Bomber Bob
Banned
yeah but what percentage would do that?
less than 0.1% I guess. People like to play games in their own language
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Region Locking.. WTF?!
- Thread starter Myoclonic Jerk
- Start date
yeah but what percentage would do that?
less than 0.1% I guess. People like to play games in their own language
I can see it being true for small publishers though, especially for niche games. For the three games i mentioned above, their publishers wouldn't see my money if i could get them right now from the US ( and cheaper too! ). I guess we should be thankful they are even coming out here at all eh, or we would have to import a US console and hope there isn't a problem with it or you will be in warranty hell.
So... 7 years ago? At a time where Nintendo had region free handhelds and had done for a long time, and we had just come from a time where region locking was standard (the PS2, Gamecube and OG Xbox were all region locked). People were also not sure how the 360 and PS3 region locking was going to turn out at the time.
Since the reveal that the 3DS was going to be region locked, Nintendo fans on the whole have been very negative about region locking. US Nintendo fans started to really get negative when NoA screwed them over with the Wii Rainfall games.
Very, very few people are actually defending this. Even on /r/wiiu and other very hardcore nintendo fan communities.
Yeah...BS excuse alright, ha ha.
For starters, its not the customers problem how hard it is for them, guess that means I should about their R&D costs too I suppose...
We dont have to worry about how they can have free online but we have to worry about region free...?
Its still impolite to not even address the campaign and at the end of the day, this is from people that care. Its simply terrible for Nintendo to write them off. No matter how small/large the campaign is, it obviously made news on gaming sites and unless Nintendo is even further behind the times than I thought, they definitely noticed it, so it should have been standard practice to respond to it.
The real reason why it is a BS excuse is that in the PAL region, they already have multiple age rating systems, and the 3DS already manages to convert rating systems from one country to another.
Take a PEGI rated game from the UK and import it in Australia and the game will work, including parental control settings.
All they need to do is extend this to other regions, or scrap the whole thing and just put "imported games require parental controls turned off to play".
toddhunter
Member
That is true, but just highlights region locking is really protecting broken or out of date distribution channels. Even if you order from the US they could track that to your region and sort something out.
Phat Michael
Banned
Region locking REALLY hurt me on certain cave games - Deathsmiles 2 in particular, since it was a digital only release it was basically impossible for me to get it on 360. As a Cave collector, it really annoys me.
It also annoys me that the PS3 region locks Blurays - its region free for games, but not for BDs and DVDs?
It also annoys me that the PS3 region locks Blurays - its region free for games, but not for BDs and DVDs?
You'll be hard pressed to find a legit (ie not chinese copy, not that its a bad thing) region free dvd player / blu ray player.
LiquidSolid
Member
It isn't even as simple as an opt-out system, that would've been easy, the reason why barely any 360 games are region free is because you have to submit and pass cert in all three regions before you even get that option. So for Japanese publishers who can't risk paying for US/Europe cert straight away or simply don't have the English versions ready, that wasn't even a possibility. Same thing goes with western publishers who don't have their Japanese versions available.
My guess is the Xbone will be the exact same way, which is why I'm not buying their "we're region free too!" statements.
dark_prinny
Banned
My dyslexia made my read the thread title as:
Region locking FTW.
Fuck dyslexia and fuck region locking.
Region locking FTW.
Fuck dyslexia and fuck region locking.
Myoclonic Jerk
Member
People actually sympathising with companies that support region locking so those companies can make more money? and provide free online? Really?
Those companies are charging us money for their products, providing free services is only for them to get market share not because they "love us"
i no longer wear any fanboy glasses, and would never buy a product or a game to "support" a company like I did before.. what did I get out of it?
I buy what I like and what I think suits me best.. fuck all the companies, if they're not bothered to give me what I want then I won't give them my money
Those companies are charging us money for their products, providing free services is only for them to get market share not because they "love us"
i no longer wear any fanboy glasses, and would never buy a product or a game to "support" a company like I did before.. what did I get out of it?
I buy what I like and what I think suits me best.. fuck all the companies, if they're not bothered to give me what I want then I won't give them my money
not_so_special
Banned
well thats good..region locking its and abomination for the consumer and specially for the hardcore gamer who look on other markets for bizarre games
astronautcowboy
Member
If you think that is true, you're crazy.
Region-locking is about the battle between the US and other English-speaking regions. Japanese people and Japanese games are a victim in the battle to stop non-Americans from buying games cheaper and earlier than they're available in their own countries.
Chairmanchuck
Member
I really hate the hypocrisy of the whole argument.
"Hey. We have regionlocking, because in a globalized world, the prices of games are different. You should buy the Games in your country for "your" price."
but then
"Nice. Lets produce all our parts in chinese companies. We love globalization! We can produce it dirt-cheap!"
Like Nintendo is using globalization to produce it for a cheap price, but "we", as a consumer, arent allowed to use it to get cheap Games...
"Hey. We have regionlocking, because in a globalized world, the prices of games are different. You should buy the Games in your country for "your" price."
but then
"Nice. Lets produce all our parts in chinese companies. We love globalization! We can produce it dirt-cheap!"
Like Nintendo is using globalization to produce it for a cheap price, but "we", as a consumer, arent allowed to use it to get cheap Games...
By my estimate:
Over 66% of retail 360 games sold in North America are region-free/multi-region.
For those sold in PAL territories, it's a little over 50%.
The numbers are a lot lower for those sold in Japan/Asia though.
As far as 1st party games go, it seems to me that MS leaves the decision up to the dev studios. For example, all the Forzas by Turn10 are region-locked but Forza Horizon by Playground Games is region-free, most of Rare's games are region-locked, Shadowrun and Too Human were region-locked, PGR3 was region-locked but PGR4 wasn't. Most other MS-published games have been region-free.
manipulate
Member
YES THIS SHIT IS THE MOST ANNOYING SHIT EVER
It's SO fucking infuriating. Fuck you Nintendo
Phat Michael
Banned
I got one but I guess it's been hardware modded. Pioneer elite model, it's fantastic. Its amazing to be able to play us/aus/Japanese bds. It came as is in the box but I think the company themselves mod them for region free playing.
Welcome to 1992 when I discovered how crippled console gaming was.
Nintendo's excuse was that it conflicted interests of the eShop shop regions.
And then Sony released the Vita. The problem was that the Vita is excluded to a single PSN user-region.
Nintendo's excuse was that it conflicted interests of the eShop shop regions.
And then Sony released the Vita. The problem was that the Vita is excluded to a single PSN user-region.
KojiKnight
Member
This is the one that got me... Nintendo never used to do this either... not sure who got to them or why they thought it was necessary when region free works for years before without any hint of an issue.
The digital age obviously tripped Nintendo out. Or they enjoyed the foreign exchange rates that allowed them to charge $79 for a 3DS game.
Chezzymann
Member
Can someone explain to me why region locking is bad? Is it mainly an issue for people that can afford to travel to different countries regularly? I've never encountered a problem with region locking on my 3DS.
Exactly.
On a non handheld console ... it's arguable and one of the worst policies they can impose....
but on Handheld consoles it's pants on head tard.
For instance:
On a Summer trip to the USA i took my trusty DS Lite (which btw was the Japanese Blue one. Loved that color, wasn't available at EUR/NA, so i imported it).
Puzzle quest 2, Megaman ZX series, EBA second hand, and 2 more DS games purchased on local stores and gamestops.
If i had to wait the 4-5 months PQ2 took to get to europe .... i'd been very angry. It's like coke, mixed with puzzle and RPG. Kids, never try Puzzle Quest.
BloodOmenPT
Member
Don't mind region locking but:
- If you're going to publish the game in all territories, by all means lock that thing up, I'll wait and even pay what you ask as long as I know I can get the game.
- If you're not going to publish the game in all territories (such as with many Japanese games) then unlock them so I can at least pay a huge wad of cash to get them, what do you care, a Japanese store still gets the money and you sell another unit, and I'm happy and will probably buy your next game.
Its even more ridiculous when some Asian versions already include an English version (like Okami, got that one imported because I wanted the physical copy) but they are still region locked...
- If you're going to publish the game in all territories, by all means lock that thing up, I'll wait and even pay what you ask as long as I know I can get the game.
- If you're not going to publish the game in all territories (such as with many Japanese games) then unlock them so I can at least pay a huge wad of cash to get them, what do you care, a Japanese store still gets the money and you sell another unit, and I'm happy and will probably buy your next game.
Its even more ridiculous when some Asian versions already include an English version (like Okami, got that one imported because I wanted the physical copy) but they are still region locked...
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Hey, at least we have MSFT joining the region free bandwagon with Sony (who's been there longer than any platform holder). Nintendo is still living in a cave.
Nintendo lives in a cave in more respects than just region locking.
You do realize if you can't necessarily afford something where you live, that you don't need to then illegally pirate it, correct?
You just can't expect global parity in prices you know. Though I agree on a comparative basis Australia has some of the highest costs for video gaming. But then other things are cheaper there that are not in other countries.
lots of games are released only in japan
some games are only released in america
some games are only released in europe
lots of games are only released in 2/3 of those areas
people want to play games from all these areas
it's 100% the reason I dont own a 3ds yet
Importers might be a tiny number of people but they're among the most valuable customers you'll ever have,
I'm pretty part of the reason is for regional income. If Nintendo Australia sells X amount of copies then Nintendo Australia gets a slice of that pie to pay wages, advertising etc, if Australian gamers imported from Japan, Japan would get that sliced pie.
