Nintendo Wii-U confirmed NOT region-free (unsurprisingly)

[fuse]

The difficult choice for me is whether I go UK or American alongside the Japanese unit. So far I'm leaning towards UK (I have a pre-order in and everything).

[ETC]

When was the last time any of you bought a current-gen import game anyway? Quit your whining bitches.

Technica Tune this morning :P

[kryss]

Damned region lock is a massive pita.

[_SD_]

Personally I'm not bothered about the region lock as it was inevitable.

Yeah, I'll import random obscure fighters and shmups for myself, Aquapazza and Ginga Force being two recent examples, but the Wii U is for the kids. Anything they'd want to play is going to be a popular toy franchise that's going to get a worldwide release.

Nintendo's decision does give the hackers the traditional excuse of 'allowing imports' when they start messing with the system's security though. I don't reckon it'll be long before the console is hacked and its possible to load ripped images from an external hard drive.

[vanpeebles]

When was the last time any of you bought a current-gen import game anyway? Quit your whining bitches.

A good few games on the PS3, Wangan Midnight, Aquanauts Holiday, Rail Fan, Hakuna Matata, Yakuza Kenzan. I'll be getting the new EDF on jap for PS3 too.

[kryss]

We were expecting this. I've been planning how to budget for 2 consoles all along.

When was the last time any of you bought a current-gen import game anyway? Quit your whining bitches.

Gadget Robo that arrived Friday. I have pre-orders for at least once game every month until christmas as well.

[112]

When was the last time any of you bought a current-gen import game anyway? Quit your whining bitches.

Actually I brought yakuza 3 and 4 on import before the western ones were released. Also my wii is a US one so I'm always buying wii games abroad. So I still import although nowhere near as much as I used to

112

[Greg Moss]

Can't say I'm suprised, given Nintendo's sales figures for the 3DSXL show just how important the majority of the planet is to them, according to Eurogamer they are broken down into Japanese sales, US sales and "other regions". We here in PAL land are an afterthought for Nintendo, just like the Wii U will be for me. Sure I'll buy it for the kids for xmas, I'll probably enjoy NSMB and Rayman, might even try Ninja Gaiden if it's an improvement over the shoddy 360 version, and except for maybe once or twice a year, when that game that only Nintendo could make comes out, it'll do like the Wii does, sit there gathering dust while the kids play Minecraft on 360 and I use the Vita/PC.

[dataDave]

Region locking keeps things nice and hardcore anyway. Display how hardcore you truly are by buying two units.

[speedlolita]

*three

[Yakumo]

When was the last time any of you bought a current-gen import game anyway? Quit your whining bitches.

I buy a lot of import games because the Japanese 360 release dates suck major arse! I own quite a few US 360 games. I wouldn't buy a WiiU anyway, region free or not. Every console Nintendo has released since the SFC has been poor IMO. I did buy a Wii on day 1 in Japan and stuck with it for 2 years before giving in to the 360.

[BaronSqwelch]

People on the net saying 'screw nintendo, not buying it cuz its not region free' are hilarious! The NES was region locked...and they are the first company to lock handhelds too there was never any doubt they would lock the Wii U!!

My last imports were 'Max Anarchy' and 'Mamoru kun wa norowarete shimatta' btw

[charlesr]

Region locking keeps things nice and hardcore anyway. Display how hardcore you truly are by buying two units.

This really is the only sane option.
I might have to employ your "go nuts" option twice with Lucy.

[Sketcz]

When was the last time any of you bought a current-gen import game anyway? Quit your whining bitches.

Around two weeks ago, a Canadian 360 unit. And last week some America-only 360 games.

Plus I've bought tons of imports on PS3, which is region free. 2/3 of my PS3 collection are non-PAL, since I get a friend to send me the cheaper American versions of games. As for region exclusives, Aquanaut's, Hakuna Matata, Ryu ga Gotoku KENZAN, Railfan, Red Seeds Profile, GalGun, Boku no Natsuyasumi 3, are just a few of them.

The region-free state of the PS3 has been a blessing, and was the primary number 1 reason for buying one over a 360. I only bought a US 360 because I realised it's at the end of its life, might as well import and mop up the system exclusives it has.

I bought my Wii pre-hacked too. Might as well do the same for Wii U. Late to the party, but all the drinks will be out by then.

[dataDave]

This really is the only sane option.
I might have to employ your "go nuts" option twice with Lucy.

Why not wait a few months to see if soft-modding will be an option? Surely your current Wii is soft-modded?