Patrick Elliot
Shaun InguanzoRegion Free Video Gaming
November 23rd 2006 23:33
This entry is mostly directed towards PAL gamers, since they would feel the brunt of this gripe.
[ For those unfamiliar with region-coding: There are 3 regions for console games. Japanese NTSC, US NTSC, and PAL (for Europe and Australia). Games are generally released from left to right in the list of regions, so PAL users receive games last if at all. A game bought in one region cannot be played on a system from a different region (without modifications). ]
All the major console systems up until this date have been region-coded. Because of this, there have been many great games that never made it to PAL shores. This includes older games such as Chrono Trigger, Xenogears and Legend of Mana, as well as newer games like Katamari Damacy (though we did get the sequel, We Love Katamari) and Xenosaga (though we did get the sequel in this continuing story, Xenosaga II).
When I hear of a good game that's been released in English, I'm often sceptical about getting hyped about it because there's a medium to high chance that the game will never see Australian shores. It's less often the case now as opposed to pre-Final Fantasy VII days, but it still happens.
This is something that makes handheld gaming appealing to me. Not because of the portability, but because handhelds have always been region free. If a game is released in English, I can play it. Maybe I cannot purchase it in Australia, but I can purchase a copy overseas and get it shipped over.
Something I have yearned for for a long time would be that consoles also become region free. Sony appears to have answered this wish with the PS3, as it was announced to be a region-free console as well as backwards compatible with the PS2. I can't describe how excited I was at this prospect.
A friend sent me a US NTSC copy of Shadow Hearts 3 because the game wouldn't be released in PAL. I tested the discs on a friend's modded PS2 (modding is currently legal in Australia. More on that later) and then put it back in my shelf awaiting the region-free goodness that would release next year. I was also planning to import a copy of Okami as well if it didn't release locally since I've heard many positive comments about the game.
However, recently there's been announcements about these features: Although the PS3 will be region free, the backwards compatibility component will be. Also, Sony seems to be on a campaign to completely isolate PAL gamers from playing any games that aren't released in their region. Cases in point:
1. Australia will be entering a free trade agreement with the USA soon. One of the demands upon Australia is to make mod chipping illegal. Up until now there's been a fine line in terms of modding consoles (quite similar to the fine line related to emulation's "these ROMs are for evaluation purposes, please delete it after 24 hours"). They are legal for the purposes of playing legal copies of games purchased overseas. They are illegal for the use of playing pirated copies of games. This distinction will be gone within a few months, and regardless of whether the games are authentic, PAL users will not be able to play foreign games on their systems.
2. Although the PS3 has the capability to play all PS3 games released in the world, Sony is attempting to shut down companies in the importing business and prevent gamers from making use of the region free aspect. www.lik-sang.com has served the gaming community through imports for a fair while. They only sell authentic copies of games, so Sony still obtains their sales. A win-win in a way, as Sony gains sales in regions they normally wouldn't. For some strange reason, they've moved on from cracking down on piracy to cracking down on legitimate purchases too. I'm not sure what else to say on the matter than point out this rather interesting quote from the main lik-sang page:
"Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few."
A very interesting piece of information.
Due to all this, I've gone from being extremely hyped about the PS3's prospects to being rather disappointed in Sony. The original region-free aspect alone would have been enough for me to purchase a PS3, regardless of the console's release line-up, however this puts a dent in that resolution. I never thought PAL gamers could be worse off, but Sony's proved it can be.
In a related note: There's a high chance that the PS3 will bomb in Australia. The $1000 ($999) price tag is huge. The PS2 was ~$700 on release, and the Game Cube was $400 for comparison. The Wii will be $400 when it releases soon. While they say that the PS3 is cheap for a system that includes a blu-ray player and HDTV compatibility, it means very little in Australia at this point. A very small percentage of the population has HDTV and cares about it. There's next to no media to play on a blu-ray player at this point either. That means the PS3 will just be a very expensive console at this point, that will be releasing last out of the next-gen consoles now that Sony have pushed back the PAL release date to March 2007. Just what are they doing?
