@KamuZ:

Mexican here too, I'm so dissapointed that I can't buy Eden just because Sony decided to ditch sooo many countries.

I hope that they really start focusing in Latin America, it's unfair that we miss the good things just because we are not USA, Japan or Europe.

And as far as Nintendo goes, I'm happy with the service, we may not be their first target but we don't get dismissed as Sony does.

Aaaand as a final note, not EVERYONE pirates things here, but yeah is a big problem part because prices here are high because we need to import hardware and software from the US, I'm willing to bet that any of you would deny to pay 100 more bucks for the PS3, 360 or the Wii.

@Milkzhakes: They Wii is also very easy to mod, get a wii key and your set.

Suda51

@KamuZ: Club Nintendo is nothing but a Spanish version of Nintendo Power (the official US magazine), but delayed two months. It's NOTHING like the old Club Nintendo - the one with Axy and Spot and Gus Rodriguez and Pepe Sierra. Those were the days.

(¡Viva Mexico cabrones!)

Dave Silva

I live in Puerto Rico, and almost everyone and their grandmother owns a NDS, Wii's are also everywhere here but tell me a place where there isnt a demand for them and I'll give you a some Captain Morgan*. Also for some reason we get very few localized games. I know some games have both languages in them and all I have to do is set the console in Spanish but I still get most games in english (wich for the record I prefer but not everyone on my family speaks english).

(*Its a joke I dont have any....)

zerito87

@Erwin: Lots of people did. Which was sad, I thought it was one of the best damn things I've seen all year.

Luke Plunkett

Well of course Nintendo want to expand its influence to Latin America. What do you think will happen once its DS and Wii sales plateau? I always wondered about that, what happens when a console company has sold as many consoles as they can muster? What happens when anyone who ever wanted the box has got one?

Deus_EpS

@Suda51: dont forget the xbox its so easy to mod a xbox 1 and 360 to run emulators and burnt games.

back to the wii though i wonder how they are going to market it to us latins. if its anything like the last commercial i saw from them it will be hilarious as hell.

Milkzhakes

what movie is that pic from again?

@KamuZ:

Hey thanks for that bit of perspective actually. I really like hearing about what each company is doing in regions outside NA, Japan, and EU.

LittleBigPlaneteer

@Erwin:

I missed it too. Really funny. And seriously Nintendo, if you announce a Pancho Bigotes game I'd go out and buy a Wii that very day (if I can find one).

LittleBigPlaneteer

I am in Mexico and localization from Nintendo games (first party) are very good and i actually enjoy it, also they have ads mostly on cable television (ie. MTV Latin America) from time to time. One thing about Nintendo here in Mexico is that they suck when they want to release information about something as they don't have an official site in here, the closest "official" thing we have is a magazine called "Club Nintendo" and it's just that, a magazine not really a club.

The content on Nintendo Channel for example is in spanish, if you want to load points they are going to be charged in US dollars but they accept local debit and credit cards so there is no problem about it still it would be nice to get them as mexican pesos so you don't lose anything because of the exchange.

Now to put stuff in perspective, Sony have no presence as they just released PS3 last year (that means, stores finally sold it with stuff in spanish and a valid Mexico warranty). We don't have a PSN store as the person in charge of Sony Mexico said "Dear gamers, please open an account with a USA address, you can't buy but you will enjoy everything else".

Microsoft is the only one who have a strong presence here, most of the games are localized and some like Halo use latin america spanish for voices and text, in fact they used all the bad words we know and that is really appreciated as most people hate spanish from Spain (most titles are localized there) because it is really different.

Sorry for the wall of text.

KamuZ

Ahaha, how the hell did I miss that Pancho Bigotes story?

Erwin

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I think what Sony is trying to do, rather then fight for the USA, is take every other territory possible.

It's a little crazy, but there ARE a lot of other out there, and might work.

Suda51

@Emiat:

I know. I just wonder if Nintendo would even have made such a press announcement or whatever if Sony didn't highlight Latin America as a key region in their recent E3 press conference. It just seems like more than just a coincidence to me since it's not a region that is often discussed

LittleBigPlaneteer

@: Not mine, thank McWhertor for that one!

Luke Plunkett

Nintendo better make all Toads look like that in all future Mario games.

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I think there is enough Latin America for Sony and Nintendo to both take a shot at to earn money.

