Wii not even remotely region-free
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Sep 15th 2006 at 8:25PM }
Remember when Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan told Wired News that first-party Wii games would be free of regional shackles? Well, it turns out that she never received the internal memo stating the exact opposite: The Wii will not be region-free. Not even a little. Some confusion arose after David "there's no DS redesign" Yarnton told UK press that the system would indeed be region-locked. Were Kaplan's comments misinterpreted somehow? After all, having region-free games and a region-free system are two very different things. We took the issue to a Nintendo US spokesperson and received the clarification we desired, unpleasant as it was."We've heard conflicting reports from lots of folks out there, but can tell you that Wii will be region encoded, as will first-party software."
It's a segmented world after all.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Silver R. Wolfe @ Sep 15th 2006 8:29PM
I hope this clears everything up for people still raving about the Wii being region free. I never expected it to be and when I first heard the US announcements that it was, I was shocked.
This seems more like the Nintendo I grew up with.
Ethan @ Sep 15th 2006 8:32PM
Well, that is just another thing Nintendo lied to us about, and another thing that PlayStation 3 has that wii does not.
Ethan @ Sep 15th 2006 8:33PM
Well, that is just another thing Nintendo lied to us about, and another thing that PlayStation 3 has that wii does not.
NDS Fan @ Sep 15th 2006 8:36PM
I am pissed off at this fact...things have gone from bad to worse for nintendo, like stated above they seem to be back to themselves again. *sigh*
serbz @ Sep 15th 2006 8:37PM
seriously nintendo has been spitting out some crap lately........
Bill @ Sep 15th 2006 8:36PM
Every year people say each system wont be region encoded, and every year they all are.
Get a clue guys.
bob @ Sep 15th 2006 8:37PM
Aren't Japan and the US in the same region now? Oh wait, that is for the PS3. Oh well.
Borat @ Sep 15th 2006 8:41PM
Bah...but the DS isn't region-encoded. Why couldn't they do the same thing with the Wii? Not a big deal for me personally since I don't import games, but I know people who do and this is a bit of a blow.
kris @ Sep 15th 2006 8:41PM
BUT I WANT A COOKING GAME!!!!!1!!
Colonel @ Sep 15th 2006 8:41PM
another day, another broken promise from Nintendo (and suprisingly not from Sony)
fanboys of all shapes and sizes, this goes to show how your loyalty in ANY company goes rewarded. Nintendo never changed from the early 1990-era ways, Sony never wanted to look like they did, and Microsoft, well they're on a mission to make everyone think EXCESSIVE DRM is okay, even though it's not.
I guess you can you say I love the hamburger but hate how the cow is killed. But that's just business, kind of like nature: it's a vicious cycle but for the most part it works. Get over it.
Jeff @ Sep 15th 2006 8:45PM
"Every year people say each system wont be region encoded, and every year they all are."
You mean except for the PlaySation 3, right?
Sure, they could say one thing and then release the system and suddenly it's "woops!" But Nintendo corrected their region-free faux pas immediately. Sony's had their confirmation of region free-ness out for months now and has not only never denied it, they have in fact continued to tout it as a feature in interviews.
If the PS3 ships region locked, then I will *finally* have lost all faith in not just Sony, but in basic human truthfulness. Because that would be some seriously big lie - not just a change of heart, not just a feature that was mistakenly announced, but a complete and utter lie.
So yeah. I'm guessing the PS3 will be the only system this generation that's truly region free.
RiemannMeetLebesgue @ Sep 15th 2006 8:46PM
Interesting. I'll wait and see how this pans out (considering that it's been Nintendo people who have been disagreeing)
vaylen @ Sep 15th 2006 8:46PM
As long as my PS3 stays region free. I'm happy. Sorry Big-N fanboyz... just not your day.
RiemannMeetLebesgue @ Sep 15th 2006 8:48PM
Colonel,
If it was just that one person from Nintendo who screwed up in an interview, then it's not really like the company as a whole lied to us. Sony's lies have been a bit different as they've been in official company speeches that definitely do represent the company as a whole.
