3DS's Region Lock Cracked - Works on Latest Firmware, no Flashcard Required

[LaochEire]

Digital games aren't region locked on Sony Consoles. You can still go into the US or Japanese store from EU, buy a game from it that wasn't released in Europe and play it on your EU account with zero issues. Only thing you need to use is your US/JP account to access the store.

People have been playing RE 1 HD for last few weeks on PS3 by downloading it from Japanese store.

Problem with it when it comes to the Vita though is that you can only have one account per memory card, and Vita cards are still quite expensive. My friend has 2 Vita memory cards, one with his regular account, and the other with his Japanese account. Plus, it sort of is region locking, because you can't access the other stores unless you have an account in those regions.

Yes, the Vita thing annoys me too. I can't access DLC for my Japanese Vita game because I'll have to wipe my memory to do so.

I can't see how the store thing is region locking though. The stores are not region locked. They can be accessed from anywhere in the world on any PS3/PS4. The account creation takes 5mins and is then there forever. Also, the stuff you buy and download can be played by the console by other accounts not from the region. Right now I can buy and use Resident Evil HD by getting it from Japanese store. all while being on the complete opposite side of the world.

Region locked stores would imply I couldn't access the store without having an IP address from that country. I do not see it as region locking at all to be honest.

 

[JediMB]

I found softmodding my Wii to remove the region lock immensely useful back in the pre-Obama days of the super-weak US dollar, but today?

Living in Sweden, the cheapest and easiest option for games has for years been importing from the UK, which means the region restrictions don't bother me. In the present, it's actually often better to not import at all, due to changes to Amazon's policies.

Maybe if I really want a Japanese 3DS game at some point in the future, I'd consider giving this a try, but it seems unlikely at this point.

 

[dibdab]

Rune Factory 4 in EU! Just ordered a copy one week shipping can't wait.

 

[Drummodino]

Oh I am so tempted to do this... but I don't want to run the risk of Nintendo finding a way to brick my 3DS XL. It would certainly help if there was ever another Shin Megami Tensei IV situation, where it doesn't come out for over a year after the US release in PAL regions. Then I could just import the game from there easy peasy.

 

[Schadrach]

I appreciate that you warned people about doing this, I just worry that this could cause an increase in Piracy of 3DS Games, and that you could get in trouble with the Escapist for reporting this, not any authority figure that could put you in jail.

How, it doesn't crack anything except the region lock. Unless you have a pirate copy of the game that would play perfectly fine in a foreign version of the console (hint: you don't), this does you no good.

 

[144_v1legacy]

Region locking is bad. It makes me angry at Nintendo. I know it's been said a lot already on this thread, but I want the negative sentiments to pile on. Maybe someone in that company might see this one day.

 

[Steven Bogos]

Region locking is bad. It makes me angry at Nintendo. I know it's been said a lot already on this thread, but I want the negative sentiments to pile on. Maybe someone in that company might see this one day.

That's kind of why i make it a point to report on stuff like this

 

[Kameburger]

Good article, glad to know that someones doing this. I'm a bit locked out with owning my Japanese 3DS and being too stubborn to buy another one just to play the same games... It would be nice if I could get the English version of games I want to play in English. RPG's for instance no matter how good your Japanese or any language might be, you miss little things here or there if it's not in your native tongue.

 

[Strazdas]

There's also no guarantee that Nintendo won't find a way to simply brick all consoles running the exploit in the future.

i almost want them to do it so the uproar would be large enough to finally get nintendo sued for all its malpractice.

Should the Escapist really be reporting on this? Should the Escapist really be sending people the link to actually do it themselves? I am almost certain this violates some of their own rules.

Yes, yes, and no. There is absolutely nothing illegal about using this program. you can use any software you want on your hardware legally as long as you obtained said software legally and that it is not being used to commit crimes. since modifying your own software is not a crime, it is not.

and nintendos TOS can go straight to shitter, its not worth anything more than digital toilet paper.

OT: It's nice that some people can now play any version of any game they want, but Nintendo is obviously going to Crack down hard on this. Heck, they might even get tougher on Region locking now because of these hackers. They did it to the DS, I can't imagine them not doing it on the 3DS/N3DS/2DS.

the topic states: works with the 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS.

And if nintendo wants to get themselves into a corner they are welcome to try.

When I said 'This might Violate some of their own rules', I wasn't actually thinking of any Countries Judicial Branch or Legislature. I was referring to The Escapists rules. I know that talking about Piracy or things/places that can allow for Piracy is a no-no here, and when something like a Handheld console is hacked to the point that the Region locking no longer works, that almost always leads to an increase in piracy (At least when Nintendo is concerned, a la the Region-lockless DS).

Once again, you have not read the article. the article state that this does NOT allow pirated or home-brew software to run. It is also NOT piracy to use region lock breaking.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Region locking actually never affected me besides the short time where RF4 was canned for Europe. But later on it was sold through the e-shop so I ended up playing it. But I don't like the idea of region locking. While in theory it could be actually beneficial to the customer (poor regions would have a lower price point while preventing other from abusing it), it could only work if pretty much every game was released in absolutely every region and we all know that will never happen. So in reality, it does neither help with the price nor do all regions get all games. It's only a big negative rather than having some upsides.

Time to pick up and learn Japanese... for the 110th time. Hopefully I won't just drop it for no reason like all the times before.

Rune Factory 4 in EU! Just ordered a copy one week shipping can't wait.

You do know that RF4 is already being sold in EU for a while now? Just go to the E-Shop.