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

Cbajd5

Cbajd5

Member
I just went through doing everything to set this up on my old 3DS, now all I need to do is buy some out of region 3DS games to try on it.

I'm not entirely sure why I did this, there's nothing I really want to buy...

Edit: I guess I did it so I could at least use the 3DS on the latest firmware while keeping it hackable. Although I don't know what I want to do with it though except Streetpass myself.
 
J

Jinko

Member
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...

So what about people who speak fluent English and can't import US games and play them on an EU 3DS.

What's it matter to you what peoples habits are anyway ?

Zornica said:
how about having some patients than? We went over this a million times already: If they had released the game last year in europe, it would've been crushed by Zelda and Bravely default. There were also 3 similar games released in the same time frame: Etrian 4, Soul Hackers and Project X Zone. Releasing SMT4 in that environment would've just killed it's momentum and sales.

There is NO WAY they would pass on something as big as smt4 but release minor stuff like Soul Hackers. If it isn't announced/released by Summer 2014, then all the whining would be justifiable. Until than.. please don't. After the past several years, you'd think people would've more faith in NoE.
Click to expand...

You think 6 months isn't enough patience ?

It makes no sense to hold back games just because something else is coming out at a similar time, over those 6 months they would have probably sold the same amount of units anyway.

Instead people over here are have all but forgotten or given up hope of it coming out.
 
P

Peagles

Member
sixteen-bit said:
Nice. If only I were as forward thinking as you.
Click to expand...

I must admit, I'm lucky regarding the timing of when I transferred to my XL, but since I have a flash cart compatible with 3DS (one of the old ones that just works in DS mode) I made a point of not upgrading it. That and I just haven't used it at all since then. Poor lil Cosmo Black...

Now I don't actually have any other region games (that aren't sealed collectors editions) to try out anyway, but it's the thought that counts.
 
P

Petrie

Banned
Jinko said:
It makes no sense to hold back games just because something else is coming out at a similar time, over those 6 months they would have probably sold the same amount of units anyway.
Click to expand...

Someone has no idea how the industry actually works.
 
H

HolyBaikal

Banned
Luckily, I already own both a Japanese and an American 3DS.

Region locking is awfully terrible, though. Hopefully, they'll be able to make it possible to pass through new firmware region locks.
Though it would be even better if Nintendo, themselves, would remove the region locking on their systems.
 
C

CorvoSol

Member
Zornica said:
how about having some patients than? We went over this a million times already: If they had released the game last year in europe, it would've been crushed by Zelda and Bravely default. There were also 3 similar games released in the same time frame: Etrian 4, Soul Hackers and Project X Zone. Releasing SMT4 in that environment would've just killed it's momentum and sales.
Click to expand...

Project X-Zone isn't anything like SMT4. At all. They're wildly different from each other.
 
P

Palette Swap

Member
Here's to hoping they eventually get one similar item working on newer systems. That's pretty encouraging.

(lol @ the region locking defense force)
 
D

Dunan

Member
This is exactly what I've been hoping for.

No console-killing piracy, just legit games from everywhere in the world.

Time to scope out a used 3DS.
 
D

dhlt25

Member
sweet! I've been keeping my 3ds at 4.5 just for thing like this. Now I can buy an XL for us games and play japanese games on my OG
 
S

Son Of D

Member
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 want to play Shin Megami Tensai 4. However, it is not currently released in Europe so my options currently are:

#1 - Buy a US 3DS or 2DS and US copy of SMTIV.
#2 - Buy a Japanese 3DS and Japanese copy of SMTIV.
#3 - Wait the absurd amount of time it'll take to get SMTIV in Europe, which will probably be late 2014 or maybe even 2015.

Another example was Scribblenauts Unlimited, which was a launch title for Wii U in the US (or close to launch at least). It was planned for EU launch as well I believe, but was delayed by over a year (and was still full price when it launched here). If Wii U was region free, I would have bought a US copy. But because of the huge delay, I just bought the PC version. Scribblenauts Unmasked has still yet to get a Wii U release in Europe, even though the PC version was released in September 2013.
 
P

Petrie

Banned
Jinko said:
And I suppose you do ?

I suppose next you will be claiming that region locking benefits us all.
Click to expand...

