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Wii: Region-free...or NOT?

Geek said:
GAH! SHUT UP!

That's not how you say it. You say "Now I can buy more Nintendo software!"
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I fully intended to buy all games I wanted anyway, I just don't have to buy two Wii now.
 
Everyone seems to see this as a GB/DS region free situation but I'm still convinced 3rd parties will lock out their big games. I would love to be wrong though.
 
why the hell would anyone import a Wii when A: it comes out later and B: it'd probably cost MORE when you import it than the US version and NOT come with a game? You guys make absolutely no sense whatsoever sometimes. More often than not in fact.
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1. Because there's a region OPTION that can be flipped to free or not free at the discretion of developers. So, no, not all games will be region free.
2. People have too much money.
 
Well then, looks like I won't have to struggled through Zelda with my broken japanese after all. Sexcellent. I'll probably pick up both languages and play through the JP one for practice. :S
 
Space A Cobra said:
Everyone seems to see this as a GB/DS region free situation but I'm still convinced 3rd parties will lock out their big games. I would love to be wrong though.
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I can definitely see this. They'll probably claim it's a licensing issue.
 
I'm curious as to GC backwards compatibility. It would be nice to retire the GC to my bedroom, but still be able to play all of my different region games on Wii...
 
There seems to be a good deal of confusion about region compatibility in this thread.

X360; Optional region encoding; 3 categories: NTSC/US, NTSC/JP(asia), PAL
MS uses.

Wii; Optional region encoding; ? regions. Nintendo will not use for first party.

PS3; No game region encoding; BC region encoding?; BD movies region encoding - 3 regions (1 includes US and japan, 2 should be europe and 3 is probably pirating bastard nations).
 
Zaptruder said:
PS3; No game region encoding; BC region encoding?; BD movies region encoding - 3 regions (1 includes US and japan, 2 should be europe and 3 is probably pirating bastard nations).
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Uncertain. Sony has basically said the same thing as Nintendo. Nintendo said "Wii will be region-free like the DS!" and Sony said "PS3 will be region-free like the PSP!".
 
Kobun Heat said:
Now, obviously there's a qualification -- the "region switch" exists -- but since Nintendo is taking the step of not restricting any of their first-party titles, that not only sets a precedent, it makes all the really good stuff region-free. So maybe Spike will lock NecroNesia. They'd be doing you a favor.
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Exactly how does it "set a precedent" when Sony will end up doing it before Nintendo? (assuming they follow through on their plans)
 
Bebpo said:
Uncertain. Sony has basically said the same thing as Nintendo. Nintendo said "Wii will be region-free like the DS!" and Sony said "PS3 will be region-free like the PSP!".
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I've talked to a couple SCEI dudes, and they say PS3 is region free for games, confirmed.
 
TheTrin said:
I've talked to a couple SCEI dudes, and they say PS3 is region free for games, confirmed.
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Yeah I really hope so.

I'm getting a US PS3 & US Wii because I will believe in region-free-ness. But the second a game I want comes out in Japan region locked for either system I'm gonna have to blow $$$ on a 2nd JPN unit which I REALLY DON'T WANT TO DO. >_<

I'll be importing a few titles from each launch and testing them on my US systems...so fingers crossed I guess!
 
Bebpo said:
Yeah I really hope so.

I'm getting a US PS3 & US Wii because I will believe in region-free-ness. But the second a game I want comes out in Japan region locked for either system I'm gonna have to blow $$$ on a 2nd JPN unit which I REALLY DON'T WANT TO DO. >_<

I'll be importing a few titles from each launch and testing them on my US systems...so fingers crossed I guess!
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Getting 2 wiis wouldn't be a huge issue. It's two PS3s that would ****ing bury me.
 
Will games downloaded from the Virtual Console store be tied to an account like Xbox Live or a one-time-only download like iTunes? Tied to an account. Kaplan discussed a scenario where a player's Wii was broken or destroyed, but would be able to re-download titles they had previously bought to a new Wii machine. Because my left leg was burning from an accidental Zippo oil spill, I neglected to ask if a user would be able to log into friends' Wiis and play their Virtual Console downloads away from their home machine.
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I didn't understand this sentence. Is it a play on word or something?
Kobun Heat you have a pm from me.
 
Bebpo said:
Yeah I really hope so.

I'm getting a US PS3 & US Wii because I will believe in region-free-ness. But the second a game I want comes out in Japan region locked for either system I'm gonna have to blow $$$ on a 2nd JPN unit which I REALLY DON'T WANT TO DO. >_<

I'll be importing a few titles from each launch and testing them on my US systems...so fingers crossed I guess!
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omg... :lol :lol :lol :lol

I can perfectly understand this! :D
 
Well...this has certainly made my day! :D

In the end though, I'm still thinking that I might just get a Japanese Wii. I mean, now-a-days, besides Nintendo 1st party gooes, the majority of games I'm playing from 3rd parties are JP-originating or JP-exclusive. Games like Sengoku Basara 3 and Naruto GNT 5 (whenever they come out), are certainly higher on my personal list than say, "EA game of the month", or FarCry. And if that's the case, why risk the distinctive possibility that a cool import might just be region-locked just for the hell of it, thus screwing me over? No way, man...no way...

To me, that's the kind of situation that would best suit importers like myself. Whether region-coded or not, we'll still get to play the imports we crave, while we'll get our choice picks for the 1st party titles that really matter, like Smash Bros. Brawl or what have you. And that's all I could really ask for...
 
