Xbox 360 region locked for games and DVDs
We can sort of deal with them region locking the DVD player — we've already got plenty of workarounds for that sort of thing — but it's been confirmed that Microsoft has decided to be predictably lame and region lock their new Xbox 360 console for games, too, just like they did with the original Xbox. We were secretly hoping they'd steal a page from Sony's playbook (they didn't region lock games on the PSP), but no such luck.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft Xbox 360
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bloodomen13 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
How is this a surprise? All consoles have been region-locked in the past (set-top boxes, not referring to handhelds). But there's always work-arounds in the form of hacks and chips
wheezo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
It's up to publishers if they choose to region lock a title, jsut like on Xbox. Not all games on Xbox are region locked, and not all on Xbox 360 will be. They do this becaue publishers require it to protect their rights in different markets and to allow them to do regional licensing.
Dralt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Yeah, from a consumer standpoint, region locking allows them to make you pay 50% extra for a game you could buy at a 50% discount from Japan or elsewhere.
Consumer gouging is legal.
ttb @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
This is an absolute crime. I live between Aust and US so I am going to be forced to buy games twice.... And they wonder why people are so committed to hacking. Thank god for the hackers - they seem to be the only people who penalize this bullsh#t tactic of region locks. This is so frustrating.
WizarDru @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Oh NOES! Now we won't be able to get all those Japanese exclusive xbox titles like......
....uh....
Hmmmm.
epobirs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Region locking is an important factor for small publishers. A big company like Capcom can afford to run publishing operations in all regions but small publishers rely on licensing their titles to other small publishers in other regions. Since these titles sell in much smaller numbers it doesn't take too much import traffic to sour the market a regional publisher. It you only expect to move 25K units in your region, then 3K sales lost to imports is a serious loss.
Even for global publishers it can be important. The regional division each have their own inventory and accounting reports to present to the parent company. If the localized version of a game sells poorly because the market for it was largely already covered by imports it can create the illusion that there was no local interest in the game and make the publisher believe that similar games shouldn't be offered to that region in the future.
Publishgers have to decide for themselves whether this is needed for a partiular game but rest assured it isn't done just to be mean to gamers.
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Isn't region coding illegal? I don't think there is a provision in copyright for geographicly limited use... If they're doing something illegal, I feel better about my "backups" :P
GTG @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Wheezo is right. Sometimes a publisher will have the rights to publish a game in one region, while another publisher has rights for the same game in another region. Region locking the discs is an easy way to ensure most of the sales go to the "correct" publisher.
CapAmerica @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Just because the PSP was region Free doesn't mean the PS3 will be. Look at Nintendo, The GBA and DS are region free but the GameCube was not.
I would be surprised to see any home console become Region free this gen.
epobirs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
No Jason, there is nothing at all illegal about region coding. The region info is plainly presented on the packaging and the consumer has no excuse for buying the item if they cannot use it on their equipment.
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I'm really surprised at the amount of hostility that Microsoft is showing towards its buyers. If they wanted to make the XBox 360 a run-away hit, all they'd have to do is make it deeply mod-able.
As it is, I'm just going to wait for the Revolution.
Nmaster @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
They can't steal a page from Sony's book, because Sony's playbook is nothing but a compilation of Apple and Nintendo's playbooks!
Nintendo's portables have been region-free for years. For some reason, all portables seem to be. However, consoles is always a different story...
Does anyone really care that the 360 is region-encoded? There's a reason that the original Xbox makes up for <1% of Japan's weekly hardware sales.
Now, I'd pray for the PS3 and Revolution to be region-free, especially the Revolution. You know those Japanese will come up with all sorts of psychotic (though fun) ideas with that controller, and we'll probably never see them...
If the Revolution plays Gamecube games, will the Freeloader work? The GameCube is truly a different system in Japan, it's got some amazing games. Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, and it's a shame we don't get that stuff stateside...
paralipsis @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I rang Microsoft up about this a week or so ago. I am in Europe and will still be here when the XBox 360 is released. When I found out that in Australia (my homeland) the 360 is not due for release until January of February I wanted to find out about region restrictions so I could pick one up here before I went home. I was very disappointed to discover the truth.
I have been using my Australian GameCube games on a GC purchased in Europe without worries. Microsoft lost me as a customer when I found out I could not do the same with their console.
Stephen @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Sigh..I am disappointed...although I kind of expected it would happen for every next generation console.
It will just make me want to mod my console even more like what I did with PS2 recently. I would have bought the original Japanese version of the game for 70 bucks (imports are just expensive), but my PS2 will not be able to play it. They just lost quite a bit of money from me for the games they could have made.
