Join the movement to make Nintendo consoles region-free!

[wip3outguy7]

Wow, this really blew up after the major game sites ran their stories.

6,365 signatures on the petition as of a minute ago.

[Opa Opa]

Sorry guys.

http://www.barrelrollgaming.com/2013/07 ... cking.html

UPDATE (3/7/13 - 16:31 AEST): Response from Nintendo of America
"Nintendo has no plans to remove region locking from our systems. By taking this approach, Nintendo is able to include parental controls and ensure compliance with regional standards and rating systems."

[AppleQueso]

...about what I expected.

Convincing them to consider changing a company policy is a whole different ballpark than convincing them to bring a game over.

[MrPopo]

You gotta give them credit for acknowledging and responding to it, even if it's not the answer you want. Most companies pretend these petitions don't even exist.

[retrozombieslayer]

I just want to play Dragon Quest X...

[Ziggy]

It's kind of a silly excuse. I mean, how many 8-year-olds bound by parental controls are importing games from other countries? Even if that was a common thing, why couldn't they simply make the parental settings include ratings from other countries?

What I suggested before... Once the console is considered "dead" by Nintendo, they should then unlock it for us. Once Nintendo decides to axe the Wii entirely (no more Wii Shop Channel, no servers for updates, etc) they should put out a final update that makes the console region free. At that point, they should have little to worry about. Surely only the hardcore fans will still be using their Wii, and parental controls with rating systems will be something completely ignored anyway. If at that point they're still worried about parental controls, just make a simple "I agree" thing you have to read for it. Or make region free an option in the system menu, but that would probably be too much work for Nintendo (if even possible by a firmware update).

Same goes for (eventually) the 3DS and U.

[Ack]

It's kind of a silly excuse. I mean, how many 8-year-olds bound by parental controls are importing games from other countries? Even if that was a common thing, why couldn't they simply make the parental settings include ratings from other countries?

What I suggested before... Once the console is considered "dead" by Nintendo, they should then unlock it for us. Once Nintendo decides to axe the Wii entirely (no more Wii Shop Channel, no servers for updates, etc) they should put out a final update that makes the console region free. At that point, they should have little to worry about. Surely only the hardcore fans will still be using their Wii, and parental controls with rating systems will be something completely ignored anyway. If at that point they're still worried about parental controls, just make a simple "I agree" thing you have to read for it. Or make region free an option in the system menu, but that would probably be too much work for Nintendo (if even possible by a firmware update).

Same goes for (eventually) the 3DS and U.

Could be they are also worried about the reaction of forces within those regions, such as government, business, etc. For instance, if they remove region locking in China, how will the Chinese government view this sudden loss of a controlling mechanism within a market? Will China retaliate regarding future Nintendo products?

[MrPopo]

It's kind of a silly excuse. I mean, how many 8-year-olds bound by parental controls are importing games from other countries? Even if that was a common thing, why couldn't they simply make the parental settings include ratings from other countries?

What I suggested before... Once the console is considered "dead" by Nintendo, they should then unlock it for us. Once Nintendo decides to axe the Wii entirely (no more Wii Shop Channel, no servers for updates, etc) they should put out a final update that makes the console region free. At that point, they should have little to worry about. Surely only the hardcore fans will still be using their Wii, and parental controls with rating systems will be something completely ignored anyway. If at that point they're still worried about parental controls, just make a simple "I agree" thing you have to read for it. Or make region free an option in the system menu, but that would probably be too much work for Nintendo (if even possible by a firmware update).

Same goes for (eventually) the 3DS and U.

Could be they are also worried about the reaction of forces within those regions, such as government, business, etc. For instance, if they remove region locking in China, how will the Chinese government view this sudden loss of a controlling mechanism within a market? Will China retaliate regarding future Nintendo products?

I'd argue that China's overall dickishness is a good reason to remove region locking. If they want to be a global power then they get to experience the entire globe.

[wip3outguy7]

The petition has over 16k signatures now.

[Ack]

I'd argue that China's overall dickishness is a good reason to remove region locking. If they want to be a global power then they get to experience the entire globe.

Nah, companies aren't willing to do that, because China is seen as having massive potential due to their large population. And the Chinese government cares very little about piracy of non-Chinese goods, so Nintendo will probably do their best to appease them to get whatever chance it has in their market. They've already appealed to the Chinese government by hiring a Taiwanese individual to head their Chinese front corporation, iQue.