Alby_da_Wolf said:
Region-locking's purpose is to allow producers and vendors to stick to old strategies that refuse to acknowledge we have already entered for many years a global market, where national boundaries count no more (except than having to pay import duties). It serves just the purposes of vendors and totally screws the buyers not offering them any benefit at all. And this is particularly true in a portable, that should allow its owners to play a game wherever they bought it, but it also screws home console users, preventing them from importing games that aren't available in their countries. |
Nope. Here's a copypasta list of reasons.
Pricing. It is difficult to maintain a single pricing structure that can be applied worldwide due to currency conversion, taxes, international trade laws (e.g., European Union free movement of goods). Considerations such as local/national discretionary income, the prevalence and ease of obtaining pirated media, competing products/services and loss-leading promotion (to establish a foothold in a territory) can also affect pricing. Region-locking a console means that there is no need for pricing parity across the world; different territories can have different prices for games without people simply shopping "wherever is cheaper".
Sensitive regions. Some games could be regarded as offensive for religious or political reasons, and regional lockout may be required to prevent these games from being distributed in sensitive countries.
Staggered launches. If a console is region-locked, then staggered launches of the games would be easier, as console producers could easily control the huge bow-wave of people wanting a game the moment it is released.
