if you play a Korean 3DS game with a Japanese 3DS system (or vice versa), you won’t be able to play at all.

 

[narutofan777]

What is the point of region locking? I don't get it...

 

[Rydian]

What is the point of region locking? I don't get it...

They can control which countries get it first, which editions have which censoring (for example EU doesn't mind nudity but hates violence, US loves violence but goes into a rage if their kids see a nipple), but mainly it's so they can charge rich countries more for games without worrying about them importing games from poor countries that sell them cheaper.

 

[Eerpow]

What is the point of region locking? I don't get it...

They can control which countries get it first, which editions have which censoring (for example EU doesn't mind nudity but hates violence, US loves violence but goes into a rage if their kids see a nipple), but mainly it's so they can charge rich countries more for games without worrying about them importing games from poor countries that sell them cheaper.

If only that was the case, from what I've seen rich countries get their games dirt cheap while poor countries have to pay a lot more.
For example, US getting games cheaper than the rest of America or Europe even.

 

[Rydian]

Didn't specify the US, though I guess by saying "rich" and "poor" I gave a different vibe.

AU gamers I've talked to like importing from the US, for example.

 

[Santee]

I don't import games so it makes no difference if any of my consoles are region locked, not like I was going to get it anyway.