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bad rumour killed, New 3DS is region locked.

H

Hamster Plugin

Member
sakipon said:
Wonder if it would be somewhat realistic to have 2 regions: Japan and Americas/EU/AU.
Click to expand...

One of the points of region locking is to enforce higher prices in Europe and Australia compared to USA prices. Nintendo doesn't want to lose the extra 10-20% they get from a more expensive European copy compared to an American.
 
S

Spring-Loaded

Member
LumpOfCole said:
Watch the NA version have purple buttons.

snescontroller.jpg
Click to expand...
I would laugh my ass off.
 
B

Balb

Member
jiji said:
Region-locking isn't about customers. It's about publishers wanting control over regionally-set prices, defeating reverse importing, and preserving overseas licensing revenues. Once a hardware company appeases publishers with region-locking, they don't go back.
Click to expand...

They'll revert back eventually when they're desperate for goodwill. Keep in mind that many of their backwards policies and online implementations (region locking, lack of a real account system, no cross buy, lack of voice chat/party system, etc) gives them a lot of room for growth with their next generation of hardware. Sad but true.
 
D

DNAbro

Member
Read Tilmen's tweets to see how big of a fanboy he is. I'd link the one where he is talking about Sony is paying retailers to lie about the wii u and treats it as fact but I don't know how to do it on my phone.

Guy is crazy.
 
O

Oddduck

Member
Doesn't Tilmen have a record of saying over-the-top crazy shit?

http://playeressence.com/rumor-sony...ial-wii-u-customers-steer-towards-ps4ps-vita/

This rumor comes via Tilman of Nintendomination. Tilman is a respected member of the gaming press and was even kind enough to share information with Playeressence on Sonic Lost World’s native resolution and framerate. Tilman claims that Sony is trying to sabotage Wii U sales in Germany.

NiNTENDOMiNATiON @TiLMEN
1: A friend of mine (working at a Saturn Store in Germany) told me today that Sony and “media Group” did a special contract for promoting…

NiNTENDOMiNATiON @TiLMEN
2: …Contract includes: “missinform consumers about #WiiU & highly recommend them to buy a #PS4 and #Vita + special 10% discount offering”

NiNTENDOMiNATiON @TiLMEN
3:…Contract started march 2013 and will end April 2015.
Click to expand...
 
F

Foxix Von

Member
Too good to be true, anyway. There goes what little interest I had.

Anyway, just once it'd be nice to see Nintendo actually give a shit about consumers, specifically their own customers.
 
Z

Zaku

Member
Opiate said:
Can someone remind me what the defense of region locking is? Honest question.
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Pricing issues. I'm not sure about the cost of living versus the cost of games, but Battlefield 4 is currently 8060 yen on Amazon.jp, which is closer to $75 than $59.99.

It's the same reason anime used to be released dubbed-only, or delayed for months for no conceivable reason, and the same reason PAL and Aus frequently get delayed release dates, and the same reason not all North American releases feature Japanese language options for menus and voice acting.

If you have a readily available means of importing a cheaper copy, you'll do so. This not only skews the sales numbers for the exporting region, but cannibalizes sales for the localized version.

Do I agree with it? Not necessarily. But that's the reason.
 
Godzilla's Left Toe

Godzilla's Left Toe

Member
DNAbro said:
Read Tilmen's tweets to see how big of a fanboy he is. I'd link the one where he is talking about Sony is paying retailers to lie about the wii u and treats it as fact but I don't know how to do it on my phone.

Guy is crazy.
Click to expand...

Only time he's been critical about Nintendo it's when it's affected his bank account he's pretty much the worst kind of fanboy.
 
S

Shiina

Member
The 3DS region lock is not a hardware thing so I don't understand how anybody would think a new hardware revision would suddenly remove it.


Opiate said:
Can someone remind me what the defense of region locking is? Honest question.
Click to expand...

They probably have some kind of deal with publishers and retailers going on because the only ones losing out on a non-region locked handheld would be them.
 
Hikami

Hikami

Member
Guess I'll finally buy a Vita then and stick with my 3DS XL
I just want to play some Japanese games without having to buy 2 of the same system...
 
D

Dysun

Member
One of my favorite DS games was Jump Ultimate Stars. In a way I want a sequel, but knowing I'll never play it dampens that enthusiasm to nothing.
 
S

StormKing

Member
Balb said:
They'll revert back eventually when they're desperate for goodwill. Keep in mind that many of their backwards policies and online implementations (region locking, lack of a real account system, no cross buy, lack of voice chat/party system, etc) gives them a lot of room for growth with their next generation of hardware. Sad but true.
Click to expand...

If Vita had sold better and DS and PSP were less pirated, maybe they would have not region locked it. They are changing some of their more antiquated policies but will it be fast enough? I guess we'll see.
 
S

seady

Member
In an age where people bring their electronics everywhere around the world and all of them are virtually connected, Nintendo still do region locking...
 
K

Keyouta

Junior Member
jiji said:
Region-locking isn't about customers. It's about publishers wanting control over regionally-set prices, defeating reverse importing, and preserving overseas licensing revenues. Once a hardware company appeases publishers with region-locking, they don't go back.
Click to expand...

