I flipped out on the plane a few hours ago. Being detained at the airport was a shock, but being blocked from playing Pokemon White on the flight home almost broke me. Thank God I'm home now, and can get started on the game using my old DS Lite.
I thought it was just me at first, but Siliconera has confirmed it; Pokemon Black/White is the first region locked DSi game. That's sad stuff. All this does is make the DSi even less attractive to Western consumers, and give people more motive to just pirate the game instead of importing it legitimately.
The good news is, the latest Chibi Robo and Tingle games still work great on the DSi. I was loving them both on that 14-hour flight. A few hours in, and I'm pretty sure that Irozuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip is an under-appreciated masterpiece.
[Update]- As many off you have pointed out, Pokemon Black/White is not the first region locked DSi game.
Jonathan Holmes is the most lovable Associate Editor on Destructoid. Catch him on videos, original editorials, and on back episodes of the Destructoid Show and MTV's Road Rules. Jonathan is a retro gamer's gamer.
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Contest:
10:35 PM on 09.20.2010 | 
Why will people pirate it if it's still in Japanese anyways? I don't understand that, other than piraters that are fluent in Japanese.
So then this wont work on my R4? :(
Also some people really want the new games and are more than willing to wade through language barriers to enjoy them.
Yeah, I understand how people get with Pokémon. I know myself I've been looking into getting into a Pokémon game for the first time ever. I just don't think that the overall majority of kids are going to suddenly pirate the game. And yes, I do realize that more than just kids play the game as well.
When Nintendo confirmed they would be region locking games on DSi, that was the day I quit importing Nintendo DS games. It's not speculation or myth, it IS fact. I did not want to spend $70 on a game just to have it not work. Meanwhile I still regularly import PSP games and to a lesser extent, PS3 games.
What this does, despite Nintendo's claims, is basically help them lock down the hotter import releases. Everyone loves to look at the Lik-Sang incident as a "only Sony would be this dumb" but Nintendo regularly serves the exact same kinds of legal documents (Cease and Desist) to Europe import gaming sites. ESPECIALLY on Pokemon releases.
Not sure I agree with the Pirate analogy though. Filthy morally bankrupt thieving bastards will find ANY excuse to steal. Nintendo just gave them something a little more justifiable than "demo needed, dude" or "I have to steal to be pop culturally relevant."
Didn't they lock up the DSi BECAUSE of piracy concerns? Especially because the R4 cartridge problems in Japan?
Either way, I'm speaking form personal experience, I myself don't see or know many people that import games, especially if it's text heavy. Obviously, that doesn't mean that they don't exist either.. ;)
Well. I better cancel my pre-order pronto.
Also the game has very strict Anti-Piracy. It is not currently fully understood. I make it a habit to buy games that are at least halfway decent. Can't really decide to buy something I can't play.
Guess It's gonna have to wait until March/May.
I can't begin to explain my excitement over all they've done either, so i won't (yet)
@balloonfighter
Are you being sarcastic? or is DSi ware really that amazing to you. (GBA backwards compatibility 4 life)
Region locking a game does next to nothing to prevent it being pirated via R4 (and other methods). Even games that have built in measures to prevent R4 usage almost immediately get patches to circumvent them. It only really prevents importing and I'm not sure how importing hurts a developer at all.
Makes me kind of angry that they are trying to lock us out when they are being lazy.
Some publishers, such as Ubisoft, don't actually add any new functionality when played on a DSi - they use it solely for region locking.
The worst part is there seems to be no obligation to reveal that a game is DSi enhanced on the box - I've seen pics of DSi enhanced game boxes with no warning whatsoever.
Guess that means I shouldn't pick up the 3DS at launch in case thats region locked as well.
It's just that Pokemon Black/White is just the first region-locked game that anyone actually gives a damn about.
Corporations are run by idiots.
But to go back to what @watwatwat said, nintendo ds piracy isn't all that rampant. Infact compared to the amount of piracy on the 360, wii, and PC, the ds is hardly pirated. The games that get pirated the most are first party games, which are usually the games that sell the most anyway. Piracy just isn't an issue for the ds.
Dude, Nintendo handheld game consoles have had a scene long before the Wii showed up. Enough so to where they have a release order # that's followed. Niether the 360 or the Wii have anything of that scope or size.
PC on the other hand... Yeah. But we're not talking about that.
You're a fool for thinking that piracy doesn't exist on the DS.
Although, if they did decide to let go of the HD thing, they'd still have a hard time releasing it on 3DS if the game is huge (even with watered-down textures).
Seeing as the DS Lite is cheaper and has a GBA slot, and the fact that the 3DS is coming down the pipe, there is almost no reason to buy a DSi anymore. This region lock stuff is just the icing on the cake.
@ betetris- Yes,Chibi Robo is in the house. The game is fantastic, just like the Gamecube game, but more concentrated with fun.
The new family dog is awesome as well. He wears a t-shirt with a robot from on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUdjTHU5isI
Of course there is a reason to get a DSi, Shantae
...quaint, but funny too.
See, Pokemon White was the first game I ever ordered for import from Japan. I was really excited, and my game most likely came yesterday. Today, I found it about the Region-lock, and in my opinion, Nintendo made a completely DUMB move.
1.) I'm completely turned off from importing a game ever again.
2.) A lot of people import games then buy the version in their language too, so cutting off the importing would decrease sales, NOT increase.
3.) This makes the DS Lite look even more useful then the DSi and most likely as some other people said, make the DSi look a little bad.
As for so called "preventing Piracy", nothing will stop someone from pirating a game no matter if its region locked or not. People naturally don't want to pay for games, and will find any way they can to keep them from paying. The other reason that has been stated about the connection between Japan and America or the content in the cartridge that will make the connection go haywire or some shit like that. I don't know much about that but it really does sound stupid.
My DS Lite is a bit broken so thank goodness that my sister has a decent one. Really Nintendo...I expected better from you.