I am heading to Japan on the 28th of November, about a month after the expected release of the DS (November 1st). One of the highlights of my trip other than the fact that I'm going to Japan, riding a bullet train and probably watching FC Tokyo play a footie match will be if I can pick up the Nintendo DSi. That was until I read this article.

You see, the Nintendo DSi will be region locked. So those of us interested in importing the unit from Japan will not get to experience the US games when they come out in 2009. It might not be a big deal, but it essentially makes the unit useless for those who either a) can't speak and read Japanese and/or 2) can't afford to import games.

It's kind of interesting as to the reasons behind the region locking, it seems the actual reason is piracy, though they never actually say that. Nintendo states that the reason is that the embedded net communications will be tailored for each specific region. Also, because the unit will have Parental controls, the fact that each region have different age restrictions, they want the unit to work properly. The regular internet cababilities and photo sharing will still work regardless of where you are, but the core reason for the unit (downloadable games) will not work if you own the Japanese unit and want to play a US title.

So while you will still be able to play current and future DS titles, anything DSi specific will have to be purchased from the same region. Chances are there will be hacks/mods available, but those who had problems with the Wii's similar restrictions will more than likely also encounter problems down the road.

I was really eager to pick this up, but now I really have to re-think my purchase. I am learning Japanese, but I doubt I will have enough knowledge before April 2009 to make sense of a 200 dollar purchase (or more, since I will probably buy some games). I was hoping to also write about the unit for my work on gamefocus.ca, so I may just buy it for the fact that I can say 'I own a DSi and you don't!'

I was browsing NeoJedi's endsights.com site when I caught a link to yet another game-site called www.gamefocus.ca, which boasts that it was the only true Canadian Gaming site. Considering I live in Canada and it sounded interesting, I hit the link and started browsing.

I was on the site, reading some stuff and joined the forum when I noticed they were looking for writers. I applied and linked my reviews from my blog site (tastygames.blogspot.com). The guys that ran the site got back to me and I was offered a 'job' with the site doing news and reviews. It doesn't pay anything, but I get to now write videogame reviews that will factor into MetaCritic scores.

My first two reviews are two very different games. My first review which is almost complete is for NHL 09. While I can't give it away, I can say I am happy with the game. As for my second review, it is Castle Crashers. I got the code for the game last night and I only began playing it. I really enjoy it but there is one problem...no one on my Friend's list is playing the online portion of the game.

I hope the game is popular online because I will need to play the online portion to some degree before I can review it.

If you're Canadian, I suggest you check out the site. If you're not Canadian, check ito ut anyway. Becuase it is also a french site, we're getting Developer Diaries with the guys at Ubisoft Montreal (meaning there is some Prince of Persia material on the site).

It's still in its infancy (it's been around since the beginning of the year). It was originally a french-language site, so there is still some french on certain pages but we hope to get that fixed over the next few months. It just goes to show that there are plenty of quality videogame sites outside of G-Spot, IGN and 1up...we just don't have the budget they do.