Nintendo’s hard-on for region locking anything it can has just got a little more ridiculous, if one Australian gamer’s troubles are anything to go by. According to an AussieNeoGAFuser, imports fromAnimal Crossing: Wild WorldtoAnimal Crossing: City Folk/Let’s Go to the Cityare region specific, meaning a US DS card won’t import to a PAL copy of the game.
Even more stupidly, it seems that DSACcards bought in Australia won’t actually work with the Australian version of the Wii game. A stupid sad cat merely whines at the unlucky Aussie: “Hrm? I don’t think you have the right game card.”
Basically, the “Australian” version ofAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldis the United States version. While perfectly acceptable on the DS, where cards are region-free, Nintendo’s utterly needless region-locking of this import feature has basically ruined a part ofLet’s Go to the Cityfor Australian gamers. According to a European gamer, this isn’t a problem elsewhere in the PAL territories, but we’ll see how widespread it gets.
Incredibly stupid and needless region locking like this is pathetic. I wish Nintendo would realize that it doesn’tneedto be this anal about making sure only certain people can play certain games. Many Western developers get along fine without forcing territory locks, a company as big and influential as Nintendo should grow up about it.
