Even though I understand why companies would want to do this, I don't agree.
That wouldn't push me away from a console, though. I think that's quite harsh.

No, like miz1q2w3e said.

Why would any gamer be okay with that?

Yeah I do believe Sora no Kiseki (Trails in the Sky) first chapter was released outside Japan, but gathered little sales... it's also a shame because the first chapter in the series was only an introduction and had very light plot. It was a little boring for much of the game, and I'm sure there are people who got turned off from the series by it. The second and third chapters are absolutely amazing, though, as well as the continuation games, Zero no Kiseki, Ao no Kiseki, and now Sen no Kiseki. Sen is the first to go full 3D in a huge departure from Falcom's normal standard.

I think the main problem is that since all these games are linked, it would be necessary to localize all of them in order, and the huge amounts of text in each game simply make it not worth anyone's while to translate for the expected sales. Ys has very little text, although Celceta took a pretty big departure from that and gave it a decently long story.

FUCK NO.

i support region locking if that makes Nintendo earn more (well deserved) money

Nope.

I've only recently started importing stuff. I like having the option to do it for Japanese games, but it's mostly just for stuff that reached the USA but never came to Europe.

It's a shame the PS1 & 2 were region locked, really. There's a number of JRPG's (not least Wild ARMs 2 & Alter Code F), which were released in the USA but not here which I would have really loved to have played, and it seems nowardays that if something comes to the USA - it comes to Europe as well (generally). Thankfully, I've been able to play Wild ARMs 2 by making a US PSN account.

I'm waiting with baited breath to see if Ys: Celceta and Muramasa come in physical form to Europe, though. If not, I'll be importing again!

Hell to the no.

I know why they do it, but it just shows that the old distribution model hasn't adapted to a more globalized economy. I've done a fair share of international travel and it was a pain in the ass. Why should I have to buy the exact same device twice? I also have no moral objection to modding / hacking a console to circumvent this practice.

Ultimately, I just feel like it's a way of saying, "We don't want your money" based on what part of the world you live. Just think if these obscure jRPGs could just have an English subtitle track without wasting money on VA. It probably wouldn't be such a bad business plan.

It's used more for marketing control than anything, so I can't support it....

However, I've found it to be one of the smaller concerns, after my plight to move to a universal television standard. I remember back in the mid 90s that they promised that DVD was going to be the first video standard that could be played anywhere in the world...

....that is, until the MPAA had their say on the matter, and we got stuck with Region locking...