Nintendo Fans Fight For Region-Free Consoles

[Dark Knifer]

I guess they keep it region locked because people would import games, which is like preowned and doesn't get them money.

How does that work? They're still selling it to retailers either way.

I guess they keep it region locked because people would import games, which is like preowned and doesn't get them money.

Explain, why doesn't it get them money? Do games duplicate as they pass over vast bodies of water?

I just meant games that people import don't give them profit if they buy them from ebay and what not and companies don't seem to like preowned stuff.

If they set up official stores then that would solve all the problems.

Sorry I didn't explain that the first time.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Seems clear to me that region locking is not about protecting profits at all. If it were, why would MS have allowed region free games on 360 or Sony the same on PS3? Getting more region free games next gen is a bonus reason to get a PS4 and Xbone.

Nintendo like to pick and choose which strength of bs they sell gamers. GC benefited greatly from being region free, especially when its official release catalogue got bleak and absent. Considering the Wii U's current woe, they should certainly lift their region locking, allowing gamers access to a wider amount of games.

Who knows, doing such a thing could vastly change the Wii U's dire fortune. Certainly a great thing to use Miiversse to fight for.

 

[drschplatt]

They really should just dump the region lock. With Homebrew the Wii and WiiU have been region free for a long time anyway if you have some time and a search engine. Originally when I moved from the US to Taiwan, I brought my Wii with me. I was pretty annoyed to find out that I couldn't buy any games over here because they were all made for the Japanese systems. But eventually I was able to figure out how to make it work and now I'm happy, I buy games, and Nintendo is making money from me again. Before, I was planning on just getting a PS3 because they were region free. Region locking simply made Nintendo lose money in my case.

 

[Roxas1359]

Seems clear to me that region locking is not about protecting profits at all. If it were, why would MS have allowed region free games on 360

Sorry to chime in but all of Microsoft's consoles have been region locked actually. The Xbox One is the first Microsoft console to not be region locked.
The GameCube was also not region free as you needed a program called Freeloader in order to break the region locking. The only things Nintendo had never region locked was the Gameboy line and the DS and DS Lite. The DSi started region locking by only locking out the software, and the 3DS is fully region locked when it comes to 3DS software and 3DS games. It can still play DS games from other regions though because the cartridges for the DS were never region locked at all.

Edit: Here's my post on the Escapist News Now thread about this region locking stuff and how people have gotten around it:

Spoiler: The different types of region locking for consoles

All in all it has no purpose and while Nintendo would be smart to get rid of it I don't think they will. Heck now their handhelds are region locked and they never were before. DSi was the first one of Nintendo's handhelds to region lock, but it only locked out software. The 3DS is fully region locked and can't play Japanese 3DS games, it can play old DS Japanese games though because of the backwards compatibility for DS cartridges which were never region locked.

Sony used to do similar things with region locking based on their discs and the actual console itself. For example the PS2 discs are region locked and as a result you can't play Japanese PS2 games on an American PS3 that actually has backwards compatibility because of the region lock on the disc. Then the consoles themselves have a button that resets the console if the disc tray were to be open, little piece on the disc tray would go and reset the console, and so the only way to region break the PS2 was to get a different cover (PS2 slim) or to forcefully open and close the tray (original PS2), but you also needed a boot software to break the discs region coding which is what the Swap Magic discs were for.

Nintendo consoles on the other hand used to be a lot easier to break the region coding. For their cartridge-based consoles you had to modify the cartridge slot on the console so it would be able to fit other region cartridges in. For the GameCube there was a program disc called Freeloader that would unlock the region and make the console region free; they made one for the Wii as well and the Wii version would also bypass the forced updates that were on the discs of Wii games. Problem is that the Nintendo Wii update 3.3 blocked that program along with others and that's why the Homebrew Channel started to become more popular.

Microsoft's consoles have also always been region locked, and now the Xbox One is overturning that lock. For the 360 you and the Original Xbox you would usually have to modify your console entirely to break the locking and if you are caught then MS could brick your console. Breaking the region coding on the Xbox and 360 were never as popular as doing it for say Nintendo, Sega, or Sony because Microsoft's games were not in as big of a demand and would be ported over a lot of the time.

