Topic: What will U do if Nintendo NX is region-locked?

@DefHalan People having to rebuy games/consoles because they aren't compatible with their current game/console, and basically what Octane said.

@Octane If you buy a game digitally it may or may not have been localized to your language. It could be a problem.

@-Red- That is a very small number of people. I don't see any major profiting coming from that.

Again, I am not in favor of Region Locking, I was just point out instances where it is helpful.

@DefHalan I know you're not in favor off it, we're just discussing luv. Also, it may not be major profiting but they profit nonetheless, while the consumer is forced to buy a whole new game/console simply because it was Region-Locked. It's unfair, to say the least.

@-Red- I agree but I don't think Nintendo would notice that drop in profit if it was region free, if anything profits might go up since people have a wider selection of games to purchase. So I don't think Profit in that sense is a reason to have region locking.

Region lock can actually useful for the regions in question. Weirdly though Norway usually have very low prizes compared to many other countries. In Scandinavia Nintendo games are distributed by Bergsala, and if the games weren't region locked they could risk people buying the games from stores in countries outside of Europe which sells the games cheaper. I don't know what the agreement between Nintendo and Bergsala is, but I don't think Bergsala would be happy with Nintendo removing region lock, and I bet that goes for other distributors. I don't really know, it's just a thought.

@DefHalan I see little reason otherwise. Even in the case Nintendo didn't profit from it, neither do most consumers. Which makes it all the more pointless, in my opinion.

I will not care, because honestly it's a really stupid thing to get upset about.

There's also the issue of game classifications. Some games are banned in particular regions or have different age ratings. Having a fully open store, especially digital, can and will cause major headaches for that. So it's not just about managing pricing across regions.

That said, I wouldn't at all be opposed to them dropping it especially for their portable systems. I won't however change my behaviour either way because of it. Because like it or not region locking is a pretty standard thing these days. Also I've never brought a game from a different region and have even less desire to do so these days now that most games get simultaneous worldwide releases..........

As a native English speaker currently living in Japan, this is actually really important for me.

Do I buy a Japanese console and ignore an game that has remotely a lot of text, or do I import a console and games from my native country meaning I have to wait 1-2 weeks every time I want to play a new game I've bought?

I gave up on the 3DS because of this very reason (before later finding out that people eventually hacked to make it region free). The Wii U was a nightmare and I eventually sold that console off (both a JP and PAL one) because I was sick of all the importing.

Doing so for their future consoles would just be trolling, considering it's the norm elsewhere for region free.

@Pigeon downloading games probably would have saved you a lot of time and effort

Yeah... and in exchange paying Nintendo RIDICULOUS prices for download versions without even the ability to sell them off afterwards when I don't want them anymore.

Download prices aren't ridiculous in America. I can't imagine selling your games afterwards is very useful for an importer. You spend all this time and money to get the game, then you either have to find someone nearby that wants that imported game or ship it back to its homeland since those are the people that know about the game. Which would mean taking a hit on the price.

Ignoring the grey market shenanigans for a second because I don't want to open that can of worms again. Wouldn't shipping kinda negate a lot of the extra cost? If you're importing the game from the US (for example) you're going to have to ship it from the US. Which is probably going to be a fair chunk of the cost. Downloads? They're digital goods, no shipping required.

Especially if you also take into account digital rewards and so on. Early on in the Wii U's life you basically got ~10% of your money spent on the eShop back. Then there's also the occasional discounts retailers have on eShop credit. So it's actually not that bad.

To whom? Most games on the digital front don't get localised at all; and if they do it's usually just French, German, Spanish and Italian; and those games often come with language options anyway. Maybe include a warning, or just read the discription to see what languages the game supports. It's a bit of a non-issue in my opinion. If you're not capable of reading a game's description before making your purchase, it's your own fault.

Is it common for people to buy imports purely for price? Here in the UK we have customs (import) fees which are usually £12+ (so really, to justify importing, the game would have to be two-thirds of the price or lower). Add to that shipping costs. I have heard though that in some countries (usually those outside of US, EU and JP) games can be extortionate prices.

I'll do the same as what I did with the 3DS and Wii U and I'll complain about it, though it'll only have a very slight effect on whether or buy the NX.

Something that's been bugging me recently is when multiplayer aspects of a game are region locked, such as Triforce Heroes or My Castle in Fire Emblem Fates. Since I know a lot of US friends here but not many European friends that play Nintendo games, then this sort of multiplayer region lock could strongly discourage me from buying games that uses it on the NX.

Nope. Doesn't negate in the slightest. Order a game from Amazon.co.uk, I get 20% off automatically as I don't have to pay tax. And the postage is cheap. This doesn't even take into the account if Amazon are selling the game at a reduced price from the RRP.

Then, if I don't want the game any more, I can often sell it and get up t 85% of the money back. Play your cards right, and you can play full priced games for as little as £10.

And if it ends up being a rare title, on the rare occassion, you can even sell for a profit.

Last time I checked, Nintendo's Eshop prices for games were outright ridiculous. Not that I'd expect any other kind of behaviour from them of course.

@Pigeon
It depends on where you live and what sort of market there is for that sort of stuff locally. What the shipping costs are. All sorts of factors come into play.

Anyways, here's an example. Smash Bros on Wii U at launch for someone in Australia:
US import: $60US -> $66AU at launch. +~$20AU shipping -> $86AU
US digital: $60US -> $66AU - 10% eshop promo -> $60AU
AU retail: $58AU was the best launch price, $79AU RRP
AU digital: $79AU ticket price -20% eShop card discount -10% eShop promo -> $55AU

Used sales potential:
US import: $40US ($54AU) - $20AU shipping. Total cost ~$52AU
US digital: Can't resell. Spent $60AU and still have game
AU retail: $40AU, cash in hand. Total cost ~$20AU
AU digital: Can't resell. Spent $55AU and still have game

Listen, whilst I appreciate what you're trying to say, I'm VERY experienced in calculation the costs of buying, selling, importing, exporting, etc. And in my case, it's factually not viable to download games at high prices with the inability to resell them. If downloading games are at half the retail price(preferably with demos existing to try before buying), then perhaps it's worth it. But until that time comes, it's much better to simply wait a week or two for a game to come through the post.

@Pigeon
I'm just saying that importing is the most expensive way to get a game in the first place. And it can be quite a bit more expensive if you're shipping from the other side of the world. The only hope you have is that you can recoup your costs if/when you resell. The issue then is that you're hoping that the changes in exchange rate play in your favour and the value of the game remains solid. Or at least that these things don't go against you so much that you're losing money on the sale.