We all know by now that Australia gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Nintendo releases. The country can wait up to a year after the North American release before getting a sniff of a new Wii or DS game. Frustrated gamers may be tempted to pirate these titles, but Nintendo, fresh off winning $1.5 million from one Aussie pirate, has claimed that piracy affects Australian release dates.
“Nintendo Australia is always pushing for games to be released here at the same time as the rest of the world, so we were pleased to get New Super Mario Bros. Wii before anyone else,” explains Nintendo of Australia. “Unfortunately, due to to the actions of this individual, future release dates may be affected for Australia, which is disappointing for us.”
Now, I fully understand that it must be insulting to have New Super Mario Bros. Wii ripped and uploaded in Australia when it was one of the few games to be released on time in the country, but I have to call bullsh*t on this statement. Nintendo has a long history of delaying Australian games while giving no justifiable reason for it. To retroactively try and shift the blame onto pirates is a bit of a pathetic move, in honesty.
Australian gamers are frustrated with Nintendo and its long history of shafting the territory. I don’t think any smart Aussies are going to fall for Nintendo’s buck-passing.
Nintendo Stomps Aussie Mario Pirate [GameSpot]