Emiat

If they mean the actual Latin countrys, I have bad news. Everybody there, EVERYBODY there pirates games, they sell there PS2's modded out of stores, and you buy the burnt DVD's for 5 bucks.

Good luck fighting that kind of competition Ninty.

Suda51

you always have the best pictures

If it doesn't have badonkadonk, I'm not interested.

e-friend

I have to say this is the funniest picture I have seen on Kotaku. I don't post much but this deserves much gratitude and appreciation. Cheers. And lawl.

Heart-Skull-Kid

Stealing Sony's thunder? Didn't Sony say they'll start a big PS3 campaign in Latin America at this year's E3?

Funny pic though

LittleBigPlaneteer

@Dave Silva:

I remember the old Club Nintendo, I always enjoyed Axy's writing. I used to read it when I lived in Venezuela. You shouldn't complain about getting it 2 months after the U.S. we used to get the spanish one 2 months after Mexico!

fdisk

@LittleBigPlaneteer: A bit off-topic, from your comment about Sony in Latin America. Right now they are going to re-release the PS3 again in an event called "The Game Starts Again" ([www.sony.com.mx]) on August 23rd in Mexico City, plus they are visiting several towns in Mexico with a big playstation truck, you buy something for the PS and they give you an special gift ([www.sony.com.mx]), but again this is just marketing, mexican gamers are looking for content (PSN Store, localized games, events).

If this stuff works for them, they will start going head to head with Microsoft (at least in my country).

OK, totally off-topic, sorry about that again! going to sleep now :)

KamuZ

Yup, sony support for the PSN in mexico has been pretty much crap. Wich is kind of odd, for the people that do buy a PS3 (wich is kind of very expensive here) is the people that will be buying stuff for it with not much problem, so not opening a simple web store is kind of sad, but that's the way it is.

Hell, nintendo has less of a presence than sony or microsoft in general (they are well known in videogames, but sony is like the big brand of electronics in general, and playstation is very big) so it's kind of odd that Nintendo and MS make a store for mexico and sony doesn't.

I would understand if it was like the iTunes store where you have to work licence agreements on every country because of the rights for media, but in videogames is different. And even Apple has an online store for mac hardware/software and the itunes software store for the iphone/ipod touch.

We don't need to have everything translated to spanish, or musical videos, movies and stuff like that, we just want to buy games and play online with a mexican account.

Falsoman

@Dave Silva: Oh yeah, I remember those days. I sent one of my art and appeared as "Mención Honorífica" in one mag with the Starcraft 64 on the cover. (a bunch of Links waiting to get an ocarina ^^)
I stopped to buy the mag when the Game Cube was released, their quality went downside and I didn't catch anything interesting from Nintendo anymore. (not even Smash Bros. Melee, in which I sold it with the system because I got bored and had no one to play with)

And yup, saludos desde Mexico! :P

AxelMinami

@Suda51: Videogames are more than a billion dollar business just in Mexico and we are a country with the average money income per employee is about 170 bucks a month. So, even if there's a lot of piracy, i would belive it would be pretty stupid NOT to try to have a bigger slice of that money.

Wouldn't you think so?

Falsoman

Everytime I go to Nicaragua, I see the same wii playing at the airport, with the same miis and everything.

It looks so lonely by itself ;_;

scotty

@Suda51: Thats a big damn lie.
Of course there is piracy as in every other country of the world. But the cause may be that there are very strong restrictions and taxs to pay to get ahold original games and consoles. Besides Sony and Nintendo by far dont have any official presence in latin america so direct support and official company channels arent really available. Microsoft really opened to latin america since the release of the first xbox, not only the prices for games and systems are almost on par compared to the prices in the US, but you have technical support and constant advertising in different media. Nintendo has over 20 years in the market and until now is addressing the Latin american public? If Nintendo thought about emphasizing its presence there wouldnt be piles of Wiis gathering dust in places like Costco, sams club and several department stores. Cant find a Wii in the States? Come down to Mexico and buy one for $450 dollars and get Zelda for $80 dollars, and believe me, further down the continent the prices go really up.

@all mexicans

a huevo Mexico!!
On topic: Yeah, i agree its a good move on Nintendo to try and expand their market to latin america.You can say they even have a more established brand than sony or ms, cause its quite common here for adults to call any console as a "nintendo" (most dont know any better :P ).But on the same page, not having a latin PSN is killlling a market for sony: what with all the rock band fever they cant capitalize on DLC from those users.Even though i live near the border, its not enough to have an address, you need a US debit/credit card as well.If i could use my mexican card, i dont care if its dollars, i want my DLC!! :P.

