Australian (and possibly European) Nintendo gamers have been angry for a long time with the huge game delays that we are forced to face time and time again. Well now it just so happens that Aaron Rex Davies, the vocal Nintendo fan from New Zealand who recently made an article expressing his anger about this matter has received a reply from Nintendo Australia. Below is what Aaron Rex Davies wrote:
"What is involved in the localisation process that causes these extreme delays of software titles? Looking at the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s database, Wii software titles are often rated for release many months before they are available for sale. It is my understanding that video game software must be at a final, pressing-ready stage before it can be submitted for classification (OFLC, 2007). If the software titles are at this level of progression at the submitted time, what causes the actual release date to be pushed back so far?
Due to both Australia and Europe sharing the same PAL video standard, Australian Wii owners are generally forced into waiting for games to be translated into the various European languages before any PAL release is made available. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an Australian–specific Wii game SKU, with all first-party Australian region Wii software releases containing the exact same discs as the fully translated European release. This is an issue that has been raised by many of my readers. Does Nintendo Australia have any plans to release its own versions of Wii software, without having to wait for the various game translations needed for the European audience?
The topic of Regional Lockout systems implemented on the Wii console has been extremely debated since the publishing of the mentioned report. Due to the wide availability of 60Hz-compatible displays within Australia, and the ability for Australian released Wii consoles to output to this format, any technical differences between regions have become nothing more than trivial. A statement was released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission four years ago; it states “The ACCC has long believed that region coding is detrimental to consumer welfare as it severely limits consumer choice and, in some cases, access to competitively priced goods” (ZDNet, 2003). Does Nintendo Australia see how the Region Locking mechanism present in the Wii not only limits consumers’ choices in the aforementioned ways, but also forces them into putting up with the extreme software release delays?
Region Locking has also been outlined in the presented report as a form of both market manipulation and consumer bullying; Does Nintendo Australia agree with this? I feel that these are strong but very well founded accusations, and I am certain your consumers would like a response."
I dare say I enjoyed reading that. You US gamers really don't know how good you really have it with Nintendo games being released much earlier there than here. One massive example would be Super Paper Mario, which released in PAL regions less than 1 month ago.... where it was released in the US over 6 months ago. But whats this? Nintendo Australia have responded? Well it's a good read so maybe Nintendo have a valid explanation..... well this is what they said in response to this:
"Nintendo Australia has no comment; Nintendo Australia does not comment on these issues."
..... what? So Nintendo are going to ignore their fans plee for sooner game releases? Davis had this to day about the reply:
"What Nintendo Australia is doing to us loyal fans is appalling. We are being pushed around with unacceptable game delays, and when the company is faced with the facts of the issue, it simply refuses to acknowledge it."
So why is it so hard? I will tell you why, because of a little thing called REGION LOCKING. If Nintendo had made their system region free then there would be no need for the crappy NTSC to PAL waiting period. Nintendo have made the console region locked because they think it can disrupt sales in certain countries because of importing.... well if the consoles were region free and had very close together release dates then no one would need to import because we'd only have to wait a couple days more. I can't believe Nintendo are refusing to acknowledge us, WE ARE THE REASON YOUR STILL HERE NINTENDO. Sorry if this seems like I am flaming or something, but Nintendo are outraging their fanbase which could end in the
Wii failing badly. Get into gear Nintendo.
On a slightly brighter note, we are getting Super Mario Galaxy only a few weeks after the US so maybe Nintendo are working on fixing this issue. unfortunately, we won't know that until we see more of it with future games. Please discuss this issue, and don't flame me because I said mean things about little Nintendo because I won't reply.
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