[ For those unfamiliar with region-coding: There are 3 regions for console games. Japanese NTSC, US NTSC, and PAL (for Europe and Australia). Games are generally released from left to right in the list of regions, so PAL users receive games last if at all. A game bought in one region cannot be played on a system from a different region (without modifications). ]
All the major console systems up until this date have been region-coded. Because of this, there have been many great games that never made it to PAL shores. This includes older games such as Chrono Trigger, Xenogears and Legend of Mana, as well as newer games like Katamari Damacy (though we did get the sequel, We Love Katamari) and Xenosaga (though we did get the sequel in this continuing story, Xenosaga II).
When I hear of a good game that's been released in English, I'm often sceptical about getting hyped about it because there's a medium to high chance that the game will never see Australian shores. It's less often the case now as opposed to pre-Final Fantasy VII days, but it still happens.
This is something that makes handheld gaming appealing to me. Not because of the portability, but because handhelds have always been region free. If a game is released in English, I can play it. Maybe I cannot purchase it in Australia, but I can purchase a copy overseas and get it shipped over.
Something I have yearned for for a long time would be that consoles also become region free. Sony appears to have answered this wish with the PS3, as it was announced to be a region-free console as well as backwards compatible with the PS2. I can't describe how excited I was at this prospect.
A friend sent me a US NTSC copy of Shadow Hearts 3 because the game wouldn't be released in PAL. I tested the discs on a friend's modded PS2 (modding is currently legal in Australia. More on that later) and then put it back in my shelf awaiting the region-free goodness that would release next year. I was also planning to import a copy of Okami as well if it didn't release locally since I've heard many positive comments about the game.
However, recently there's been announcements about these features: Although the PS3 will be region free, the backwards compatibility component will be. Also, Sony seems to be on a campaign to completely isolate PAL gamers from playing any games that aren't released in their region. Cases in point:
1. Australia will be entering a free trade agreement with the USA soon. One of the demands upon Australia is to make mod chipping illegal. Up until now there's been a fine line in terms of modding consoles (quite similar to the fine line related to emulation's "these ROMs are for evaluation purposes, please delete it after 24 hours"). They are legal for the purposes of playing legal copies of games purchased overseas. They are illegal for the use of playing pirated copies of games. This distinction will be gone within a few months, and regardless of whether the games are authentic, PAL users will not be able to play foreign games on their systems.
2. Although the PS3 has the capability to play all PS3 games released in the world, Sony is attempting to shut down companies in the importing business and prevent gamers from making use of the region free aspect. www.lik-sang.com has served the gaming community through imports for a fair while. They only sell authentic copies of games, so Sony still obtains their sales. A win-win in a way, as Sony gains sales in regions they normally wouldn't. For some strange reason, they've moved on from cracking down on piracy to cracking down on legitimate purchases too. I'm not sure what else to say on the matter than point out this rather interesting quote from the main lik-sang page:
"Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few."
A very interesting piece of information.
Due to all this, I've gone from being extremely hyped about the PS3's prospects to being rather disappointed in Sony. The original region-free aspect alone would have been enough for me to purchase a PS3, regardless of the console's release line-up, however this puts a dent in that resolution. I never thought PAL gamers could be worse off, but Sony's proved it can be.
In a related note: There's a high chance that the PS3 will bomb in Australia. The $1000 ($999) price tag is huge. The PS2 was ~$700 on release, and the Game Cube was $400 for comparison. The Wii will be $400 when it releases soon. While they say that the PS3 is cheap for a system that includes a blu-ray player and HDTV compatibility, it means very little in Australia at this point. A very small percentage of the population has HDTV and cares about it. There's next to no media to play on a blu-ray player at this point either. That means the PS3 will just be a very expensive console at this point, that will be releasing last out of the next-gen consoles now that Sony have pushed back the PAL release date to March 2007. Just what are they doing?
| 58 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks