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[PARANO1A]

for me this is bigger deal than used game DRM.

I really hope PS4 is region-free like PS3.

I agree. Country locking is a flat out non purchase, region locking I can probably deal with since most of my games are from the UK as an Aussie gamer. I haven't paid more than half of the $120 RRP of new releases in years.

If it works like 360 I'll live (all PAL content works, publisher choice for cross region). Big deciding factor though since the grey market drives down local retail pricing. As it should - fuck charging me double the US price for something, gaming or otherwise.

 

[bobbytkc]

I know all about the PSP and the hurdles you had to jump to activate other regions. I assumed that seeing as Vita is a more modern system in tune with PS3 and the future console (PS4), it would have not such an archaic and xenophobic account system.
I was wrong.

Now it is 2013, we are in a more connected and community-based time with these electronics. Unlike PSP which launched in the mid-2000s when online-enabled handhelds were a new thing, there have been many additions..namely to the PlayStation Network. One of those things is called the trophy system.

So I'll make it clear now, I wouldn't be complaining the level I do about the Vita account locking if Vita didn't support trophies. Now with trophies, it unlocked a very interesting thing. One central profile to a gamer that catalogues their gaming history and all of their tough accomplishments (trophies). With Vita account locking games from being able to be put on that central trphy list, it ruins that philosophy.

That's my major gripe. One that won't be popular in the gaming media nor GAF since neither patrons are very serious about that subect in the first place. Not trying to be insulting, but if you are not dedicated to that philosophy I outlined, accompishing hard tasks on one central account, then your account is disposable...and is why you see no issue with simply making a junk account to play other region games on. But what does somene devoted do? Suck it up and pretend it's not an issue because they won't be putting those games on that centralized list...or make multiple accounts with different friends list, different trophy list, etc. that they devote themselves to, losing the purpose and philosophy behind the "gamer profile"?

Like I said before, unless there is a universal outrage, nothing will change. Nobody is drilling Yoshida about this. Nobody brings this up in interviews at events. Nobody on the forums says anything about this besides a quiet one or two lost in the noise. Nothing will change. And that's a damn shame for something that isn't right: the dichotemy of SCE regions (thus different region stores) creating a giant split in the library and availability to gamers.

Hey man, I am all for this, one account for every region is the ideal scenario Heck, there shouldn't even be regions, just put everything into a single unified store. But saying that the Vita is worse than hardware region locking?You start to lose me there. In the latter, you don't even have a choice to play another region's games, much less consider playing them under one account.

 

[GorillaJu]

You can play Vita games under one account anyway. I have both Jp and US games for my JP vita. You just can't access the PSN store outside your account's region.

It's "semi-locked" at worst.

 

[Arthea]

You can play Vita games under one account anyway. I have both Jp and US games for my JP vita. You just can't access the PSN store outside your account's region.

It's "semi-locked" at worst.

Actually in my eyes it's not locked, if you can play a game of any region on one account. Is it true? I always was curious and people post conflicting things about Vita.

 

[bobbytkc]

Actually in my eyes it's not locked, if you can play a game of any region on one account. Is it true? I always was curious and people post conflicting things about Vita.

Yea, you can, but you need to buy physical retail games. You cannot access another region's PSN store to access the digital content from another region.

 

[sakipon]

Actually in my eyes it's not locked, if you can play a game of any region on one account. Is it true? I always was curious and people post conflicting things about Vita.

You can't play digital games from different regions. You can play retail games from any region.

 

[Gokurakumaru]

I know all about the PSP and the hurdles you had to jump to activate other regions. I assumed that seeing as Vita is a more modern system in tune with PS3 and the future console (PS4), it would have not such an archaic and xenophobic account system.
I was wrong.

Now it is 2013, we are in a more connected and community-based time with these electronics. Unlike PSP which launched in the mid-2000s when online-enabled handhelds were a new thing, there have been many additions..namely to the PlayStation Network. One of those things is called the trophy system.

So I'll make it clear now, I wouldn't be complaining the level I do about the Vita account locking if Vita didn't support trophies. Now with trophies, it unlocked a very interesting thing. One central profile to a gamer that catalogues their gaming history and all of their tough accomplishments (trophies). With Vita account locking games from being able to be put on that central trphy list, it ruins that philosophy.

