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[Xater]

why are you so angry? if you live japan and speak japanese you can buy japanese games?

Some stuff is not released in Japan and/or takes longer to be released there. English is probably still easier as it is his native language.

 

[Shiggy]

Yeah but its awesome importing games from the states when their dollar is fucked.

It's enough when the British Pound is

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Bolocking shit Well, I guess that it's good that we have confirmation at least.

The only reason why they introduced region locking is because of their downloadable games. I guess that it's the best we can hope for really. Unless they force every user to sign up for online accounts (which they would never do since it erects a significant barrier to entry for users), the only other way they can restrict regional content is through IP blocking and that would be the worst possible scenario.

At least I know that I'll be able to keep getting my downloadable games without issue (I live in the UK and import my games/consoles from the US)

 

[shas'la]

I have about 20 JP DS games, as do most of my other euro friends, i dunno what the math is, but I'm sure nintendo just lost some kind of sales right?

 

[Acosta]

Nope. I really don't think so. Obviously each charger unit will be different due to the varying currents in each region, but the actual input on the 3DS will be the same no matter what. And we already know it's the same charger as the DSi, from the leaked chinese thief dude's images.

Just do what I did for my XL and buy a DS-USB adapter. Success. Works everywhere in the world, and a USB to AC adapter (like you use for the ipod) is worth barely a couple of quid no matter where you are in the world.

Well, PSP had an universal power charger (voltage wise), so it shouldn't be that way, but I guess that marvellous technology hasn't reached to Nintendo HQ.

I any case thanks to you and Stump, I didn't know there was an USB charger for DSi, so that could solve the problem indeed.

 

[mrklaw]

If we're lucky the 3DS cradle will be USB-charging or there'll be a third party one shortly after release so that should knock out that issue at least.

didn't someone say it uses the same charger as the DSi? And you can always buy a local charger as an accessory if necessary.

One other negative about out of region purchasing, is not being able to easily trade them in.

 

[Stumpokapow]

why are you so angry? if you live in japan and speak japanese you can buy japanese games?

I'm totally bilingual but I would prefer to play games in my native language. It doesn't mean I can't play games in my second language. I could. I would if there was something exclusive to that language. But in general, I'd rather play them in my native language.

This isn't like a shocking or unreasonable request. No one is asking for companies to go out of their way to support importers, simply to not actively block them from doing what they've been doing for a decade.

 

[Cheesemeister]

why are you so angry? if you live in japan and speak japanese you can buy japanese games?

Yes, but I also want to play some English-language games, too. My DS collection is about half-and-half.

 

[tzare]

To be totally honest, I think it'll be the flashcart makers before anyone else. But that's a discussion for another thread.

All I can say is that I'm so glad I'm not a gamer in Australia right now...poor guys.

that is the point. I mean, if i still own my japanese GBA and my japanese copy of fzero, as my japanese Mario KArt DS, which if DS had been region locked i could not have played when i changed my japanese phat for a lite.
Sure, launch is pretty close for all countries and hopefully software will be available too, but it is nonsense. Even ps3 is region free. That was the way things were supposed to go.

 

[syoaran]

This sucks because I'm British, living in the Uk and studying in Korea - so even if I bought two 3DS's, id get the slowest turn around of software and the least amount of it - historically speaking.

I remember a kanji translation game that came out Towards the start of the dslite's life cycle and became the most imported game on play asia for the best part of the year, now these companies have no reason to support the system in anyway.

 

[mclem]

Oh god, never noticed the Etrian Oddessy games not coming out here in the UK.

Gah, didnt think it was that bad.

The very first one did. Eventually. No sign of the sequels.

(Of course, by that time, I'd already imported)

 

[Foffy]

I don't know if they will be able to crack it at all. As far as I know, the most they've been able to do with DSi is make the standard DS mode work on "homebrew" carts.

In one hand this pisses me off very much, as around half my DS collection are either obscure games not likely to be released on Europe (even though all of them eventually did) or games that not only I could get months earlier from USA, but also at almost half the price even taking shipping into account. In the other hand, maybe if the console remains unhacked, this can be a great incentive to localise obscure games and do quicker price drops in software due to increased sales.

