Nintendo puts up Brawl PAL release date, yanks it down again, denies everything
by Chris Greenhough 
{ Jan 31st 2008 at 10:30AM }
With Japan fretting over possible shortages of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and North America absorbing the frustration of the game's delay, there's nothing like the ongoing suffering of PAL gamers to keep things in perspective. Forget shortages or delays -- here in PAL land, we don't even have a release date yet.That seemed to change yesterday, after Brawl's page at Nintendo's UK site was sensationally updated with a release date of June 1st. CVG just so happened to be hanging around there at the time, and so wisely screencapped the date for posterity. This proved to be an astute move, as the page now displays -- surprise! -- a far more vague "2008."
What's more, Nintendo this morning denied the whole thing to Eurogamer, pointing out that June 1st is a Sunday, and that the appearance of the date was a simple mistake. Do we believe them, readers? Well, we suppose we have to, but a June release hardly seems far-fetched, either.
Read: News of the date's initial appearance
Read: Nintendo's official denial
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nigeria @ Jan 31st 2008 11:03AM
June.
JUNE!
Are us Europeans about to be shafted again?
The forecast points to yes.
I really wish Sega came back into the hardware business.
Axel231 @ Feb 4th 2008 4:16PM
PLEASE.. I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO PLAY BRAWL EVEN IF IT IS ILLEGAL INEED TO KNOW A WAY.. PLEASE MAKE SURE THIS IS A LEGITIMET WAY ANDTHAT IT CAN ACTUALLY BE DONE BY AN IDIOT LIKE MYSELF
resorting to drastic measures for a game that should have been released globaly a year ago
simonclone @ Jan 31st 2008 11:04AM
"pointing out that June 1st is a Sunday"
Isn't March 9th also a Sunday?
sn1per @ Jan 31st 2008 11:36AM
Yes it is. Which probably means that Nintendo just didn't want to officially announce a date until they're sure they can deliver on time.
Jayenkai @ Jan 31st 2008 11:19AM
*insert your own 10,000 word expletive here*
God damnit...
*waits*
Gob_Bluth @ Jan 31st 2008 6:44PM
hey man, watch the language
absorbation @ Jan 31st 2008 4:16PM
According to amazon.co.uk the release it set for April 30, 2008.
Greg2k @ Jan 31st 2008 11:33AM
So I guess I know have a somewhat legitimate reason to go out, get a modchip, download the JAP or US version of Brawl from BitTorrent, and play that until Brawl comes out here.
If Nintendo doesn't want this to happen they could release their games all around the world at the same time. Both Sony and Microsoft do this, and with heavier translation involved (I mean HOW hard can it be to translate fucking BRAWL?).
If Nintendo doesn't change their PAL release policy I'm getting my next system in the US and buying NTSC games.
That shouldn't have to happen.
xeleion @ Jan 31st 2008 11:53AM
Sorry European gamers... I know I couldn't wait until June. I couldn't even wait until March; I broke down and imported. :/
The Wii should have been region free.
Greg2k @ Jan 31st 2008 11:35AM
OK change know to "now" and add a couple of tags =P
mail @ Jan 31st 2008 12:05PM
So I game I first knew about in 2004, saw the first video about in 2005 is not out for 4 years and even then it half way through the year!!
I've had this on pre-order since 1 December 2006 - COME ON NINTENDO - WAKE UP!!
We want games when they are finished (like japan is getting it very shortly), Why do we have to wait while the rest of the world have fun? The globe deserves games all at the same time. Same goes for movies as well, but that's a different subject
Perverted @ Jan 31st 2008 12:27PM
***$%&(*&**!!!!!!
F**K I hate this news!! My brittish heart was broken, i wa shoping for an April release! well if i get confirmation that a JPN Brawl will work on a chipped wii I will download it.....If it doesn't then....I'll probably end up killing myself or someone else so I still get to play brawl eventually...from jail....while being a**e r****d.....
Greg2k @ Jan 31st 2008 12:45PM
You mean arse raped? It's with one "p".
Smoke @ Jan 31st 2008 12:44PM
There's hope still. NoE never releases on sundays, but on fridays. It's very possible that this was just a mistake.
Still, it's gonna be a long wait.
Greg2k @ Jan 31st 2008 12:49PM
Yeah, so maybe we'll get it on May 30th.
Cameron @ Jan 31st 2008 2:13PM
Well its no doubt that by the time the game is officially released in the U.S., Gamers overseas will have already been playing for a month straight, and they will be the guys who spank us in every match and make the online multiplayer not fun. This straight sucks. Thanks Nintendo for giving us the old screwgie. I freakin need a drink.
FantomRedux @ Jan 31st 2008 2:43PM
The guys in GAME told me it was due on May 1st, which is a Thursday. Even though most games come out Friday here, Halo 3 came out on a Wednesday, so it's completely possible Brawl could come out on a Thursday.
Ashley Boyd @ Jan 31st 2008 3:50PM
Halo 3 came out on a Weds because Fifa and something else was out that day...I forget what exactly. Need for Speed maybe. Anyway.
But don't believe Game employees. They're idiots. I should know. I work there. I hear my colleagues say stuff and feel like asking them "exactly how far into your arse did you have to reach to pull that out?"
Ashley Boyd @ Jan 31st 2008 3:52PM
By "out that day" I meant out that Friday sorry. Thus they pushed it forward for less competition.
uber1337h4xx0r @ Feb 1st 2008 6:20PM
[insert smash bros melee Link taunt sigh] Eh....
I have to agree with Simon. I mean, behold as I translate about 70% of the game from English into German:
Ready - [eh... I forgot :P]
Go! - Geht!
