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PS3 will be multi-region for games


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GDC 2006: Region-free PS3

Prepare for the shock of shockers - every PS3 game from the world can be yours!

by Nix

 

March 22, 2006 - In a QA session following the platform keynote address at GDC 2006 this morning, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison confirmed what was heavily demanded for import gamers all over the world and yet previously thought unthinkable for a major corporation: the PS3 will be region-free for gaming.

 

The move was not unexpected, as SCE had previously mentioned considering the possibility of opening up the region structure for PS3 games recently (the newly-released PSP system has but does not use a region code system for games, but that's more a standard for portable games than a new development for region-free gaming.) The system is, amongst other things, hoped to help combat piracy - many import fans "chip" their consoles with region-free mod chips to play import games, and while that desire has some legitimacy, it also opens the doors for pirates to release illegal copies of games. (Funnily enough, it's most often easier to run illegal games on a console than it is to run legit games from other countries due to the way most mod chips work, leading to a slippery slope for importers hoping to stay legit but finding the road difficult to maneuver.) Region-free gaming also allows game publishers to release games across the globe simultaneously, either through e-distribution or on disc. The capacity of Blu-Ray had previously been mentioned to allow for multiple languages of a game to be encoded onto the same massive-capacity disc.

 

The one caveat of this new region-free structure is that games made for specific regions' electrical and TV standards may have problems on your TV set. A PAL PS3 game, for instance, will have difficulty running on an NTSC TV, unless the developers have thought ahead and planned for that issue. It is currently unknown how the PS3 will cope with this problem (whether there will be a warning when you run an import about possible TV incompatibility, or if possibly there might be a no-play screen for incompatible games depending on your PS3's TV settings.) Luckily, modern HDTV standards go a long way towards making that problem moot. Also, games made in other countries will naturally only have the text and dialog it is programmed with, so don't put your pre-orders down so fast on all of those Japanese RPGs and Dragon Ball if you don't know a lick of kanji, because English will only be in if the developers have planned for it. (It's unknown if there will be any type of "patching" system for multi-language releases, although that might be possible on supported games post-release now that the PS3 is carrying its massive HDD and flash memory support.)

 

We'll have more details on how this impacts publishers and importers as soon as we know more about SCE's plans for region-free PS3 gaming.

 

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/697/697656p1.html

 

To bad it won't be for DVD movies, blame that one on MPAA it can be cracked anyway, anyhow :P

 

Least it can play Import games from the out of the box without a mod chip.

Edited by Hexter
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I've never really understood what region locking was supposed to accomplish anyway.

 

I guess it's supposed to help protect publishers in different regions? But really, I wouldn't think that the import market is so huge that it really impacts anyone's bottom line. Plus, the language difference and TV standards act as their own barriers in many cases anyway. If you don't want to have a bunch of people importing stuff, try actually releasing games in each market within a reasonable time frame instead of screwing one of your markets over with a huge wait.

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If you don't want to have a bunch of people importing stuff, try actually releasing games in each market within a reasonable time frame instead of screwing one of your markets over with a huge wait.                                                                                                                                       

I've been saying this for years, along with a good number of extremely pissed european gamers.

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maybe it was companies way of making u buy another system, like a jap ps2 and an american ps2. wild guess

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Maybe they remember their defeat in the Australian courts, where region restrictions were effectively outlawed.

 

Now Microsoft need to be taught the same lesson...

 

Australian laws made region looking equipment illegal because it violates trade. that far as I know.

 

region locking is just the most stupid piece of technology on the planet.

Edited by Hexter
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If you don't want to have a bunch of people importing stuff, try actually releasing games in each market within a reasonable time frame instead of screwing one of your markets over with a huge wait.                                                                                                                                       

I've been saying this for years, along with a good number of extremely pissed european gamers.

I wholesomely agreed

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Maybe they remember their defeat in the Australian courts, where region restrictions were effectively outlawed.

 

Now Microsoft need to be taught the same lesson...

Actually, with the 360 out, it's just a matter if the developers want too to or not. Because a few of the 360 Launch Titles were region free. And like 4 of the Xbox's titles are region free also.

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