RikF @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Corporations batter politicians left and right to get reduced import/export taxes so that they can compete globally and then ensure than consumers cannot benefit from these bonuses. They want to be global (and outsource to cheaper labour markets) while ensuring that consumers cannot buy from those cheaper markets 'because it's unfair'! Remember kids, buying from another country is unpatriotic. Hell it's one step from being a heathen/witch/communist/terrorist/republican (delete as appropriate for your locale)
Sean O. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
A page out of Sony's book? When did the GBA come out? I could've sworn it was before the PSP...
LCD @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Unfortunately Microsoft doesn't want anything mod-able because it destroys the brand image and original intent. they lose complete control if/when the community takes it into their own hands to create a mod or change/add a feature. for some reason legal things they might be liable and tech thinks that they'll lose intellectual property/capital and services think they'll have to somehow support these particular customers that muck up their machine...
the mod community/channel seems like a missed opportunity to tack on another revenue stream... if they wanted to include the mod community they could/should offer a streamlined, knockdown version separate from the mainstream box that could be easily customizable through add-ons or third party.
i think there could be a good margin (translated as markup) on extraneous add-ons (besides colored faceplates). In addition, I believe that allowing the open community to take a baseline xbox 360 would be pretty sweet... the possibility of building something new or integrating the xbox360 into a platform line that the propellorheads at MS would never have thought of - using the xbox360 engine/platform to do something besides games, i.e. new OS platform besides 'windows'. then MS could turn around and offer some licensing system to modders to promote/resell to others as a 'certified' xbox360 mod.
epthegeek @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
NOT NEWS.
Portables are region-free because people travel with them. Stationary set-top systems are region locked, have always been region locked, and always will be.
iceanfire @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I think portables (ie. psp, gba,ds) are region-free because they expect you to be able to take them to you on trips .... so lets say I go to japan on a business trip, and I'm bored of the game I'm currently playing, because the psp isn't region-locked, I can buy new games and play them right then and there. Consoles are less portable so you're expected to stay at home and play them.... which is why they think they can get away w/ region locking.
AceMilo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Ok, and??? Every console has been region locked, and it has always been bypassed. The ps3 I'm sure will be region locked, just like the ps2 and ps1 were. How is this news? The psp is region free but only for games. Of course the mpaa wouldn't like it if movies were region free.
Matt E. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Yawn....
Did somebody say something? C'mon guys/gals. That fact is this isn't going to change alot for Xbox360 purchasers. You're either going to buy it or not. What this really means is that, in some cases, you are going to have to wait for some titles that have not been been released in your region. Unless you suffer from ADHD, this is a non-issue.
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
region coding is designed to enable price fixing.. which is illegal. It is illegal in New Zealand, becoming so in Australia {breach of Trade Practices Act} and Switzerland also considering deeming it illegal.
GTgadget @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
"If they wanted to make the XBox 360 a run-away hit, all they'd have to do is make it deeply mod-able."
...and that would also make it unprofitable or at best, a lot less profitable. They're not making consoles just to win a popularity contest for the sake of popularity itself.
This isn't some greedy move by Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo or whoever implements region locking. It's a feature the console makers provide that is needed to control rights and keep publishers from stepping on each other's toes in different regions. I can also forsee region locking being needed due to other legal issues, such as the legality of games in different markets (just take a look at the Aussies). Yes, region coding could be abused as well (like just about anything), but the original intent is to force publishers to play nice when sharing rights for a game.
soco @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
i think one of the biggest reason consoles are region locked is to fun localization of the titles. if they spend 100,000$ for a professional localization, and everyone buys the Japanese version, then the possibility exists to lose money in certain areas. (mostly Europe)
for big games it's not a problem, but for smaller companies and publishers, who don't push a lot of numbers, it makes a big difference.
but yes, besides this news being rather old, it's hardly newsworthy.
bp @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Why even post this? Of course they region lock it, everything is region locked, and has been since the original days of the NES! Even they had region locks to prevent playing games of different countries. It has less to do with Microsoft and more to do with the legalities of making a product commercially available in multiple regions of the world. The only reason the Game Boy and PSP don't is because they are portables.
Dale @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
As a current PS2/Xbox-lover, all I have to say is that X360 and the PS3 look like yesterday's news after the Nintendo announcement.
Whether it's as incredible as they want you to believe, Nintendo really took it to 'em with the Rev and made these 'traditional' systems seem bloated and boring. Region-free-Rev will only add to that . .
Just my $.02.
Zo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
In certain markets and in certain countries depending on the laws the manufacturer is required by law to regionalize to prevent losses from taxes or vat or because that country/region/state wants to protect the local economy. Blame MS all you want, its not always their fault or their decision. Sony and Nintendo will be forced in some situations to do the same. The issue with the portables is that the market is much smaller that they need to sell whatever they can whenever they can to whomever will buy it.