TreIII said:
Well...this has certainly made my day! :D

In the end though, I'm still thinking that I might just get a Japanese Wii. I mean, now-a-days, besides Nintendo 1st party gooes, the majority of games I'm playing from 3rd parties are JP-originating or JP-exclusive. Games like Sengoku Basara 3 and Naruto GNT 5 (whenever they come out), are certainly higher on my personal list than say, "EA game of the month", or FarCry. And if that's the case, why risk the distinctive possibility that a cool import might just be region-locked just for the hell of it, thus screwing me over? No way, man...no way...

To me, that's the kind of situation that would best suit importers like myself. Whether region-coded or not, we'll still get to play the imports we crave, while we'll get our choice picks for the 1st party titles that really matter, like Smash Bros. Brawl or what have you. And that's all I could really ask for...
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Yeah, honestly if you're willing to wait and pony up some extra cash, getting the Japanese Wii is a better bet. The only game in GC's entire lifetime that caused problems with a Japanese GC was RE4 because of the censoring in the JPN version. You could probably make it through the entire Wii lifespan with just a JPN unit and not miss a single game.

But it is launching 2 weeks later and buying it through importers will likely cost $300-400 since it's sure to be hard to get in Japan. With the PS3 already costing $650+, a Wii at crazy high import prices does hurt the wallet.

So I'll take the $250 alternative and hope for 100% region-free on every game.
 
Now with Confirmation!

wiink

Gamespot said:
after a lengthy exchange of cryptic e-mails, a rep finally confirmed Kaplan's words regarding regionless first-party titles and potentially regionless third-party titles were indeed correct: "[The] Wii will be region-free."
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In case anyone else was worried, like me, that Kaplan might not always know what she's talking about, especially regarding technical details.
 
Someone should ask if the Wii itself is regionbased in terms of features (weather, messaging, other channels). I'd like to import from the US this time around but missing out on those features would be somewhat bad.
 
Ceb said:
Exactly how does it "set a precedent" when Sony will end up doing it before Nintendo? (assuming they follow through on their plans)
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It sets a precedent with 3rd parties publishing Wii games, not with Sony.
 
Great, give me a 250 Euro pricetag tomorrow and I'm going to import this bitch from Japan.. even if it will be out later and although I wanted to wait for a black Wii. :(
 
Dragona Akehi said:
I'm curious as to GC backwards compatibility. It would be nice to retire the GC to my bedroom, but still be able to play all of my different region games on Wii...
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Yes, that would be extremely sweet. It seems unlikely though.
 
This news makes my day. Means I'll order a US one and shouldn't have too much trouble if games somehow come out here earlier.

The real question I need answered is if Wii-Connect will differ per regions (i.e., North America, Asia, Europe, Australasia) because no way will I stand and get ****ed around by Nintendo of Australia taking forever to add content.

so, who exports (consoles) from the US?
 
-Rogue5- said:
PS3 is region locked, but the regions have been reduced to only three, with region one including Japan and North America... No flip-on, just regions have been changed.

That's completley different from the Wii... The Wii seems to be more along the lines of 360, except that, where MS's first parties are usually region locked, Wii's first parties won't be (which, as Koburn said, sets a pretty clear example that the 2nd and 3rd parties will most likely follow.)

As for importing a system from Japan, if the DS is any indication, it would probably be much harder than just getting one over here. 4 million before Jan.1st is a decent number though and unlike Sony, I think Nintendo will actually be able to achieve those numbers.
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Yeah the facts about PS3 and 360 are getting a bit confused here. I still think a lot of sport titles will get the lock down and movie/book titles due to licensing agreements.. which is why consoles have such a big problem going region free..Nintendo has made it easier by being a game system only and not an entertainment hub like the other 2
 
Movies and legacy content for PS3 is still region locked obviously but PS3 games are region free. That's what friends at SCE have told me. *shrug*
 
TheTrin said:
Movies and legacy content for PS3 is still region locked obviously but PS3 games are region free. That's what friends at SCE have told me. *shrug*
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from what I hear.. there will be regions for games just the regions are now bigger... but that could change easily...
 
for all the people mentioning importing a japanese one, what if the os language cant be switched? for all the extra random channels and stuff (mii, weather, news, etc), youll have to deal with some crazy moon language for all of it. virtual console stuff could potentially cause problems as well (like if you have to register a japanese address or some crap).

then again if its like the ds, then you can switch it and everything, but theres been nothing said about that yet afaik.
 
drohne said:
wiigion fwii!

wets hope sony fowwows suit
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Kutaragi has wanted to make Playstation region free for years. It's a shame it took Sony so long to finally listen to him.
 
The only other question I have is this...

Now that we know that there is the "option" to region-encode...might there still be a way to get past the encoding?

In other words, couldn't Datel or some one else like 'em simply make a boot disc of sorts so that the encoding can be by-passed or something to that effect just so that the machine will still be able to read any disc?

Of course, if the Wii isn't a top-loading system, that might be an issue, but I'm not an expert in this stuff in any regard...
 
It would be cool if it played any region Cube games too, i've got heaps of PAL games I picked up cheap locally (NTSC system imported) that I could try out without having to get outta my chair to do the Freeloader thing. :lol

Ooo also got a few JPN games, sweet *fingers crossed*.
 
drohne said:
wiigion fwii!

wets hope sony fowwows suit
Click to expand...

180px-Elmerfudd2.jpg
 
I hope gamecube games from other regions will work as well.. I have a few Japanese GC games I'd like to be able to use on the new system.

Not a deal breaker if it doesn't work, but it would be nice to see
 
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