Nintendo will region-lock the Wii U … obviously

What a shock!

Nintendo has surprised absolutely nobody by confirming that the Wii U will be region-locked, meaning European, American, and Japanese games will only work on systems made specifically for the corresponding country. Importers beware!

This is par for the course with Nintendo, a company that regularly releases games exclusively in one country while making other territories wait a long time or even forever. This is the publisher that wouldn’t release Animal Crossing in Europe for years while simultaneously fighting anybody attempting to import it. Yeah, hardly the type of organization to pull an about-face on this subject. 

So, not a shock, though as usual this lockdown will act as a placebo at best. Little rules like these only help inspire otherwise loyal customers to crack into things Nintendo doesn’t want cracked into, thus the continual own-goal that is corporate “rights protection” marches onward.

Nintendo to region-lock the Wii U [CVG]