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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Wii U region locked

Lusche on 24 September 2012
UltimateUnknown said:

There is a difference between making a region locked game and having a region locked console.

The PS3 itself is region free, but if a developer/publisher wants they can region lock their specific games. That aspect does not change the fact that the console is region free.

On the other hand, consoles like 3DS and Wii U are region locked, so all games will be region locked as well and individual developers/publishers don't have a choice of making it region free if they want.

At least that is how I understand.


but then you can say all consoles are region free ? maybe not the wii since i dont know if you have a choice (but I'm pretty sure at least one game is not region locked), but so 360 also region free ?

 

edit:

in my understanding: if you can make region locked games the console is not region free ... (even if most publishers opt out of it)



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VicViper on 24 September 2012

Of all the "BIG DEAL" problems we had in the last months, this is, imo, the worst and yet, the most expected.

It wasn't a big problem at all when Nintendo of America was so much better than NoE in releases... but now that's not so certain anymore, it can happen a scenario where one gets a release while the other won't. Extremely rare, but can happen.

All in all, when you look at japanese prices it kinda makes sense. Persona Arena dev gave his reason, the only one I've ever seen and it's logical. Nintendo just applies the same reason to their whole production.



mike_intellivision on 24 September 2012

To the vast majority of people who buy systems, this is a non-issue.
And for the vast majority of games, this is a non-issue.

As someone in the US, I can count on one hand the number of releases that I might have bought if they were made available in the NA market (both games from JP and EU).

Region-free would have been nice. But because of music rights and ratings boards and such, it is much more complicated than others make it out to be.

Mike from Morgantown



      


I am Mario.


I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble.

Wii Friend Code: 1624 6601 1126 1492

NNID: Mike_INTV
Laurel Aitken on 24 September 2012
Lusche said:
UltimateUnknown said:

There is a difference between making a region locked game and having a region locked console.

The PS3 itself is region free, but if a developer/publisher wants they can region lock their specific games. That aspect does not change the fact that the console is region free.

On the other hand, consoles like 3DS and Wii U are region locked, so all games will be region locked as well and individual developers/publishers don't have a choice of making it region free if they want.

At least that is how I understand.


but then you can say all consoles are region free ? maybe not the wii since i dont know if you have a choice (but I'm pretty sure at least one game is not region locked), but so 360 also region free ?

 

edit:

in my understanding: if you can make region locked games the console is not region free ... (even if most publishers opt out of it)


You are really missing the point. Yes, maybe the PS3 is region locked. But MOST games are region free. The problem with the Wii, 3DS and Wii U is that all games are region locked. So people in Europe won't be able to import games from the US, while PS3 owners can.

 

OT: Region locking is not a problem for me, I never import games from other regions. And I dont think this would be a deal breaker for anyone.



Lusche on 24 September 2012
KylieDog said:


Yeah well done, take the one game in the last 6 years that got region locked and ignore all other games.

how did i ignore that ? i also said 99.9% arent locked.



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Lusche on 24 September 2012
Lusche said:


that one game is proof enough that the ps3 is not region free, but yes 99.9% of the games are not region locked.

here you have it ...

 

edit:

but tbh ... the only true region free ones were psp and maybe ds ? I cant remember of any other major console which was 100% region free ? maybe some sega/atari ones ?



mike_intellivision on 24 September 2012
KylieDog said:
mike_intellivision said:


Region-free would have been nice. But because of music rights and ratings boards and such, it is much more complicated than others make it out to be.


Ratings and rights only matter where the game is being published/sold, has nothing to do with region locking.


Technically true. But given the political volitility of game-ratings (e.g., 18+ is Australia) and the tyranical nature of recording-rights enforcement (e.g., RIAA), region-locking may sometimes be prudent.

 

Mike from Morgantown



      


I am Mario.


I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble.

Wii Friend Code: 1624 6601 1126 1492

NNID: Mike_INTV
Turkish on 24 September 2012

Pathetic, in this day and age.



blkfish92 on 24 September 2012

This is such poop news!



           

FrancisNobleman on 24 September 2012

Well, that sucks for people on non-PAL regions.