There's a bit more to it than that but I'm not good at explaining that particular area.
Sony Computer Entertainment can enforce certain rules when it comes to games, but it can't go up against the six big shots that form Hollywood.
Canis lupus
Member
Suddenly Nintendo has become the most restrictive out of the big 3. There is no excuse for region locking anymore.
It's especially stupid of them because quite a few of western importers import those overly expensive Japanese games. A big portion of the games I've imported for PSP & DS were games like Ouendan, Jump Superstars, DJ Max Portable, Daigassoo! Band Brothers and such which had absolutely no or very small chance of overseas release.
IrishNinja
Member
yeah, i was bummed about that too - broke down & bought the digi one, but there's other stuff id like to play but kinda can't.
LiquidSolid
Member
lol what? Yes you can and you should.
Though his talk of region free meaning he can import games from the UK was dumb anyway, Aus/NZ have always been able to import games from the UK, we're all part of the PAL territory. Importing games from the US and Asia is what the PS3 brought with it and it's been awesome.
Sakura
Member
While I understand region locking can be frustrating, but to the people in Europe, why not just import an American 3DS? Not only would you save money because the games are cheaper, but you'd also be able to play SMTIV and all that without having to wonder when it's going to get localised in your region.
And while it is unfortunate that the 3DS is region locked, I give them credit for making the eShop not region locked. What I mean is, I have an American Vita, with a Japanese PSN account, but it will not let me use my credit cards on the store because they are not Japanese credit cards/associated with a Japanese address. But for the 3DS I can use my Canadian credit cards on the Japanese eShop no problem, which saves me from having to pay shipping for importing games and allows me to get games day one.
And while it is unfortunate that the 3DS is region locked, I give them credit for making the eShop not region locked. What I mean is, I have an American Vita, with a Japanese PSN account, but it will not let me use my credit cards on the store because they are not Japanese credit cards/associated with a Japanese address. But for the 3DS I can use my Canadian credit cards on the Japanese eShop no problem, which saves me from having to pay shipping for importing games and allows me to get games day one.
Starwolf_UK
Member
To clarify this the game knows its PEGI and OFLC rating and will use the one appropiate to the country in question.
When a rating is absent, game will not launch under parental settings.
Lets see:
-No warranty on the system and hard to get it repaired are too much of a risk for me (ever had dead pixels, scratched screen and other faults the 3DS had? you're not getting them fixed, sound great?)
-Good luck with transferring an eShop account should the system get stolen; its bad enough already with the police report requirement but having to internationally send these as well?
-Miss out on local deals
-Cheaper? Maybe if you evade customs (i.e. tax, all imports over £15 outside of EU) and the handling fee associated (in the case of the UK Royal Mail charge £8 for this...and you still have to pay the tax). I guess the eShop helps here (but not everything is out on the eShop). But yeah where was I...cheaper depends on the exchange rates.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
I really want this to go away. Next year I'm planning to go on exchange to Europe and guess what's the only console I can bring with me? The 3DS. -_-
Regions at the time of the PS2 was the primary reason for modding and piracy for some people. Having to wait up to a year for a game that was released in Japan and in the US was ridiculous. And then the retail shites had the nerve to complain when the sales numbers were in the toilet once the game did release.
I hope we never get back to something as bad as that.
I hope we never get back to something as bad as that.
citation needed
Jezbollah
Member
The only title on 360 that I ever wanted to import was region locked (the EA NCAA Football series). Made me miss out on online dynasties with my US friends, and I had to import the PS3 version to play the series at all.
(as far as I know its the ONLY EA Sports game that was region locked - all due to NCAA licensing).
(as far as I know its the ONLY EA Sports game that was region locked - all due to NCAA licensing).
Games like Warioware: Twisted, Radiant Historia, 999, SMT: Strange Journey and Drill Dozer never made it to my shores.
That's just some examples from the GBA and DS, there are even worse examples on home consoles, Earthbound has only just been released in the EU for the very first time just 18 years after it's American release.
I don't agree with it but I can sympathise, during the DS's lifespan there was a golden period where I could import American games months before they were released in the EU for a far cheaper price (£18 instead of £30 due to a favourable exchange rate).
In the mean time Nintendo were spending money on things like advertising and translations to lots of languages I don't speak for a game I already had, I assume many others did the same.
I have no guilt, I legally bought it and Nintendo got the money but I can sympathise with the ridiculous situation where they can't just release an English language game in England.
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