Operation Nintendo Freedom.

Ever since the FamiCom came out, Nintendo has been needlessly adding region locking to all they games and respected consoles. Many people wonder why they do this.
I am one of those people. I wonder almost every since day why Nintendo feels the need to region lock systems and games.

When I pre-ordered Pokemon White 2, I knew it was going to be region locked. Pokemon Black and White where both locked, so obviously the sequels would be, too.
But... Why? What purpose does it serve to lock games to a certain region?

Some people say it's to stop PIRACY!!!
But let's look that factually. If it was to stop piracy, then it's a form of DRM. As a form of DRM, it gets cracked within the week of release. So, it's entirely pointless. 
If you Google "Pokemon Black 2 White 2 ROM", you can clearly see that this doesn't stop piracy. Once they have the ROM dumped, people can put it on an R4 DS card and play it like normal. 
The fact that region locking does NOT stop piracy is a good enough reason to stop region locking in the first place.


Another reason people say Nintendo region locks games is for money. 
Okay, well explain that one to me, because I much be a complete idiot. 
For example, I buy Pokemon White 2. Obviously it's the Japanese version, so I can't understand it at all. When the English version comes out, I'll buy that so I can actually understand what it's saying. 
In that case, I have just bought the same game twice. Meaning Nintendo and NoA both get my money. 


Now, let's use another example. I WANT to buy Pokemon Black 2, but it's region locked and I only have a DSiXL (This is just hypothetical, I also have a DS Phat). Since I can't play Pokemon Black 2 on my DSiXL, I have to wait and only buy the English version. Only NoA gets my money, so Nintendo doesn't make as much money as it would have normally.


Some people say it's to stop people from buying the "cheapest" version of any game.
The people that say THAT are usually the idiotic, whiteknighting fanboys that ruin everything they come into contact with. But here's my rebuttal:
When Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 get released in America, how much will those cost? $40, maybe $50? Do you know how much it cost me to import Pokemon White 2? $80.
So when they say "cheapest", what do they mean? It costs $30, maybe $40 more to import a game than buying it natively, and they call THAT cheap? 




I wish I knew how to make Operation Nintendo Freedom a real thing. But I don't have the know-how or the marketing to get it started. I would LOVE to make this a real thing and get Nintendo to wise up and realize that region locking is just plain stupid and unnecessary.  But to Nintendo, I'm nothing. Yeah, I'm going to buy Pokemon Black 2 when it's released in America. Yeah, I'm going to continue to be pissed off about Wii, DSi and 3DS region locking. And yeah, I'm going to continue to be ignored. 
If there was some way to make this an actual Operation, then I'd be at the forefront with my Wii and my DSiXL, letting my and everyone's voice be heard, "WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF USELESS REGION LOCKING!"
But... I'm just one person. Grant it, a very large person, but only one person. 


I just want to enjoy my games. I don't want to be treated like a criminal just because I have the gall to not have enough money to buy a DSi, 3DS or Wii from Japan. 
From a pure profit standpoint, Nintendo should know better than to reduce the number of people that can buy their product, and that's what region locking does. More money could be had as well as more fun and consumer goodwill: The most important currency of all.