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[shuri]

Ok, i'm not exactly THE source when it comes to this, but this information comes from roushimsx, a pretty well known guy on several gaming message boards who is really into the import/shmup scene. He posted about this on shacknews's message board yesterday, I asked him what were his sources for that (the guy is usually 100% thrustworthy when it comes to this)

One of his friends works for a gamingmag and he's over at TGS and he asked the question to a sony bighead. I know it the source is pretty vague, but I dont know WHY he would make that up, especially him.

Take it, as you will. But I believe the guy 100%.

original message board posting: http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?comments=33746&page=2 (scroll down)

So indeed, the source isnt exactly teh best, but whaddayaknow.

 

[TheDiave]

Not very surprising... They did it with every system up until now, why stop?

 

[Wario64]

So the link is person -> friend -> 'sony bighead'

hmm....

I won't be surprised if there is a region lock

 

[Miburou]

If they do, then I won't buy one until it drops in price by half so I can buy a JP and NA one.

 

[drohne]

that'd be more likely to make me skip the psp than a high price or poor battery life. :/

is it even possible to put a modchip in something as small as the psp? i really hope this isn't true.

 

[DCX]

Wouldn't this be the first portable game system to be region locked?

DCX

 

[Blackcherry]

If comfirmed, Sony's ride in the portable market gonna have a big handicap

 

[mashoutposse]

Gone are the days when gamers would have to wait six months or more for a US/Europe conversion of a big Japanese title... why would this hurt the PSP's chances?

 

[Kon Tiki]

UMD Movies maybe.

 

[Suerte]

I take it DS is region free?

 

[john tv]

And you're surprised because....?

 

[RevenantKioku]

Gone are the days when gamers would have to wait six months or more for a US/Europe conversion of a big Japanese title... why would this hurt the PSP's chances?

I think that's a big issue. Plus, not everything comes over, PLUS importing on the GBA was always so simple, I have so many GBA imports.

 

[Memles]

I take it DS is region free?

To be fair...it hasn't been clarified.

 

[Spike]

Did anyone actually think it wouldn't be region locked?

 

[RevenantKioku]

Did anyone actually think it wouldn't be region locked?

I was kinda hoping it wasn't.

I think the inclusion of GBA support speaks well for the DS not being region locked.

 

[Miburou]

Gone are the days when gamers would have to wait six months or more for a US/Europe conversion of a big Japanese title... why would this hurt the PSP's chances?

Most RPGs still take a long while until they're translated.

Half my GBA games are Japanese, and since I like to go to Japan a lot, I always end up buying some games there.

 

[0wn3d]

Region lock-out on a handheld? WHAT A GREAT IDEA.

 

[pilonv1]

Gone are the days when gamers would have to wait six months or more for a US/Europe conversion of a big Japanese title... why would this hurt the PSP's chances?

Hardly, especially in Europes case. Just a few examples.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Konami 11/14/01 NA
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Limited Edition) Konami 11/29/01 JP
Metal Gear Solid 2 was released around the week of March 14 2001 (Xbox launch)

Final Fantasy X-2 Square Enix 03/13/03 JP
Final Fantasy X-2 Square Enix 11/18/03 NA
Final Fantasy X-2 Electronic Arts 02/20/04 EU

Final Fantasy X Square Enix 07/19/01 JP
Final Fantasy X SCEE 05/24/02 EU

Kingdom Hearts Square Enix 03/28/02 JP
Kingdom Hearts Square Enix 09/16/02 NA
Kingdom Hearts SCEE 11/15/02 EU

Granted it's getting better, but there are still delays. The issue isn't about importing or what's coming out. The worst part is that you now cannot take your portable gaming console overseas with you and use games in the country you're visiting. If I moved to the US for a year, I'd still have to import games for my PSP, but from Europe.

Publishers are just afraid of losing money, even if it would be a miniscule amount and every region would probably balance out over the course of a systems life. If anything they're hurting sales because you're encouraging people not to buy legitimate software when they're travelling.

So the link is person -> friend -> 'sony bighead'

Is this him?

 

[Agent X]

Deceptive title; the link is a joke. I'm much more inclined to believe this than a bunch of hearsay.

As a portable device (i.e. not reliant on a TV), the PSP will also be free from region coding, meaning that PSP games from Japan and the US will work out of the box - good news for import fans.

 

[NotMSRP]

That's a yr old and plans often change.

 

[border]

You're kidding yourself if you think it really makes a difference one way or the other (in term's of the PSP's success). The number of people importing games in US/Europe is probably so small that annoying them isn't going to make much of a difference.

