Upcoming 3DS update won’t allow eShop region changes after registering a NNID

The new impending Nintendo 3DS update that was revealed last night has a bit of a down side to it.

Sure the new update will bring Miiverse, but also it’ll bring shared eShop balances to both the Wii U and 3DS through the Nintendo Network ID system. That means if you spend or add money to any Wii U or 3DS linked with the same NNID the balance will be shared across.

Nintendo has shared a Q&A about the new update and it’s got some really worrying news in it, especially for us in Australia.

When the new update hits and if you link a Nintendo Network ID (which will be required for demos and free applications) you will no longer be able to change your systems region and use the eShop in another currency.

[quote]After registering a Nintendo Network ID, you will be unable to change regions and use multiple currencies – for instance, pounds and euros – in Nintendo eShop. The funds in the currency that corresponds to the country setting of your Nintendo Network ID will remain, and any funds in other currencies will be deleted and no longer usable. Please make sure to use up any other currencies before registering a Nintendo Network ID to your Nintendo 3DS system.[/quote]

That means my fellow Australians, no more European store for us and vice versa. That means if a game comes out on the European store and not Australia we will no longer be able to buy it. All those indie games that get classified and never make it here? Impossible to get. Never mind the price difference that European store affords, nor the early access to some games. All gone.

There’s also repercussions here for us in the press. Every review code we get from a publisher who isn’t Nintendo Australia is a code  for the European eShop – on both Wii U and 3DS. This now means no early reviews from Vooks, something we’ve already been struggling with this year.

So what’s the solution? Don’t update? Don’t register a Nintendo Network ID? Possibly both of those. We will keep an eye on this for over the coming weeks as we know a fair amount of you like to purchase from European store, we’d also like to keep reviewing games too.

Nintendo, please don’t kill our site.

Source: Nintendo