Dear Nintendo……

Dear Nintendo,
My name is Q?, and I have been playing on most of your platforms for many years and it saddens me to think that as a gamer I am not seeing your current platforms as viable options as much I once did in the past. The Nintendo that I once fell in love with, the Nintendo that made me get a GameCube over a PlayStation 2, where are they? The current company seems stuck from my point of view. like a kid who has so much potential that anyone around can notice and yet the kid can’t seem to take advantage of that potential. Nintendo you have so many great IP’s that are iconic of your brand but you don’t seem to want to add to those numbers and when you do we here in the west more often than not don’t get to partake in the fun.

The DS is my favorite game console ever full stop. The reason it won me over was because it offered experiences I could not get on any other platform at the time and it continues to do so. Another big reason for me why it is without a doubt the best is because of it’s huge library of superb titles from around the globe. That is the next great thing about the DS, it is not restricted by regions like so many other platforms out there.  What this means is if I am on vacation in the UK and I have a US DS i can still buy a game from that region and play it on my US region DS lite. This is a very important thing for some of us gamers who enjoy games that are not really considered popular in our own region. Some examples for me are both One Piece: Gigant Battle games and Inazuma eleven 1 & 2. These were games that were never available in my region but it was still possible for me to import and play them.

Nintendo you claim that region locking is important for some reasons that you have never fully explained, and some like parental control. So from that description I’d guess that parents with kids that own PS vita’s or PS3’s cannot censor the content their kids play on those platforms? We already have to use the friend code system and have parental control in almost every aspect of both our Wii and 3DS, how much more parental control do we need?

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Pros for region locking systems.

  • Marketing: games are priced differently in different markets and so by region locking a game you prevent the import or export of that game to another region where the prices may differ. “This is all business stuff but in my book if you want to have a good market just find a preferred price and make the games priced even over all regions.
  • Honestly I can’t think of another Pro for this but I will leave the comments open for anyone that knows more and is willing to share.

Cons for region locking systems

  • Limits Gaming: By region locking a system you prevent the spread of content throughout the world. What this ultimately leads to is the limiting of the developers to certain geological regions. Something any true developer of content would be against. For example take Button Smashers Blog, I want all the writing I do here to reach as far as it can to as many readers in every place in the world. I’d even love for potential aliens to read BSB is possible, and I’m serious about that. So what game developer would not want the same for games they create?
  • Progress: When I started playing games from japan and watching anime it eventually led to my passion for that country. Playing games like golden sun on my Gameboy advance made me fascinated towards the development of games which resulted in me pursuing a future in software development. Games inspire us and that inspiration can come from any developer from anywhere in the world.
  • Social growth: The BSB is all you need to explain this one. We BSB editors originate from numerous countries over different regions throughout the globe and we are a family. We play, read, talk and interact with each other despite the  factors of distance. By limiting regions it means that some gamers that may have bonded because of a specific game may not have that opportunity to do so.
  • Indie market growth: The indie game market is only going to become bigger from a region free environment, and that makes gaming better for all of us, which means more people playing Wii U and 3DS around the world. When I finish a Metroid game or get stuck in a Zelda game it’s nice to pick up a simple indie title and unwind. Indie games are getting bigger and much more extravagant to the point that they can give triple A games a run for their money. Making a console region free can only nurture this Type of game’s grow.

So Nintendo please become a better company that innovates and supports it’s user base no matter the regions we may located in.

Respectfully,
Q? of the BSB

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.

2 Comments

  1. My biggest frustration with Nintendo is how they focus so much on innovative hardware, then fail to innovate with new game franchises. And, yeah, I know the Wonderful 101 was just released, but my problem is with series updates that feel mailed-in (Mario Kart 7) and ports/remakes (Why again do we need a Wind Waker HD edition? And why are fans begging for a Majora’s Mask remake when they should be clamoring for something fresh–a Majora sequel or even a Zelda spinoff staring Fierce Deity Link?). Until they pump out truly innovative software, I’m gonna hold out on Wii U.

    1. The sad thing is that they have some amazing franchises that never make it out of japan. Maybe they think that the west will not appreciate the games but we all know that, that is backwards thinking because gamers are playing games from any region these days and we are becoming more and more open minded. Oh and we are the same on that holding out on a Wii U thing.