Thread: Nintendo of America announces Victini event for North America: Event to last from lau

Nintendo of America announces Victini event for North America: Event to last from launch to April 10

Nintendo of America has announced a Wi-Fi distribution of the Liberty Pass, an item that unlocks a special Victini event in Pokémon Black and White Versions. The event will take place from the games' launch through April 10, unlike the similar event in Europe lasting through April 22.

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Why did they shorten the event? not that it really matters, but they get more time

Interesting. I wonder if the difference in date hints that the Wi-Fi Wondercards really will be divided regionally this time around, or if NoA simply decided to advertise a shorter event window, knowing full well the pass will remain accessible (for those who know to try) through to the 22nd.

It'll be interesting to find out, when the UK and North American games are compared.

Could be in case they have to delay some of the release dates in some European countries, as what happened with HGSS.

I guess the European Event lasting longer could mean that the Generation V wondercards are determined by region rather than language.

Any word on if these dates are accurate for Australia too? Or are we still unsure as to whether it's language or region which will count when it comes to accessing Wifi events in Gen V?

We are still unsure but it is looking more like events are region locked from now on

No idea, as yet. To know for sure how games are divided, English games from at least 2 different regions will need to be compared after release. No doubt it will be discovered extremely quickly.

Advertising a different event window isn't really all that different from not advertising a Wi-Fi event in certain regions at all, despite the fact it's going on and completely accessible. So it could still just be going by language, but we won't know 'til they're released, unfortunately.

What it ultimately boils down to is what Nintendo in each particular region is trying to motivate their customers to do. Perhaps NoA wants more sales in a shorter time, so they could be advertising the Pass as ending sooner that it really will. NoA doesn't advertise the Wi-Fi Shiny Beasts on the American & Canada Pokemon sites because they want their customers to go out to Gamestop to get them (if nobody did and everyone just waited for the Wi-Fi Beasts, the whole effort would be wasted); this could be a similar thing.

Originally Posted by TM2-Megatron

No idea, as yet. To know for sure how games are divided, English games from at least 2 different regions will need to be compared after release. No doubt it will be discovered extremely quickly.

Advertising a different event window isn't really all that different from not advertising a Wi-Fi event in certain regions at all, despite the fact it's going on and completely accessible. What it ultimately boils down to is what Nintendo in each particular region is trying to motivate their customers to do. Perhaps NoA wants more sales in a shorter time, so they could be advertising the Pass as ending sooner that it really will. So it could still just be going by language, but we won't know 'til they're released, unfortunately.

Hm, interesting...
I suppose we won't have to wait too long.
I'm fairly sure Australia will get the Liberty Pass event around the same time (if indeed it is region locked from now on) because Victini has been announced on the Australian Black and White website, encouraging visitors to "check back closer to release date" for details on how to get it.

It does seem likely that, however events are divided, Australia will also be getting the Pass... probably accessible from the day the games come out. That seems to be the trend... Japan, Europe, North America. The Victini event has been distributed from Day 1 everywhere.

What a good plan. Advertise and hold an event so people will have more motivation to dash out and buy the game on release day, brilliant plan, TCPi

Originally Posted by TM2-Megatron

No idea, as yet. To know for sure how games are divided, English games from at least 2 different regions will need to be compared after release. No doubt it will be discovered extremely quickly.

Advertising a different event window isn't really all that different from not advertising a Wi-Fi event in certain regions at all, despite the fact it's going on and completely accessible. So it could still just be going by language, but we won't know 'til they're released, unfortunately.

What it ultimately boils down to is what Nintendo in each particular region is trying to motivate their customers to do. Perhaps NoA wants more sales in a shorter time, so they could be advertising the Pass as ending sooner that it really will. NoA doesn't advertise the Wi-Fi Shiny Beasts on the American & Canada Pokemon sites because they want their customers to go out to Gamestop to get them (if nobody did and everyone just waited for the Wi-Fi Beasts, the whole effort would be wasted); this could be a similar thing.

Well, even the Ranger games, which were locked by region, had events ending on the same date in America and Europe; despite starting on different days. That was a different company that did the programming, and the events still ended on the same days.

I highly doubt Nintendo are going to do something that crazy to get MORE sales; after all, Black & White are currently the most pre-ordered game in the United States.

If someone can get an advance U.S. copy of Black or White on 4th/5th March and test it out, then we can be 100%, but I'd say it's looking highly likely that they are based on region now.

I don't see how it's similar to the Beast situation; especially as Europe might also be getting Victini via retail event as well (With the announcement of our Victini event, there was a picture of a notice from a GAME store about Victini). If anything, it would have made more sense for the European event to end first, to advertise those.

