DSi Software is Region Locked. Nintendo Just Screwed Themselves.
What the fuck, Nintendo? You had a good thing going with the original DS and part of that good thing was giving gamers the option to import all the awesome games that you wouldn’t let us have in other regions. Ouendan, Bangai Spirits O, Band Brothers just to name a few, even though we go Elite Beat Agents and just finally our own Bangai Spirits, but how long did you make us wait!? Thankfully, where you failed us, Play-Asia was there to tend to the wounds of our broken spirits.
Part of the DS’s initial charm was being able to import quirky titles. The jet-setting businessman could pick up a game while staying in Tokyo and play it on his American DS. This was a simple formula and avoids the possibility of the “casual gamer” (because we know how much Nintendo loves the “casual gamers” these days) getting confused.
What’s going to happen when the executive mother is on an overseas business trip and spots a game that she’d like for her new DSi, but after she prchases she finds that it doesn’t work on her unit? How is she going to feel knowing that her old DS was fully capable of playing games from other countries? Negative one casual gamer, Nintendo. Bend over and stick your dick between your cheeks because you’ve just fucked yourselves. More importantly, you’ve (once again) fucked your loyal fanbase and people like myself who were prepared to shell out for both an imported DSi in November as well as the North American version when it shipt next year.
I could understand if the built-in software and downloadable games were region locked. That makes a tiny bit of sense, but to all of a sudden region lock something that wasn’t locked before, all while opening up a whirlwind of possibilities for hackers and piracy by allowing SD card capabilities is absurd. Trying to get imports could be the new gateway to game piracy for some people. Think about it: you hear about a new game that sounds pretty awesome, but the chances of it hitting our shores are slim to none. You tell yourself “ah, I won’t steal any other games, just this one because they’ll never sell it here anyway.”
Before you know it, you’re buying a 1TB hard drive just to support your DSi piracy habit.
It just seems to me like Nintendo has a lot of re-thinking to do, but they probably won’t. After all, they know exactly what their customers want. At least that’s what they tell themselves.
[Via CVG]
