Topic: Reasons for Region Locking

Well, thanks for all the replys guys. I honestly didn't even notice that this was from another region upon purchase on a swedish auction site. Won't make that mistake again. How do I know that the game is a counterfeit? I don't own a DS/Dsi. The game came with the manual but not the safety/warranting thingy.

@TBD Thanks, that'll be super!

@Arthedain: usually it'll be apparent in the packaging — was everything spelled correctly in the manual? when you hold the manual up to another known-legit manual, do the safety warnings all line up, same fonts, same image sizes and stuff? how's the cover, does it display all the appropriate symbols or is it wrong (does it have no Wi-Fi symbol when it should have one or vice versa, does it have the ratings certification from the right board in relation to the region it's supposed to be for, does the cover art match what it's supposed to be for that region, etc.).

there are less-apparent signs to look for, like paper and print quality (the counterfeit Partners in Time i wound up with, the manual and cover paper all had kind of an off smell to them in comparison to my legit, bought-new-from-store DS games), making sure the logos match (i believe i saw one image of a counterfeit on the internet where the shadow on the 'Nintendo DS' logo toward the spine of the box was wrong, pretty obvious when held up to a legit game), and of course the cart itself. this guide states:

FAKE NINTENDO DS GAMES The bottom left corner is rounded a little differently on the fake ones. Check the label...fake labels are put on by hand and off center or slanted slightly, authentic game labels are put on by machine and exact. You will also notice a difference in the quality of the art work and instruction booklet if one was included. If a case was included, it should have the NINTENDO logo inside the case to the right of the spot that holds the cartridge. The fake game cases are blank inside with no Nintendo logo.

this guide here has some images, and this one here also has some good points regarding the game serial number and stuff.

Region locking is the tariffs of video games.

@TBD I read the guides and checked everything out. Seems like the only indicators of it being a pirated version are two things. First, the instruction manual. The staples are almost on the back of the manual, making the whole thing skew and the nintendo DS logo on the front is at the edge. Hard to explain..
Second thing (and the most important) is the back of the ds game card. It has a serial number wich seems real.. BUT, the code on the PCB-board is "Nintendo- 114-11". Now that is suspicious.

Does anybody know for sure thsat US ds games work on an EU 3DS or vice versa? I've tried a Australian game on my EU 3DS and it worked fine (no surprise there).

ffffuuuuuuuuu i knew i forgot something. sorry Arthedain! i'll do it tonight, i swear D:

I played a US version of Ace Attorney Investigations on my European 3DS, and it worked just fine.

Yes. I have a number of Japanese and American DS games, and they work on my Australian (European, same region) 3DS.

What DOESN'T work is DSi-enhanced games. That's when Nintendo started being stupid and anti-consumer with region locking.

Agreeing with everyone else — I tried my copies of Kanji Sonomama and Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland in my 3DS just now, and they played fine. I can also now attest to the fact that even the clear EU DS boxes will have the 'Nintendo DS' logo imprinted on the inside surface right next to the opening the cartridge fits into, lol... Sorry, Arthedain, but i really think you've wound up with a couple of counterfeits.

yeah, you've definitely got a counterfeit copy, because nintendo did not region lock until the DSi, the region locking programming doesn't even EXIST in DS cartridges, it only is programmed into DSi enhanced/exclusive titles and 3DS titles, therefore, the 3DS has no reason to lock you out of a game without any region programming at all. Sorry to say it, but you either got a broken or a counterfeit copy

Again, thanks for all the replys guys. I even read elsewhere that certain sellers from Sweden are not to trust. Now I know to buy PAL games from Sweden and import US games from more trustworthy sites (still wanna import 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, since it's not available in PAL).