Three! - Drei
Two! - Zwei!
One! - Ein
TIME UP! - Zeit Ab!
SUPER SMASH BROS: Uber Smashen Bruderen
Ok... So it's not perfect, but that's pretty much the whole freakin' game! Sure, the menus need a little work, but it's not that hard to pick up three random people who each speak English + German or British or French or Italian, and to tell them: here's some menus in American English, and here's $200. Translate the menus, and you keep the $200.
Sheesh. I'll tell you what it's about: they're trying to perfect their anti piracy techniques. If they really cared about us, they'd freakin' give us Ryu or Megaman or a Belmont. Heck, even Earthworm Jim sounds good compared to Lucario, or whoever that weird pokemon that replaced Mewtwo is called (I stopped caring after the second generation of pokemon).
Simon @ Jan 31st 2008 10:56PM
i am nearly at my last straw... exactly what is so hard from translating american english to brittish english ?
is nintendo trying to force us to buy modchips? cuz i know alot of people who are at this point... we havnt even got zak and wiki yet!
The least they could do is provide an explaination as to why there is this staggered release. perhaps wiifanboy can do a feature on PAL delays and actually interview someone at nintendo for it ?
Nigeria @ Feb 1st 2008 6:00AM
Assuming you're living in a Pal region, Zack & Wiki has been out for a good two weeks now.
I've seen it on discount already. If you're lucky you could score a £20 copy.
Like my Nights:)
Smoke @ Feb 1st 2008 9:41AM
Europe doesn't just speak English. The game has to be translated in German, French, Spanish, Italian and possibly several other major European languages before it can be released. See the amount of languages you can set your Wii and other games to be in? THAT's what tends to delay a PAL game. Not to mention potential voice acting changes and other minor things.
hvnlysoldr @ Feb 1st 2008 12:48AM
Cool. June has a Friday the 13th.
MasterBalls @ Feb 2nd 2008 6:26AM
This is dissapointing. I hate being in Europe, and I say that for the first time. We have to wait while Germany, France and Russia have to get lines of text translated while they could change "Mario sat on the couch" to "Mario sat on the sofa". Do they bother doing that with American TV? No. And we still know what they're going on about. Besides Nintendo, this isn't Kingdom Hearts. The only dialouge I can remember seeing on Subpace Emissary is the character names, and I think that only needs a change for the Pokemon anyway.
So it isn't becuase Nintendo can't change the dialouge in a small amount of time; it's because it doesnt want to. It's seeing if any of the third party shit from the post holiday season can be shifted, and waiting to see if they can milk any more cash out of Metroid 3 and Galaxy before they DARE bring out another first party title. What happened to you Nintendo mann? You used to be cool.
Juliano @ Feb 1st 2008 9:38AM
Thx alot Nintendo, you released super mario galaxy 3 days after US and now is bitching with your most popular fanchise: SSBB... Now how long do we have to wait to play? 3 Months, that would be awesome, when we finally get the game we will be all pwoned by the people who's been training since january (or march)
esupio @ Feb 1st 2008 1:33PM
Its a perfectly good excuse.
Us europeans usually have games released on either mondays or fridays.
with rare occurances like halo 3 releasing on other days.
Magdalena @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:44AM
I wouldnt worry so much about getting smacked up online, s'what the older Melee will be useful for while we're forced to wait, and we wouldnt need to adjust much. But the fact Nintendo screws Europe and more importantly, the UK, over the best games baffles me. I also agreed about the whole translation thing in Brawl, no characters really have name changes and even then they're in English characters, like Koopa for example. Heck, the announcer is in English in the Japanese game so why do they pin the blame on ''it takes time to translate". Nintendo either really hates Europe by always stopping mod chips and importing and delaying such games, or they're just dizzy with all the cash they rake in from such franchises and cant screw their heads on straight.
Hermit_UK @ Feb 4th 2008 4:53AM
Yeah, it's made so much worse by their refusal to even give a release date for the game. If they came out and said May or June it'd suck, but at least we'd know. Still, they need to stop treating Europe like some backwater swamp - how hard is it to pull in the translation teams a couple of months before completion, so that the European release is ready same time as the US one? Nintendo are pretty much printing money at the moment, they should do something with it.
My current thinking is that if we're still none the wiser by the US release I'll just chip my Wii and play a pirated copy until the PAL version comes out. Which also means in the long run Nintendo lose out, but it's really thier own fault.
Indie @ Feb 4th 2008 8:57PM
Nintendo realises how crappy this is for us, but they also know we'll still buy it when they eventually do release it.
And thats the annoying part. No matter how much it sucks, no amount of protest is gonna make a difference.
AdaM @ Feb 17th 2008 12:11AM
i've been getting different answers from everyone (in australia)
local EB: april
another EB: no release
official pal releases: 3rd quarter
on the whole translating thing. its crap, most of the jap game is in english and i doubt any translations etc wouldnt be any different. its all part of nintendos strategy to milk as much money out of us globally as possible so they have to hold it off from somewhere and since jap is NTSC and where all the good games are made they have to release them there first...which means all PAL regions are last... which means we get screwed over every time
if it was released worldwide no one would buy nights or zack and wiki...in fact i didnt even know about Z&W at all until i saw it on the net so even that is unreleased here..
im guessing the whole june 1st thing WAS the release date which some retard nintendo employee accidentally put up, which is why theyre covering it all over. so anywhere between late may and august would make sense
to be honest we have like 30 games out for the wii in most stores and even with so little games, the wii and ds are both sold out mid february from back before christmas. if sales keep going the way they are nintendo will hold SSBB off as long as possible