Not at all. Region locking sucks and if it didn't exist the entire launch windows of these games would likely be altered, but in a system where region locking does exist like we have, thinking that launching next to those games wouldn't hurt overall sales is ignorant.
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
Maragidyne said:
What the actual fuck? Shit like this should be reason to actually lose faith in NoE.The complaints are already completely justifiable. I don't give a shit about the financial strategy behind this massive delay. If you're going to ignore a specific part of your fanbase for multiple months, just because you want to squeeze a few more cents out of your already niche franchise with its small but extremely loyal and dedicated fans, then you can go fuck yourself. It's nearly been six months and by the looks of it, it's going to be another six months before europeans actually get to play this shit.

"How about having some patience?"
I think by waiting half a year after everyone else already got it, I've shown that I have patience. Too much of it, in fact. I could give less of a fuck now when it comes out, because honestly, after shit like this, they don't deserve my money anyway.

By the way, PXZ and SMT are not entirely the same audience.
Click to expand...

I didn't say complaints aren't justifiable, only that all the whining about "never getting the game" is. No need to get emotional
This isn't about getting more money out of the fan base, this is about giving the game room to breathe and gain some new fans. Do you honestly think anyone who isn't already into smt would choose it over Pokemon and Zelda? I am pretty sure it's not in your (and their) interest for it to remain selling to a few dedicated fans.
 
J

Jinko

Member
Zornica said:
I didn't say complaints aren't justifiable, only that all the whining about "never getting the game" is. No need to get emotional
This isn't about getting more money out of the fan base, this is about giving the game room to breathe and gain some new fans. Do you honestly think anyone who isn't already into smt would choose it over Pokemon and Zelda? I am pretty sure it's not in your (and their) interest for it to remain selling to a few dedicated fans.
Click to expand...

But currently it doesn't even look like we are getting the game, there has been no word. Now if they said it planned for summer 2014 or June 2012 it would put some of our minds to rest.

I don't think people are whining for no good reason here.

At what point is it ok to whine ? after 8 months, 12 ?
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
Jinko said:
But currently it doesn't even look like we are getting the game, there has been no word. Now if they said it planned for summer 2014 or June 2012 it would put some of our minds to rest.

I don't think people are whining for no good reason here.

At what point is it ok to whine ? after 8 months, 12 ?
Click to expand...

preferably, never. Seriously, there is nothing to gain, if anything it makes matters worse. If you become emotionally too invested, you can't think straight any more and you lose sight of what's important. And in the end, it only sets you up for even more disappointment without accomplishing anything except making you hate the company, the publisher or even the game itself.
If seen people go down that lane and it wasn't pretty.

Maragidyne said:
Sorry, was a bit annoyed at the moment. Anyway...

Never getting the game is unlikely (not impossible), I agree with you on that. That said, by waiting out, they're harming the base money they would have received from their fanbase for a potential, but unlikely increase of new fans.

You don't gain new fans by waiting another year before once again silently releasing your game. I have absolutely never seen a single commercial, flyer or whatever kind of advertisement in any form for any of their games over here. I didn't even realize games such as SJ and DS2 were released until I read about them online. You even had to actively search to find anything Arena related. Most new people aren't going to look at a game, see the title "Shin Megami Tensei" and pay approximately 60-65 dollars (converted) for something unfamiliar and alien to them.

I get that they're not delaying for no reason, but I am not willing to wait an extra year before they make a move. Just seems counterproductive to shit on your already existing fanbase, just for a tiny amount of theoretical new fans. Of course I would have rather wanted them to grow, but it is not going to happen this way.
Click to expand...

I can't comment on other "atlus games" (I wouldn't even call them atlus games... there is no Atlus in Europe after all *shakes fist*), but if this one is indeed published by NoE (was there a confirmation yet?) I would think they'd push it at least somewhat, like they did with other 3rd party games like Monster Hunter and Bravely Default

I still think it's because of the overcrowded 2nd half of 2013, but who know? Maybe they just hadn't enough localisation staff at hand.

also: If you are an Atlus Fan in Europe, you should know by now that it's very likely to get fucked over ;). So If you only buy hardware for Atlus games, you probably should've bought a NA 3ds in the first place.

Or maybe I just can't understand your position, because quite frankly, I don't give a shit about SMT4... I would buy it when it's being released, but I'd also survive without it. I am what you would call "part of the new fanbase that buys unfamiliar games at 40+€" - because I like unfamiliar things.
 