Because there is so few publishers outside of Nintendo (on the Wii U), I'm not sure who it benefits there aside from Nintendo. On the 3DS you have a few more 3rd parties, but because Sony and Microsoft's consoles and handhelds are region free, I think the only publisher here to blame is Nintendo.

The others must not care enough because they're publishing their games region free on other hardware.

As stated in this thread, the people who ask or care about region free and are actually buying those games digitally or importing are the minority. I don't think having this option really skews the numbers so much that it would even be noticeable.
 
3

3bdelilah

Banned
I personally honestly couldn't care less. I can't be bothered with most JRPG's, so there'd be no need for me to import games from outside Europe. I almost always only play Nintendo first or second party games. Obviously I wouldn't say no to it being not region locked, but I won't lose any sleep over this neither.
 
A

Alex_Mexico

Member
Shiina said:
The 3DS region lock is not a hardware thing so I don't understand how anybody would think a new hardware revision would suddenly remove it.




They probably have some kind of deal with publishers and retailers going on because the only ones losing out on a non-region locked handheld would be them.
Click to expand...
Well it happened with the DS but in reverse, dude. The DS Phat and DS Lite were region free (probably the only two Nintendo hardwares to ever be region free) and along came the third revision, the DSi, and they reverted to region locking.

There's always the possibility with a new revision that they'll make it region free.
 
Tal Shiar Agent

Tal Shiar Agent

Member
Why did Nintendo start region locking their systems? IIRC everything before the DS (except NES) was region free, except some needed minor physical modifications like the N64 or SNES.
 
T

Tain

Member
3bdelilah said:
I personally honestly couldn't care less. I can't be bothered with most JRPG's, so there'd be no need for me to import games from outside Europe. I almost always only play Nintendo first or second party games. Obviously I wouldn't say no to it being not region locked, but I won't lose any sleep over this neither.
Click to expand...

JRPGs?

Why would you assume JRPGs, of all games, would be what users would import?
 
C

Conan-san

Member
Yeah, this has slowed my wanting to get a Super 3DS or whatever they call it.

Not going through the same bullshit with SMT4 or Inazuma Eleven again. They can fuck off right off on that part.
 
L

lenovox1

Member
Opiate said:
Can someone remind me what the defense of region locking is? Honest question.
Click to expand...

Nintendo started region locking handhelds with the introduction of the digital store with the DSi, so I'm guessing it's a crude way to protect publishers' interests.

A quick and dirty way to price protect both the digital store against and among the retail space.
 
F

Fdkn

Member
Without region locking they couldn't charge motherfu***ng 44.95€ for handheld games that we could import for $30-$35, and even less when they get sales that pal versions never get

And that's why Nintendo is dead in most of Europe. And they deserve it.
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
Alex_Mexico said:
The DS Phat and DS Lite were region free (probably the only two Nintendo hardwares to ever be region free)
Click to expand...
Probably? Game Boy, GBC and GBA were region free. Plus they used AA batteries so no messing about with step-down converters or buying AC adapters (we Europeans just have to buy a 3DS XL to do the latter :p ... :'( )

Friend of Sonic said:
You'd think Nintendo would want extra Japan sales considering the state the region is in currently for game sales
Click to expand...
Did like 2 million copies of Youkai Watch 2 just get sold?

Fdkn said:
Without region locking they couldn't charge motherfu***ng 44.95€ for handheld games that we could import for $30-$35, and even less when they get sales that pal versions never get
Click to expand...
Could you now? Nice -$10 shipping you got there. Plus what happens when customs sting it good (here in the UK the BS £8 handling fee usually means you were better off not bothering)? Also no translation.
 
M

MaschinenZimmer

Banned
R10Neymarfan said:
Region locking was originally done to prevent Japanese gamers from importing games from overseas because they were cheaper in price.
Click to expand...

Yup, if I remember correctly the yen was on a record high level while the dollar was down. They would have been stupid to NOT make the 3DS region-free in the days of amazon and ebay. Parents would have been importing the console for half the price from the US.

Maybe the next handheld will be region free again.
 
P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Starwolf_UK said:
Probably? Game Boy, GBC and GBA were region free. Plus they used AA batteries so no messing about with step-down converters or buying AC adapters (we Europeans just have to buy a 3DS XL to do the latter :p ... :'( )


Did like 2 million copies of Youkai Watch 2 just get sold?


Could you now? Nice -$10 shipping you got there. Plus what happens when customs sting it good (here in the UK the BS £8 handling fee usually means you were better off not bothering)? Also no translation.
Click to expand...

So, Nintendo is fixing something which was not broken? Is it protecting us from ourselves?
 
L

lenovox1

Member
Panajev2001a said:
What's worse is that GB, GBA, and DS were region free and very successful HW and SW sales wise... At this point I think they are being more stubborn than anything.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but before you had to travel or put in effort to import. With the digital marketplaces, now it would just take a few clicks hypothetically.

It sure is crude and extreme, though.
 
F

Fdkn

Member
Starwolf_UK said:
Could you now? Nice -$10 shipping you got there. Plus what happens when customs sting it good (here in the UK the BS £8 handling fee usually means you were better off not bothering)? Also no translation.
Click to expand...

there are shops with free-shipping that sell ntsc games. And excuse me if I don't care about shitty translations that I don't need.
 
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