There is more progress on DSi hacking lately. IIRC, there are cards that can potentially run DSi software. I think one of the reasons nobody really tackled the DSi is that all of the new features weren't compelling to hackers. It's like the PSP scene going after PSP Minis or something. Hacking a device to play a small service of downloadable games with very few gems is quite different than having a device that can only play only one type of version of all games released on the 3DS, depending on the region.

The flashcard scene on the DS is very likely to jump ship to the 3DS, and I think a number of hackers are going to as well, if only to open the device with this barrier in place.

 

[Pureauthor]

Ahem.

Fuck you, Nintendo. I, for one, will be waiting for homebrew.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I remember one of the coolest gifts I ever got was the navy blue Japanese DS Lite, three months before the black and white systems launched in America. And I was able to play all my American games on it for the rest of its life.

Guess nothing like that will ever happen again, especially since Nintendo will keep the release dates of the 3DS in each region months apart again!

 

[Tempy]

I don't know if they will be able to crack it at all. As far as I know, the most they've been able to do with DSi is make the standard DS mode work on "homebrew" carts.

I think DSi itself might not have been cracked since there are so few DSi exclusives (not sure if the hackers hacked DSi "enhanced" titles), and it wasn't very interesting to hack. There's probably gonna be more effort in hacking the 3DS.

 

[MrBelmontvedere]

not a big deal to me. Japan has some cool games (RPGs) but if they aren't translated and released in the west, I wouldn't be playing them anyway.

 

[farnham]

This sucks because I'm British, living in the Uk and studying in Korea - so even if I bought two 3DS's, id get the slowest turn around of software and the least amount of it - historically speaking.

I remember a kanji translation game that came out Towards the start of the dslite's life cycle and became the most imported game on play asia for the best part of the year, now these companies have no reason to support the system in anyway.

korean software situation is laughable

if you have a korean wii you are basically screwed as you only get like half of the first party releases like 2 years later (they recently got smashbros) not even wiibrew works on that system

and 3ds will probably be similar to that

not a big deal to me. Japan has some cool games (RPGs) but if they aren't translated and released in the west, I wouldn't be playing them anyway.

what about those games that need little language skill to play (ouendan for example)

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

PAL 3DS. Purely because it's much less hassle if it breaks or anything. Hopefully it'll be hacked to be region free relatively quickly.

For those not in the know, Nintendo of Europe will service US and JPN consoles. I had a friend who has a US Wii, it had a faulty disc drive. Not only did NOE offer to fix it, they also said that if it couldn't be fixed, they would ship one from the USA and transfer all of his downloaded content at no extra charge.

Nintendo are well aware that plenty of people import their consoles. Hell they sell import games on the VC!

 

[Bankoiia]

So... backwards.

Will probably buy

Spoiler

three.

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

not a big deal to me. Japan has some cool games (RPGs) but if they aren't translated and released in the west, I wouldn't be playing them anyway.

Exactly how I feel.

 

[Foffy]

not a big deal to me. Japan has some cool games (RPGs) but if they aren't translated and released in the west, I wouldn't be playing them anyway.

Fan-translations. Have you heard of them?

That's something that will eventually happen on the 3DS too, but that scene usually kicks in during the golden age of systems lifespan now.

 

[hamchan]

I import from the UK, US, Japan, so this really bones me. I'm happy after watching the GSL but still, once again, FUCK YOU NINTENDO.

 

[jarosh]

EU:
+ Several exclusive English language games
+ Dirt cheap week one sales if you're in the UK
- Significantly higher software pricing if not
- Many US games not localized

JPN:
+ Largest software library
+ First releases
- Very high cost for importing games if you're not in Japan
- Many US games not localized
- Japanese language required

USA:
+ Largest English language library
+ Lowest day one prices across all software
- NOA and select third parties suck at localizing stuff

With a bonus if you're out of region:
- No warranty support
- Shipping cost to import games
- Possibility of getting burned by having to import an expensive copy of a game that's cheap in-region

*sigh*

yeah. i feel you. and i'm sure there's actually quite a few more examples of ds games that were never released in europe. first one that comes to mind is retro game challenge, which i had to import. vice versa there's giana sisters ds (one of the best platformers on the system) and the virtually unknown but totally awesome bomberman 2 ds, both of which were only released in europe.

i don't think the "significantly higher software price if you're in europe but not in the uk" on your list actually matters or really even applies to most of europe btw. most people can EASILY order games from the uk and they are (much) cheaper than in the us 99% of the time and once they drop in price (which usually happens in a matter of days or weeks)... oh boy. plus shipping is usually very cheap too.

it's a shame that i might have to buy a second 3ds system just to be able to play some really interesting games that are never released in my region. this is the first time that i'm actively hoping for a quick hack of a handheld system. but i fear that with a stronger focus on online features and firmware updates a hacked system will be more of a hassle to deal with than in the past.

 

[Pyrokai]

Serious Question: Are Microsoft and Sony good with this sort of thing or something? I know the PSP isn't region locked (for games, at least) but are all their other consoles? Isn't everyone region coding their systems these days?

 

[Shiggy]

yeah. i feel you. and i'm sure there's actually quite a few more examples of ds games that were never released in europe. first one that comes to mind is retro game challenge, which i had to import. and then there's giana sisters ds (one of the best platformers on the system) and the virtually unknown but totally awesome bomberman 2 ds, both of which were only released in europe.

Did you mix that up? Giana Sisters DS was made by a German developer and first released over here.

 

[jarosh]

Serious Question: Are Microsoft and Sony good with this sort of thing or something? I know the PSP isn't region locked (for games, at least) but are all their other consoles? Isn't everyone region coding their systems these days?

ps3 games are almost all region free. 360 is hit or miss, most releases are locked, but quite a few aren't.

Did you mix that up? Giana Sisters DS was made by a German developer and first released over here.

you should re-read that:

giana sisters ds (one of the best platformers on the system) and the virtually unknown but totally awesome bomberman 2 ds, both of which were only released in europe.

(but i stealth edited anyway to clarify)

 

[Augemitbutter]

i have not hacked my PSP to this day and i have no reason to temper with my DS either.

but now i'll have to wait for a hacked 3DSL. very weak move nintendo.

 

[Anth0ny]

Agh, this sucks. Homebrew will fix this.

And homebrew will come.

 

[hamchan]

Serious Question: Are Microsoft and Sony good with this sort of thing or something? I know the PSP isn't region locked (for games, at least) but are all their other consoles? Isn't everyone region coding their systems these days?

PSP and PS3 are region free (for games).
The 360 is weird, some games are region free, some games aren't. Have to consult a big list to check whenever I want to import.

Either way it's better than the shit Nintendo is doing here.

 

[Xater]

Serious Question: Are Microsoft and Sony good with this sort of thing or something? I know the PSP isn't region locked (for games, at least) but are all their other consoles? Isn't everyone region coding their systems these days?

Sony is great about it. PSP and PS3 are not region locked except for movies.

Microsoft doesn't enforce region locking, it's up to the publisher to do it or not. I think most first party games on 360 are not region locked.

 

[Durante]

ps3 games are almost all region free. 360 is hit or miss, most releases are locked, but quite a few aren't.

Almost?

Anyway, this sucks. But I expected it from Nintendo (and I expect the same shit from post-Kutaragi Sony)

 

[tzare]

any chance that region lock will be decided by publishers themselves and not mandatory? like with 360, we may have a chance there.

 

[Boney]

Well with the Yen so high, I wasn't planning on getting anything from there until I can get a nice batch together in a couple of years, so this definately won't deter getting myself one, but this totally sucks. My excitement for this is all over the place since September, now maybe we'll get some good news to compensate.

I never really understood the practical reasons though. Is it to deal with retailers, costumers or what.

 

[TheLastCandle]

Personally, this doesn't effect me in the slightest. I do feel bad for you import-savvy folk though.

