Well, this recently unveiled news about the Wii U being region-locked doesn’t come as much of a surprise. However, it is as always, rather annoying.
The Wii U is clearly following the trail left by the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube and Wii, as all these these consoles experienced being region-locked in some form or another, be it games or the consoles themselves.
I’m about to start rambling on a bit here about region-lock in general so the news piece of this article is over, I just feel more needs to be said on this subject as it’s an issue that irritates me. It is frustrating when games that are, for example, released in Japan but not to international markets, as they become near impossible for those living outside of the release territory to obtain and play. It is understandable if publishers do not wish to publish a niche game within a Western market because it is likely not going to be a profitable move, but when all reasonable access methods to a game become closed off it is easy to understand why people become a bit pissed off.
The fact that the European games market never saw Earthbound and Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III in NA) back in the 90′s is enough of an excuse for a sixty-page rant. This brings me to my next point nicely though, because although many cartridge-era games never entered the Western market it was still relatively easy to play them through import via a cheap universal adaptor. I’ve still got my SNES and N64 adaptors kicking around, they were cheap and reliable as there still going strong. In this disc-era it is much harder to play region-locked games as adaptor paks/trays have become near obsolete. The only other legal option is to buy a specific region version of the console that you wish to use, which would set you back a fair amount. I can barely afford games, never mind buying different versions of the same console.
It was every SNES importer’s best friend.
As much as I love Nintendo, it is certainly obvious that Sony and Microsoft have taken a much better stance on the region-lock policies by allowing publishers to decide whether a game should be region-locked or not. The majority of publishers opt to leave games unlocked, and it’s the more sensible option because more consumers means more money. Region-locking is always going to have its protests and disputes which might be fully resolved one day, especially in regards to Nintendo, but that day ain’t gonna be today.