Sega's older games on the cartridges weren't region locked, but later ones such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 were ans os you would have to do a similar modification to a Sega console to play other cartridges just like the older Nintendo ones. The Sega Saturn, Sega CD, and Sega Dreamcast had region codings only on their discs which people would get around by ripping the .ISO from the discs and putting them on a disc from their region. It was also what caused people to start to emulate other games from other consoles onto the Dreamcast because the Dreamcast was so easy to hack.

 

[EquiusZahhak]

I am really hoping that Nintendo removes region lock. I recently got a 3DS, and I'd love to be able to import games from other regions.

Region lock is dying, and it's time for ol' Nintendo to put the final nail in the coffin.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I'd love it if my 3DS was region free, just incase Monster Hunter 4 doesn't get localized. That's about my only reason, though I'm sure there will be more... Let's hope this campaign works out! :3

 

[FoolKiller]

Seems clear to me that region locking is not about protecting profits at all. If it were, why would MS have allowed region free games on 360

Sorry to chime in but all of Microsoft's consoles have been region locked actually. The Xbox One is the first Microsoft console to not be region locked.

Umm... Kittyhawk said that there were region free games on 360, not that the console was region free. Kittyhawk was correct. There are several games that are region free on the 360.

 

[Roxas1359]

Seems clear to me that region locking is not about protecting profits at all. If it were, why would MS have allowed region free games on 360

Sorry to chime in but all of Microsoft's consoles have been region locked actually. The Xbox One is the first Microsoft console to not be region locked.

Umm... Kittyhawk said that there were region free games on 360, not that the console was region free. Kittyhawk was correct. There are several games that are region free on the 360.

Ah my mistake. Usually whenever the console is region locked the discs are region locked as well. This is the case with the Nintendo Wii and was the case with the PS2. My mistake.

 

[Vrach]

/support

Recently bought my girlfriend the 3DS, but seeing as we live in Serbia, we can't access any of the online content for it, can't buy games online (and they're ludicrously expensive here), so we're stuck ordering games from the UK (and mostly going for pre-owned ones as we have to pay a shipping fee). I love digital retail, especially as it can often offer discounts just not found on the local market (not as big a deal in bigger countries where there's tons of retailers, but in Serbia, there's few of them, so all of them jack up the prices like crazy, it's actually cheaper to buy a new game AND have it shipped for some 10 quid from UK than buy it here) and having it region locked just plain sucks and seems completely unnecessary.

 

[Something Amyss]

I guess they keep it region locked because people would import games, which is like preowned and doesn't get them money.

What magic land are you thinking of where Nintendo games are produced without Nintendo making money?

If this was a Nintendo of America-only decision, maybe. It's not.

(yes, I read your clarification but that only works in the case of preowned, so the "like preowned" bit kinda negates it)

 

[Dark Knifer]

I guess they keep it region locked because people would import games, which is like preowned and doesn't get them money.

What magic land are you thinking of where Nintendo games are produced without Nintendo making money?

If this was a Nintendo of America-only decision, maybe. It's not.

(yes, I read your clarification but that only works in the case of preowned, so the "like preowned" bit kinda negates it)

I guess my understanding of importing was basically just ebay but yeah, I'm completely wrong, sorry about that.

captcha: cold shower

Glad you agree.

 

[reciprocal]

I really hope they listen to this. It's one of the reasons I hate my 3DS. One of my most favourite games from the original DS was Jump Ultimate Stars, which I had a relative buy for me. It had all my favourite Shonen Jump characters in a more complex but admittedly unbalanced version of Smash Bros. Due to licensing issues, there was no way to get this outside of Japan. I also preferred the Japanese version of Elite Beat Agents (Osu).

Even if you don't have someone to buy Japanese versions for you, you can easily get original copies via ebay or a couple of online stores (at higher prices). These are not preowned games, so that argument is not valid.

 

[Adam Locking]

I guess my understanding of importing was basically just ebay but yeah, I'm completely wrong, sorry about that.

Oh boy are you missing out! I'd recommend you head over to head over to a site like Play Asia or Videogame Imports. They tend to have some pretty cool stuff and unless marked it's brand new, so all the profits go to who they should. Loads of soundtrack and artbooks are Japan only, so it's really worth the time.

I've been toying with putting together a Japanese gamers phrase pamphlet with terms like 'yes' 'no' 'buy' and 'memorycard'. You'd be surprised how far you can get on those words alone!