Plus the kinds of people that are hardcore enough to import will still probably buy the system anyway, as long as there are great games.

 

[GDGF]

That's dumb as hell. You don't put region lock on portables. What if you're flying to another country and you want to buy a game and play it to pass the time. You'd be screwed.

 

[neptunes]

where's the source of this?

 

[Kon Tiki]

You're kidding yourself if you think it really makes a difference one way or the other (in term's of the PSP's success). The number of people importing games in US/Europe is probably so small that annoying them isn't going to make much of a difference.

Plus the kinds of people that are hardcore enough to import will still probably buy the system anyway, as long as there are great games.

Ah good point. So Sony's plan for dominance is still making people buy a console twice™.

 

[Sp3eD]

This is such a non issue......

0.5% or less potential buyers are going to have a fuss over this.

 

[border]

That's dumb as hell. You don't put region lock on portables. What if you're flying to another country and you want to buy a game and play it to pass the time. You'd be screwed.

You would buy the game in your country of origin, just like you would if you owned a portable DVD player. Though the more important question would be "Are you that big of a dork that you are going to waste your time in a foreign country playing videogames?" =P

Travelling to Europe is kind of a moot point since you might fry the battery and the PSP itself when you plug it in for a recharge (I wouldn't trust those current convertors with expensive electronics)....

 

[TheGreenGiant]

iawtt.

bomb bomb if true

 

[GG-Duo]

i miss Roushi and the old days...

 

[GDGF]

You would buy the game in your country of origin, just like you would if you owned a portable DVD player. Though the more important question would be "Are you that big of a dork that you are going to waste your time in a foreign country playing videogames?" =P

Travelling to Europe is kind of a moot point since you might fry the battery and the PSP itself when you plug it in for a recharge (I wouldn't trust those current convertors with expensive electronics)....

Uh, uh. Lots of people (people who do business trip, traveling young professionals, the kinds of people with the interest in games and disposable income to puchase the PSP in the first place) are going to be affected by this. This is just a stupid, stupid idea. Sony really needs to stop making dumbass decisions regarding the PSP.

 

[drohne]

i bought two ps2s to get around importing hassles, but i'm not about to buy two of a portable. it just runs so completely counter to a portable's intended function. the idea offends my sensibilities. and if there is a lockout, neither a domestic psp nor an imported psp seems acceptable to me -- i don't want to deal with the expense and inconvenience of importing all my games, and i certainly don't want to miss out on games like sengoku cannon that are unlikely to be released domestically.

i don't think a region lockout would meaningfully hurt the system's chances. and of course sce didn't get where they are by following nintendo's precedent. but this once i really wish they would.

 

[johnjohnson]

Some time ago I heard something about the movies on UMD being region locked (as DVDs are), but games being region free.

 

[DCharlie]

""Are you that big of a dork that you are going to waste your time in a foreign country playing videogames?" =P"

... take a trip up to Whitehaven , Cumbria (the place i'm most likely to have to travel to from Tokyo) and tell me you wouldn't be trying to pimp out your ass to get your hands back on your PSP....

 

[border]

Lots of people (people who do business trip, traveling young professionals, the kinds of people with the interest in games and disposable income to puchase the PSP in the first place) are going to be affected by this.

The number of young people who have frequent business trips to other continents (keep in mind that this is region-coding, not country-coding) is so small that you are really kidding yourself if you think it's an issue to the system's marketability. Playing games in a totally foreign language is too intimidating for most people to bother with in the first place....

If you are smart and "together" enough to be in the kind of profession that lets you travel to Asia that frequently, then I think you would be smart enough to buy a game before you leave North America.

 

[The Faceless Master]

guess i won't be buying a PSP until this issue is clarified or resolved somehow...

 

[GDGF]

The number of young people who have frequent business trips to other continents (keep in mind that this is region-coding, not country-coding) is so small that you are really kidding yourself if you think it's an issue to the system's marketability. Playing games in a totally foreign language is too intimidating for most people to bother with in the first place....

If you are smart and "together" enough to be in the kind of profession that lets you travel to Asia that frequently, then I think you would be smart enough to buy a game before you leave North America.

You're totally not understanding what I'm saying. What if you want to buy a game when you are in another country. Would you then be expected to buy a region friendly PSP while you're oversees? It's a stupid, stupid decision no matter how ya spin it. Region free is tradition for portable systems. Oh, and I'll give you a great example of the people Sony'll be screwing. Game journalists. I'm sure they're going to love this one.

 

[XS+]

HK pirates don't fail me now..

 

[Gazunta]

i miss Roushi and the old days...

