Nintendo DSi XL

targus

I purchased a Dsi xl in the US recently. However some Irish games won't play on it, some will. The games that dont work I have tried on a console purchased in Ireland and they work fine. Anyone any ideas on a way of rectifying this problem. I assume its a region thing. As I haven't purchased any games in the US it won't be an issue if I have to change to European settings. Thanks in advance for any help.

Mr E

Regular DS games (the majority of the DS library) will work on all DS consoles (DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL) from all regions.

A small amount of games are region locked. These are:

1. Games downloaded through the DSiWare service.
2. Retail games that use DSi features (like the camera and SD card)

What games aren't working for you?

nitromaster

Apparntly there's a way of forcing the dsi to boot the cart in "ds mode" which would mean any region cart would work.. (also means any enhanced dsi features would be disabled..)

Found this earlier
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=392178&page=3

"You have to hold down the cart while the game is loading to circumvent the region lock. This was on a Japanese DSi playing a North American game. Your mileage may vary."

So that may or may not work....worth a try anyway.

targus

well the two that have come to light so far are toy story 3 and fifa 11, both of which were purchased in ireland.

targus

So that may or may not work....worth a try anyway.[/QUOTE]

Ok thanks, will give that a try and see if it works..Many thanks.

Mr E

I just had a quick look - Toy Story 3 and Fifa 11 are both DSi-enhanced, and because of that they are region locked. You will need American versions to work on an American console.

targus

Yes, just been doing some research and that appears to be the case. Many Thanks.

dgmason62

Thanks ! I've had an interesting time over Christmas trying to work out why a UK version of Toy Story 3 does not work on my USA DSi-XL console ... I was told that region locking applied to DSI-enhanced games and there is absolutely NOTHING on the game box that I can see that warns that it is DSI-enhanced ... How can this be ? Is it not reasonable to warn DSI console owners that it won't work on their console if their is a mismatch with their console region ? I don't know about the FIFA 11 game - does that have any marking on the box ? Is there a list somewhere to tell us what games are actually DSI-enhanced (and not marked so) ? Where do you look to find out ? Does Ninetendo not have a policy on the marking of DSI-enhhanced games out of coutesy to DSI console owners ? Perhaps they do but do not have any control ? Anyone know of other DSI-enhanced games that are not marked so ? :mad:

Mr E

There are no obvious markings on the box. The only way to tell a DSi enhanced game is the serial number on the back of the box.

Any DSi game will start with the system prefix TWL.
Regular DS games use the system prefix NTR.

That's not much use if you're buying online though. I had a look for a serial registry, but couldn't find one...

dgmason62

Thanks for your reply.

I can't confirm this at the moment because I have returned my UK edition of Toy Story 3, but I'll waddle off to the shop tomorrow to check it out. I think I did check this and it started with NTR. Can anyone out there please tell me what the serial number is on their Toy Story 3 or FIFA 11 ?

dgmason62

Hmm, I just rang my friend and he tells me that his Toy Story 3 serial number starts with NTR. So does a DSI-enhanced game still have the serial number starting with NTR ? And so, there are we saying there is no way to identify DSI-enhanced DS games unless it is clearly labelled in some way on the box or we generate a list of such games ourselves ??
Surely not. I must've missed something obvious here ...

dgmason62

I think a distinction needs to be drawn between DSI enhanced and DSI exclusive. I think DSI exclusive are identified by the serial number difference mentioned. However, DSI enhanced fall into a grey area that appears to rely on labelling. I found a DSI enhanced DS game in an Australian shop, clearly labelled with a large red splash on the game box front saying "Enhanced DSi Features". I tried it on my US DSI-XL and sure enough it didn't work. There were no other distinctive markings. The serial number still started with NTR. So why doesn't Toy Story 3 have this marking ? There are various download websites showing it to be DSi enhanced e.g.
http://www.emuparadise.org/Nintendo_DS_ROMs/Toy_Story_3_(DSi_Enhanced)_(U)/51197
but no where so far can I find a list of DSI enhanced games.:mad:
Regards,
David

dgmason62

Going back to that same website and choosing games starting with the letter S :-

http://www.emuparadise.org/Nintendo_DS_ROMs/Games-Starting-With-S/32

I can see the following games are DSI enhance :-
Shrek - Forever After
Sims 3

Then under T is
Toy Story 3
Tron Revolution

and under F
FIFA 11

Do I need to manually go through the alphabet to compile them for easy reference for all DSI console owners around the globe ? Surely Nintendo has done this and their management is cracking the whip for proper labelling of these games ...:mad:

I'll get off my hobby horse ... nay !

dgmason62

Sorry, under titles starting with 'S' I failed to mention

Sonic Classic Collection

Sonny with a Chance

SpongeBob SquarePants - Boating Bash

Style Lab - Jewelry Design

Super Kaseki Horider

Sushi Go-Round

so there could easily be about a say 50 or more of them. :eek:

I could not see any markings on the Sonic Classic Collection box to say it was DSI-enhanced. OK, now I'll truly take a rest from my hobby horse ...:)

dgmason62

I have just received an email from Nintendo's HQ in USA saying that DS game Toy Story 3 is not a DSI-enhanced game and that I have a bootleg version ... I've naturally asked them to tell me how they know this and where is there list of DSI-enhanced games and what their policy on labelling of DSI-enhanced games is ... I'll sure keep you posted :cool: