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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Nintendo 3DS Download Play Is Region Locked For 3DS Games!

Mr Khan on 04 September 2011
M.U.G.E.N said:
Mr Khan said:
Why could just as easily be answered with "why not" in this case, simply because how many people are actually going to do inter-regional download play?

Though it is vexing that Street Pass data can be swapped interregionally but this cannot...


lol that's not good reasoning..heck that's not even reasoning I would say. for a company to do something like there should be some logic behind it...and I'm asking what that is? however the number of people it would be, taking away a feature like this WITHOUT a benefit to the company is just plain stupid. I'm sure there are at least some who take their 'portables' when going abroad..and not being able to use a feature like this even then? I'm sorry but it just does not make any sense to me whatsoever.

I mean region locking in general is stupid....but this is just going too far isn't it?. but sadly it doesn't look like many people on this forum are heavy travellers.

so try and give me what possible reasoning ninty could have had behind doing this...I'm honestly curious

@homer: exactly!

That's Nintendo. They often take away features that would have been very useful to smaller numbers of people for inexplicable reasons. Why does the Wii U still not have ethernet?



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

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Last_Dream on 04 September 2011

I am not really sure why....

First, I think the region lock is just limiting games specific region, and then there is special mii issue (golden pants mii). And now this.... Sigh.... I guess region lock thing in 3DS seems bigger than what I think......



oniyide on 04 September 2011
M.U.G.E.N said:

While Nintendo 3DS systems can communicate and exchange StreetPass data around the world, you cannot wirelessly share game data with a system from a different region. Download play is also region locked.

 

Download play beams a portion of a game to another handheld, usually for multiplayer sessions. This way someone who doesn’t have a particular title can still play with a friend. I tried to set up a wireless battle in Star Fox 64 3D between my US region 3DS and my Japan region system and the two units wouldn’t connect. The receiving unit could not find any software.

 

Just a little heads up for future importers – if you get a system from another region you won’t be able to use download play either. Download play worked between regions with the regular Nintendo DS. I suppose it makes sense since a region lock was said to be implemented for parental controls and download play games could have ratings (CERO, ESRB, PEGI) tied into the download, but it’s still bummer that you need everyone to have the same region 3DS just for a multiplayer game.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/09/02/nintendo-3ds-download-play-is-region-locked-for-3ds-games/#disqus_thread

so my question is....why? :S I don't honestly understand the reasoning behind this


that is the biggest crock of crap i have heard from a game company since the whole RROD thing. The people who are most likely to import are adluts, for themselves, i doubt a parent would go through that to get one measly game for their brood. And im sure adults are not confused by the other ratings from foreign countires anyway. Not that it would matter to an adult, since they wouldnt care what the game is rated( mostly)



Immortal on 04 September 2011
oniyide said:


that is the biggest crock of crap i have heard from a game company since the whole RROD thing. The people who are most likely to import are adluts, for themselves, i doubt a parent would go through that to get one measly game for their brood. And im sure adults are not confused by the other ratings from foreign countires anyway. Not that it would matter to an adult, since they wouldnt care what the game is rated( mostly)


I doubt your logic in the first place (plenty of minors import games and importing isn't complicated enough to deter someone from getting a foreign game for his or her child's birthday), but, even so, the choice for Nintendo here is to either take away a feature used by very few people or risk accidentally giving the few minors who import games (and, by extension, the minors who play with foreign gamers) insufficient information about the game's content, even risking lawsuits in a worst case scenario.

I think Nintendo's decision here is fair, given how people are even willing to sue for coffee being too hot these days and this may actually be legitimate grounds for legal action, which Nintendo would do best to avoid, if only for the negative publicity.



 

“These are my principles; if you don’t like them, I have others.” – Groucho Marx

oniyide on 04 September 2011
Immortal said:
oniyide said:


that is the biggest crock of crap i have heard from a game company since the whole RROD thing. The people who are most likely to import are adluts, for themselves, i doubt a parent would go through that to get one measly game for their brood. And im sure adults are not confused by the other ratings from foreign countires anyway. Not that it would matter to an adult, since they wouldnt care what the game is rated( mostly)


I doubt your logic in the first place (plenty of minors import games and importing isn't complicated enough to deter someone from getting a foreign game for his or her child's birthday), but, even so, the choice for Nintendo here is to either take away a feature used by very few people or risk accidentally giving the few minors who import games (and, by extension, the minors who play with foreign gamers) insufficient information about the game's content, even risking lawsuits in a worst case scenario.

I think Nintendo's decision here is fair, given how people are even willing to sue for coffee being too hot these days and this may actually be legitimate grounds for legal action, which Nintendo would do best to avoid, if only for the negative publicity.


How much is plenty?? And minor is minor??? Because unless you live in a city area and know exactly which story in that city sells import games. Id find it hard to believe a child would have access to a credit card to order a game. I do agree with the lawsuit thing, but its still a weak sauce argument. How come no one sued with GBA???? Hell how come Sony isnt getting sued right and left for their PS3 and PSP. They get sued for everything else



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oniyide on 04 September 2011
RolStoppable said:
Region locking exists to prevent imports and thus it enables companies to have more and better control over the prices of their products in each region. It's not just video games where this is done, but also movies.

