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Region free Wii was a mistake

by Steven Williamson on 18 September 2006, 09:07

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo (TYO:7974), Wii

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On Friday we reported that Nintendo's US VP of marketing Perrin Kaplan had confirmed that all of their games will work on any Wii console regardless of region. She also confirmed that there would be a region lock that publishers will be able to turn on and off if they wish to lock their games.

It appears that there has been some mis-communication between the UK and US Nintendo offices. The UK General Manager, David Yarnton, has now made a statement saying that the Kaplan had made a mistake.

Yarnton has now stated that Wii will be region locked for both first and third party titles. Wii's Virtual console, the feature that will allow you to play retro Nintendo games, will also be region-locked despite a statement contradicting this news last October by Senior Director of Marketing for Nintendo of Europe, Jim Merrick.

So we won't be able to buy those cheaper imports after all, Nintendo games will cost us between Ā£34-39 in the UK.


HEXUS Forums :: 46 Comments

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:rant:
Nintendo are really shooting themselves in the foot big time. They're almost as bad as Sony! Price higher than we were led to expect, not region free after all, games are pricey, new controllers at £43(!!!!)…
My condolences to British gamers.
They were doing well up until now. Make up your minds Nintendo!
You really have to wonder who's at the helm of these big corporations' marketing strategy. After all the positive glow of the early Wii feedback my mind has quickly changed from “ooo if it's less than £150 I might pick one up for a laugh when I go around for beers with some mates” to “£180 hmmm nah bit too pricey, and £43 for a controller? you're having a joke”

I'm now thinking I'll just stick with a PC…