Earlier this week when the first ever Nintendo eShop Humble Bundle hit there was quite a bit of a furore, at least on this side of the Pacific. While it was a Nintendo of America initiative we all found frustrating to find that it was essentially region locked.
As we all know the Wii U and the eShop are all entirely region locked, not only that but many of the games haven’t been classified both here in Australia, New Zealand and Europe (not to mention the rest of the world). This meant that only those in the Americas could participate. A problem with Nintendo and it’s region locking stance? Sure – but there’s also the problem of classification.
In the end both a Nintendo America staffer and Humble Bundle have apologised;
We recently launched the Humble Nindie Bundle, a digital bundle for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems. For many of you, the bundle is region-locked, and we apologize if the games are unavailable in your country.
One of the reasons we launched the first Humble Bundle was to bring indie games to more people. We agree that region-locking is not ideal. But without it, we may not have had this opportunity to promote these great indie games on dedicated video game platforms.
Our goal is to make games as universally accessible as can be. That’s why, while we strive to sell DRM-free games when possible, we also explore services like Steam, Origin, uPlay, and now the Nintendo eShop. These services allow us to offer more games at pay-what-you-want prices while raising more money for charity and reaching more gamers.
Your feedback helps us craft our bundles, so we thank you for your input and your continued support! We will continue to strive to be as inclusive as possible to all platforms, regions, and players in the future.
The Humble Bundle has still raised nearly $400,00 and that’s the most important thing – it is helping charity in the end. It would just be great if the whole world could help contribute.
Would you have bought the bundle if it worked on our Wii U and 3DS consoles?
Mercs, Vectorman and ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
It's Black, Back Again.
Makes sense to us.