Economics rule and as the world gets flatter more protectionism will creep into local/regional markets. Also, the cost of doing business is not equal in all places.
As a consumer you do have a vote, just don't buy.
tuig @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I modded my Xbox because:
1) it allowed me to play games I bought from online retailers in the US (I'm in Europe)
2) it allowed me to output progressive scan over component output
Buying games in the US is cheaper, and they get launched there first. My money goes to the place where I get best value - not to EU retailers and publishing arms, I'm afraid.
The video quality is sorted this generation around, so I'll check the release roster for Xbox before I decide to hack the box (if at all possible), buy a US one or get the PAL system.
Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
"Look at Nintendo, The GBA and DS are region free but the GameCube was not."
Yeah, but Nintendo purposely made it ridiculously easy to mod the GameCube to be region free, and then when people started doing it (literally about a day after the GameCube went on sale), they were all like "good for them". Seriously, go look it up - they actually said publicly that they would take no action against modders who did this.
Nintendo was smart about the whole thing, because look at it. Yes, they region-locked the system, so they appeased publishers that wanted this feature. But they made it so that a single solder point would disable the region lock, knowing that any 10 year old could do it... thereby appeasing gamers who wanted a region-free system. *AND* - and this is the important part that other manufacturers (Sony and MS) have so far overlooked - *they made the region protection separate from the copy protection*.
That last point is so ridiculously important because it means you can mod the system to be region-free without violating the DMCA. It also means that if you have a region-free system, nobody can accuse you of automatically also being a pirate. Sony and MS have both done and said these things with regard to modders of their systems, even if the modders just wanted to play games from other regions. To disable region protection on the Xbox 360 and PS2, you have to disable at least part of the copy protection at the same time. Not so on the GameCube.
If the Xbox 360 is as easily hackable as the GameCube to be region-free, *and* the region protection is separate from the copy protection *and* MS publicly states that they don't care if people make the hack (as Nintendo did), then more power to them - let them region-code the system if they want to. But otherwise, don't claim that all the manufacturers are being equally evil.
epobirs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Jason, try to think before writing. It has nothing at all to do with price fixing. If anything, imported games are more expensive than localized versions. It isn't about how much the game sells for but rather who gets credited as making the sale. If a small publisher specializing in localization of foreign titles loses too many sales to imports before they can get the translated version to market they will be unable to do enough business to make it viable and localized versions will cease to appear. The consumer doesn't pay more. Instead they get no opportunity to purchase a version for their region at all. For a small publisher like Atlus it doesn't take that much import traffic to kill a product for them. This is why they gravitate toward wordier games that are that much more difficult for importers to play. Games that can be muddled through with a translation FAQ become too risky and thus the consumers who would have bought a localized version get screwed.
bloodomen13 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
How is this a surprise? All consoles have been region-locked in the past (set-top boxes, not referring to handhelds). But there's always work-arounds in the form of hacks and chips
wheezo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
It's up to publishers if they choose to region lock a title, jsut like on Xbox. Not all games on Xbox are region locked, and not all on Xbox 360 will be. They do this becaue publishers require it to protect their rights in different markets and to allow them to do regional licensing.
Dralt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Yeah, from a consumer standpoint, region locking allows them to make you pay 50% extra for a game you could buy at a 50% discount from Japan or elsewhere.
Consumer gouging is legal.
ttb @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
This is an absolute crime. I live between Aust and US so I am going to be forced to buy games twice.... And they wonder why people are so committed to hacking. Thank god for the hackers - they seem to be the only people who penalize this bullsh#t tactic of region locks. This is so frustrating.
WizarDru @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Oh NOES! Now we won't be able to get all those Japanese exclusive xbox titles like......
....uh....
Hmmmm.
epobirs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Region locking is an important factor for small publishers. A big company like Capcom can afford to run publishing operations in all regions but small publishers rely on licensing their titles to other small publishers in other regions. Since these titles sell in much smaller numbers it doesn't take too much import traffic to sour the market a regional publisher. It you only expect to move 25K units in your region, then 3K sales lost to imports is a serious loss.
Even for global publishers it can be important. The regional division each have their own inventory and accounting reports to present to the parent company. If the localized version of a game sells poorly because the market for it was largely already covered by imports it can create the illusion that there was no local interest in the game and make the publisher believe that similar games shouldn't be offered to that region in the future.
Publishgers have to decide for themselves whether this is needed for a partiular game but rest assured it isn't done just to be mean to gamers.
