Topic: Drawbacks to playing a game cartridge from another region on Switch?

Hi everyone,

I know that the Switch is region-free, so it can play games from other regions different from that of the system itself. I live in America, and ordered Pokemon Let's Go Eevee from an eBay seller. When I received the game, I realized the game is apparently an official product for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The front is virtually indistinguishable from the American NTSC version (including the rating of "E") and the back seems to be almost identical to the NTSC version, with text in English and in Spanish, besides a small box stating that it is an official product for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

I have 3 questions I'd appreciate if someone could answer:

• Will the game play differently to an American NTSC Pokemon Let's Go Eevee cartridge since it's a cartridge from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Singapore?
• Since I only have a North American account on the eShop, will the game get updates and successfully download/install them, or will I have to create a UAE/Saudi Arabia/Malaysia/Singapore eShop account to get updates and successfully download/install them?
• For potential DLC (IF there is DLC, considering this is a Pokemon game and the 2019 games are coming next year), I'll have to create a UAE/Saudi Arabia/Malaysia/Singapore eShop account, right?

Thank you! I've never bought games from other regions before for any of my systems, so I'd appreciate any advice with this.

@shadow-wolf 1. Most likely not, just the language will differ.
2. See reply from @Silly_G
3. You do need to create an account for that region.

This is why you don’t buy from eBay.

@shadow-wolf You know, I have Majora's Mask 3D from those regions you mentioned in your copy of Pokemon Let's Go. I tried running it on my North American New 3DS XL and it actually worked, so I'm positive it'll work for you too.

You should take a look at the region code on the cartridge. What does it say? I have physical releases from Australia, the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and they have the codes, AUS, USA, EUR, and JPN respectively. We now get European cartridges for all releases in Australia.

The good news is that I can confirm that software updates can be downloaded, even if you do not have a matching region account (even if the game is not available via your local eShop), however, you will not be able to download any DLC unless the same version of the game is also being sold via your local eShop.

Games from other regions do not play any differently, and I would expect a game such as Let's Go to be the same internationally as it has been released with multi-language support on the cartridge, covering most of the global market.

@shadow-wolf "ordered Pokemon Let's Go Eevee from an eBay seller."

First mistake. You live in America just the the NA version. Trying to go cheap and you see what happens. You can buy in NA already.

@PolarExperience Thanks for the info, and for answering my questions! I've bought from eBay sellers plenty of times and had positive experiences from each of those times, but this time I did not follow my usual rules of only buying from sellers with pictures, a decent description, and a 97% or higher rating. Since I bought from a wholesaler with a 90%+ rating, I assumed it would be fine. Now I know to be a bit more wary of whom I buy from on eBay, although I definitely recommend you to buy from eBay if you're looking to get games at a slight discount. It's IMHO the best place to get used games (I got Odyssey for about $40 and it's in excellent condition), and if you're careful you can even score good deals on brand new items as well as long as you're careful about the seller and pay attention to his/her rating. That being said, when I become much more busy next year I'll probably stick to buying from retailers to avoid any hassle even though I'll be paying full retail price.

@MarioLover92 Thank you so much for trying it out and letting me know! Considering the New 3DS has region locking, if it plays games (like your copy of Majora's Mask 3D) from that region, it should treat it like an American NTSC cartridge. With your's and Silly_G's comments, it seems like the system treats it as a USA cartridge so I should be fine. Thanks for alleviating my concerns and thanks again for letting me know!

@Silly_G Thank you so much for all the great info, I appreciate your detailed responses to my questions. Thank you for mentioning the cartridge and what it says on it; after you pointed it out, I checked and saw it said "USA" so it appears that the cartridge will indeed be considered as an NTSC cartridge. Thank you for telling me about the software updates, as I was worried that I wouldn't receive any bug fixes unless I create an account from the UAE/Singapore/Saudi Arabia/Malaysia. Thanks to your previous advice I found out that wouldn't apply to me in this situation, but it's good to know regardless in case I end up with another game from another region. And also thank you for telling me games from other regions do not play differently. This is the first time I ever bought a game labeled as from another region (even though thanks to your advice I realized it's still the USA version), so I really appreciate your advice for all 3 points.

@SwitchForce I see what you're saying — ordering from eBay definitely requires more effort and care when choosing whom to buy from, when buying from a retailer makes the process much much easier. However, the cost savings are definitely noticeable and significant especially over the course of buying multiple games. As I said above to PolarExperience, I've bought from eBay sellers plenty of times and had positive experiences from each of those times, but this time I did not follow my usual rules of only buying from sellers with pictures, a decent description, and a 97% or higher rating. Since I bought from a wholesaler with a 90%+ rating, I assumed it would be fine. Now I know to be a bit more wary of whom I buy from on eBay, although I definitely recommend you to buy from eBay if you're looking to get games at a slight discount. It's IMHO the best place to get used games (I got Odyssey for about $40 and it's in excellent condition), and if you're careful you can even score good deals on brand new items as well as long as you're careful about the seller and pay attention to his/her rating. That being said, when I become much more busy next year I'll probably stick to buying from retailers to avoid any hassle even though I'll be paying full retail price.