That download play is region locked is a logical consequence of the games themselves being region locked.


movies are region locked??? Since when??? Ive played asian dvds on my various dvd players for years and still do



Silver-Tiger on 04 September 2011

Vita isn't region locked.



updated: 14.01.2012

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Immortal on 04 September 2011
oniyide said:
Immortal said:


I doubt your logic in the first place (plenty of minors import games and importing isn't complicated enough to deter someone from getting a foreign game for his or her child's birthday), but, even so, the choice for Nintendo here is to either take away a feature used by very few people or risk accidentally giving the few minors who import games (and, by extension, the minors who play with foreign gamers) insufficient information about the game's content, even risking lawsuits in a worst case scenario.

I think Nintendo's decision here is fair, given how people are even willing to sue for coffee being too hot these days and this may actually be legitimate grounds for legal action, which Nintendo would do best to avoid, if only for the negative publicity.


How much is plenty?? And minor is minor??? Because unless you live in a city area and know exactly which story in that city sells import games. Id find it hard to believe a child would have access to a credit card to order a game. I do agree with the lawsuit thing, but its still a weak sauce argument. How come no one sued with GBA???? Hell how come Sony isnt getting sued right and left for their PS3 and PSP. They get sued for everything else

A 17-year-old is hardly a child, but is still a minor and within the confines of, for example, the PEGI rating system. Besides, I, or even a 10-year-old for that matter, could simply go online and then ask "mom, I wanna buy a game - can I borrow your credit card?"

That wasn't even my point, though. They may be in the minority, but some very few children may gain access to games with content that isn't suitable for them which they haven't been properly informed about and may, consequently, sue Nintendo for this. Sure, it's unlikely, but there's still a tiny chance of it happening. Nintendo likely sees this as taking a precaution which they couldn't take earlier. Besides, not many people import games in the first place since, if a game isn't localized, it usually doesn't have that many people wanting to see it there anyway, so no one other than the vocal minority is really bothered.

It's a "better safe than sorry" attitude and, since it isn't actually hurting me at the moment, I'd say it's worth it for Nintendo.



 

“These are my principles; if you don’t like them, I have others.” – Groucho Marx

oniyide on 04 September 2011
Immortal said:
oniyide said:
Immortal said:


I doubt your logic in the first place (plenty of minors import games and importing isn't complicated enough to deter someone from getting a foreign game for his or her child's birthday), but, even so, the choice for Nintendo here is to either take away a feature used by very few people or risk accidentally giving the few minors who import games (and, by extension, the minors who play with foreign gamers) insufficient information about the game's content, even risking lawsuits in a worst case scenario.

I think Nintendo's decision here is fair, given how people are even willing to sue for coffee being too hot these days and this may actually be legitimate grounds for legal action, which Nintendo would do best to avoid, if only for the negative publicity.


How much is plenty?? And minor is minor??? Because unless you live in a city area and know exactly which story in that city sells import games. Id find it hard to believe a child would have access to a credit card to order a game. I do agree with the lawsuit thing, but its still a weak sauce argument. How come no one sued with GBA???? Hell how come Sony isnt getting sued right and left for their PS3 and PSP. They get sued for everything else

A 17-year-old is hardly a child, but is still a minor and within the confines of, for example, the PEGI rating system. Besides, I, or even a 10-year-old for that matter, could simply go online and then ask "mom, I wanna buy a game - can I borrow your credit card?"

That wasn't even my point, though. They may be in the minority, but some very few children may gain access to games with content that isn't suitable for them which they haven't been properly informed about and may, consequently, sue Nintendo for this. Sure, it's unlikely, but there's still a tiny chance of it happening. Nintendo likely sees this as taking a precaution which they couldn't take earlier. Besides, not many people import games in the first place since, if a game isn't localized, it usually doesn't have that many people wanting to see it there anyway, so no one other than the vocal minority is really bothered.

It's a "better safe than sorry" attitude and, since it isn't actually hurting me at the moment, I'd say it's worth it for Nintendo.


times sure have changed, it i was that age i wouldnt even have the gall to ask my mother to use her credit card.

But why now?? WHy not do it with GBA and DS??? Thats where i dont buy it, if they always had region lock that would be one thing. I agree with everything else



Immortal on 05 September 2011
oniyide said:


times sure have changed, it i was that age i wouldnt even have the gall to ask my mother to use her credit card.

But why now?? WHy not do it with GBA and DS??? Thats where i dont buy it, if they always had region lock that would be one thing. I agree with everything else


Really? I borrow my mother's card for online transactions all the time...

Anyhow, I'm sure you know this already, but the GBA was more sophisticated than the GB, the DS was more sophisticated than the GBA and the 3DS is even more sophisticated. My completely uneducated guess is that it's much easier to implement these restrictions with more sophisticated technology. I mean, think about it, when making a system, they probably have a lot of things to implement. Region Lock is probably near the bottom of the list. So, with earlier systems and their limited technology, Nintendo couldn't be bothered. Since 3DS can do so much stuff already, it's probably easy to add Region Lock and they therefore decided to do it.



 

“These are my principles; if you don’t like them, I have others.” – Groucho Marx