That's my major gripe. One that won't be popular in the gaming media nor GAF since neither patrons are very serious about that subect in the first place. Not trying to be insulting, but if you are not dedicated to that philosophy I outlined, accompishing hard tasks on one central account, then your account is disposable...and is why you see no issue with simply making a junk account to play other region games on.

But what does somene devoted do? Suck it up, throwing in the towel only playing games made availabile to their region (effectively around 1/3 of the total library) and pretend it's not an issue because they won't be putting those games on that centralized list...or make multiple accounts with different friends list, different trophy list, etc. that they devote themselves to, losing the purpose and philosophy behind the "gamer profile"?

Like I said before, unless there is a universal outrage, nothing will change. Nobody is drilling Yoshida about this. Nobody brings this up in interviews at events. Nobody on the forums says anything about this besides a quiet one or two lost in the noise. Nothing will change. And that's a damn shame for something that isn't right: the dichotemy of SCE regions (thus different region stores) creating a giant split in the library and availability to gamers.

Nobody grills Yoshida on the subject because you're literally the only person who seems to care about having multiple accounts. If you're not a brand loyalist you're already running multiple trophy/achievement sets and friend lists. You never had a central gaming history to begin with.

 

[ZodR_ARG]

 

[Arthea]

You can't play digital games from different regions. You can play retail games from any region.

Well that's not entirely region free. Lemme ask one more question. There is no way around it? What if I bought other region PSN Vita game on my PS3 and downloaded? Shouldn't I be able to transfer to my Vita regardless? And if yes, can I play it this way?

 

[Palette Swap]

Actually in my eyes it's not locked, if you can play a game of any region on one account. Is it true? I always was curious and people post conflicting things about Vita.

- you can play physical games from any region on your account.
- you can't play digital content from other regions on your account. This would include DLC for physical games. This is because an account can only play stuff it has bought, not because of a region lock design. This is different from say PS3 (or Xbox) where digital content is activated on a system and can be used by different accounts on that system.
- you must have one account per memory card. So, to switch accounts, you'd need to switch cards and to do so, you'll need to completely power off the system.

Edit: I'm complaining because it's not ideal but if 3DS worked like that, I could play SMT4 in July.

 

[jetsetfluken]

No, I've complained about it a number of times. It's not region locking by design but it effectively adds a modicum of region locking if you want to play with one account and one card. The fact you can't even hot swap cards makes it even more annoying.

The ideal world to let our favorite grey market be is clearly what PS3 does with multiple accounts being able to activate content on one system. I wish a future update would kill that 1:1 limitation but I'm not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, the only imports I play are physical games.

Some people said the PS3 spoiled us and that's not how it should be. I disagree with them. That's how I think all professional consoles should be from there on out in terms of how to deal with regions. An international console that allows you to play games...from any country. Makes sense, right?

PS3 wasn't entirely perfect. The only things inaccessable to having a "one centralized gamer profile" list was some Japan digital games that were free and relied on in-game DLC purchases to fully play. Since DLC from other regions could only be activated while out of game in the PS Store, it meant that in-game stuff was inaccessable with a Japan account.

The solution to all of this? Let us do what Microsoft let users do last year: change account region. Limit it to 6 months, hell, charge us. Sony, more than ever, needs that feature. It's ironic Xbox has it, because for the most part much of the digital library is made available to all regions. Sony...as we know, giant splits in the digital marketplaces and release dates (if the games do come to other regions, an 8 month wait is not a strange thing).

I'll just again re-state that knowing SCE's history towards the online world, things probably won't be changing. Adapt now to the most personally comfortable scenario, assuming things will always be the way they are.

With things like Yoshida on Twitter quietly saying the lock is due to Vita being seen to them as a "personal" device, there is not much hope of change or a firmware update to add multiple account support. I'd love for someone to drill on him, "Hey Yoshida, what i your precious Treasure Park was only available to US accounts?" "Uhh...uhhhh....". I don't even think they realize the split they created and all is fine because of simple hardware being region free.

