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3DS : hackers found a way to get rid of region-locking

RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
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In europe we are missing quite a few good games like SMT4 or Rune Factory.tvcb
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
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It's not just japanese titles that people are interested in, there are people in europe waiting for months for games that are already available in the US. If you had any familiarity with the PAL jrpg situation during the PS1/PS2 eras you'd understand what a big deal region locking is for some people.
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
Click to expand...

I have a much better appreciation and understanding of writing in my native tongue but the vast majority of my import 3ds games only really require extremely basic Japanese skills (rhythm games, action games), and the dialog heavier ones (Culdcept, adventure games) either have available English resources or make for good Japanese practice.
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
Click to expand...

European Atlus fans for one.
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
Click to expand...

I could've imported Bravely Default from EU rather than waiting months for it to come out in NA. Who cares if it's 9 out of 10 times sooner in the US? That one time is an inconvenience to me and there is no reason for it other than this shitty ass anti-consumer restriction.
 
L~A said:
you need a 3DS with v4.5 firmware or older
Click to expand...

GVHP
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
Click to expand...

Just because I want to play an RPG in Japanese or get kanji dictionary software doesn't mean that I want to play something like Mario or Zelda in Japanese.
 
Chairmanchuck said:
In europe we are missing quite a few good games like SMT4 or Rune Factory.tvcb
Click to expand...

Okay, now I understand. I always had the impression that this was an issue of people wanting to play Japanese games, but Europe/America is more understandable (virtually null language barrier, electrical outlet differences might make importing an American 3DS a questionable venture, etc.)
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese? If so, then why not import a Japanese system to start with? You'll get the games sooner than in the US 9 times out of 10! If you can't fluently understand Japanese, then why are you campaigning to be able to play games that seem to be quite dialogue-heavy in a language that you don't fluently understand, instead of campaigning just to localize each of these individual games?
Click to expand...

Let's talk about the wii for a sec. We NA owners couldn't play the fatal frame 2 remake, but PAL owners did.
 
Well that's both awesome and upsetting. I wish Nintendo would consider removing the region lock instead of users hacking the system.

My 3DS doesn't qualify for this :(
 
I picked up a 3DS XL, and it apparently comes with FW 7.1. Shame. Other than the new Zelda that came out, I was interested in seeing If I could open this bitch up so that I could import some games.

We need the ability to downgrade to 4.1. I will be patient. All the best to those who are able to remove region-locking.
 
Wishmaster92 said:
Let's talk about the wii for a sec. We NA owners couldn't play the fatal frame 2 remake, but PAL owners did.
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Nah, if you want Wii region issues where the US got the short end of the stick, I suggest looking at Disaster: Day of Crisis. The game was set in the United States, yet the US was the only region not to see it released. Even Australia got the game in less than 2 months of its initial release! The game wasn't that good (and sold even worse), but still, the idea that a game ended up not making it to the market that its narrative was set in.
 
Sweet. Just checked my old 3DS. 4.5 so it's ready.

I wanted to play on the original import carts so this is perfect.
 
I like how the forum posts say you don't need a flash cart to play region locked games, but you do need a flash cart to install Gateway Mode (software you install on your 3DS from a flash cart).
The other issue is the fact that games made from 6.x firmware and on use a different type of saving than those from 4.x, which is why some report corruption to their carts/saves.
I totally support removing the region locking, but this needs to be a bit better than what they're rolling out now.
 
RMS Gigantic said:
I want clarification on why people want this, too: Can the people demanding region freedom fluently understand Japanese?
Click to expand...

No. Did not stop me from enjoying the fuck out of Band Brothers and Jump Superstars though. Buying a second system is a lot more expensive than buying individual games. I had a Japanese DS last gen because I wanted to be an early adopter and the system allowed me to play games from every region I wanted to, so I really would have liked to continue to do the same thing with this system. I'm also an Atlus fan and they are notoriously awful for European releases.
 
remember the days all it took was some melted plastic fumes to unlock nintendo region restrictions?