Originally Posted by Ryu Shoji

I highly doubt Nintendo are after MORE sales; after all, Black & White are currently the most pre-Ordered game in the United States.

They're always after more sales, lol. Everyone always is. NoA will do whatever it feels is appropriate, probably with little to no consultation with other regions. I believe it's TPCi that determines the actual dates for events, though, so they probably just pass that information on to the Nintendo divisions who then decide how to market it in their respective regions.

Originally Posted by Ryu Shoji

If someone can get an advance U.S. copy of Black or White on 4th/5th March and test it out, then we can be 100%, but I'd say it's looking highly likely that they are based on region now.

Even if nobody gets any advance copy (personally, I think at least some copies of the games will probably leak in both regions before even the European release date), we'll probably know within a few hours.

Originally Posted by Ryu Shoji

I don't see how it's similar to the Beast situation; especially as Europe might also be getting Victini via retail event as well (With the announcement of our Victini event, there was a picture of a notice from a GAME store about Victini). If anything, it would have made more sense for the European event to end first, to advertise those.

I was just using the Beasts (and other Wi-Fi events before it) to emphasize that Nintendo in different regions doesn't always choose to advertise things the same way; and that could be what's happening here (or it could not). Nintendo could have announced the Wi-Fi Pikachu-colored Pichu or Shiny Beasts in North America, but they didn't. To do so would've been counter to their regional interests, even if a difference in advertising like that seems relatively unimportant to us.

Ultimately, I simply think it's a waste of time for Nintendo to break down Wi-Fi events by region; and in the long-term it's a waste of resources... if you can really consider it "regional", since Australia technically shares a region with the UK as far as the DSi is concerned.

Of course a Wondercard regional division wouldn't be able to make use of the DSi's region lock (the games are playable on older DS models, after all, and the DSi lock is void on those), so it would have to be implemented seperately in software. They would've had to have decided if they wanted to include Australia with Europe, North America, or just break it off entirely into a 3rd English region.

I think that would be more work for them then it's really worth to region lock the events. But like others have said, it'll be known fairly soon once someone obtains an advance american copy and attempts to download the ticket on the 4th or 5th.

Originally Posted by TM2-Megatron

Even if nobody gets any advance copy (personally, I think at least some copies of the games will probably leak in both regions before even the European release date), we'll probably know within a few hours.

Online retailers will almost definitely end up delivering games a day before release.

I was just using the Beasts (and other Wi-Fi events before it) to emphasize that Nintendo in different regions doesn't always choose to advertise things the same way; and that could be what's happening here (or it could not). Nintendo could have announced the Wi-Fi Pikachu-colored Pichu or Shiny Beasts in North America, but they didn't. To do so would've been counter to their regional interests, even if a difference in advertising like that seems relatively unimportant to us.

But there's a difference between denying something altogether, and denying a mere 12 days of something. Although the Ranger games were made by HAL Laboratory and not GameFreak, they still would come under TPCi, and they decided to have US and EU events end on the same date, although they started on different ones, and they were region blocked. To be honest, it doesn't make sense that Europe has another 12 days xD

Of course a Wondercard regional division wouldn't be able to make use of the DSi's region lock (the games are playable on older DS models, after all, and the DSi lock is void on those), so it would have to be implemented seperately in software. They would've had to have decided if they wanted to include Australia with Europe, North America, or just break it off entirely into a 3rd English region.

They may not region block it according to the DSi though; they could region block them in a way similar to the Ranger games (based on the version of the game). It could also turn out to be "Region Blocked unless you use a DS Lite" like running Black and White in general.

We'll find out in 29 days anyway.

Originally Posted by Ryu Shoji

But there's a difference between denying something altogether, and denying a mere 12 days of something. Although the Ranger games were made by HAL Laboratory and not GameFreak, they still would come under TPCi, and they decided to have US and EU events end on the same date, although they started on different ones, and they were region blocked. To be honest, it doesn't make sense that Europe has another 12 days xD

A slight difference, but not really that much of one. If you want an even closer example of a difference in how regional divisions choose to market the what's essentially the same thing, take Ash's Pikachu in North America. The American event is ongoing now, and will end on the 13th. The Canadian event, otherwise identical, doesn't begin until the 9th, and runs to the 20th.

What's the point of that? Honestly, I have no clue. I really doubt, somehow, that Nintendo manufactured two sets of distribution cartridges with different date windows and issued one to US TRUs and the other to Canadian ones. What's more likely is that all TRUs in both countries have the same cartridge, programmed with an event window of Jan. 30th to February 20th. For whatever reason, which I don't imagine Nintendo will ever deem necessary to reveal, they chose to run the events in the US and Canada with different (albeit slightly overlapping in the middle) dates.