Nintendo: DSi is region-locked

It's kinda sad - the DSi seems to be Nintendo's answer to the PSP - a handheld that you need to hack the crap out of before it's any good!

....but the PSP doesn't have region locks.

I know NA PSP's say "region 1" on them, but you can pop any UMD in and play it, European, Japanese, or Norte Americano.

So what's the deal with the DSi going lock-out?

eh?
When you buy a Nintendo system, you buy into Nintendo itself. You are basically a manager at Nintendo.
The DS is your employee. It started as a fat, dim, bloke.
When that employee shed the pounds, got a shiny facelift, and become brighter and more energetic. You were pleased.

But after a couple of years, you expect the employee to improve.
Instead, he/she says that they will not deal with international operations (region lock), will drop all activites relating to archives (GBA), and above that, asks for a %30 raise (%50) based on an obscure skill that isn't required (camera)
I would be upset. I expect more from my little white collar worker.

Importers aren't upset about not getting games quicker - they're upset about the games they won't be getting at all. There are a lot of quality Japanese DS games that aren't localized for releases outside of Japan. This will likely happen with the DSi as well.

Region-locking means that people will be limited in what DSi games they will be able to play, without purchasing a whole extra system.

People should have the right to enjoy games, no matter where in the world they live. If they have the money and are willing to pay, should be able to import games and play whatever title they want on their consoles.

Gennataos, I think you're missing the point of the original post by the blogger, it was about the DSi being region locked. Thus the comments address this topic, not JUST feelings about the DSi in general. Where's the problem with that???? I feel that the other aspects of the DSi are being mentioned in this thread, positive ones and negative ones, because this announcement that the DSi will be region locked is pretty much the icing on the cake for those that feel that the DSi just isn't quite the upgrade they'd like.

Since I posted yesterday in this thread I thought more about this whole situation and it really seems to me that the idea of region locking is really shooting the DSi in the foot. Not only will it open up even more the challenge to those that want to and most likely will crack and pirate but it most likely will end up with folks who would otherwise not consider using pirated games doing so. If you want to play a game and you just can NEVER legally purchase it, even when you're willing to pay the extra to import it, many will end up going the illegal route.

I remember when I wanted DVDs that were not available for my region locked DVD player. What did I do? I immediately looked for a way to hack my player...and found a way. Now I don't need to worry about that because my newer DVD player is regionless plus converts to NTSC (yup, I'm in the US and thus need Never The Same Color). DVD manufacturers progressed as new models came out. And many DVDs are also regionless although not as many as I'd like (meaning, ALL of them :)

Sure, most all of us are very happy with our DS phat and DS Lite but we're also, if everyone is at least a bit like myself, gadget and tech lovers and always interested in the next best thing. Especially when it comes to our beloved DS and Nintendo!

It is not so much about a sense of entitlement, but discrimination. Why should people outside of a certain region get discriminated against, just because they live in that region. Everyone should be able to play whatever they like on ANY DSi, not just forced to play the games from that region. It really boils down on how you see it, and I see it as discriminatory. It's not fair that a European gamer has to pay twice as much, and it's not fair that Western gamers won't be allowed to play games because they are from Japan. Your twisting the perspective; it's not so much an entitlement as feeling that your being discriminated against just because you live in a certain part of the world. I would understand region-locking IF world trading and globalization were not a part of reality, but it's just ridiculous to exclude a region from certain services because they live in that region. Is not that what we have been striving for in a liberal democratic society? Personal liberty, and the abolishment of discrimination. Next thing you will be saying is that Rights and freedoms because rights and freedoms are entitlements, we shouldn't expect them. Very backwards way of thinking.

What's more, region unlocked IS the standard when it comes to handhelds. This goes back to the original Game Boy for crying out loud! Every Nintendo handheld console has been region free regardless of what the home consoles are. Even other manufacturers have made their handhelds region free. The only exceptions are really the WonderSwan (which was pretty much Japanese-only) and the Sega Nomad (since it's the Genesis/Mega Drive crammed into a handheld, so there are issues between NTSC and PAL games). So it has a well-established history and the arbitrary removal of it is a mistake.

People travel and they take their handhelds with them. Should they go to another country, they should be able to try and buy the games if they'd like. Some may never be released in their own countries. Either nobody will license them because they aren't mainstream enough, or worse still, contain characters and IP licensed by several different companies that makes trying to license the game a nightmare. Jump Ultimate Stars is one of those games and I love it! I would hate it if more games like it were released and I couldn't play them because of the misfortune of where I live. Especially so when I've been able to up until this time and it's now been taken away.

The reason this is such a hot issue is that it could be the way Nintendo goes with all their future handhelds. Even if current DS games will still work, the idea that future titles may not (even if it's only downloadable ones) is a bad thing. It would be even worse if the next DS or GB was region locked. That's what really worries me.

To think that Sony's PlayStation Store is a far better implementation because you can actually add accounts from other regions and buy and download software. It's not ideal, but it's by far the most open and useful. Nintendo is drunk on their current success and needs to wise up before they start alienating their fanbase again. If they keep this up, I'm liable to give the good ol' one-fingered salute to Appletendo.

I disagree that region-free is a "bonus". It's a feature. If the next generation of a technology lacks a desirable feature that the current generation has, then that's a step backwards.

I've decided not to buy a DSi, based on this development. I'm writing Nintendo to let them know.

Gennataos.... you just do NOT get it, IMO, and your remarks about entitlement regarding the desire to see the new DSi regionless are rather rude. Again, IMO. I do not see wanting a NEW device to at least be as accessible as the old device as having a sense of entitlement on my part. No, it's wanting the NEW device to keep up with the times and be accessible to everyone world wide. As others have noted, the world is smaller than ever and many of the current and future DSxxxx owners will want to have the choice of playing games on their locally purchased device from anywhere in the world. Especially those that travel a lot, live abroad part of the time and those like myself that enjoy playing games from a different country.

In the fast paced world of technology today we, the consumer, prefer and yes, have come to expect (perhaps feel entitled would suit you more although those ARE two different things) the money we spend on a device to be spent on something up to date, maybe even "cutting edge", and very flexible within its use. When a company comes out with a new version of a very successful device one hopes and yes, usually expects that the new device will be MORE flexible rather than less. In this case it would seem that the fact, and it IS a fact not speculation, that the new DSi will not be regionless irks current DS owners and IMO rightly so. It's sad that Nintendo, for whatever their reasons, is going backward in this part of the new device rather than status quo or if possible, forward. As to the reasons, yes, those are speculations, rumors, gossip, whatevers but I highly doubt we'll ever truly know WHY they're choosing to go this route.

We can hope, and I'm the first to admit this is pie in the sky thinking, that if we speak to Nintendo with our $$$ and not purchase the DSi, that they just MIGHT figure out why and change things. But I highly doubt it. Our next best hope is that they realize the error of their ways and make whatever comes after the DSi regionless once again.

Alan.... I just don't read it that way myself but boy, I sure hope that at least games from any country are playable on a DSi purchased anywhere. I didn't see your comment before I posted any of mine, for some reason, but I'm going to try to clarify this if only for my own needs.

All that said I'm still not sure I'd upgrade to the DSi unless I find some super compelling reason. The browser idea has me intrigued but I'd have to really do a try before I buy with that. The Opera browser setup Nintendo sold for the Lite last year was a horrible mess, IMO. Anyway..... I'm sure we all hope you're right :)

Boy... I don't post for a long time but this particular topic about the new DSi really got me stirred up and horribly verbose. :-/