jesus, cant beleive this one, surely they cant stop people sellin import games, have a read anyway


NINTENDO EUROPE WAGES WAR ON IMPORTERS

Cease and desist orders issued to independent retailers as the company attempts to halt the sale of all imported software and hardware in Europe

18:58 Nintendo has come down hard on independent retailers this week, insisting that all trade in imported software and hardware ceases with immediate effect. Cease and desist orders have been issued, which specifically refer to products which have "not been put on the market in the EEA with the express and unequivocal consent of either Nintendo or Nintendo Europe." In other words, if you want the likes of Animal Crossing, tough.
This move, which will surely only have the greatest impact on Nintendo's most loyal followers, will be seen as a desperate measure for the company attempting to bolster its business in Europe. In the latest UK hardware figures released for the week ending 31 May, Xbox shifted well over double the number of units GameCube achieved, and the recently released Zelda: The Wind Waker, while an undoubted success, hasn't caused the increase in userbase Nintendo would have been hoping for.

NOE's action is not without precedent: the company forced independent retailer CeX to cease stocking imported products in early 2002, with the company now applying this measure across the board. For the record, neither Microsoft nor Sony has ever made any similar move, or publicly expressed any negative feeling toward the import sector. Spokespersons for Sony and Microsoft were unavailable at the time of writing.

"Nintendo is hurting the people who love it the most," marketing and PR manager of CeX Jonathan Cronin told us. "Casual gamers aren't the ones who will be hurt. Sony and Microsoft are focusing on the larger market and they're number one and two at the moment."

Furthermore, Nintendo is widely perceived as the worst offender of the 'Big Three' for getting its first-party line-up out in Europe after other territories. Instead of focusing on this current action, Nintendo should be "making sure Mario Kart is out in time for Christmas, like they should have made sure Metroid Prime was out last Christmas," said Cronin. Metroid Prime slipped to February of this year, reportedly achieving sales of around 50,000 so far.

Nintendo is believed to be particularly nervous about the damage import copies of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire on GBA could do, with the European release some four months after that of the US and no region lock-out on handheld devices.

But Nintendo loyalists are likely to find this move hard to swallow: one of the most innovative titles of recent years, Animal Crossing, has so far been overlooked by NoE - despite an outcry from gamers across the continent - and the cease and desist orders will be interpreted as a stern two-fingers up to anyone wishing to purchase the brilliant game from abroad. Hard luck, sunshine.

But another retailer, speaking to us under conditions of anonymity, believes that Nintendo will have great difficulty in stemming the flow of imports outright: "Are they trying to say the Internet doesn't exist? How can you regulate imports coming in from all over the world? And is Nintendo of America really that bothered about its titles being sold into Europe? I doubt it.

"I find this move very surprising, when [Nintendo] should be concentrating on core output, getting its games out on time and releasing titles like Animal Crossing in Europe."

A spokesperson for Nintendo Europe was unavailable at the time of writing. We'll keep you fully updated on the situation