J

Jinko

Member
Zornica said:
preferably, never. Seriously, there is nothing to gain, if anything it makes matters worse. If you become emotionally too invested, you can't think straight any more and you lose sight of what's important. And in the end, it only sets you up for even more disappointment without accomplishing anything except making you hate the company, the publisher or even the game itself.
If seen people go down that lane and it wasn't pretty.
Click to expand...

Aye which I think is Maragidyne point, why would you hold a game back and piss your fanbase off when there is little to no benefit to sales in the long run.

also: If you are an Atlus Fan in Europe, you should know by now that it's very likely to get fucked over ;). So If you only buy hardware for Atlus games, you probably should've bought a NA 3ds in the first place.
Click to expand...

See I did think about it, but if your console becomes faulty or breaks Nintendo won't even touch it because its an imported console.

Or maybe I just can't understand your position, because quite frankly, I don't give a shit about SMT4... I would buy it when it's being released, but I'd also survive without it. I am what you would call "part of the new fanbase that buys unfamiliar games at 40+€" - because I like unfamiliar things.
Click to expand...

I guess that's why, I suppose if it was a game you actually wanted you might feel differently.
 
T

Taruranto

Member
Zornica said:
how about having some patients than?
Click to expand...

How about fucking no?
Yes, I don't want to wait 6 months (on the top of waiting months for the game to get in English to begin with) to pay 40 bucks for a game the NA players played already and can buy for 20 bucks.

I want to freely import my games like I can do on my PSP and my DS. Fuck this shit.


Yes, I AM MAD.
 
S

Sammy Samusu

Member
Too much trouble, instead of buying an old OG 3DS I'd rather import a 3DS XL from Japan, you can update the firmware, install patches and play online.

Nintendo should make it region-free. Or least bring MH4 and Youkai Watch to the west. *-*
 
M

Mononoke

Banned
_Keiichi_ said:
How about fucking no?
Yes, I don't want to wait 6 months (on the top of waiting months for the game to get in English to begin with) to pay 40 bucks for a game the NA players played already and can buy for 20 bucks.

I want to freely import my games like I can do on my PSP and my DS. Fuck this shit.


Yes, I AM MAD.
Click to expand...

I'll never understand the "different market/demographics" argument. While I agree that certain games only appeal to certain regions, the company should just NOT put any money into marketing in the region where it doesn't appeal, but still allow people to buy the game digitally from another region if they want it.

It really makes no sense to lock off games to specific regions, cutting off extra revenue they could be collecting.
 
E

Elaugaufein

Member
As a headsup to people using this patch, there's been reports that it can result in permanently bricking a 3DS (to the point that even reflashing the NAND won't fix it).

Brick me if this needs to be in a new thread.
 
P

Peagles

Member
Elaugaufein said:
As a headsup to people using this patch, there's been reports that it can result in permanently bricking a 3DS (to the point that even reflashing the NAND won't fix it).

Brick me if this needs to be in a new thread.
Click to expand...

In what circumstances? Just randomly?

I think I just did the patch, but I don't have another region game to test it out.
 
E

Elaugaufein

Member
Peagles said:
In what circumstances? Just randomly?

I think I just did the patch, but I don't have another region game to test it out.
Click to expand...

There's a lot of rumours and accusations flying around but as far as I can tell:

There's a chance each time a modified version of the launcher.sys from the SD card is launched (that is when you use the DS Profile in the settings menu to launch it) it has a chance to brick the 3DS (so if you used the region free patch and your 3DS is still working, your fine as long as you don't use the launcher again), some people are saying that the chance increases the longer it's been since the modified launcher was copied to the SD card as well. This includes the launchers used by Gateway clones and the modified Region free patch this thread is about.
 
P

Peagles

Member
Elaugaufein said:
There's a lot of rumours and accusations flying around but as far as I can tell:

There's a chance each time a modified version of the launcher.sys from the SD card is launched (that is when you use the DS Profile in the settings menu to launch it) it has a chance to brick the 3DS (so if you used the region free patch and your 3DS is still working, your fine as long as you don't use the launcher again), some people are saying that the chance increases the longer it's been since the modified launcher was copied to the SD card as well. This includes the launchers used by Gateway clones and the modified Region free patch this thread is about.
Click to expand...

