DS will be region free

Ciaran500

"Hello and thank you for contacting Nintendo,

It may interest you to know that the Nintendo DS will be a universal system that can be played anywhere on the planet. Further, it can play games purchased anywhere. Please note, however, that accessories purchased in different parts of the world may not be compatible with the Nintendo DS you purchase.

I hope you find this information useful!

Sincerely,

Nintendo of America Inc.

Mitch Crim"

As good a confirmation as you're going to get folks. Get importing!

I remember a couple of people were importing this so I thought they would be interested.

RobertFoster

Thanks for that Ciaran

"a universal system that can be played anywhere on the planet"

is it waterproof?

Creamy Goodness

weren't all gameboys universal

i know when i bought a GBColor in the states it played games from here and my mates GBColor(irish bought) played my american games.

Stormfox1020

I just hope the PSP follows in pursuit.

rainbow kirby

Yay for regionfreeness! (is that a word?)
I'll be importing one then...

projectmayhem

i doubt it since the US launch title list is different to ours.

i'm not too bothered about that because the psp will, quite frankly, be superior in every way to the DS...

rainbow kirby

Battery life? 3 hours predicted for games at the moment. Not superior in every way then.

KdjaCL

projectmayhem wrote:

i doubt it since the US launch title list is different to ours.

i'm not too bothered about that because the psp will, quite frankly, be superior in every way to the DS...

But it wont have nintendo games on it

kdjac

Ciaran500

projectmayhem wrote:

i doubt it since the US launch title list is different to ours.

i'm not too bothered about that because the psp will, quite frankly, be superior in every way to the DS...

Why? I'm not chalenging you, just wondering what you think whats great about the PSP, and whats wrong with the DS.

L5

if i wanted to play games like the PSP will, id just play a ps2, i want something original, hence ive pre ordered DS. Seems a lot of people are swinging towards DS for this reason.

monkeyfudge

play-asia.com claim that it has no region protection in the product description.

But they're charging $169 for it... anyone seen it cheaper anywhere else?

rainbow kirby

Lik-Sang are taking no-money-down preorders.
Also DVDboxoffice it's €149.67 when I view the site with euro pricing.

monkeyfudge

rainbow kirby wrote:

Lik-Sang are taking no-money-down preorders.
Also DVDboxoffice it's €149.67 when I view the site with euro pricing.

oooh... I'm not going with dvdboxoffice... they screwed me over once before...

Ciaran500

I advise everyone against using dvdboxoffice. They rarely respond to email, they are slow to send your order, they never tell you if they have your order in stock and they just generaly seem incompetant.

Rabies

projectmayhem wrote:

i doubt it since the US launch title list is different to ours.

i'm not too bothered about that because the psp will, quite frankly, be superior in every way to the DS...

It is the S/W support that will make the PSP or DS a success.

I'm interested in the DS because Nintendo are trying something different with the dual screen. Sony are going for the full multimedia experience with the PSP, which also a good thing. Although the PSP will prob cost more because of this.

Retr0gamer

According to eurogamer capcom have a viewtiful joe game in the works for the DS. Can't wait to get my grubby mitts on it.

rainbow kirby

Sounds like fun...

Retr0gamer

The PSP might or mightn't have region locking. According to IGN they could do it and at the moment Sony Europe is strongly opposed to the idea and rightly so.

Thraktor

Rabies wrote:

It is the S/W support that will make the PSP or DS a success.

I'm interested in the DS because Nintendo are trying something different with the dual screen. Sony are going for the full multimedia experience with the PSP, which also a good thing. Although the PSP will prob cost more because of this.

Probably? Last I checked the DS is launching here at €149, whereas a Sony Europe exec was quoted as saying the PSP would launch above €300, most likely €329. The Japanese PSP price (¥33,000) has already been confirmed to be more than twice that of the DS (¥15,000). Still don't know about software prices, America's getting DS games for $29/$39, but god only knows what retailers will charge us over here (I specifically import every game I buy now, after I saw a GBA game for €50 in a shop here, actually, add to that, I decided to wander into GAME the other day, and guess what I saw? They were selling pre-owned PS2/GC games for nearly €50! I bet you they didn't even give a fiver to the guy who traded it in.)

Anyway, back on topic, I think a big factor will be the battery life, Nintendo claims the DS battery life will be slightly shorter than that of the SP (8 hours compared to 10), but if reports about the PSP are true (and considering this is a handheld with a large, bright TFT screen, streaming optical drive and powerful processors, it's not that unlikely), then it could be a major factor. The scariest quote I heard was that the battery would only last 1½-2hrs while playing video UMDs. What if the film's 2½hrs long? Do I have to find a plug socket and wait a few hours for it to charge up before I can finish the movie?

Further back onto topic, the DS being region free isn't a surprise (Nintendo handhelds always are), but I thought the PSP had already been confirmed to have reqion locking? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Retr0gamer

This is a quote from the article on IGN: http://psp.ign.com/articles/513/513175p1.html

Will games or other multimedia releases from other countries be playable on any PSP?

The PSP UMD format is fully equipped with region encoding procedures on all formats published to the media -- games, movies and music. However, SCE Europe's president and COO, David Reeves made comment in an interview with the Official PlayStation UK magazine that region encoding would not be utilized in game releases. Sony representatives were unable to be reached for clarification on if this policy remains regarding PSP games being region-free.

This article is dated 28th May 2004 so its pretty old.

monument

So you might end up not been able to play films from a UMD. Hmm...

honru

Ciaran500 wrote:

I advise everyone against using dvdboxoffice. They rarely respond to email, they are slow to send your order, they never tell you if they have your order in stock and they just generaly seem incompetant.

Aye, I hear ya. I ordered Paper Mario 2 from there on its US release date (October 12th) and they didn't ship the bloody thing until today (October 21st). Nine days without any word. By the time I get the game it'll probably be already released over here.

At least I get a dirt cheap Freeloader for €6.

Jim

Just watched some of the videos for Metroid Hunters (a demo of which I think is supplied with the DS) and I'm pretty impressed. The graphics did look a bit fuzzy, but no more than I think the PS graphics look fuzzy. Only thing which put me off were the sound effects.

rainbow kirby

Well if the demo's coming as a pack-in with the DS, then you get to give it a good go. I think it looks great.