Retro City Rampage Isn't Headed Down Under

That's unfortunate, but at least it's available on multiple platforms so people who really want to get their hands on it should hopefully find a way.

Until Australian legislation catches up, this is going to keep happening. I remember a figure of around $2000 being quoted in order to get a game rated, whether it's a $90 full retail release or a $5 indie game. While $2000 doesn't bother big publishers, it's a risk for devs who may not even make that money back.

Why anyone would release a game on WiiWare now is puzzling.

@WesCash It's likely the Wii U eShop will have all or at least most of the contents of the Wii Shop, so chances are Wii U owners will buy it too.

After all, I doubt Nintendo would keep adding games to the Wii Shop lately if they werent going to add the contents to the Wii U eShop as well....

Christ, I think my heart jumped a bit when I read part of the headline.

It sucks that gamers in Australia won't be able to play this game. I plan on getting it so I can transfer it to my new (and future) Wii U console.

@TheChosen LOL mine too...I have been anxiously waiting for this game to arrive on WiiWare!

Australians can get it if they set their Wii region to Europe.

Win for Vita again!

@Aviator

It needs some more wins right about now.

@TysonQ7 Yeah, WAY more wins for me to actually want a Sony console.
That would be a first for me...

@ReshiramZekrom
That's not what I mean.

Sony consoles are pretty nice. They've got great exclusives. I REALLY like games like InFamous. The Vita itself is a great machine.

It's just in dangerous territory.

Now I'm curious as to much it costs to go through the approval process. It can't be that much.....can it?

Its extremely easy to switch my Wii's region from Australia to UK & hence I'm getting RCR on WiiWare anyway so its all good

@WaveWitch
i agree, lets welcome him to retro gaming the hard way

@Angelic_Lapras_King Still we were told it is hard to make a proffit on Wiiware games.

Uggh Australian leglisation is BS!! Why should it have to affect us too? This is the problem when two countries share a Entertainment & Software Ratings board, it's stupid, incoherent and obtuse. Hurry up Australia and sort this out!
Why do they have to pay $2000? that's quite a risk since any game on a download platform isn't necessarily gonna make it up and more. This is why the Australian eShop is slow, broken and worse than the europe eShop, at least they've got more 3DSware, though not necessarily great.

@Klyo Right, but hopefully the fresh herd of Wii U owners will help a bit...

@The_Fox
I seem to recall reports of ESRB ratings being around $2000 for what that is worth to the discussion. I cannot confirm this is correct so I could be way off. Can anyone confirm? Deny?

EDIT: US dollars is the currency I was reporting to be concise.

This is crap. If PSN/Xbox/Wii/3DS software sold through their respective online services needs to be classified then why is the Vita exempt? =/ (bearing in mind that the 3DS is also a "mobile" platform)

Either way, they could easily recoup the costs of classification as they'll essentially need to apply for only one classification for all versions of the game provided that the content is the same across all formats (though not all publishers follow the rules and instead apply for just 1 classification despite some versions containing different content).

Really, they're only going to need about 200 sales to cover the classification costs, and all other profits to be made from the Australian market would be a bonus, surely (however minute it may be in comparison to the US/UK markets). This is an incredibly stupid decision for a game that has gone through such a long and exhaustive development cycle.

I couldnt wait til this came out on Wiiware, sorry nintendo.

It's OK, I don't want your game anyway.

Another reason to pack up and get out of this STUPID country.

@RetroGBHippie92 I wondered why Endgame Studios, an Australian dev, didn't release Fractured Soul here. Too bad cause I really wanted to play that game.

@akabenjy : That is very strange, because it was classified almost a year ago in Australia. I'm sure that it will arrive here once a release date is announced for the European market though.

Nope. It's because the Wii U is just going to be an addition to the market as most people will still own a Wii and will still be buying games for it.

...the WiiWare version is expected before the end of the year [insert year here]...

The WiiWare version is expected before the end of the year 2020.

my wii is set to europe anyway

@RetroGBHippie92 "This is why the Australian eShop is slow, broken and worse than the europe eShop."

What does the Australian Classification Board have to do with Nintendo's running of the Australian eShop?

What's the hold up for everywhere else? Sony already has it, but I don't get Sony stuff.

@ClunkyDroid well whoever forces devs to fork out two grand or more for downloadable purchases or video games, is severely restricting the range if titles and the reputation of the eShop. There fixed...

As I mentioned in my Wii U forum post - it's time to demand a unified rating system and stop this BS .. and to whoever suggested it's Australia that makes you wait in Europe. go and do your homework. It's us who has to wait for multilanguage translations and modifications to code to suit every Euro country's classification laws. I appreciate multi language versions for Continental Europe but for UK and ANZ it doesn't make sense.

@Sillygostly: You're forgetting that all of the money from a sale doesn't go to the devs, though. Every service through which a game is sold takes its cut - also, IIRC, Nintendo doesn't pay a dev their earnings from the Wii Shop until they've sold $5000 or so. It's entirely possible that RCR would never make a single cent profit from selling WiiWare copies in Australia.

@Schprocket: I assume you're referring to RetroGBHippie92? If so, he's in New Zealand...

I'm not mad for the folks who still have Wii's that La Mulana and this will be on WiiWare... I can only hope they plan on porting these to 3DS and WiiU. It seems a no brainer that both should just ship to greener pastures but meh...