You're nuts. Buy a second Vita. Problem solved. What's your obsession with playing games on one account?

See the first post of mine on this page.

"Xenophobic account system." I've heard it all.

So entertain me how I am so outrageous in the claim. I think it's a fine word to describe what's going on. You must bow and salute to your region...because that's the only selection of the library you'll be playing on your account. All other regions are untouchable by you. May as well pretend they don't matter and yours is the best, right?

 

[bobbytkc]

Well that's not entirely region free. Lemme ask one more question. There is no way around it? What if I bought other region PSN Vita game on my PS3 and downloaded? Shouldn't I be able to transfer to my Vita regardless? And if yes, can I play it this way?

You can still play it on the vita, but you need to switch accounts on it, so it won't be the same account. Also, memory cards are stuck to one account at a time, so you can either i)format the existing memory card ii) use another memory card for the other region.

 

[Gokurakumaru]

See the first post of mine on this page.

See mine.

 

[Arthea]

You can still play it on the vita, but you need to switch accounts on it, so it won't be the same account. Also, memory cards are stuck to one account at a time, so you can either i)format the existing memory card ii) use another memory card for the other region.

So there is no way around it? It's a pity. OTOH having multiple accounts wouldn't be such a high price to pay, if not prices of memory cards.

 

[M3d10n]

It will be region locked, but probably not in the way people expect. I expect the region locking to be gamertag-based (not hardware-based) and be similar to the region locking currently used in the 360's games-on-demand, excepts discs should be able to serve multiple sub-regions in the same region (i.e: US disks can register to Mexican gamertags) otherwise the costs of pressing games for such finely granulated regions would be too great.

 

[t26]

Outside of some trophy hunter the Vita lock isn't an issue for most people. There is no outrage so there is no need for Sony to do anything.

 

[jetsetfluken]

Nobody grills Yoshida on the subject because you're literally the only person who seems to care about having multiple accounts. If you're not a brand loyalist you're already running multiple trophy/achievement sets and friend lists. You never had a central gaming history to begin with.

Having multiple accounts on the same platform is ridiculous though, don't you think? Have your PSN profile...check...have your XBL profile...check...have your PSN profile #2...wait, what?

I'm fine with multiple accounts to get access to the other marketplaces. But now they'll telling me (or are they even aware?) that content from that other marketplace can't be played on any other account? Now that's where it gets ridiculous.

See mine.

So you read the whole post then? I affirmed my outrage on the Vita account locking mainly due to it no longer being possible to have one centralized "game profile" philosophy on PSN anymore. For more details on that, re-read that post.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=59542601&postcount=301

 

[Midnight Phoenix]

Someone, please, plug the pipe, it is flooding whole week.

 

[bobbytkc]

So there is no way around it? It's a pity. OTOH having multiple accounts would't such a high price to pay, if not prices of memory cards.

Yea, the best case scenario would be a PS3 like system for accounts. But the only system with a PS3 like setup is... the PS3 afaik. The 3DS is hardware region locked, in comparison.

 

[mclem]

Sorry to be the black sheep here, but that quote doesn't exactly read "region lock" to me?

You're right, it doesn't... but it *is* the usual reason trotted out *for* a region lock to exist ("We can't allow it to be played in that country, it hasn't passed the tests for that country!"), which suggests that reading between the lines, there will be a region lock in place.

That said, it would not surprise me greatly if it was a region lock of the form the 360 has - i.e. the publishers can lock as they wish. 360 is *officially* region-locked but there's no shortage of titles that are actually region-free.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The reason the PS3 was the way it was, simply was because Sony saw a competitive advantage there. In the early days of PS3, competitive advantages were few and far between. They locked down the Vita much more because it was competing against a portable that was completely region locked, but even there you could get around things if you were willing to inconvenience yourself.

The PS4 won't be region locked if Sony feels it is still a competitive advantage over the Xbone. If they don't, then it will. It's as simple as that. Sony actually added the ability for developers to region lock games on PS3, which is why Persona 4 Arena is (infamously) the first and still only game to be region locked on that console.

 

[Radec]

What's the benefit of region locking to Sony/MS/Nintendo anyway?

 

[Gokurakumaru]

Having multiple accounts on the same platform is ridiculous though, don't you think?