JacKal @ Sep 15th 2006 8:53PM
Uh, why is this the ONLY site I've seen that says this? Everywhere else explains that the answer to the question was that EUROPE isn't getting a region-free Wii... They're not getting region-free anything for whatever EU reasons... Lots of complications with video games and EU (see PS3 delayed launch, etc)... US and JP still are though
http://www.codenamerevolution.com/?p=1848 is an example
Skip @ Sep 15th 2006 8:52PM
Out of curiousity, can someone please exlpain the reasoning to me as to why consoles/electronics are region protected? I'd appriciate it.
yay @ Sep 15th 2006 8:54PM
PS3 will be region encoded too, just wait and see. It just takes Sony longer to get the balls to break bad news to people.
Morder @ Sep 15th 2006 8:55PM
wooo...it's not region free....big deal, how many imports do people do anyway. even if someone does import they will probably buy a japanese wii anyway, they're cheap enough...
Chris @ Sep 15th 2006 8:56PM
Lame... I read this earlier elsewhere and was significantly disappointed in Nintendo. After hearing some hope for region free games, I was excited at the idea of some of the games I had already thought of importing... and then I got slapped in the face. On top of that, I want a $200 console *without* Wii sports. Nothing about Wii sports is appealing to me.
Sony followers are getting a chance to retaliate with this -- this console war isn't fun anymore :P
RiemannMeetLebesgue @ Sep 15th 2006 9:01PM
If this had been a lower-level employee who had screwed up, they would have been canned immediately. I'm normally very understanding when it comes to screw--ups, but this mistake should be a job loser. The VP of marketing has no clue what the product even does. I don't blame Nintendo for one employee's mistake and again, it wasn't an official keynote or anything, but I will hold Nintendo partially responsible if they don't handle this in the appropriate manner.
Daniel @ Sep 15th 2006 9:04PM
Given joystiq's muckery lately, I'm gonna take a wait-and-see approach to this entry.
shawndgoldman @ Sep 15th 2006 9:06PM
(Reader for a while, not a poster till...)
According to post #16, it seems that a truly region-free Wii (or any other console for that matter) was never an option if the goal includes selling any consoles in the EU. If that's indeed the case, then the important question is whether or not the US and Japan are in the same region. If so, then i think the previous comments by the Nintendo employee are likely an honest misunderstanding. If not, then this is (to me, at least) the most disappointing backtrack out of all those made in the last couple days by Nintendo.
Can you guys shoot off another email to see if the US and Japan (and anywhere else) will be in the same market? Thanks...
shawndgoldman @ Sep 15th 2006 9:08PM
Er, by "market" in that last sentence i of course meant "region."
Epic @ Sep 15th 2006 9:13PM
If this generation of console launches has taught us anything, it's taught us the danger of hype. Hype energizes the hardcore fans, but at the expense of vitriolic backlash when the reality misses the hype by even a little.
Fans tend to overreact to the day-by-day news trickle regarding these consoles, and the hardware companies like Sony and Nintendo don't get it yet. They need to be in the driver's seat with every piece of information released. Hiding under-delivering performance in some spec sheet, or waiting until internal memos hit Joystiq is unacceptable. With all this money at stake, you'd think game companies would spend much more energy shaping exactly what kind of information reaches the public.
Dr.Swiss @ Sep 15th 2006 9:15PM
I have a DS and I don't care if it's region free.
I want a Wii and don't care it's region locked.
If/when I buy a 360 I won't care it's region locked.
If/when I buy a PS3 I won't not care it's region free.
I EVEN HAVE A FLASHCARD FOR MY DS SO IF I WANTED TO I COULD EASILY DOWNLOAD JAPANESE ROMS. I DON'T.
Notice a pattern?
I CAN'T SPEAK-A THE JAPANESE-A.
Silver R. Wolfe @ Sep 15th 2006 9:17PM
@ Shawndgoldman
I don't believe that Japan and the US will be in the same region. I don't think that Nintendo will be mixing the traditional regions up. Just a gut feeling.
Dr.Swiss @ Sep 15th 2006 9:17PM
Hahahaha "won't not care". It's "won't care".
My mistake. :P
Ricardo @ Sep 15th 2006 9:24PM
This will just more strongly motivate people to get their systems modded and as a result play "back ups".