So do I (hugs)

 

[border]

If you want to buy another game while you are on another continent, then you can't. Just like you can't buy another DVD or videotape or PS2 game when you're on another continent.

I'm not saying that it won't inconvenience a handful of people.....but rather that those people are only a "handful" and at the end of the day they won't really make much difference in the system's success or failure. Business travellers tend to work on business while traveling and don't really schedule in videogame shopping trips.

As for game "journalists".....well, you can feel free to break out the world's smallest violin for fanboys that spend their careers swimming in free videogames and interviewing some of the industry's most influential figures, but don't expect me to cry for them too. What's more than that, journalists have been provided with region-free "debug" systems for basically every region-coded console that has been released, and I doubt that the PSP will be any exception.

 

[skip]

So do I (hugs)

*group hug*

 

[Spiritreaver]

The number of young people who have frequent business trips to other continents (keep in mind that this is region-coding, not country-coding) is so small that you are really kidding yourself if you think it's an issue to the system's marketability. Playing games in a totally foreign language is too intimidating for most people to bother with in the first place....

If you are smart and "together" enough to be in the kind of profession that lets you travel to Asia that frequently, then I think you would be smart enough to buy a game before you leave North America.

Alright, but then again, by the same stroke, if this is so little why is it a problem to just not have it?

 

[Patrick Klepek]

boo. region locks suck. i was looking forward to being the school pimp with a psp in hand. fuck off, i-pod.

 

[firex]

I actually wouldn't be surprised to see it region locked. It's a lot more feasible with a disc-based portable, and I wouldn't doubt that whenever Nintendo goes disc-based with their handhelds they region lock it, too.

 

[kaching]

The reason not to have it is financial for the most part. Differences in pricing between regions might tempt many more customers to try importing from a region with cheaper pricing if there were no region encoding. The financial problem this presents is most likely a larger issue than making life harder for the smaller portion of your customer base who are travelers by including region encoding.

 

[Yusaku]

I encounter roushi!

Exxy, nice article in CGW.

i miss Roushi and the old days...

Then get on irc, you fag.

VVVVV PM sent

 

[skip]

boo. region locks suck. i was looking forward to being the school pimp with a psp in hand. fuck off, i-pod.

you're simultaneously singing, dancing, AND rapping, and you're still not the school pimp? need I send you drums?

 

[Patrick Klepek]

thanks yusaku.

hey, answer my pm!

 

[Spiritreaver]

The reason not to have it is financial for the most part. Differences in pricing between regions might tempt many more customers to try importing from a region with cheaper pricing if there were no region encoding. The financial problem this presents is most likely a larger issue than making life harder for the smaller portion of your customer base who are travelers by including region encoding.

Hah, interesting, I hadn't known it was this in particular. I had always just figured it had something to do with piracy, but I could never figure out what exactly. Glad to know I was off base.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

you're simultaneously singing, dancing, AND rapping, and you're still not the school pimp? need I send you drums?

actually, my copy of drummania showed up on friday. feel free to send a copy of taiko, though.

those games really have made me a dorm pimp, though. everyone's always stopping by eXxy's room to see "what crazy shit he got in the mail today!"

 

[border]

Alright, but then again, by the same stroke, if this is so little why is it a problem to just not have it?

Publishers want region encoding so they can effectively buy and sell publishing rights for particular territories. If it really is going to be a $300 system with relatively high development costs, then Sony is really going to have to work to sell this thing to game-makers. Region-coding helps do that.

The gamble they are making is that the improved publisher-relations will offset any sales lost to the few thousand enthusiasts that like to import games. More publishers means more games which means broader appeal which means more royalties on games sold blah blah blah.

Depending on how much of a deal-breaker region-coding is for publishers, it could be a smart gamble. None of them cared about regions on the GBA, but it's not like they could really demand much from a company that held a monopoly. Plus the dev costs were cheaper and the userbase was so young that they weren't prone to importing. At the end of the day, enthusiasts will buy the system because they're enthusiasts, so it may be better to just make 3rd parties happy.

 

[Kiriku]

Gone are the days when gamers would have to wait six months or more for a US/Europe conversion of a big Japanese title... why would this hurt the PSP's chances?

I encourage you to come on over and live in Europe for a few months, really experience the days that are gone. Waiting 6 months for a game is just horrible and doesn't happen too often these days(although that's exactly what happened with ZOE2 for example), but waiting 2 months or even 1 is damn painful enough. Thank god it's possible to import...been a long time since I bought a PAL game.

I'm sure there will be some way to play import games on PSP. Memory stick is our friend.