I just really want an orange and black 3ds without all the hassle...guess I will have to wait

images
 
INDIGO_CYCLOPS said:
Thanks a bunch.

Damn, who really would have FW that old? I wasn't sure if I'd import all that much but it would be very nice to have that ability.
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Firmware 4.1 came out 19 months ago, and 4.5 came out on December 4, 2012. It would have to be someone who hasn't touched their 3DS in a year or more.
 
CommonWriter said:
Firmware 4.1 came out 19 months ago, and 4.5 came out on December 4, 2012. It would have to be someone who hasn't touched their 3DS in a year or more.
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Yup. You can still get 3DS XL in stores that have the right firmware though (look for launch edition colors .in your region, at places that don't sell a lot of consoles in general, if you can see the box look for Copyright marker of 2012). It seems to take a looong while for the production lines to get updated. I dunno what the situation with 3DS's is (but if they have a copyright of 2012 or earlier on the box its probably okay).

All 2DSs have firmware that's too high though.
 
Elaugaufein said:
Yup. You can still get 3DS XL in stores that have the right firmware though (look for launch edition colors .in your region, at places that don't sell a lot of consoles in general, if you can see the box look for Copyright marker of 2012). It seems to take a looong while for the production lines to get updated. I dunno what the situation with 3DS's is (but if they have a copyright of 2012 or earlier on the box its probably okay).

All 2DSs have firmware that's too high though.
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Oh I was just about to ask if there were XLs out there with the right firmware. Sounds like a good excuse for one to me!
 
-Horizon- said:
If only Nintendo would actually drop region locking. I mean if Sony doesn't seem to have a problem with it on both their consoles then I don't see why Nintendo can't do the same.
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Yeah Nintendo's archaic method of keeping region locking at the system level is just sad.
If anything just allow the developer to choose the course of action like is the norm now on PS4 and XBONE. All Region locking does is hurt consumers.
 
Jawmuncher said:
Yeah Nintendo's archaic method of keeping region locking at the system level is just sad.
If anything just allow the developer to choose the course of action like is the norm now on PS4 and XBONE. All Region locking does is hurt consumers.
Click to expand...

Sony did seem to have a problem with it on the Vita at least, looking at how many hoops you have to jump through. And one of their firmware updates made one of those hoops mandatory as opposed to optional. The PSP wasn't really particularly regional change friendly either if you used DLC or PSN games (you could only have one account and thus region activated at a time). Admittedly none of this is even 1/2 as bad as the 3DS (and the NNID has made it worse).
 
Elaugaufein said:
Sony did seem to have a problem with it on the Vita at least, looking at how many hoops you have to jump through. And one of their firmware updates made one of those hoops mandatory as opposed to optional. The PSP wasn't really particularly regional change friendly either if you used DLC or PSN games (you could only have one account and thus region activated at a time). Admittedly none of this is even 1/2 as bad as the 3DS (and the NNID has made it worse).
Click to expand...

Except the Vita isn't explicitly making region switching a pain, it's making account switching a pain. You go through the exact same process to switch from one US account to another US account.

Carts can still be played on any region.
 
Anth0ny said:
YES

Now get this working on newer firmware and we are golden.
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The exploit that was used for this was patched after 4.5. I don't think there's much progress on newer firmware at the moment (but admittedly I haven't really been following either). You can use the current hacks to update to a newer firmware afterwards with caveats (you can't use newer games on both the hacked and non-hacked 3DSs at the same time because the saves are detected as corrupted due to a change in the encoding key which the hacked update versions can't replicate).
 
It is better to get a 4.5 while they are still available. They never find any new exploit for PS3 higher than 3.55 and any downgrade requires soldering.
 
SOLD. Culdcept 3ds has a european release thats supposed to be coming once the DLC stops coming in. As soon as this happens I'm on this and buying a cart. I dont have the money to throw at a second Euro console.
 
Time to keep an eye on all the 3DS systems traded in at work for one with old firmware, this might finally be my chance to play Beyond the Labyrinth.
 
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