/end rant

nameofperson

finally a news article for this amazing picture

subterfunk

@Falsoman: In fact is easier to learn English than any other language, like Spanish. Never tried to learn French though.

AxelMinami

@: English is pretty fun to learn with proper motivation. I have learned a lot watching TONS of tv and reading blogs. And now i'm unemployed and replying to people over the internet at almost 3 am because i became an addict to chatting and i don't do anything else...

wait, that's not where i was going with the comment.

Falsoman

They should make a game for spanish speaking citizens that teaches them english and makes it fun since english isnt very fun to learn. I guess it would be nice to not get as many customers at my work that only speaka de spanish as well. Uh oh, I hope this doesn't spark some racial debate. Quick! Think of a way out!! Erm....I have 2 Mexican friends. Whew! Conflict Avoided.

@HayamaAkito: It's the same deal in Nicaragua, sans the "...but well, at least some people has started again to buy original games since the Wii/360/PS3 generation and the market grows a little (specially when Microsoft oficially) released the Xbox 360 in Chile), so isnt a horrible idea right now... and Nintendo fanboys here are very loyal for buy original titles. " part.

:3

scotty

Im from Chile and here EVERYONE plays pirated games and is limited to Winning Eleven and GTA on PS2, and thats it... but well, at least some people has started again to buy original games since the Wii/360/PS3 generation and the market grows a little (specially when Microsoft oficially) released the Xbox 360 in Chile), so isnt a horrible idea right now... and Nintendo fanboys here are very loyal for buy original titles.

HayamaAkito

@AxelMinami: Hell no!
Learning the english language may be easy as hell when you're growing up, but it's a pain in the balls when you're past childhood.

The English and spanish language have around 8000+ sounds, far more than some other easier languages.

scotty

@KamuZ: Thanks for the feedback.
Here in the north [cities like Tijuana], we also get pirated games, although as far as I know PS3 games haven't been hacked yet, though pirated PS2, Xbox, and PC games sell very well. Of course there is a BIG market for the people that buy original games [20% of gamers I'd say]. Just like the US, GH is the sh%t here, so yeah, we are big gamers here too.

This cracks me up, the only reason people are clicking onto the article is for the pic nothing else. (chuckles)

Jokes

Dappa

Best. Picture. EVAR!

scumm_boy

@Dappa: yeah... I wanted to see it again.

Eltigro

Um, yeah. Are we talking about the same Latin America that still produces Sega Master System clones?

Eltigro

Awesome picture, yes.

Revenge_of_Nekojin

It is sad when they always forget Brazil (the big portuguese speaking country in Latin America) when talking about Latin America, even though we do buy theyr stuff and pay a premium for them (The wii is sold arround US$ 1000 in retail stores arround here, and games at US$ 100+.

mosca.br

This is really stupid. I live in Latin America and as far as I can tell Nintendo has alot of precense here, I always see alot ads for the DS and the Wii and all the electronics store have wii and DS demo stations, but I have never once a PS3,PS2 or PSP ad and none of the store even have a floor model out for people to look to at. So Sony I understand but Nintendo not so much

darktoad450

Hey Suda, I´m from Brazil and I play original games. So don´t try to make every south american look bad with your stupid words. Microsoft is one of the responsible companies for the growth of original games here, I always find brazilians over live, they CAN´T play in live with pirated games.

I´m against piracy but I´m even more against the absurd prices we find here and with the low wages we have it is practically impossible to play games without piracy. I hope Nintendo plans include lowering the price of games cause 120 fucking dollars for a game is ridiculous. The Wii games I have were bought in the states, I refuse to pay the price they have here.

lucasreis

First order of business:

Make sure the "#$!"#$ Wii has a reasonable price in mexico (hint:$450 is not).

Second order of busines:

Read the first order of business again.

Grive

This pic deserves an award.

lumpi

@lucasreis: Hey man, I live in Brazil as well (Rio).

The truth is we have absurd taxes. A $50 dollar game would cost us approximately R$ 75 + a little profit for the retailer, which is NOT prohibitive. But it costs R$ 260,00.