GW @ Sep 15th 2006 9:25PM
@15
Generally consoles (like dvd-players) are region-locked so as to differentiate markets in different areas with barriers which prevent for example Europeans (who generally pay more for their goods) from obtaining them cheaper from the US. As different regions have different elasticities of demand it prevents those who are willing to pay more from getting them cheaper and therefore helps companies to maximise profits in respective regions... "centrus paribus = look how f***ing smart I am" ;P
ArX07 @ Sep 15th 2006 9:42PM
This whole wave of bad news was bound to happen because A.)Nintendo is far from perfect like some were hyping and B.)The Wii is far from perfect like some were hyping. I doubt Nintendo has changed much since a decade ago besides their fall from grace.
Senshida @ Sep 15th 2006 9:46PM
*sigh* Have to wait for the Freeloader Wii...
But I have TP to tide me over untill then! :)
Dave @ Sep 15th 2006 9:46PM
Regarding the comments about Sony's region locking, that's for their blu-ray movies only. In fact, regions are now redefined as "Japan & U.S.A.", "Europe", and "Asia". As of now, the software and games are slated to be region free.
Back to the topic at hand, this sucks for a lot of nice little gems that never made it out of Japan before during the days of the NES, SNES, GB/C/A and Virtual Boy (had to throw that in there- Dragon Hopper and Bound High looked so awesome :P). On the other hand, I'm somewhat nervous about what else the company hasn't revealed yet, since it's doubtful that the bad news lately is limited to controller pricing, region encoding or USB port limitations. By comparison, Sony doesn't look so bad after 9+ months of crap PR. But that's just the expectations game being played.
Jackie Chan @ Sep 15th 2006 9:49PM
another kick in the balls for european gamers. typical nintendo.
Steve Roger @ Sep 15th 2006 9:51PM
Hooray for Wii Sports! Best game on the system. And mine will be region locked so nobody but me will play it.
kyou @ Sep 15th 2006 9:53PM
Well... that sucks. A lot of good games never make it to America. That's really bad news...
Oh well, free loader ftw.
Blackmoon @ Sep 15th 2006 10:10PM
I'm begining to get more doubts about Nintendo ever since yesterday...
I,Robot @ Sep 15th 2006 10:19PM
So… why is the g*ddam DS Region Free? They forgot to lock it, before it shipped? WTF?? Nintendo is throwing away MONEY? That’s just stupid?
FSK405K @ Sep 15th 2006 10:25PM
All I can say is F**K!
Oshi @ Sep 15th 2006 10:26PM
NO! There goes my plans to import Bleach immediately.
Now I have to wait for the stupid US dub and manga to get up to the story point that it would be at D:
J.Goodwin @ Sep 15th 2006 10:27PM
Games are region locked for two main reasons:
1. Prevention of grey market sales of consoles and games, console makers and game makers do not want you to buy cheaper games from another region to play at your house, typically.
2. Intellectual property issues. Licenses, copyright, etc, are frequently bound by international borders. Regions are frequently defined as areas where similar laws cover a uniform area.
These days, you also have another reason for region coding: Differing international laws on content rating systems. Some countries require by statue that an official government body rate games before they are permitted to be sold in the country. By setting regions and preventing software from working in different regions, you can stagger releases to permit negotiation of the various legal strictures that are in place.
PS3 is going to have regions too, BTW. They just said that they could put all the content for different region discs on a single disc. You can bet that if there's some Japanese RPG, Atlus ain't going to be putting all the English on that disc for you, and it will DEFINITELY be coded not to play on your US PS3, because otherwise the sublicensing value to Ubisoft or Gaijinworks or whoever would be less.
Evozoku @ Sep 15th 2006 10:29PM
Nintendo's Wii strategy:
Step 1: Make a whole bunch of promises so that everyone gets incredibly hyped about it, and everyone and their mom's want to buy it.
Step 2: Let the desire for the Wii soak in, perculate, become part of them, for a good long time.
Step 3: Shortly before the launch, take back all earlier statements, leave people feeling they should still purchase it after living with its hype for so long.
This fits how I feel. I think I'm still going to get it right away, almost soley because of Zelda, and because I know I would get it eventually. But I'm really trying to believe that it will be as great as I thought it would be before they went back on SO MANY of their statements.