Sure it's ridiculous, but only from the philosophy that people want to run multiple accounts in the first place. There are so many barriers to purchasing content from foreign stores and playing games on foreign hardware I can understand why Sony and co. treat it as a non-issue. Bear in mind multiple accounts were put in place to let family members each have their own profile, not for an individual to play imports under a different gamer tag.

If this is the price to pay for being able to play any game from any region I want, I can live with it. After the PS3 and PSP I don't want to waste money or space on import consoles anymore. Nintendo lost themselves a customer with their 3DS region-locking nonsense.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

Not surprising.

 

[t26]

Sounds like the issue you have is less with region lock but instead the number of account on a single memory card.

 

[jetsetfluken]

Hey man, I am all for this, one account for every region is the ideal scenario Heck, there shouldn't even be regions, just put everything into a single unified store. But saying that the Vita is worse than hardware region locking?You start to lose me there. In the latter, you don't even have a choice to play another region's games, much less consider playing them under one account.

Sadly, a unified, international store is a pipedream. Years ago when we all started seeing the splits in availability of the PS Stores, this was a hope. But with any knowledge of the certification and approval processes and dichotemy of the SCE branches, it almost certainly won't happen.

You are backwards in the last point you brought up. Yes, Vita account locking is worse, because it makes it factually impossible to play that content on a centralized account. With hardware region locking, you can still play all of that content under one account if you buy the other-region box. Again, that sucks and is an inconvenience, but my point is it's still possible. With Vita...it's impossible.

 

[mclem]

The PS4 won't be region locked if Sony feels it is still a competitive advantage over the Xbone. If they don't, then it will. It's as simple as that. Sony actually added the ability for developers to region lock games on PS3, which is why Persona 4 Arena is (infamously) the first and still only game to be region locked on that console.

It's worth bearing in mind that - for a console manufacturer - it's a case of weighing up how much the console owner *dislikes* region-locking against how much the third parties *like* them - and whether the content *gained* by giving the third parties something they want (or if you like, lost by *not* giving them what they want) would ultimately prove more crippling.

 

[Mieu]

How will we ever play all those Japanese-only Xbox titles!

There won't be any.

 

[cafemomo]

Like there would be any worthwhile titles importing for the thing anyway

 

[mao2]

I know all about the PSP and the hurdles you had to jump to activate other regions. I assumed that seeing as Vita is a more modern system in tune with PS3 and the future console (PS4), it would have not such an archaic and xenophobic account system.
I was wrong.

Now it is 2013, we are in a more connected and community-based time with these electronics. Unlike PSP which launched in the mid-2000s when online-enabled handhelds were a new thing, there have been many additions..namely to the PlayStation Network. One of those things is called the trophy system.

So I'll make it clear now, I wouldn't be complaining the level I do about the Vita account locking if Vita didn't support trophies. Now with trophies, it unlocked a very interesting thing. One central profile to a gamer that catalogues their gaming history and all of their tough accomplishments (trophies). With Vita account locking games from being able to be put on that central trphy list, it ruins that philosophy.

That's my major gripe. One that won't be popular in the gaming media nor GAF since neither patrons are very serious about that subect in the first place. Not trying to be insulting, but if you are not dedicated to that philosophy I outlined, accompishing hard tasks on one central account, then your account is disposable...and is why you see no issue with simply making a junk account to play other region games on.

But what does somene devoted do? Suck it up, throwing in the towel only playing games made availabile to their region (effectively around 1/3 of the total library) and pretend it's not an issue because they won't be putting those games on that centralized list...or make multiple accounts with different friends list, different trophy list, etc. that they devote themselves to, losing the purpose and philosophy behind the "gamer profile"?

Like I said before, unless there is a universal outrage, nothing will change. Nobody is drilling Yoshida about this. Nobody brings this up in interviews at events. Nobody on the forums says anything about this besides a quiet one or two lost in the noise. Nothing will change. And that's a damn shame for something that isn't right: the dichotemy of SCE regions (thus different region stores) creating a giant split in the library and availability to gamers.

