Region Free Gaming the Key to Winning the Console War

[wraggster]

When you look at the handhelds PSP, GBA and Nintendo DS you see 3 consoles that have region free gaming and they are a major success because gamers who want to play games from other regions can do so.

Then you look at the Consoles Xbox 360, Wii and PS3. Strange that Nintendo went with region encoding when they have had the massive success with the GBA and DS, Microsoft have some region free but why not all, then we go to PS3 and Sony have got this right, region free games for their console..

Isnt it time that all consoles were region free in todays small world ?

[DdevL]

YES every console should be region free!!! WE have all missed out on great import games because of this!!! Does anyone know about playing ps1 and ps2 imports on ps3? That might be worth the price of admission for me+

[Basil Zero]

its thanks to region free that i was able to play some of the games i have for psp from euro

[Jpdeathblade]

I dont even think that 95% of gamers know what that means....
But to be honest for those who do, ya it wins the war =P

[Jonesyxxiv]

So if PS3 is region free was was sony tring to stop people from exporting games?

[iniquitous_beast]

Wraggster, you and I both know that the gba, psp, and DS are popular for far more reasons than the fact that they are region-free. Besides, as stated above, most gamers won't even know about the cool games available overseas.

Region lockouts only become an issue when game companies decide to deny good games to certain regions. That is why the Saturn had such a great import scene. If Nintendo brings its worthwhile games to America, and other English-speaking nations, then there will be no need to play imports. Of course, I'm willing to bet that the Wii just uses a software-based system lockout, which will be easily bypassed by means of a boot disk in given time.

[mnuhaily22]

Well ya, my PSP is region free and I love it, but my 360 aint, and I hate that, since I ive indubai and my 360 is American.

[the_eternal_dark]

Well ya, my PSP is region free and I love it, but my 360 aint, and I hate that, since I ive indubai and my 360 is American.

That sucks, but I know how you feel. I had a Jap 360 right up until it overheated and died and could only play a few worthwhile US games (Gun being one of them).

I'm glad my PSP and DSLite are region free. I'll be getting FFVII when it releases in Japan. I already have the new Pokemon games for the DS (totally awsome btw).

[Basil Zero]

well stores like best buy and fry's import games from both japan and euro, thats how i got my Euro Breath of Fire III game

[SwordOfZork]

Yeah, the PS3 is region free, but why does it matter when SONY wants to shut down import/export sites? Its completely contradictory.

[Shapyi]

PS3 is region free because Sony does not want people making mod chips with playing games in all regions as justification. I am glad that PS3 is region free, there are a lot of Japan only PS2 games I'd love to play but I have an unmodded PS2.

[Gottaa]

Sony Exec A: "Lets make the PS3 region free"
Sony Exec B: "Excellent idea, if we also close down all the import/export sites"
Sony Exec A: "Erm ......"
Sony Exec B: "The right hand giveth and the left hand taketh away"
Sony Exec A: "Bye then" *runs off*
Sony Exec B: "Muhahhahahahah"

Region Free is nice but it isn't everything, mainly because people are always resourceful enough to get around such limitations if they really want too, and I'm never really that eager to play things the very day they come out.

[pokeman54]

wragster, dude, you can't make that comparison.
gba, nds and psp have been out for a while. you can't compare them to ps3, wii and 360. plus, the only way that region-free will be effective is through online sites and whatnot. I doubt that online import games make up a substantial part of the amount of consoles or games sold, and judging from the actions taken by sony on lik-sang recently, they'll probably stay that way. The wii has region coding, but hey, it's by nintendo. anything by nintendo will sell big, regardless of what region it is, or what region it accepts. except for virtual boy. but this is no virtual boy. The wii will probably do very good even with region encoding. that is before an angry mob with broken tv's run down nintendo headquarters...or something.

[Baboon]

Isnt it time that all consoles were region free in todays small world ?

I think al consoles should defo be region free! :D

...but Im not sure $ony would agree with us getting our products ealier or cheaper by importing them - look what they did to Lik Sang! :(

[Ichijoe]

Whats the point in having Region-Free if Resellers (Asia), are to Chicken-Sh*t to bother with actually selling such Materials to those living in Europe?!

WTF does S0NY have against Europe anyway?!

[spikegrantham]

The Good thing is as we have seen from M$ that their region blocks arent concrete. It is up to the publisher whether they make their game region free. If success is seen with the Ps3's region free code then M$ can follow suit and do the same with just a phone call.

With the Pound being so strong against the dollar it would be silly not to get your games from the US this xmas.

[Mazero]

Uhm, PSP is not a "major" success.

Besides, handhelds are not selling good because gamers can import games, that's just stupid. Only pretty hardcore gamers, which are like 5-10% tops of all gamers, import games. Winning the market is not about convincing the hardcore gamers, it's about convincing the casual gamers, hardcore is just a bonus. I think PSP sells to Playstation Fans and people who like to play homebrews and emulators (like me). DS sells good because of their innovative and userfriendly games.

I think every console should be region free though, but I think it would be even better if companies released their games all over the world instead(preferably at the same time). If the company haven't got any plans for releasing it in said part of the world, then they can make it regionfree.

[SSaxdude]

I believe region free is nice, but it's far from winning the console war. Most people don't import games anyway. But for the people who do, there's always some modchip/bootdisk to get around the region protections.

[Vegetable]

Nintendo said the Wii is region free, except that the developers decide whether or not they will impose region restrictions on their games.

Although knowing Nintendo, I wouldn't put it past them to remove that feature and not tell anyone. Remember Wii's promised VGA connection?

[waternova]

I dunno, i could be wrong, but i believe some of the region regions for home consoles has to do with the PAL and NTSC (sp?) coding. the tv signals work off of different principles, so the systems are regional. Hence games for different systems are different. This does not account for all regions, this only excusses allowing for two regions a PAL and NTSC.

At least for older systems, then, it is not entirely game makers fault for region encoding. Same thing for DVDs.

If someone is more of an expert in such things, please clarify for me. thx.

Your Humble n00b,
Waternova

[unknownwarrior33]

Key? So you think game quality, graphics, innovation, gameplay, and price are more important than whether the few gamers who do so are able to buy a few games from another region? I'm pretty sure the region-free PS3 is drawing the most criticism of any system right now, and the popular PS2 is region-locked. Heck, you never even explained WHY you believe region free gaming is important.

[F9zDark]

So if PS3 is region free was was sony tring to stop people from exporting games?

Sony was stopping the importation of PS3 consoles to Europe because Europe is going to pay 200 more USD for the PS3 than Japan or the US. So Europe not only gets shafted by having to wait until March, they gotta pay MORE for it.

[muffinman]

the problem is the pound is so strong against the dollar, being that you are able to buy almost $2 to £1 now so sony would lose alot of money if europeans just imported, but stand to make money if they dont.