Also I must say Suda was not being an asshole, truly. People do buy tons of pirated games here. Ok, you buy originals. Yeah, I do too. But it doesn't change the fact that it feels like we're the only two, really. :) Just go to uruguaiana market in Rio and you'll see it. R$ 10 or 15 a game.

Now, about sony.. they do have a chance with PS3 since afaik it is piracy-free to this day. Anything else is just a waste of resources, unless governments stop practicing those absurd taxes JUST FOR GAMES.

PsyComa

@Zenrick2.0: There's already a few language games out there. I believe Ubisoft released them for the DS.

And no, your comment isn't racist. Someone really should make some language teaching software that's fun to use.

Dave Silva

Wow, Toad has really let himself go. LOL.

Gray665

1. Not all Latin Americans are Mexicans that eat burritos, So I'm deeply offended by this picture. Please post the picture of a nice town in the middle of the jungle with barely-dressed guys Wii-wagling and make you'll make it up.

2. Yes, here piracy is rampant. You get games for $2.

corronchilejano

Oh btw it seems Sony is interested in opening a production line or something of that kind in Brazil.

Those taxes are really mind-melting because they will only improve local markets (leading people to buy local, cheaper products instead of over-taxed imports) once there are companies making video games here. Which is difficult to happen since games are EXPENSIVE AS HELL in Brazil. Fuck, I don't know anything about economy but i'm pretty sure it's a very basic concept even a child can understand.

Currently, it is all kind of a VG wheel of karma, except the gamers get all the parts with flames, devils and eyes being pierced.

PsyComa

Okay, if Nintendo wants to succeed in the Latin-American market, they have to focus on one thing:

Making their damn consoles and games cheaper than Microsoft offerings.

I mean, the Wii costs $500, and the DS costs $200. Maybe it's to combat piracy, but the only way to truly do that is to add some semblance of online support. The reason MS games aren't pirated so much is because if you mod your console, you waive all rights to Live service.

Playing with friends is important here, but people don't really want to play party games unless it's with family or cousins. With friends, the Xbox reigns supreme. Simply because of the great service that Live offers. I've managed to stay in contact with friends purely by using Live.

In fact, one of my friends modded his Wii after the E3 fiasco, simply because he could still play its games without losing any functionality. He then bought an Xbox and according to my little Live widget thing, he's playing Call of Duty 4 at the moment.

Basically, if Nintendo wants to succeed, they should lower prices, offer something better than the pirates can offer, and use their previous presence to their advantage. 7 years ago, "Nintendo" was synonymous with home gaming. Now, "Xbox" is gaining that title, simply because it's more affordable and harder to mod.

RPharazonius

That pic is classic..

givetozim!

Love the banditoad!

Hugoku

damnit I double posted

oveja

WOOOOT!!! finally they take interest in us (mexican btw). Everybody here is right what inintendo needs to do is lower the prices so they are as expensive as in the U.S(because the piracy is a big problem) and pay more atention to the electronic game show (at least for mexicans). Also Brazil gets it bad and I thought videogames in México were expensive.
Of topic: I would buy a ps3 in México if they had backwards compatibility and didn't cost $700 dollars.

ps: that picture = epic Win

oveja

A buddy is having a Mexican Party on Sunday. There will be food, drinks and videogames. This picture is so going on the flyer!

VIVA Mario!! Ole!!!

King of Kings

WOOOOT!!!! yes finally they are getting interested in us (mexican btw). And the people above me in coments are all right, what nintendo needs to do is lower the prices so that videogames are as expensive as in the U.S.(because of the piracy which is a big problem).Really I have only bought two videogames in México and that is because they were used gamecube games. I would love if they got more interested in the electrinic game show, not that they don't already, it's just that they could put more effort into it. Also I would buy a ps3 if it didn't cost $700 dollars and they also need to add backwards compatibility again. Holly pupies Brazil gets it bad, and I though videogames in México were ecpensive.

ps that picture is epic WIN

oveja

@Ortegar: U$S 450 for a Wii? Wow, you guys are lucky. Here, in Argentina, you can't get a Wii for less than U$S 800. Seriously. In fact, even a Gamecube is more expensive than a Wii (trust me, I'm not making the numbers up, I wanted to play the Resident Evil remake).

Nintendo: want Latin America gamers to buy from you? Forget marketing and localization, we all know enough english. But U$S 800 for a console is ridiculous. And don't get me started about the cost of living in each country, but think about it: would you buy from Nintendo if the console price were two times your monthly income? Well, I guess I could return my apartment and play my games in the street...

