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Home Europe updates

Nintendo won't put out: Still tight lipped about European Brawl release
12:43 PM on 02.20.2008, Jim Sterling 42 comments

Nintendo won't put out: Still tight lipped about European Brawl release photo
     Europe

Most fans in Europe who are eagerly awaiting Super Smash Bros. Brawl have most likely come to terms with the fact that it will be months after the US release before they can (legally) play it. Nintendo, however, is happy to compound that misery by refusing to announce any firm release date, and shooting down speculated ones.

It was rumored that we'd finally been granted the date of June 6, but Nintendo has denied any such talk, claiming that "This is pure rumor and speculation - no announcement has been made."

So, when does Europe get Brawl? That's easy -- we get Brawl when Nintendo says we get Brawl, and we're all expected to sit still and shut up until then. As always, Nintendo is quick to tell Europe that it can't have something, not so keen on when we can. 

Tough luck, as usual. At least there's Mario Kart and (snigger) Wii Fit in April. It seems there's still a long way to go before Europe gets the game almost everybody's talking about though ... not that half the world will still be talking about it by the time it arrives in the PAL region.


Next page: More This is getting ridiculous stories




Aurain's Avatar
Aurain at 02/20/2008 12:44
The only guy I know who had a Wii gave it back because it was lame. The UK likes Nintendo about as much as Nintendo likes UK. So it's all fair IMO.
CALkulon's Avatar
CALkulon at 02/20/2008 12:46
They better come up with something good, fast, or I'll end up not buying it. Barely using my Wii as it is anyway.
DryvBy's Avatar
DryvBy at 02/20/2008 12:50
I'm glad I live in Mexico.
Baron Calico's Avatar
Baron Calico at 02/20/2008 12:52
U-S-A! U-S-A!

In all seriousness... that really sucks for you guys across the pond. Considered moving in with you folks more than once, but with the way game companies treat you...
F Whipple's Avatar
F Whipple at 02/20/2008 12:53
And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free....to play Brawl
nademagnet's Avatar
nademagnet at 02/20/2008 12:54
At first glance I thought the title read "Nintendo won't PULL out:..."
Aertyr's Avatar
Aertyr at 02/20/2008 12:58
I don't get why it's so difficult for them to just release a regionless game. Gasp horror.
Gemsi's Avatar
Gemsi at 02/20/2008 13:01
Sometimes I just happen to think nintendo hates money, I mean theirs no sound reason we can't get it with the rest of the world.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 02/20/2008 13:04
I'm glad I live in the US
maxio098ui's Avatar
maxio098ui at 02/20/2008 13:06
fuck nintendo it makes me want to torrent
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 02/20/2008 13:07
That'll teach those Europeans to speak languages other than English!
Mr Wilson's Avatar
Mr Wilson at 02/20/2008 13:08
i second necros!
Klytus's Avatar
Klytus at 02/20/2008 13:15
Un-paid intern assisting Brawl background animator gets flu, will miss 1 whole day of work!
Film at 11!
PSIq0ut's Avatar
PSIq0ut at 02/20/2008 13:16
fuck nintendo it makes me torrent
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 02/20/2008 13:16
I maybe being overly naive and optimistic but by squashing those release dates Nintendo could possibly release Brawl earlier than those said dates..... I mean if Mario Kart and Wii Fit are being released early then it would make sense to have Brawl out sooner as well, after all Mario Kart isn't released anywhere yet....

Well one can dream right?
CaffeinePowered's Avatar
CaffeinePowered at 02/20/2008 13:19
Should we start a 'Play USA' website to export our games to eurpoe?
bioshocked's Avatar
bioshocked at 02/20/2008 13:26
How often do I have to repaet myself: This has nothing to do with different language versions! It's not as if Nintendo games are particularly text heavy. Allmost every other major publisher somehow manages to release their games at the same time alll around the world. For Christ's sake even Mass Effect managed to get a world wide release and I guess that's got more text than Brawl.

I bought Metroid Corruption when it was finally released in germany. And guess what? All the voice overs were in english!! I couldn't care less if a game's in english or german, but if I have to wait 6 fucking months for my game, you could at least record german voice overs....

Fuck you Nintendo!
RaiRed's Avatar
RaiRed at 02/20/2008 13:27
Modchip here I come!
Gibbo's Avatar
Gibbo at 02/20/2008 13:29
Even with whining Nintendo will pull out the same excuses. I'm hoping that Zelda save exploit leads to some region-free homebrew program because it doesn't look like Brawl's coming any sooner.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 02/20/2008 13:43
Bottom line -- if Konami can manage to release MGS4 worldwide on the same fucking day, Nintendo has no valid excuse for its bullshit.
Boggs's Avatar
Boggs at 02/20/2008 13:46
I'm sorry Jim, are you somehow implying that Europeans who get to play Brawl before the official release are somehow doing so illegally? Buying a copy from elsewhere and playing it on a corresponding region's Wii isn't illegal under any laws. Buying a copy and playing it on your modded Wii also isn't illegal in the vast majority of countries, including the one I'm currently living in.

In fact, the only scenario that I can see where I would be playing the game illegally is if I somehow committed copyright infringement.

