Region protection, Nintendo's official line?

[Sarang01]

Has anyone heard Nintendo's official line on this? Will it easily be bypassed with a switch mod and later a disc or what? The reason I'm so concerned is that if Sadness gets the shaft for release in the U.S. I'm buying the Japanese version. If ordering from their website turns out to even be the only option I will find someone to ship it to me. Yes I'm THAT desperate to make sure the game ends up in my hands should it's future in terms of accessibility here or in general be at stake, region restriction being part of playing it. Also there may be other games likee Sadness that don't see our shores here.

[Magehart]

Why not just wait till the game comes out and go from there. It's not like we have our Wii's yet.

[Vinny]

You're worrying about this way too early. We don't even know what the game will be like and if Nintendo's new, more open attitude is any sign then I'm guessing they'll want as many adult games as they can get. Hell, they're publishing two games which look like candidates for the Mature rating.

And I'm pretty sure that the Wii will be region protected because most consoles are. The only reasons why handhelds are region free is because of travelers (so that they can buy a game in another country and play it).

[levi333]

Im pretty sure it will be region protected, and im very sure there will be a way around it. A mod chip, boot disc, etc.
Basically every console (that i can think of) has been region hacked someway or another.

[Sarang01]

You're worrying about this way too early. We don't even know what the game will be like and if Nintendo's new, more open attitude is any sign then I'm guessing they'll want as many adult games as they can get. Hell, they're publishing two games which look like candidates for the Mature rating.

And I'm pretty sure that the Wii will be region protected because most consoles are. The only reasons why handhelds are region free is because of travelers (so that they can buy a game in another country and play it).

I would argue it's also because it's very hard to argue about the format being pirated very easily as well. With the exception of the DS for the most part the AVERAGE portable item wasn't very easy to mass produce pirate copies, especially right now with the PSP discs. I would be VERY surprised if there are ANY pirate UMD's.

[suko_32]

I would argue it's also because it's very hard to argue about the format being pirated very easily as well. With the exception of the DS for the most part the AVERAGE portable item wasn't very easy to mass produce pirate copies, especially right now with the PSP discs. I would be VERY surprised if there are ANY pirate UMD's.

The GBA, GB, GBC were easy for pirates to make copies of too.

[botticus]

Sadness is being developed in Europe anyway, so if it's not released here, I'd be surprised if its even released in Japan. Depends on what publisher picks it up, I suppose.

[mykevermin]

Region protection attitudes are changing. Other than movies, all portable system games are region free. The Game Boy line always has been, and the DS is region-free as well. So is the PSP (again, movies notwithstanding).

On the console front is where attitudes are changing. The PS3 will be "region-free" for PS3 games (and presumably PS1/2, but nobody knows the specifics of that yet). The 360 has regions, but as the occasional Play-Asia sale post here will tell you, Microsoft's policy is to let developers individually decide if they want to region-encode their titles. I don't have a bloomin' clue WHY anyone developing a Japanese-exclusive game would not want to be able to sell more than 200 copies of a game (I'm looking at YOU, Wrestle Kingdom!), but they have that option as they so choose.

We'll see what the Wii's stance on that is. I'd like to see how/if the VC would incorporate other region games. I'd expect region-free Wii titles, but region-specific VC title distribution; that's based on zero fact, and little more than the changing traditions in region-locking for this generation. It's probably irrelevant in terms of sales increases, however.

[BustaUppa]

I never understood the rationale behind region protection. Who does it protect exactly?

[wubb]

I never understood the rationale behind region protection. Who does it protect exactly?

My guess is that it's mainly so they can have a staggered worldwide release of a game w/o it being too easily circumvented. People can still import a game early but they'll have to take the extra steps of either region hacking their deck or buying a 2nd console in that region to play them.

Of course they do staggered releases of DS games and that isn't region protected at all, so meh.

[cochesecochese]

Has anyone heard Nintendo's official line on this? Will it easily be bypassed with a switch mod and later a disc or what? The reason I'm so concerned is that if Sadness gets the shaft for release in the U.S. I'm buying the Japanese version. If ordering from their website turns out to even be the only option I will find someone to ship it to me. Yes I'm THAT desperate to make sure the game ends up in my hands should it's future in terms of accessibility here or in general be at stake, region restriction being part of playing it. Also there may be other games likee Sadness that don't see our shores here.

The team 'developing' Sadness doesn't even have a devkit. It will be a miracle if they even get a demo together nevermind release an actual game.

[soonersfan60]

I never understood the rationale behind region protection. Who does it protect exactly?

This is generally done so that games and game IP can be licensed multiple times, once for each territory. For example, for a Power Rangers game there would be a different licensee in Japan than there is for North America. It makes less sense for games with original IP, but I guess it is done with all of them for consistency. I think this is why MS is giving companies a choice with Xbox 360 games. It does make sense for some licensed game IP, but not for original IP so the publisher can decide.