More good news: xbox360 games to be region locked

Scruff

From [linkd=TheInquirer]http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26210[/linkd]

IN A PRESS briefing just before the Tokyo Game Show 2005 started, Volish spinners put the world on notice with the news that the Xbox 360 will be region locked, not just for DVD movies but for games, too.
There will be no more "imported games" sections in stores, since Microsoft prefers to sell the same title for different prices.

i am getting less and less impressed with everything about this system as time goes by.

flogen

at what point was it going to be any different?
If any console is not going to be region locked it will be the revolution, but I don't even see that happening.

projectmayhem

given the PSP's lack of region lockage for games, i wouldn't be too surprised if sony did the same for the PS3 (it'd be good PR too).. though i wont be holding my breath

danniemcq

yeah i assumed it would be locked as pretty much every other console is.

and is the psp region free ability anything to do with the UMD disks it uses?

flogen

danniemcq wrote:

yeah i assumed it would be locked as pretty much every other console is.

and is the psp region free ability anything to do with the UMD disks it uses?

No, it's standard of handheld consoles, the idea that people will bring their machine on holiday, and should be able to pick up a game while they're at it.
I think it is the discs that have the lock on them though, as UMD movies are region encoded, the games aren't.

steviec

The PS3 will be region locked too, I'd be shocked if its any different.

As was said, consoles have always been region locked, handhelds never have. For starters the NTSC/PAL issue isn't going to go away just yet, no matter how hard they push for everyone to be using HDTV.

Handhelds have always been different, people can easily go to another country and still have their handheld with them, so region encoding would be an issue. Gameboys have always been region free, the Gamecube isn't.

TerrorFirmer

Scruff wrote:

From [linkd=TheInquirer]http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26210[/linkd]



i am getting less and less impressed with everything about this system as time goes by.

What did you expect? I mean seriously, this was taken as a given, its about as shocking as an annoucement stating the 360 is white

koneko

Yeah, consoles are pretty much always region locked, this is no surprise and doesn't really change my opinion, I was assuming it would be region locked anyway.

Scruff

my mistake so. thought it was only a new thing. xbox was my first console, only ever bothered with computers before that. (specy, c64, amiga, pc)

Move along folks, nothing to see here....:o

silverlining

Scruff wrote:

my mistake so. thought it was only a new thing. xbox was my first console, only ever bothered with computers before that. (specy, c64, amiga, pc)

Move along folks, nothing to see here....:o

did you mod your xbox so you can play all those amiga, c64, speccy and other games?

Scruff

silverlining wrote:

did you mod your xbox so you can play all those amiga, c64, speccy and other games?

nope, been something i've been meaning to do for ages though. have emulators for them on the pc.

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

Yeah no suprises there, another reason the PSP and the likes are not locked is to do with their display. A handheld (obviousally) has its own display, and as such can have any display standard the manufacturer chooses to use, where as with a console, you have things link PAL v's NSTC and what not, to consider. This is becoming less of a problem these days, but i thought it worth mentioning.

_Turismo4

xbox360 games to be region locked

Makes sense!

IrishMike

New nintendo yolk isnt going to be region locked
At least according to that lad on that thing on bravo (vague is my middle name)
But to be fair of course the games are region locked, almost every console ever
has had region locked games why would the xbox be any different ?

Retr0gamer

I'm not surprised. However of all the consoles it will probably be the xbox 360 that will frustrate the least when it comes to importing. Despite Microsoft saying that different regions will get games suited to them there hasn't been one game on the xbox that I have wanted that hasn't been released in Europe. Other than the hiccup that was the decapitation removal in Ninja Gaiden Microsoft have had an excellent policy. Just compare that to the PS2 where the only way to play games like Xenosaga, Katamari Damacry and Suikoden 3 is with a modchip.

axel90

so how long before a chip is released for the 360.... region free!!!

CiDeRmAn

Strange for you to believe the machine would be anything other than region locked, only handhelds to date have had any open system for games, home consoles have nearly always employed physical (different shaped carts), software (games are region locked in the code) to stop importers. Retrogamer is right though, xbox stuff seems pretty good at pal stuff, old concerns of speed no longer apply, neither do borders, imported some jap stuff that never made it here and they were rubbish, just as well someone applies a bit of disgression. As for the PS2, that scene seems a little different, as said Katamari seems the biggest recent casualty. Jap RPGs have never been my bag. I guess if NTSC titles on Xbox360 interest you so much just get an NTSC machine, they should start to appear cheaply enough although the lineup of games has yet to be finalised and seems to be bugger difference between the US and PAL titles available, unless you just have to have a Nascar/baseball/ice hockey title.