Merely not catering to Nintendo's enforcement of pricing and availability differentials by the means of region locking their games, isn't illegal, no matter how much they'd like it to be.

I would expect anyone covering the delay of Brawl to be a bit more wary about towing the Nintendo line of it somehow being 'illegal' to source your games from somewhere with the best prices and availability (i.e. anywhere but Europe). Especially since it's because of region locking that they can get away with stuff like this.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 02/20/2008 13:49
Boggs: Haha ... you do realize I was very subtley encouraging piracy, right?
Aertyr's Avatar
Aertyr at 02/20/2008 13:51
*GASP* But Jim! That's illegal! *Shock Horror*
Boggs's Avatar
Boggs at 02/20/2008 13:53
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said anything about piracy? I'm not trying to encourage kids to pirate games.

Just... you know. To crack open their Wiis, grab a soldering iron and install a modchip.

Under adult supervision of course.
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 02/20/2008 13:54
The Japanese are terrible bureaucrats.
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 02/20/2008 13:55
Oh, and with the new wii hacking you should be able to play a PIRATED copy of it easily. OMG PIRACY IS WRONG!! WAHHHH!
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 02/20/2008 13:56
btw, for the record, when I said the word "piracy," I was of course referencing the Latin word pirece', which of course means "purchase legally through respectable retail outlets."
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 02/20/2008 13:59
@Jim

Ha, of course.
Rosseh's Avatar
Rosseh at 02/20/2008 14:14
It would be nice if they would at least tell us why they won't announce a release date for europe. Sometimes, a lot of the time, Nintendo's logic baffles me.
Kaspar's Avatar
Kaspar at 02/20/2008 14:17
This shit we have to take from Nintendo has made my Wii lose a lot of love...I have 2 games to play, but my feelings are hurt and i haven't touched the damn thing in a month...

WHY NINTY, WHY?!
topgeargorilla's Avatar
topgeargorilla at 02/20/2008 14:20
i'm getting Wii Fit, Puta.

It's a beautiful game. Cholo.

Jim, you cholo-puta.
juhok's Avatar
juhok at 02/20/2008 14:36
Once again European gamers are being treated like crap. *sigh* Let's see...

- Instead of Contra we got Probotector (I played Contra on a friends' Famiclone when I was still in preschool, so I was a little disappointed when they didn't release Contra on the European VC, even though it was to be expected)

- Super Paper Mario (it seemed cool when it came out and it got massive amounts of hype, so I bought it) released several freakin' months after the US release

- JAP Super Mario Bros. 2 (aka Lost Levels) removed completely from the EU VC catalog (It was available only for a limited time, but in the States it's there for good. What's the fucking logic behind that? What were they thinking??)

- You can't use Euros in the English mode in Brain Age II (Heh, ok, it's kinda beside the point, but still made me frustrated, since I'm Finnish and don't speak German, Spanish or whatever and don't know anything about UK Pounds)

- Capcom didn't release a ton of newer games in the Megaman -series (most of which are probably crap. Well, at least we got all the classics)


I could come up with more examples if I had the time. If they're going to delay Brawl the way they delayed Super Paper Mario, I'll be mad at Nintendo. I can understand if the game comes out like a month or so later than the US release, but a six month delay will not be acceptable.
The fact that Nintendo has released two useless channels instead of just focusing on Wiiware (or a support for 3rd party usb-drives) and a rather pointless plastic thing they call a Zapper is sorely disappointing. More delays will just make things even worse. Trust me, I'm not a Nintendo fanboy, but I hate to see the potential of the Wii getting thrown away with stupid or, as in most cases with Nintendo, simply risk-free solutions.

Ok, I got a little carried away... No wonder modding and piracy is common these days - European gamers are tired of being treated like this (it'd probably be easier just to import an NTSC Wii).

Btw, huge thanks to Jim for reporting from a Euro perspective and telling the world how much it sucks to be a gamer here. :)
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 02/20/2008 14:57
My best friends with Wiis have lost much much of their interest in, and anticipation for, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For example, my buddy marko72 was turned off by the repeated delays (and as a “serious business” Smash player, he feels uneasy about Nintendo getting rid of L-canceling and all that 1337 stuf). So I can’t even imagine how the wait has waned the desire for some Europeans...
Syn's Avatar
Syn at 02/20/2008 15:04
All of my UK brethren here are welcome to come play at my house :)

But just because you have to wait isn't a reason to hate the game altogether, I bet you that your friend is gonna be kicking himself in the ass if he tries to force his distaste of it.
TheToiletDuck's Avatar
TheToiletDuck at 02/20/2008 15:09
I'm glad i'm in New Zealand and don't have to deal with shitty European release dates.. oh wait.. nevermind.
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 02/20/2008 19:01
I'm happy to be in America... but my heart breaks every day for the UK gamer society.
freeman1's Avatar
freeman1 at 02/20/2008 19:39
I bet Europe gets it in April.
Dan CiTi's Avatar
Dan CiTi at 02/20/2008 23:25
I'm glad I pirated the Japanese version like a month ago.
Burnt Meatloaf's Avatar
Burnt Meatloaf at 02/21/2008 14:30
Nintendo said they would stop doing this, too.

Well, they kinda HINTED that they would stop doing it... or something. Yeah, something.
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