Sorry I didn't see your latest post before I hit the submit button. I'm sure everyone agrees with you that if Vita supports multiple accounts and can play any title from any region like the PS3, it'd be awesome. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but at the same time it isn't the end of the world. All physical games on Vita (up till now at least) are region free. Therefore, the only drawback is that you can't play digital titles from other regions using a single account. I don't think that's a major issue to most people... at least when compared to 3DS.

 

[LiquidSolid]

I repied to another use in the other thread, but it was lcked:



Well then, it seems that unless something is met with a universal opinion, nothing will change. This Vita thing is even being met with resistance on a forum. Nothing will change, thanks for solidifying that.

Yes, I will boldly say that Vita account locking is much worse than hardware region locking.
Vita account locking makes games an impossibility to play on a single account. Hardware region locking only requires buying that region hardware to play the games. It's not the end of the world.
Vita = requires multiple accounts and hoop jumping to play the full library.
Traditional hardware region locking (360, etc) = all games possible to be played on one account.
And that's the facts. Any complaints about price of another console is not. That's subjective. It's an inconvenience, but at least you can have a "one account to end them all" on Xbox.
I thought someone as yourself who cares about trophies would not be pro- this decision, though I assume you are fully satisfied with what your one region provides to you. Bow to that region, I hope you're proud...because you're going to bow to it and like it. That's the only selection of the library you're going to have access to.

What a condescending prick. Australia and New Zealand are fucked over far more than you'll ever be when it comes to games, so to preach to me about region locking all because you missed out on some fucking trophies is laughable.

Does the single account system suck? Yeah. I complained about it way back when it was first revealed and I still think it sucks. But the reality is, at least it's something. I can still import retail copies from the US or Japan and play them on my Vita without making a single change. To turn around and tell me that you'd prefer it if I had to buy another Vita to import those games, just so you could get trophies on a single account is fucking insulting. And to imply that trophies are worth buying a second system is fucking insane.

And there are plenty of people, including me, that complain about the current setup. But you clearly you haven't paid attention, have you? You didn't even realise there have been multiple topics about the Vita's single system setup before.

 

[jetsetfluken]

Sure it's ridiculous, but only from the philosophy that people want to run multiple accounts in the first place. There are so many barriers to purchasing content from foreign stores and playing games on foreign hardware I can understand why Sony and co. treat it as a non-issue. Bear in mind multiple accounts were put in place to let family members each have their own profile, not for an individual to play imports under a different gamer tag.

If this is the price to pay for being able to play any game from any region I want, I can live with it. After the PS3 and PSP I don't want to waste money or space on import consoles anymore. Nintendo lost themselves a customer with their 3DS region-locking nonsense.

Nobody, and certainly not I, want to run multiple accounts. We have to to access content not available in our region. But now it ramps up to the next level, now that content is not even playable on our main account.
I understand the multiple profiles on consoles (PS3 and 360) were for reasons such as multiple family members. So why couldn't that modern thinking extend to Vita? At a technical standpoint, it's more than possible.
With Nintendo's situation, well that's a complete mess.Hardware region locking PLUS account region locking PLUS region locked to hardware. Luckily, Nintendo has no profile system that has any semblence of existance, so it's not as big of a deal to me as Vita, part of PSN...which the profiles there have much more life and existance to them with things like friends list and trophy list.

 

[Dead Man]

There won't be any.

That's the joke.

 

[mao2]

Sadly, a unified, international store is a pipedream. Years ago when we all started seeing the splits in availability of the PS Stores, this was a hope. But with any knowledge of the certification and approval processes and dichotemy of the SCE branches, it almost certainly won't happen.

You are backwards in the last point you brought up. Yes, Vita account locking is worse, because it makes it factually impossible to play that content on a centralized account. With hardware region locking, you can still play all of that content under one account if you buy the other-region box. Again, that sucks and is an inconvenience, but my point is it's still possible. With Vita...it's impossible.

Is there any region-locked handheld that can access another region's online store? AFAIK a Japanese 3DS will only connect to Japan eShop...