7c0h

The pic is priceless :D

Anyway, the could start with a real support to LA making a cut of the official price here. It's kind hard to get a Wii for less than 4000 pesos (400 dlls) if you don't live on the border.

Cess007

Hopefully they'll do something about those ridiculous prices. 490 USD for a Wii... I don't think so.

raulsantos

@Suda51: yeah and that happens here because any video game company had ever cared for Latin America 0 support waaaaay over the top prices (Here in my country the PS3 it's still selling for USD $700-800 and the wee for USD $430 or more) so i hope this news from Sony and Nintendo become a reality so we can finally have a proper video game market over here.

hahahah and great picture

mpar

Nothing brings the world into greater harmony than having the entire youth frag themselves online together.

I just have to say: there is no other picture in this world. Hell, the ENTIRE original movie production (actors, director, film stock, distribution, script etc. etc.) was made JUST FOR THIS PICTURE.

Kotaku, I know it's probably copyrighted and all, but can someone PLEASE release a hi res version of this?

mariospants

Well, Nintendo must have got some big Cahones to pull this off.

metaslugx

The real Latin America (South America) doesn't actually buy games because they're so damn expensive there. I may be moving to Brazil for a while, and you can be damn sure I'll have people sending me games from North America.

Roto13

@mpar: Jut a thing though. We do have excesive prices in Mexico, but we also have kind of high taxes that are already included in the retail price. Just like with europeans. Wich anyway makes the consoles overpriced because we are paying MORE than europeans do for their consoles even with the taxes included. Is kinda sad because our VAT equivalent is a little smaller (15% of taxes) and we should be getting a conversion from the US dollar anyway since this is managed by the american part of the companies.

Anyway, my point is that the things are overpriced but the fact that they seem more than they do because we already have the taxes included on retail prices.

Falsoman

Que culpa tiene la estaca,
si el sapo salta y se ensarta,
si el sapo salta y se ensarta,
la culpa no es de la estaca.

Malevolentburrito

I think the photo is from the movie "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" which stars Humphrey Bogart. The bandit in this scene is explaining why they don't need no steenkin' badges, or something to that effect.

Knukleur

¡Chanfle!

alejo0121

It looks like there are far more mexicans here in Kotaku than i thought, Hi to everyone!...

Nintendo has been in México since early nineties, but their efforts has never been really good, the only thing they had was Club Nintendo (which started to suck in 97) and a so-so distributor, now they have their products all over the place, but the distributor is awful, they have the most expensive prices of the three consoles and the warranties suck (for repairing my wii that got fucked up because of SSB they want to charge me a total of 350dls). They should see what MS has done in here to understand how a really good customer service works and how it could benefit your sales (xbox sales had always been really good in MX). Sony is making really good strategies when it comes to games pricing, but there´s a lot of work to do, but at least, they´re way better than Nintendo.

And saying that everyone in Latin America buys pirate games isn´t totally true, i have a wii, 360, ps2, psone, psp, gc, xbox, ds lite and around 100+games, and everything is original, and i know a lot of people who has collections like mine, so if you don´t know what´s the true, please be quiet...

Daisuash

@Suda51: so you know this for a fact? us poor latinos can't affford to buy games at retail? that is avery ingnorant comment from you, the majority of peple i know in the town where i leave dont even know what an R4 is, and we are willing to pay almost twice as much as you pay for a game as long as is a good one. you should travel a little more....

camar3na

Well I just hope that Nintendo will care not only for Mexico but for all the LA countries, here in Colombia we have the same problem with the prices for both consoles and software, that's why we are used to pirate games beacause the prices are sky high for our pockets (even for PC games). Also the support is lame (you can't even register your console/games on Ninty's web site) and finding some specific games can be a pain in the ass.

alejo0121

Wow, many more mexicans in here than I ever though.

Nintendo used to have strong pressence down here in the nineties back when Club Nintendo magazine actually did not sucked (for me it became worthless around 2001) and when every one of us when we were kids would go and turn on a national network television channel every Saturday morning to watch Nintendomanía... the greatest 30 minutes of my every week those were back in 1995-1999.
Now problem is, as everyone here has said is the prices. I get pissed when I see an Xbox 360 game going for $700 pesos (like $70 USD taxes included already) that sells in the US for $60 plus tax and find Super Smash Bros Brawl going for freakin' $850 pesos. $85 bucks for a $50 USD game? Come on!

