Europe is one of the most consumer friendly regimes in the world, so it makes sense that they would be among the first to call someone out on their digital rights policy, were it found lacking. And Nintendo’s is definitely lacking.
Specifically, if you pre-order a game digitally on the Nintendo eShop, you can’t actually get a refund on it from within the store- and this, according to The Norwegian Consumer Council, is not acceptable. It is, in fact, apparently in contravention of EU laws.
“They have to change how they do things,” said Thomas Iversen of the NCC. “They have to follow the rules and clearly show how the consumer can proceed if they want to cancel a pre-order. No matter what their policies are on pre-orders or refunds, the right of withdrawal is always applicable before the game is released.”
I… have to say I agree with them on this. I hope that enough noise is made on this that Nintendo is forced to change its digital right policy going forward. And not just Nintendo, either- everyone offering better digital options to consumers would be something that would be, in the end, greatly appreciated by everyone, I am sure.
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