I looked into the wii thing a bit and I don’t think it was the R4s and what not that had them not release the wii in Korea (at least not until 2019 for some odd reason). They released it in Brazil for shits sake, if risk of piracy was an issue I don’t think they would have. I think the reason they did not release in Korea in a timely was just an odd choice (the wii had a few of them) and I would assume the same rational for the gamecube also not releasing in Korea. If it had something to do with piracy then I can assure you places like Brazil (November 26, 2013), Mexico (November 29, 2012) or South Africa (November 30, 2012) would also not see these consoles.
Actually now that I am thinking on it did South Korea not until fairly recently have a ban on Japanese electronics or media? Maybe the old Japan/Korea relations play a role in Nintendo’s neglect?
This whole rabbit hole was neat, and thanks for that. However I do think this is a great example of a folk tale or rumour becoming the foundation of an idea that is just not actually true but feels true. And in time these examples used over and over become accepted as true, like the effectiveness of allied bombing in ww2 or that Margret Thatcher somehow invented soft-serve ice cream 20 years after it became popular. I don’t think piracy is always harmless, but honestly in the grand picture of the world today I would say it is mostly harmless and so far down the list of “things to solve”. Re-esablishing basic property rights to non rich people is much higher and even then I doubt it is in the top 100.
Maybe the old Japan/Korea relations play a role in Nintendo’s neglect?
While I don’t doubt that that could also be part of the reason it never released here, it is a fact that the DS sold more hardware than games here in 2007.
In South Korea, many video game consumers exploit illegal copies of video games, including the DS. In 2007, over 500,000 copies of DS games were sold, while the sales of the DS hardware units was 800,000.
I looked into the wii thing a bit and I don’t think it was the R4s and what not that had them not release the wii in Korea (at least not until 2019 for some odd reason). They released it in Brazil for shits sake, if risk of piracy was an issue I don’t think they would have. I think the reason they did not release in Korea in a timely was just an odd choice (the wii had a few of them) and I would assume the same rational for the gamecube also not releasing in Korea. If it had something to do with piracy then I can assure you places like Brazil (November 26, 2013), Mexico (November 29, 2012) or South Africa (November 30, 2012) would also not see these consoles.
Actually now that I am thinking on it did South Korea not until fairly recently have a ban on Japanese electronics or media? Maybe the old Japan/Korea relations play a role in Nintendo’s neglect?
This whole rabbit hole was neat, and thanks for that. However I do think this is a great example of a folk tale or rumour becoming the foundation of an idea that is just not actually true but feels true. And in time these examples used over and over become accepted as true, like the effectiveness of allied bombing in ww2 or that Margret Thatcher somehow invented soft-serve ice cream 20 years after it became popular. I don’t think piracy is always harmless, but honestly in the grand picture of the world today I would say it is mostly harmless and so far down the list of “things to solve”. Re-esablishing basic property rights to non rich people is much higher and even then I doubt it is in the top 100.
While I don’t doubt that that could also be part of the reason it never released here, it is a fact that the DS sold more hardware than games here in 2007.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS
And yeah, as far as issues plaguing the world today, software piracy is pretty far down the list of ones that need immediate attention.