A report from CVG has confirmed that the Nintendo Wii U console will be region locked when it’s released in November.
Nintendo has been region locking their consoles for a long time, with every home console since the NES being subject to the restriction. Region locking is a secure way for publishers to ensure that consumers cannot import a newly released game that has come out overseas before the local publishing arm has a chance to localize content.
It has also been the bane of many gamers as dozens, if not hundreds, of titles that are released in Japan never see a release in North America.
There is a legitimate time and place for region locking. If a publisher intends to release a game in multiple regions then the game should be locked. That way if a title is released in Japan one month and then in North America the next, due to translating or localizing the game, sales won’t suffer in North America. However, if a game is made for the Japanese market and the publisher has no intention of releasing it anywhere else, they should leave the title region free so that gamers from around the world can enjoy their creation.
How many games have been released that you would love to play and cannot?
So, region locking should be left to the publisher and not the platform holder. Both Sony and Microsoft use this approach and allow the publisher to decide if a game should be region locked.
