Brazil's high tariffs on video game consoles have driven Nintendo out of the market and there will be no wiiing in that country.

Nintendo of America attributed the move to "high import duties that apply to our sector." Nintendo could avoid those duties by setting up a local manufacturing operation, but has chosen not to establish one because that costs too much.

Confusingly the company's distributor for Latin America would no longer send products to Brazil, but it would continue to distribute Nintendo goods in the region.
"Brazil is an important market for Nintendo and home to many passionate fans, but unfortunately, challenges in the local business environment have made our current distribution model in the country unsustainable," the company said.

"These challenges include high import duties that apply to our sector and our decision not to have a local manufacturing operation. We will continue to monitor the evolution of the business environment and evaluate how best to serve our Brazilian fans in the future."

Brazil also has some daft banking regulations which made digital purchases on the Wii U problematic.

Brazil's high tariffs on video games have driven up the price of the PlayStation 4 to $1,500, while an Xbox One, which Microsoft manufactures in Brazil "only" costs $800.