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Famitsu: Wii U region-lock confirmed

Pity for the consumers who cares about this for sure. I dont import many games myself, but i dont mind to have region free of course. I recently imported Dokuro for Vita, and it is good that i could play that without any problems. But i also understand the business decition behind region locking, even if it can suck for the consumer.

There are no problems with imported Vita games as long as you purchase multiple memory cards. I see this as fair since if you want the feature then you pay for it.
 

kaioshade

Member
I'm not used to it. Sony is passed it for their last three consoles, and MS doesn't mandate. It's only nintendo that's stuck in the old ways.

Playstation, and Playstation 2 were both region locked.

If anything Nintendo has a better history with their hardware being region free. Every portable, Minus the 3DS was region free (yes i know dsi, but it didnt block DS games)

Microsoft is somewhere in the middle.
 
There are no problems with imported Vita games as long as you purchase multiple memory cards. I see this as fair since if you want the feature then you pay for it.

That's unfair. That's the MS way of doing things, making you pay for something stupid like changing your screen name. It would be like having to purchase a separate hdd to play imported ps3 games.

Playstation, and Playstation 2 were both region locked.

If anything Nintendo has a better history with their hardware being region free. Every portable, Minus the 3DS was region free (yes i know dsi, but it didnt block DS games)

Microsoft is somewhere in the middle.

And psp, ps3, and vita aren't. Hence, last three.

Can you name a single nintendo home console that wasn't region locked? Can you name a single current gen nintendo portable that isn't region locked? When it comes to the subject of region locking future consoles, history is not on nintendo's side. They used to have region free portables in the far past but have since changed that policy, that's all you can really say.
 
Playstation, and Playstation 2 were both region locked.

If anything Nintendo has a better history with their hardware being region free. Every portable, Minus the 3DS was region free (yes i know dsi, but it didnt block DS games)

Microsoft is somewhere in the middle.

And the PS3 can be region locked if publishers choose to. Not sure what he is talking about. The PS1 wasn't region locked if you used the lid trick but they fixed that hardware bug in the next revision.

Oh, the 3DO was not region locked.
 
That's unfair. That's the MS way of doing things, making you pay for something stupid like changing your screen name. It would be like having to purchase a separate hdd to play imported ps3 games.

Sony did it with the Vita, they may do that same thing with the PS4. Who knows.

Btw and Off topic, how does someone change their PSN name?

And psp, ps3, and vita aren't. Hence, last three.

As already pointed out, Sony allows games to be region locked on the PS3.

Nintendo always region locks there systems, this isn't anything new.

They didn't region lock their all time best selling system.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
I made it no secret that after SEGA left the console field that I pretty much embraced Nintendo and Sony.

With that said, region lock does affect me. For the Nintendo DS I had 10 games (about 23% of my gaming library) that was in Japanese. Once I picked up a 3DS XL, I was saddened because I would have bought Project Mirai from Sega along with my current lineup of games.

Once the 3DS starts picking up steam and securing more amazing Japanese exclusives, Nintendo's decision to go with a region lock will force me to buy a Japanese 3DS XL. That is 6-8 games that I would have bought that would be instead spent on Japanese hardware.

I am feeling the consequences of Nintendo's decision to go with a region lock on the 3DS, and should the Wii U be a huge success in Japan and gain many "must have" exclusives, I would be forced to make the same decisions that will ultimately mean that Nintendo and their 3rd party support gets less of my money since I would need to spend that money on JPN hardware.
 
And the PS3 can be region locked if publishers choose to. Not sure what he is talking about. The PS1 wasn't region locked if you used the lid trick but they fixed that hardware bug in the next revision.

Oh, the 3DO was not region locked.

Can you name a single region locked psp game? Can you name a single region locked vita game? Can you name more than a single region locked ps3 game?

That's what I'm talking about.

Probably cheaper to own a NA wiiU + Japanese WiiU then just a PS4

LOL, sure
 

Meelow

Banned
Sony did it with the Vita, they may do that same thing with the PS4. Who knows.

Btw and Off topic, how does someone change their PSN name?



As already pointed out, Sony allows games to be region locked on the PS3.



They didn't region lock their all time best selling system.

Yeah they did.
 

Li Kao

Member
.

Or, should I say, in Japanese: 。

There is no excuse for publishers to deny potential customers access to games in languages that they can read just because the customers don't reside in territories where those languages are primary.

The "sales rights in differing territories" arguments doesn't work. You can still buy books from any region in the world, in any language in the world, and have them on your shelf, can't you?

I have books published in North Korea on my desk. But according to Nintendo, I can't ever have a game from South Korea on my desk, because I should only be buying a Wii for Japan, the country where I live, and games that Nintendo allows to run on that Wii.

I suppose the next move is for internet providers to only allow people to read and post in the primary language of their territory. We could use IP adresses to check! Would that be something you pro-region-lock people wouldn't care about?

