New Wii update appears, scotches Freeloader

Plenty of jolly helpful additions in the latest Wii update, yet this new update has been rather obstructive in one unfortunate respect.

And that is, apparently users who have downloaded it have been getting an 'Error' message when trying to use Datel's (perfectly legal) Freeloader, a boot disc that allows users to play GameCube games from different regions.

[ReBurn]

If games are region-coded that it is probably a violation of Nintendo's intellectual property rights to play games on a machine that they are not coded for. So "perfectly legal" in this context may be a bit of a misnomer.

[ItsDubC]

I remember Sony making a huge fuss about ppl selling PSPs online to others in different regions. This was around the same time the PSP underwent a particular firmware update. I believe Sony's justification for the fuss was that using hardware from a different region violated some of their policies which may also address using hardware w/ software from a different region.

[kn]

I believe region controls will stand up in a court of law and the terms and conditions in both the console and software will likely prop up their ability to defend region controls in court...

[djt23]

i dont believe games should be region lock but if they are cheating the system i understand

[Rooftrellen]

I totally agree.

Someone who knows better than me (I know nothing, everyone knows better than me) said that it would have been very hard for any console that hooks up to a TV to be region free, and had it been done, the price would have been higher.

I buy it, because it seemed as though Nintendo wants to move away from region locking consoles (loook at the DS).

However, you can't change what a company does just because you want something different. You wouldn't go into a high price restaruent and ask for a hot dog, because that establishment just isn't about that.

In the same way, you can't blame Nintendo for an update that left this thing behind, because they did region lock their consoles and no one else has any business changing that without Nintendo permission.