Oh, I think I did it wrong then. You don't run it from the flash cart?
 
E

Elaugaufein

Member
Peagles said:
Oh, I think I did it wrong then. You don't run it from the flash cart?
Click to expand...

The region free "hack" has 2 parts , a file executed from a flash card (ends in .nds), this sets some data on your 3DS which will cause unsigned code to be executed when you go to DS Profile in your System Settings (this part is basically harmless), and a Launcher.dat file that foes on the 3DS SD Card. This is where the unsigned 3DS code is executed from, and it's launching modified versions of this file (like the region-free version) that can brick the 3DS.

The actual piracy part involves using the unsigned code to be able to launch game images from a different flash cart, by patching the system software to execute it , but that's not relevant for this discussion.
 
P

Peagles

Member
Elaugaufein said:
The region free "hack" has 2 parts , a file executed from a flash card (ends in .nds), this sets some data on your 3DS which will cause unsigned code to be executed when you go to DS Profile in your System Settings (this part is basically harmless), and a Launcher.dat file that foes on the 3DS SD Card. This is where the unsigned 3DS code is executed from, and it's launching modified versions of this file (like the region-free version) that can brick the 3DS.

The actual piracy part involves using the unsigned code to be able to launch game images from a different flash cart, by patching the system software to execute it , but that's not relevant for this discussion.
Click to expand...

Oh bugger, I ran the .nds file and it said patched!, but I didn't have the launcher.dat file in the root of the microSD, I had it in with the .nds file. I went to the DS Profile but it said an error has occurred and had to shut down. I messed it up didn't I? The 3DS still turns on though.
 
E

Elaugaufein

Member
Yup, you got the error because it was trying to launch a file that didn't exit. That error is harmless though.

ETA - If you want to be able to change the DS profile for some reason, you can re enable that section by going into DS mode (either by using the DS flash cart and not launching the patcher or by using a real DS game).
 
P

Peagles

Member
Elaugaufein said:
Yup, you got the error because it was trying to launch a file that didn't exit. That error is harmless though.

ETA - If you want to be able to change the DS profile for some reason, you can re enable that section by going into DS mode (either by using the DS flash cart and not launching the patcher or by using a real DS game).
Click to expand...

I guess I'm half done then? Should work if I just put the launcher.dat on the microsd root and run the DS profile thing again?
 
H

Hiccup

Banned
NEO0MJ said:
Yeah, I wonder why they went with region locking for the 3DS when the DS didn't have it.
Click to expand...

Nintendo out right stated back at the release of the DSi that they started region locking due to them now having an online store within their systems.
 
M

Mael

Member
Azula said:
I'll never understand the "different market/demographics" argument. While I agree that certain games only appeal to certain regions, the company should just NOT put any money into marketing in the region where it doesn't appeal, but still allow people to buy the game digitally from another region if they want it.

It really makes no sense to lock off games to specific regions, cutting off extra revenue they could be collecting.
Click to expand...

Fuck that, why the hell should we have to buy inflated scalpers price to import games because it's not CoD or Mario?
We would never have gotten a translated Bravely Default at all in that case.
And being relegated to the ghetto of dl games like Ace Attorney?
We're already shafted of getting actual manuals.
Not everyone want to jump into the digital utopia of no longer owning/lending games.

In short I prefer the Bravely Default copy I have at home to the untranslated Japanese download game you're suggesting.
 
J

Jinko

Member
Mael said:
Fuck that, why the hell should we have to buy inflated scalpers price to import games because it's not CoD or Mario?
Click to expand...

You don't, import them directly yourself.

Although the guy you quoted makes a good point, I would gladly accept the bad points of digital download if it meant no region locking. (at least I would have a choice)
 
D

dallow_bg

nods at old men
As long as you're using an older DS flashcard, there's no reason to worry about a bricked system right?
It's just the Gateway 3DS cards that have possible issues?
 
E

Elaugaufein

Member
Peagles said:
I guess I'm half done then? Should work if I just put the launcher.dat on the microsd root and run the DS profile thing again?
Click to expand...

Yup.

dallow_bg said:
As long as you're using an older DS flashcard, there's no reason to worry about a bricked system right?
It's just the Gateway 3DS cards that have possible issues?
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking as far as proven its using any Launcher.DAT apart from unmodified ones from Gateway that can cause bricks.
 
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