Tom @ Sep 15th 2006 10:38PM
Ya'know, this sort of confusion didn't happen as much before we had up-to-the-minute blogs that constantly reported unconfirmed information. I see you got clarification from Nintendo, so why didn't you just do that in the first place before feeding us a load of bull? As long as people continue to rely on blogs as if they were some sort of reliable news source, the confusion and subsequent anger will never end. Watch, in 5 minutes we'll find out it IS region-free, then in 10 minutes we'll find out it's NOT again.
Strike Man @ Sep 15th 2006 10:52PM
As I figured...
We'll see Sony go back on their unconditional lack of region coding soon enough, to being, AT BEST, a lack of region coding on some games.
FSK405K @ Sep 15th 2006 10:48PM
The "traditional regions" are being redefined. Region 1 will be US/Can/Japan and not just US/Can. So this could mean that you can still import. We need more info.
As for why region encode, in addition to price and other things mentioned, there are different laws per country. You can't import a US WWII game with a bunch of swasticas and whatnot into a lot of places in Europe.
Psaakyrn @ Sep 15th 2006 10:58PM
As to why the DS is region-free, don't forget it's a portable. It wouldn't be nice if an American visitor in Europe cannot play wifi games with the natives.
Lillie @ Sep 15th 2006 11:44PM
Funny that all the Sony fanboys (and possibly girls) are blabbing and raving that the PS3 will be region-free...as I recall, Sony raved that the PS2 would be region-free also, and would allow you to "go online right out of the box!", cure cancer, feed starving babies in Africa, save 10 acres of rainforest land a day, and other such tom-foolery that never panned out either.
Get a clue. Sony just doesn't have the balls to yet admit that their system won't be region-free either.
And before you accuse me of Nintendo fangirl-ism...I can't stand the contraption.
bornonce @ Sep 15th 2006 11:59PM
I keep hearing that the PS3 will be "region-free", and how this is a good thing. I personally question how "good" this actually is.
If all of the regions are on the same Blu-Ray disc, they will HAVE to abide by the restrictions of the most strictest country. Why? because, EVEN if you can't normally access the content, the very fact that it is on the disc could hold the publisher liable for violating the norms of another country. Europe has gotten many games with "more mature" content than would be allowed in the Austrailia, Japan, and even the U.S. The mere presence on the disc of material deemed "too adult" for these countries could force the game's rating to be "A.O", or not even be allowed at all.
A prime example was "the Indigo Prophesy" and its racier European counterpart "Farenheit". Many times, games sold in the U.S. have the more mature content intact on the disc, but it is not screened by the ESRB because it is not normally accessible by simply playing the game as normal (however, after the stupid "Hot Coffee" nonsense, developers have to much more cautious about disc content). In Nintendo's case it probably doesn't matter ,since most games at least from Nintendo aren't likely to have a problem. some of the games for the PS3 might, however.
As an adult gamer, I prefer to be treated like an adult, and not held to the same "standards" as a preteen adolescent. Region-free might take that away from me.
Erec @ Sep 16th 2006 12:12AM
Lillie, let's not get carried away. The PS2 wasn't supposed to save 10 acres of the rainforest per day. It was only 9 acres. Common mistake.
jay cee @ Sep 16th 2006 12:19AM
even if the ps3 is region locked japan is in our region so either way it dosen't matter we can still get game from the east woot
shadekh @ Sep 16th 2006 12:25AM
I was incredibly pleased at the prospect of region free games for the Wii, as being as it is, the Wii would have relatively limited support for software makers, like the gamecube, because it will take a lot of effort to port games to the Wii.That means a dearth of titles.
However, Japan would have most probably gotten a ton of quirky and fun games (just look at the japanese DS lineup), and it would have been fun to play them. Then this happens.
Seriously, i am disappointed. First they increase the price just enough so that it drops off many gamer's lists as a secondary console (many would still buy the Wii, but those who were looking at it as a secondary console will now think twice). The they set ridiculous prices for the Virtual console games ($5 for a freaking NES game? $8 for a snes game? Has not nintendo flogged the dead horse enough? Xbox arcade had new and original games at this price, and i am not interested in buying old nes and snes games at such outrageous prices.)