 

[Gokurakumaru]

Nobody, and certainly not I, want to run multiple accounts. We have to to access content not available in our region. But now it ramps up to the next level, now that content is not even playable on our main account.
I understand the multiple profiles on consoles (PS3 and 360) were for reasons such as multiple family members. So why couldn't that modern thinking extend to Vita? At a technical standpoint, it's more than possible.
With Nintendo's situation, well that's a complete mess.Hardware region locking PLUS account region locking PLUS region locked to hardware. Luckily, Nintendo has no profile system that has any semblence of existance, so it's not as big of a deal to me as Vita, part of PSN...which the profiles there have much more life and existance to them with things like friends list and trophy list.

My points is that if you need those accounts for online passes or DLC anyhow, what's the big deal with playing under them? I don't value trophies so I simply can't relate to where you're coming from. I would think the functional deficiency of, say, your 360 friends not inviting you to a game while you're on the PS3 would be a more tangible problem than the lack of a unified view on your trophy list.

 

[jetsetfluken]

What a condescending prick. Australia and New Zealand are fucked over far more than you'll ever be when it comes to games, so to preach to me about region locking all because you missed out on some fucking trophies is laughable.

Does the single account system suck? Yeah. I complained about it way back when it was first revealed and I still think it sucks. But the reality is, at least it's something. I can still import retail copies from the US or Japan and play them on my Vita without making a single change. To turn around and tell me that you'd prefer it if I had to buy another Vita to import those games, just so you could get trophies on a single account is fucking insulting. And to imply that trophies are worth buying a second system is fucking insane.

And there are plenty of people, including me, that complain about the current setup. But you clearly you haven't paid attention, have you? You didn't even realise there have been multiple topics about the Vita's single system setup before.

It doesn't matter what region you live in. With PS3, everyone had access to the entire library internationally under one account with the use of multiple accounts. With Vita, your account will only be able to play that region's digital content and games. I'm not missing out on "some fucking trophies". I'm missing out on about 2/3 of the Vita library. The split between US, EU and JP is stronger than ever with Vita.

And so you import those retail games. So what happens when they get DLC, as most Vita games now do (especially retail)? You won't be accessing that content. Sometimes, they are required for 100% trophy completion, too. It goes beyond simple decorations or costumes or even enhancements.

Like I am not stomping on others if they have differing priorities in this whole digital scheme of things, I expect you to respect others as well. Some simply see things as more important than others, such as some seeing the philosophy of a "centralized gamer profile" with one trophy list more important than others. Don't get hostile towards others who care about it and now are being gimped, just because you personally don't really care. Most of the games you are interested in are probably all localized games anyway.

I have seen the other threads and very uncommon times this is brought up. But the threads die fast, and the comments are lost in the noise. I myself have brought this up in rich detail before in those Vita megathreads and was ignored...and for what? People chattering away about the latest flavor of the month localized game or free PS+ hand me down. Ignore the technical issues and be enticed by the shiny...such unfortunate circumstances that this is the stance of the masses is proof nothing will change and the more serious must now adapt.

My points is that if you need those accounts for online passes or DLC anyhow, what's the big deal with playing under them? I don't value trophies so I simply can't relate to where you're coming from. I would think the functional deficiency of, say, your 360 friends not inviting you to a game while you're on the PS3 would be a more tangible problem than the lack of a unified view on your trophy list.

The explanation is very simple. Playing under those ruins the entire philosophy of a "gamer profile" that documents both the history of games played and the trophies obtained in them. So get rid of trophies completely, the list still serves as an "activity log" and the only form of it on PSN. It's not solely about soullessly chasing trophies here, if you think it's that. With a split of different accounts, there is no documented history of a "gamer profile" anymore, and defeats the purpose of even having one in the first place.

 

[Dead Man]

It doesn't matter what region you live in. With PS3, everyone had access to the entire library internationally under one account with the use of multiple accounts. With Vita, your account will only be able to play that region's digital content and games. I'm not missing out on "some fucking trophies". I'm missing out on about 2/3 of the Vita library. The split between US, EU and JP is stronger than ever with Vita.

And so you import those retail games. So what happens when they get DLC, as most Vita games now do (especially retail)? You won't be accessing that content. Sometimes, they are required for 100% trophy completion, too. It goes beyond simple decorations or costumes or even enhancements.