What is really, but really really sad man, is that you're partly wrong and we already live in that world you describe !
Speaking of books, the ebook side of things is already endangered. I'm french and when a big french publisher buy the rights to a book, sometimes amazon magically doesn't allow me to buy the original english ebook.
And on the web side of things, it has been years since I had been able to browse Ign, some fucker one day decided that living in europe, I was to read Ign.uk, nothing else.
What a wonderful world.
 

Rolf NB

Member
Btw and Off topic, how does someone change their PSN name?
You can't. All you can change is the local account name that's displayed in the login column. But it counts for nothing. Certainly not online. Half the games that display your name at all don't even respect this distinction and display your (immutable, forever constant) online name everywhere. It's total bullshit.
 

see5harp

Member
For those constantly referring to the NoE situation and their work this generation, the Wii had such a sorry state of titles in its later life that yes, only the first party published fare were what was to anticipate. But...

For those to dare to dream that their £300 launch console may actually be a success with fthird parties this time around, anticipate your very own Persona 4:Arena situation and more when third parties drop the ball and kick it into the sewers.

Did region locking have anything to do with third party support on wii or in turn result in third party success on ps3?

EDIT: sorry about the autocorrect that shit didn't make sense.
 

Acosta

Member
Keyword "was" as in past tense. If it was designed to be region free then every single game released for the system would have no region lock. Also, Blu-ray movies are region locked on the PS3 as well. I'm pointing out that you can't talk in absolutes and allow for exceptions.

There is one game in the whole catalogue that has region lock. One.

And I can buy any game from any of the three stores without problem.

Why don't you admit that Sony is doing good for importers and has a nice standard?
 
There's not that many people doing it, but the people defending the region lock by deflecting to other region locked systems is not a valid defense (why are you defending this again?). Like seriously I think that region locking should be made illegal in the United States
 

jimi_dini

Member
In principle there is nothing that prevents access to a downloadable game or free demo from a foreign store. They can be played on any PS3 with any account etc. That's very different to the IP block of VoD or Nintento's shops.

That's right.

Although creating a PSN account in a country, that you don't live in, is against Sony's ToS.
Which means Sony could theoretically just IP-lock everything and get away with it.

There should be only one PSN store, where you could buy everything from everywhere or at least they could just ask for the region, that you want to access w/o creating additional accounts all the time. I mean it should be: insert BluRay, buy DLC, works, done. Not: look up on the internet which DLCs from which PSN stores are compatible with the version of the game that you own, create PSN account, fiddle around with PSN cards or some crap, because they blocked creditcards.

In this case, PS3 really sucks. I buy a game in U.K. and I can't be sure, that I will be able to buy the DLC although I live in Europe, because Sony acts like "oh we will let you figure it out and if you are wrong, we will just keep your monies and you will have to buy it again from a different PSN store". The whole PS3 is full of this. 1080p? We will let you figure that out as well. Maybe the PS3 will output it in 1080p. Or it will deliver 720p and your TV should upscale it.

And buying PSN cards from eBay sucks. I don't want to risk being scammed.

I mean if you don't mind all the hassle and still consider it totally region free, one could also say that BluRays are not really region-locked either, because you could just buy a region A and a region B player. For example I own both a region A and region B player (by "accident", I just own an Asian PS3).

That's also why I think region-locking is totally stupid. If someone really WANTS to play a game from a different region, there is no way to really stop him. Worst case: IP-lock everything and require a constant internet connection. Workaround: VPN.

I don't even get it in the BluRay case. Where is the reason? As if someone from US would import a BluRay from Europe (and pay way more by doing so). For the latest release I would at least understand it a bit, but they are even region-locking 10 year old movies. Why? Those importers are a really minority and if they want to do so, noone can stop them anyway. It's just more expensive and that's it. Same in Nintendo's case.

For example I'm only importing BluRays/DVDs, if the European editions suck. Same for Nintendo. I imported a total of 2 games - No More Heroes (censorship sucks) and Manhunt 2 (Manhunt 2 sucks). For PS3, I imported Biohazard 5: Alternative Edition (because Capcom didn't make it totally clear, that Move would be supported by the other versions as well before releasing it, funnily I never bought Move, because the support isn't as good as RE4/Wii), a few downloadable games and that's it.
 

Zanoh

Neo Member
Sadly expected I'm afraid. I seriously wish companies would stop region locking their consoles. For one thing, it would allow us to buy games they didn't intend to release to other markets.
 

Joni

Member
I don't even get it in the BluRay case. Where is the reason? As if someone from US would import a BluRay from Europe (and pay way more by doing so). For the latest release I would at least understand it a bit, but they are even region-locking 10 year old movies. Why? Those importers are a really minority and if they want to do so, noone can stop them anyway. It's just more expensive and that's it. Same in Nintendo's case.