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Isn't region coding illegal? I don't think there is a provision in copyright for geographicly limited use... If they're doing something illegal, I feel better about my "backups" :P
GTG @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Wheezo is right. Sometimes a publisher will have the rights to publish a game in one region, while another publisher has rights for the same game in another region. Region locking the discs is an easy way to ensure most of the sales go to the "correct" publisher.
CapAmerica @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Just because the PSP was region Free doesn't mean the PS3 will be. Look at Nintendo, The GBA and DS are region free but the GameCube was not.
I would be surprised to see any home console become Region free this gen.
epobirs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
No Jason, there is nothing at all illegal about region coding. The region info is plainly presented on the packaging and the consumer has no excuse for buying the item if they cannot use it on their equipment.
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I'm really surprised at the amount of hostility that Microsoft is showing towards its buyers. If they wanted to make the XBox 360 a run-away hit, all they'd have to do is make it deeply mod-able.
As it is, I'm just going to wait for the Revolution.
Nmaster @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
They can't steal a page from Sony's book, because Sony's playbook is nothing but a compilation of Apple and Nintendo's playbooks!
Nintendo's portables have been region-free for years. For some reason, all portables seem to be. However, consoles is always a different story...
Does anyone really care that the 360 is region-encoded? There's a reason that the original Xbox makes up for <1% of Japan's weekly hardware sales.
Now, I'd pray for the PS3 and Revolution to be region-free, especially the Revolution. You know those Japanese will come up with all sorts of psychotic (though fun) ideas with that controller, and we'll probably never see them...
If the Revolution plays Gamecube games, will the Freeloader work? The GameCube is truly a different system in Japan, it's got some amazing games. Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, and it's a shame we don't get that stuff stateside...
paralipsis @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I rang Microsoft up about this a week or so ago. I am in Europe and will still be here when the XBox 360 is released. When I found out that in Australia (my homeland) the 360 is not due for release until January of February I wanted to find out about region restrictions so I could pick one up here before I went home. I was very disappointed to discover the truth.
I have been using my Australian GameCube games on a GC purchased in Europe without worries. Microsoft lost me as a customer when I found out I could not do the same with their console.
Stephen @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Sigh..I am disappointed...although I kind of expected it would happen for every next generation console.
It will just make me want to mod my console even more like what I did with PS2 recently. I would have bought the original Japanese version of the game for 70 bucks (imports are just expensive), but my PS2 will not be able to play it. They just lost quite a bit of money from me for the games they could have made.
RikF @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Corporations batter politicians left and right to get reduced import/export taxes so that they can compete globally and then ensure than consumers cannot benefit from these bonuses. They want to be global (and outsource to cheaper labour markets) while ensuring that consumers cannot buy from those cheaper markets 'because it's unfair'! Remember kids, buying from another country is unpatriotic. Hell it's one step from being a heathen/witch/communist/terrorist/republican (delete as appropriate for your locale)
Sean O. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
A page out of Sony's book? When did the GBA come out? I could've sworn it was before the PSP...
LCD @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Unfortunately Microsoft doesn't want anything mod-able because it destroys the brand image and original intent. they lose complete control if/when the community takes it into their own hands to create a mod or change/add a feature. for some reason legal things they might be liable and tech thinks that they'll lose intellectual property/capital and services think they'll have to somehow support these particular customers that muck up their machine...
the mod community/channel seems like a missed opportunity to tack on another revenue stream... if they wanted to include the mod community they could/should offer a streamlined, knockdown version separate from the mainstream box that could be easily customizable through add-ons or third party.
i think there could be a good margin (translated as markup) on extraneous add-ons (besides colored faceplates). In addition, I believe that allowing the open community to take a baseline xbox 360 would be pretty sweet... the possibility of building something new or integrating the xbox360 into a platform line that the propellorheads at MS would never have thought of - using the xbox360 engine/platform to do something besides games, i.e. new OS platform besides 'windows'. then MS could turn around and offer some licensing system to modders to promote/resell to others as a 'certified' xbox360 mod.
epthegeek @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
NOT NEWS.
Portables are region-free because people travel with them. Stationary set-top systems are region locked, have always been region locked, and always will be.
iceanfire @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
I think portables (ie. psp, gba,ds) are region-free because they expect you to be able to take them to you on trips .... so lets say I go to japan on a business trip, and I'm bored of the game I'm currently playing, because the psp isn't region-locked, I can buy new games and play them right then and there. Consoles are less portable so you're expected to stay at home and play them.... which is why they think they can get away w/ region locking.
AceMilo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Ok, and??? Every console has been region locked, and it has always been bypassed. The ps3 I'm sure will be region locked, just like the ps2 and ps1 were. How is this news? The psp is region free but only for games. Of course the mpaa wouldn't like it if movies were region free.