5 replies to this topic

[Justin]

Hi guys,

Would like a little advice on region locks on the US Wii U set.

Background - i'll be travelling to the states next week for a week and intend to try and hunt for a deluxe set as there has been no announcement for a release date in my home country in south east asia.

Question 1 - I understand that the Wii Us are region locked, but the US and South East Asia are under the same region (NTSC-U).
Does this mean that I can buy games locally and play on my Wii U set?

Question 2 - The digital downloads for the Wii U are region locked as well, meaning North American Sets can only play downloaded North American games.
So does this mean if i bring my Wii U set back home to Asia, i'll be unable to download and play Wii U games?

Question 3 - Does anyone have any idea what the power requirements are for the Wii U? xx-xx volts and xx hertz? The US and Asia have two different power requirements but if the Wii is like a laptop (with a power brick) this should not be a problem.

Thanks for helping.

Cheers!

[UnholyVision]

I can not say for 100% on some of these, but from past experiences from Nintendo & overall experience of region locking, well not friendly.
Q1: Doubt it Nintendo is pretty hardcore on the locking.
Q2: You most likely will be IP checked and locked out of the store. If the Nintendo is smart they will do just this. As some regions have different laws that apply making some software not acceptable in other regions.
Q3: Supposedly 32.8 watts idle and in something like the NSMBU game they say 33 watts. Supposedly it can get up to 75 watts with some more powerful games. 8 watts power brick on the controller.
Edit: Best thing I have found on power: http://www.eurogamer...do-wii-u-review
Not to much information out there.

Edited by UnholyVision, 29 November 2012 - 02:44 AM.

[Gamejunkie]

Hi guys,
Would like a little advice on region locks on the US Wii U set.
Background - i'll be travelling to the states next week for a week and intend to try and hunt for a deluxe set as there has been no announcement for a release date in my home country in south east asia.
Question 1 - I understand that the Wii Us are region locked, but the US and South East Asia are under the same region (NTSC-U).
Does this mean that I can buy games locally and play on my Wii U set?
Question 2 - The digital downloads for the Wii U are region locked as well, meaning North American Sets can only play downloaded North American games.
So does this mean if i bring my Wii U set back home to Asia, i'll be unable to download and play Wii U games?
Question 3 - Does anyone have any idea what the power requirements are for the Wii U? xx-xx volts and xx hertz? The US and Asia have two different power requirements but if the Wii is like a laptop (with a power brick) this should not be a problem.
Thanks for helping.
Cheers!

Q1) All Wii U's are region locked. It doesn't have anything to do with whether its NTSC or PAL. A US Wii U will only play games released for the North American Market. If you can buy North American games in your home country then you should be fine otherwise you will need to import them from the US or Canada.

Q2) Digital content is also region specific. If you have a US Wii U you will only be able to access content from the North American store and will need to use either American Wii U payment cards or have an American bank account.

Q3) This one I cannot confirm as I don't have my Wii U yet but if its anything like previous Nintendo systems including the Wii it will be voltage specific. I had a US Wii and I hade to use a step down transformer here in the UK eventually ordering a local Wii power supply through Nintendo customer service. The US use 110v power supplies. I very much doubt the Wii U will have universal or multi voltage option.

[Nollog]

Hi guys,
Would like a little advice on region locks on the US Wii U set.
Background - i'll be travelling to the states next week for a week and intend to try and hunt for a deluxe set as there has been no announcement for a release date in my home country in south east asia.
Question 1 - I understand that the Wii Us are region locked, but the US and South East Asia are under the same region (NTSC-U).
Does this mean that I can buy games locally and play on my Wii U set?

Do your local stores import US American games?
Check if they have the ESRB ratings on them, usually Asian countries that aren't Japan or China import American games to sell to their local market.
Maybe ask a local retailer if they import form America, or Europe.

Question 2 - The digital downloads for the Wii U are region locked as well, meaning North American Sets can only play downloaded North American games.
So does this mean if i bring my Wii U set back home to Asia, i'll be unable to download and play Wii U games?

You won't have the option to set your country to East-Asian, probably. If it's like the 3DS you'll have only a few options like Mexico, An American State, Canadian states etc.
There are no restrictions on where you are when you try to access the downloads on an American eShop, to my knowledge.
I believe the only restrictions would be if you set your country as one which doesn't have an eShop, so best to pick a US state (one with a low sales tax preferably) and keep that in your region settings.

Question 3 - Does anyone have any idea what the power requirements are for the Wii U? xx-xx volts and xx hertz? The US and Asia have two different power requirements but if the Wii is like a laptop (with a power brick) this should not be a problem.

The brick is American, without volt-switching I believe.
Input 120 V 60 Hz 1.1 A
Output 15 V 5.0 A
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48959808@N04/8198812804/sizes/k/in/photostream/

I don't has one yet, and even if I did it's be an Irish model, not American.
Maybe an American with an extra account space free can help you out by being more specific.

Edited by Nollog, 29 November 2012 - 03:10 AM.

[Justin]

hi guys! thx for the advice.. seems like its not a good idea to import the wii u from the us back to asia.. pointless if its so troublesome to be region locked and also needing a power converter (which is not that cheap to start with)

another question on the power brick issue.. could i get the power brick that is suitable for Asia and plug it direct into my US unit? any risk to mixing and matching power cords?

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

I'm getting a little tired of Ninty consoles bieng region locked.