Even stranger, most major studio's are now releasing a lot region-free with the expection of Fox.
 
I guessed 350 on WiiU as max and was right. I can see PS4 being $700 and cheaper models with features removed.

After how disastrous the $600 PS3 initially was, you really think that they might be entertaining the idea of not only releasing another console that is that expensive, but might actually cost more?
 
Wouldn't surprise me.


I guessed 350 on WiiU as max and was right. I can see PS4 being $700 and cheaper models with features removed.

lol between the PS4 is never coming out and PS4 will be 700 dollars today has certainly been interesting. I've said 499 with contracts for cheaper models and have been told I was crazy.
 
After how disastrous the $600 PS3 initially was, you really think that they might be entertaining the idea of not only releasing another console that is that expensive, but might actually cost more?

Didn't stop them from releasing PSV...

And I'm talking Max price anyway with all features.

Sony will mostly aim at 499 base ( no move2, flash memory only, etc)
 

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
Two reasons. Firstly:

wiiuijudt.png


$112 US...

Secondly releasing in certain regions takes time. For example European releases might take some time to translate to all the different languages. Without region locking, people in the UK who speak English can import from the US. This means when the game finally comes out sales are much lower and the UK publisher suffers.

Or so goes the theory. Mostly I expect the price is the real issue. I can sit on my computer and pre-order a game from the UK or US. Sure it takes a few days extra to arrive, but I'm pretty much getting half price.

Yeah, this is also an issue when a game is published by different companies between the US and Europe.
 

Dunan

Member
I'm french and when a big french publisher buy the rights to a book, sometimes amazon magically doesn't allow me to buy the original english ebook.

That's ridiculous! Is that amazon.co.fr, or all Amazons?

That's why I don't like e-books and only buy "real" ones. I have a wonderful library of books in five or six languages, maybe more, and if publishers had their way, such a collection wouldn't be possible. It boggles the mind that people would be taken right out of the target market for companies' products by those same companies, but...
 

LMN

Member
Would it be possible for us, NeoGaf, to create a facebook page, something like "# of ppl dont like region lock on Wii U/ 3ds." Not boycotting their product, but at least shows Nintendo that there is a lot of dissatisfy customers, so they might change their decision in the future?
 
Wonder, if people complained a lot could Nintendo update the Wii U to not be region locked?

Of course they could. Unfortunately the amount of people who actually import games is probably on the scale of less than .01% of the people who will buy the system so Nintendo doesn't give a fuck.

Would it be possible for us, NeoGaf, to create a facebook page, something like "# of ppl dont like region lock on Wii U/ 3ds." Not boycotting their product, but at least shows Nintendo that there is a lot of dissatisfy customers.

Would have about as much effect as the MML3 facebook page
 

Zeroth

Member
That PS3 lackluster launch period didn't influence their pricing for PSV.

They still released an expensive Device

The Vita was expensive, but it was much closer to the 3DS price back then than the PS3 was on launch. In fact, many people on GAF were surprised at Vita's price, since they expected much more.

Sony will always release expensive products (as they stated before) because it's their "thing", but you won't see any of them priced much above the competition like the PS3 was.
 
Wonder, if people complained a lot could Nintendo update the Wii U to not be region locked?

No. Same reason Sony couldn't make the ps3 region free with ps1/ps2 discs. They'd be breaking contracts.

That PS3 lackluster launch period didn't influence their pricing for PSV.

They still released an expensive Device
What's nintendo's excuse for releasing an expensive device?
 
No. Same reason Sony couldn't make the ps3 region free with ps1/ps2 discs. They'd be breaking contracts.

What they could do is update he Wii U for future games afterwords to be developer's choice on region free. Won't happen, but it's still a possibility.
Slightly more due to MC requirement.

3DS was expensive as well, overpriced.

Wii U to be 700 dollars?
 

LMN

Member
Would have about as much effect as the MML3 facebook page[/QUOTE]

But this is a gaming system, wouldn't the number be a lot higher?
 
The Vita was expensive, but it was much closer to the 3DS price back then than the PS3 was on launch. In fact, many people on GAF were surprised at Vita's price, since they expected much more.

Sony will always release expensive products (as they stated before) because it's their "thing", but you won't see any of them priced much above the competition like the PS3 was.


MS will release for 499 base
 
Can you name a single region locked psp game? Can you name a single region locked vita game? Can you name more than a single region locked ps3 game?

That's what I'm talking about.

Having even a single game that is region locked means the PS3 is not region free. Again it is impossible to allow for exceptions if you choose to talk in absolutes.

Yeah they did.

The DS was region free.

There is one game in the whole catalogue that has region lock. One.

And I can buy any game from any of the three stores without problem.

Why don't you admit that Sony is doing good for importers and has a nice standard?

Sure, the PS3 is the home system for importers but saying it is region free is factually incorrect.
 
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