Like I am not stomping on others if they have differing priorities in this whole digital scheme of things, I expect you to respect others as well. Some simply see things as more important than others, such as some seeing the philosophy of a "centralized gamer profile" with one trophy list more important than others. Don't get hostile towards others who care about it and now are being gimped, just because you personally don't really care. Most of the games you are interested in are probably all localized games anyway.

I have seen the other threads and very uncommon times this is brought up. But the threads die fast, and the comments are lost in the noise. I myself have brought this up in rich detail before in those Vita megathreads and was ignored...and for what? People chattering away about the latest flavor of the month localized game or free PS+ hand me down. Ignore the technical issues and be enticed by the shiny...such unfortunate circumstances that this is the stance of the masses is proof nothing will change and the more serious must now adapt.

So essentially you are missing some DLC, and some trophies. :/

 

[jetsetfluken]

So essentially you are missing some DLC, and some trophies. :/

Read the other part of my previous post. It's not only about that, it's about there being no more "gamer profile" anymore, essentially, that accurately documents both the history of games played and the accomplishments in them. That is due to the split of accounts.

But if you aren't informed of the difference of both and digital game availability between the three main regions (US, EU and JP), I suggest you research and take a look.
Seeing the amount may shock you.

Basically, a US or EU account is missing out on about 2/3 of the Vita library. A JP account is missing out on about 1/3 of the total library (due to the increased amount of games JP is getting). There is no right account anymore. The splits are too large.
And remember, even if trophy lists or a gamer profile in any form didn't exist, this would still be an outrage simply due to the ridiculous hoops you have to jump through to access the content.

 

[Dead Man]

Read the other part of my previous post. It's not only about that, it's about there being no more "gamer profile" anymore, essentially, that accurately documents both the history of games played and the accomplishments in them. That is due to the split of accounts.

But if you aren't informed of the difference of both and digital game availability differences between the three main regions (US, EU and JP), I suggest you research and take a look.
Seeing the amount may shock you.

Basically, a US or EU account is missing out on about 2/3 of the Vita library. A JP account is missing out on about 1/3 of the total library (due to the increased amount of games JP is getting). There is no right account anymore. The splits are too large.
And remember, even if trophy lists or a gamer profile in any form didn't exist, this would still be an outrage simply due to the ridiculous hoops you have to jump through to access the content.

Look, I live in Australia, we get fucked on a regular basis by pricing and lack of game availability. The Vita solution is not ideal, but it is a damn sight better than you are making it out to be.

 

[jetsetfluken]

Look, I live in Australia, we get fucked on a regular basis by pricing and lack of game availability. The Vita solution is not ideal, but it is a damn sight better than you are making it out to be.

All regions have their disadvantages in ways. In the Eurasia region, it's pricing and availability. But the fact of the matter is, those games were previously available to you on a centralized account, technically. Now they aren't.

I don't want to go in circles. Most aren't as serious about the gamer profile thing so I'll be replying and saying the same things.

The whole Vita thing wouldn't be an issue if we could switch account region I'd much rather see that be a petitioned feature, seeing as how much of a fool's errand it is to try to inform others on the Vita account lock.
Then you could switch on-the-fly. In fact that would be the end of multiple accounts to get other marketplace content.

Unfortunately, I still think something like region account switching is too niche of a need. There is still hope, seeing as Microsoft released the featured last year for Xbox users.
There is a legitimate purpose for it, and here's crossing fingers features like this are part of the PS4 stable.

 

[Dead Man]

All regions have their disadvantages in ways. In the Eurasia region, it's pricing and availability. But the fact of the matter is, those games were previously available to you on a centralized account, technically. Now they aren't.

I don't want to go in circles. Most aren't as serious about the gamer profile thing so I'll be replying and saying the same things.

The whole Vita thing wouldn't be an issue if we could switch account region. I'd much rather see that be a petitioned feature, seeing as how much of a fool's errand it is to try to inform others on the Vita account lock.
Then you could switch on-the-fly. In fact that would be the end of multiple accounts to get other marketplace content.

Unfortunately, I still think something like region account switching is too niche of a need. There is still hope, seeing as Microsoft released the featured last year for Xbox users.
There is a legitimate purpose for it, and here's crossing fingers features like this are part of the PS4 stable.