Im a big videogame fan but i cant recall when was the last time I bought a game here in Mexico in a 100% legal store. Thank God my city is 2 hr drive from the US border so most of my games come from Laredo TX or my local Flee Market where I buy original new games imported from the US sans the inflated price.

Nintedo's precense has since diminished and Sony has never really had one... Microsoft on the other hand is doing a GREAT job here. Hell, during primetime big rated soccer games in network TV I lost count of how many Halo 3 ads I saw back in september 07. Nintendo only puts ads on basic cable channels like TNT, MTV Latin America, or Sony Entertainment Television (yes i know, ironic isnt it?) during new episodes of Despearate Housewives of all places showing off the new Brain Age lol.

Come after us again, Nintendo. We're a lot, we have money and we're a-waitin'. Just stop ripping us off. The only reason why you can actually walk in here and buy a Wii Fit is because you're selling it for close to $150 USD and thats just stupid. Get that head out of that ass pronto!

Alex_Mexico

best.....picture....ever

ChiliC

In an odd move, they don't have an official representative in Argetina or Uruguay, yet, I've seen the "wii would like to play" ads on latin american Fox. And an ad for Smash Bros., too.

To add to what Alex_Mexico said, they're not only advertising the Wii on sony Entertainment Television, they also had a contest to win the console a couple of months ago.

But, dear God, don't bring sports and fitness games alone! You'll kill the market by doing so. You have to bring Mario, Zelda and Metroid. Mario is a character EVERYONE is familiar with back here (heck, I've even seen graffiti with 1-up mushrooms on some walls!), but to most people, 3D Mario doesn't exist. That's due to...well...exactly what they've just said they're gonna fix. As to the more hardcore sagas, I know quite a few people who'd like to go back to Zelda (and still like to play Ocarina of Time every now and then), for example.

salsaman1991

That picture cracks me up every time I see it.

Graham

Well yeah.. the most of the time prices here in Mexico are above U.S prices when talking about systems, but when it comes to brand new games(software) history seems a little bit diferent to me ...games in Mexico are often the same price and sometimes a little less than in the U.S.

For Example:

In the Last 2 months I`ve bought

-Boom blox for 399 Mexican pesos (which makes 40 U.S dollars).... Boom Blox sells in the U.S for $50 plus taxes that makes it: 54 dollars.

-Soul Calibur IV for PS3 was: 649 Mexican pesos, so it`s exactly the same money (taxes In of course)
I would have paid in any U.S GameStop or Walmart.

-Ninja Gaiden II was: 600 Mexican pesos, once again the price was lower than in the U.S after taxes.

And I can come up with more examples like this, for a bunch of brand new games for any platform.

What Nintendo Intends to do In LATAM, after the success microsoft has achived with its XBOX in Mexico, does seems to be a right decision, that`s good news for Latin America.

As a reminder Mexico`s the 4-5th market for Xbox in the world and the 3rd in American continent...a market Nintendo is leaving to MS.

By the way great pic!! i`m not offended in any way! lol

Naota

Don't forget about taxes and shipping costs. Let's say a Wii is $250 retail in USA. Here in Argentina we have a pretty nice 50% import tax for any electronics plus 10,5% value tax. This is 60,5% more expensive just in taxes, add the shipping costs to this and you have an extra $50 bucks.
Let's see the real price of a Wii is about $210 with a $10 real shipping cost. The taxes are fixed so we have $353,1 total plus some handling, retail overprice and some more. Then you reach the magic price: $450, which is what a Wii cost us right now. It is not expensive, is the right price.

Since most latin american countries have similar taxes (because we try enforce local production and discourage imports) if you can sell a Wii for less than $450 someone is losing money.
You can argue the price of the games too, but is the same history (although the games tend to be a little overpriced).

Nintendo since I can remember they always support our region. You can see Wiis and DSs almost everywhere and there are ads all over the place. In contrast Sony only presence is at Sony Style stores and they don't sell PS3 consoles yet (they have PS3 games tough). Microsoft by the way is nowhere to be seen, they do not support the region at all.

Piracy is, well, high, but some people like me really enjoy playing only original content and if the prices stay low Nintendo can have something nice.

Edar