 

[Shiggy]

ps3 games are almost all region free. 360 is hit or miss, most releases are locked, but quite a few aren't.



you should re-read that:




(but i stealth edited anyway to clarify)

Don't know what happened there, sorry

 

[twdnewh_k]

How late are nintendo games to hit pal territories ?

 

[Datschge]

yeah no thanks nintendo. bye bye 3ds until region free homebrew is released.

.

*jumps off the hype train*

 

[OMG Aero]

Looks like no Atlus 3DS games for me

 

[Soulhouf]

We saw this coming. But still it is really disappointing
Nintendo handheld will never be the same again.
Hope that Sony won't follow the same path.

 

[Dave Long]

Gamers rage, no one else cares. News at 11.

 

[ataboada]

This also give us a hint of what their online set up will be like.

Absolutely. Friend codes will still be there and everyone will have the exact same reaction to that of this thread. There has been no mention of an online interface because there is nothing dedicated to that. 3DS is close to launch; you would think Nintendo would have hyped an enhanced online component by now.

 

[jarosh]

Almost?

are they all? for some reason i was under the impression that there were a handful of region locked games because sony left it up to the publisher as well. maybe i'm wrong.

 

[onken]

Almost?

Anyway, this sucks. But I expected it from Nintendo (and I expect the same shit from post-Kutaragi Sony)

The PS1 version of Tomb Raider I bought off the Euro store won't work on my JP PS3. I was under the impression that it was only a problem if you're trying to run it in SD, but apparently not :/

are they all? for some reason i was under the impression that there were a handful of region locked games because sony left it up to the publisher as well. maybe i'm wrong.

Every PS3 game is region free without exception, buying PAL PSX games on an NTSC machine can cause problems though (see above) though fine the other way around I believe.

 

[Pyrokai]

Aren't PS3 consoles region locked, though? What's the difference between locking a system and locking a game?

 

[Ushojax]

How late are nintendo games to hit pal territories ?

Depends. Some games won't ever be released in the EU (Glory of Heracles, Starfy, Chibi Robo Park Patrol), some will be localised exclusively in the EU (Last Window, Tingle) and some will take a fucking age to come out for no reason at all (Kirby Super Star Ultra - 1 year late) or have a translation that is massively inferior to the US release (Advance Wars Days of Ruin). It's a bit of a crapshoot.

With 3rd parties it's even worse, I expect PAL Atlus and Marvelous fans to have a lean generation. What's really annoying about this region locking is that you just know Nintendo is going to fuck around so that the StreetPass feature and other goodies don't work between different region consoles, so a US machine in the EU will miss out on lots of stuff. I'll probably end up getting a US console to start with and a cheap EU one after the prices go down a bit.

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

are they all? for some reason i was under the impression that there were a handful of region locked games because sony left it up to the publisher as well. maybe i'm wrong.

IIRC, there was one recently where it was rumoured to be region locked because it was on 360 but in the end it was region free on PS3. Can't remember which game it was though.

 

[Foffy]

How late are nintendo games to hit pal territories ?

It's very sporadic.

Super Smash Bros Brawl:
Japan - January 31, 2008
North America - March 9, 2008
Australia - June 26, 2008
Europe - June 27, 2008

Kirby's Epic Yarn:
Japan - October 14, 2010
North America - October 17, 2010
Europe - February 25, 2011 (!!)

Mario Sports Mix:
Japan - November 25, 2010
Australia - January 27, 2011
Europe - January 28, 2011
United Kingdom - February 4, 2011
North America - February 7, 2011

And of course, there's the games that Europe never gets, which could just be a list sad enough it'd make anybody cry.

 

[El-Suave]

The DS has been doing so well in Europe (and in the higher priced countries within Europe) it should have demonstrated to Nintendo that they don't really need region codes. I really don't get why they see the need for it at least as far as the US/Europe(Aus)/Japan territories are concerned. Don't know about the rest of Asia and the other regions tough.

 

[Kafel]

bye bye 3DS

 

[dallow_bg]

Because bitching about a feature they won't ever use is more fun then not bitching (just like backwards compatibility)

I can't believe how much you defend this when there's no reason to.