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[shuri]

Really.

Those shitty swap methods and flip flop covers are a waste of time and fuck up your hardware in the long run. Modchip solutions are expensive, and allow playbacks of bootlegs, and good modchips takes forever to come out in a console's life cycle. Buying a foreign console is suicidalfor your wallet when a new console comes out, and is much more expensive than a mod job.

Sony and Nintendo need to drop that whole insanity. I understand that there's a lot of contractual problems related to it, but for gods sake; look at how the gba is doing well without region locks.

I believe Microsoft kinda gave up when it comes to region encoding.

What do you guys think?

 

[RevenantKioku]

Wait, Xbox games aren't region locked? Oh damn, there was like 1 Xbox game I wanted to buy while in Japan, but passed.

 

[dog$]

Some XBox games are encoded and others aren't. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it...

Meanwhile, sure it'd be great to have no regional crap. I'd be able to stop unplugging & toting my systems around when I wanted to bring a game to pal's house. But, I don't forsee it changing anytime soon.

I mean, hell, DVD encoding is only getting more established; can't see things going the opposite way for games.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Gamecube is rediculously easy to mod. Though there are various reasons someone would want to mod an Xbox, I don't think importing Xbox's amazing import releases is one of them. PS2 is annoying is hell.

 

[NotMSRP]

The way DVDs are regionialized is much better than the current way games are regionalized. The next-gen console systems should adapt the DVD region coding style.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I mean, hell, DVD encoding is only getting more established; can't see things going the opposite way for games.

Yeah but multi-region DVD players are released and now don't cost that much more than region-specific models.

One thing I think is if they were to get rid of regional-coding wouldn't the knock on effect be less desire for modding solutions and therefore less reason to 'crack' the system which would probably help towards tackling piracy by eliminating the grey areas of modding.

 

[bobbyconover]

I'm more worried about the PSP than anything. Can you even imagine trying to "mod" that thing, especially if it proves as difficult as the PS2 has? And of course buying consoles from both regions would be absolutely brutal, considering the price.

Entering the world of region-locked handhelds is going to flat-out suck.

 

[scarybore]

Yeah but multi-region DVD players are released and now don't cost that much more than region-specific models.

One thing I think is if they were to get rid of regional-coding wouldn't the knock on effect be less desire for modding solutions and therefore less reason to 'crack' the system which would probably help towards tackling piracy by eliminating the grey areas of modding.

Probably for the "hardcore" that would be true, but for the average joe I would imagine a chip would still be very attractive for the wrong reasons, but until someone takes this inititive then we wont really see the effect mod chips have on the market.

Either way I imagine its the publishers who really want the region encoding to be enforced since games in different regions are often released by different publishers.

 

[KyotoMecca]

What do you guys think?

And I wish I could fuck Elisha Cuthbert!

 

[Buffy4ever]

Wait, Xbox games aren't region locked? Oh damn, there was like 1 Xbox game I wanted to buy while in Japan, but passed.

So I could buy an X box Japanese game like Puyo puyo Fever and it will play on my US x box?

 

[Senretsu]

Freeloader is quick and painless, doesn't harm the gamecube either.

but I do agree i wish they'd drop it, specifically sony.

 

[BuddyC]

So I could buy an X box Japanese game like Puyo puyo Fever and it will play on my US x box?

Certain Xbox games aren't region encoded. Not all.

Modding a GameCube is ridiculously easy. Freeloader is alright for most intents and purposes, but it's horrible when it comes to Konga or Mr. Driller Drill Land.

 

[drohne]

I'm more worried about the PSP than anything.

yeah, really. i absolutely won't buy a psp until the region lock business is sorted out. and i won't even entertain the idea of buying two units. it's a portable, and schlepping around two would be ridiculous. i really hope sony follows portable precedent and doesn't put a lockout on games.

 

[Killthee]

So I could buy an X box Japanese game like Puyo puyo Fever and it will play on my US x box?

I doubt it. IIRC most developers turn on region encoding in most games.

 

[shuri]

Well I guess my post was more aimed at the PS2.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Well I guess my post was more aimed at the PS2.

No doubt, because that's really the biggest offend as far as shit we don't get over here.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Until this industry can continually do simultaneous releases globally, don't expect a regionless home console anytime soon. It's all about territorial control.

 

[cvxfreak]

I imagine that regionless consoles will decrease sales in the long run, since I'm sure stores like EBGames and GameStop would carry titles in Japan, which would in turn kill off places like NCSX and Lik-Sang. It's probably a very small amount of the current userbase, but I imagine Europe would be hit hardest. I really don't see the point in differentiating between the U.S. and Japan though, since they're very different languages. Hell, Korea, China and Japan all follow the same region and those three languages are practically nothing alike except for vocabulary (all three) and syntax (K/J).