Nintendo’s Wii U System and Games Will Be Region-Locked

Are you planning on importing some of the Wii U's games from Japan? If so, you're so out of luck as Nintendo is region-locking the console.

For those not familiar with the term, it means the Wii U will only play games that are in the same region (ie: U.S. Wii U's can only play U.S. Wii U games, etc.). This bit was confirmed in Famitsu no. 1242, page 10 (via NeoGAF), where it states:

なお、Wii Uにはプレイできる地域が制限されるリージョンロック機能が搭載されており、その地域で販売されたソフト以外はプレイできない。

When translated, it reads as:

What can be played on the Wii U is restricted by a region-lock feature; software not sold in the same region cannot be played.

Of course, this isn't really surprising, since Nintendo is adamant on letting users play their games on their own terms. Also of note, the original Wii (and even the 3DS) also had this restriction in place.So it's really nothing new for the Big N. Nonetheless, it's still disheartening to know that we won't be able to import games and play them on our Wii U…unless, of course, you buy another Wii U specific to that region. 

And here I was thinking that region-locking would be a thing of the past for next-gen! Sad to see I'm wrong.

Are you disappointed with this news? Will this affect your purchase of Nintendo's upcoming console? Sound off and let us know.