Technically, no they weren't if the device was actually region locked, instead of having region based accounts.

 

[need4speed]

As expected, why would anybody else think so?

 

[Baki]

Why has this suddenly become about the Vita lol. MS PR agents acting at full capacity it seems hahaha

Back on topic, I think MS wants a much stronger grip over the entire Xbox ecosystem this time. This really is Balmers box.

 

[jetsetfluken]

Technically, no they weren't if the device was actually region locked, instead of having region based accounts.

You don't understand. Technically, yes they were. You just needed to buy the other-region box. Once that box was obtained, plop you main account on there and you have the other-region games, previously hardware region locked, on your main account. I'm referring to 360 here, PS3 was region free for discs. For digital content with PS3 and 360, all was accessable on one box via multiple region accounts.

The Vita region account lock makes it impossible to do that on one account.
I don't understand how many times I had to repeat these points in this thread, but it did help me further understand why nothing will be done over at Sony if this is the resistance this is met with on a forum.

 

[Gokurakumaru]

The explanation is very simple. Playing under those ruins the entire philosophy of a "gamer profile" that documents both the history of games played and the trophies obtained in them. So get rid of trophies completely, the list still serves as an "activity log" and the only form of it on PSN. It's not solely about soullessly chasing trophies here, if you think it's that. With a split of different accounts, there is no documented history of a "gamer profile" anymore, and defeats the purpose of even having one in the first place.

Yeah, I got this the first time. I simply don't value it either. I don't have an "activity log" for gaming on the PSP, the DS, the Wii, and the 360 and PS3 are fragmented because they don't share a system.

You'd do far better to lobby for an online trophy list on the SEN website that avid gamers could write open-source or hosted web aggregators for. Wouldn't you prefer a combined trophy/gamerscore you can link to on your Facebook or Twitter? Or view on your phone?

Wouldn't it be better if Sony and MS let you run Skype on their consoles as a background app that you can chat and send messages in, instead of building their own crappy walled garden? You're friends with people, not accounts.

Lobby for useful change. As it is you're just tilting at windmills.

 

[Dead Man]

You don't understand. Technically, yes they were. You just needed to buy the other-region box. Once that box was obtained, plop you main account on there and you have the other-region games, previously hardware region locked, on your main account. I'm referring to 360 here, PS3 was region free for discs. For digital content with PS3 and 360, all was accessable on one box via multiple region accounts.

The Vita region account lock makes it impossible to do that on one account.
I don't understand how many times I had to repeat these points in this thread, but it did help me further understand why nothing will be done over at Sony if this is the resistance this is met with on a forum.

So buying another device is preferable to making a new account? Yeah, you are going to find yourself in a very small minority there. I wish you well. A totally unlocked device would be ideal, but it isn't going to happen. The trick is to not care about achievements/trophies. They are carrots, ignore them.

And how many devices have had a region lock but tranferable accounts? Xbox/360, PSP, and?

 

[Joni]

I don't understand how many times I had to repeat these points in this thread, but it did help me further understand why nothing will be done over at Sony if this is the resistance this is met with on a forum.

You're also assuming Sony can do anything about it while still guaranteeing that their anti-piracy solution works.

And how many devices have had a region lock but tranferable accounts? Xbox/360, PSP, and?

PSP isn't regiolocked.

 

[AllenShrz]

A piece of information that impacts approximately 0.0000001% of the gaming world. I'm sure Microsoft is losing sleep about this fact.

Get out!

 

[Riposte]

There were Japanese 360 titles. Why are people acting like there weren't?

 

[SmokyDave]

So buying another device is preferable to making a new account? Yeah, you are going to find yourself in a very small minority there. I wish you well. A totally unlocked device would be ideal, but it isn't going to happen. The trick is to not care about achievements/trophies. They are carrots, ignore them.

And how many devices have had a region lock but tranferable accounts? Xbox/360, PSP, and?

You could just buy physical Vita games from other regions and play 'em on one account if trophies are of desperate importance.

That said, when you're arguing that the Vita system is worse than region locked hardware, I'm not sure you're coming from a place of reason.