Region-Locking May Be a Thing of the Past Soon According to Nintendo

Hooray!

I came from a country with (American) English as secondary language so this would be awesome to me as I don't need to wait for useless European localization since I'd set it to English anyway. Then I could buy some Japanese-games and maybe Famicom games if they'll allow us to buy on the Japanese eShop as well.

Won't really affect me since I buy all my games from the eShop now.

That didn't sound too hopeful to me. He's saying they'll consider it if there's a benefit to them.

This basically translates to "we will think about it". Hopefully they do.

Such a noncommittal comment. The title of this article is making it seem like more that it really is, region-locking may be a thing of the past soon? Yeah right.

Isn't this the same thing they said last time?

MH4 Didn't even get a release outside Japan. Have to (still) wait until MH4U. Anytime I can't play a game like that for that long, it makes me hate the whole stupid practice of region-locking.

Don't think about it too hard, N. The answer is very simple.

Good cause I want to play the new Fatal Frame!

I do hope Nintendo does this. I don't expect the wii u to play Wii games from another region but I hope they at least do it for wii u games. Same goes for the 3ds.

This wouldn't effect me too much but would still be nice since they're the only ones still region locking.

I hope it is, im looking at a Master degree in Spain or England and i hate to think i would have to leave (or even sell) all my WiiU and 3DS stuff, that is wrong on so many levels

This doesn't mean anything will happen ever, and it definitely won't be happening soon, or perhaps even on the next console (whenever that may be). I would've 100% purchased Fatal Frame V in Japanese to play it on my American Wii U though. I wanted to give them my money, so I would wholly support the removal of region locking from future consoles/handhelds.

Nintendo is the magic conch when it comes to stuff like this.

The thing is, sellers make it seem like an enormous issue, but the actual difference in sales is negligible. There are quite a few people who like to import games, but sales-wise, imports don't really make that much of a difference.
However, from a consumer standpoint, it makes a whole lot of sense. Importing games from other regions due to not getting localized in one's own region shows a certain amount of demand. Right now, support can only be implied through requests on social networks and petitions, none of which reflect on the actual sales potential.

Some developers could actually try an approach similar to crowdfunding, where localization will be ensured if the game sells enough, but at the same time, release a translation patch for owners of the import version. That way, the import/export market for gaming would likely expand eventually, and exposure of more niché titles increases the chances of success.

It would be nice. It would have been great to get the EU version of Xenoblade Chronicles at a normal price versus the overpriced US copy (thanks Gamestop).

I just hope it doesn't turn into everyone being delayed by the overly complicated ratings boards of regions.

By "since the DSi" do you mean after or during the DSis lifetime? Because my DSi runs American game cards despite being a European console that was bought brand new on release...

On another note, I hope this means the New 3DS will have no region lock because I REALLY want to own and play Hatsune Miku Project Mirai and Digimon World Re: Digitize Decode (I ended up importing the PSP original instead since they fell silent on localizing the 3DS remake which has extra content). Unfortunately this means there aren't enough games I want to make buying a Japanese 3DS worth my time or money so I'd much rather have a region-free European 3DS so I can still play all the European releases I love too.

If they do remove region locking, I hope they combine all eshops into one because removing region lock would be pointless to me if I can't access the Japan eshop from a US 3DS.

Considering I have a US 3DS, whille living in Europe, it would be a great thing for me. eShop is fine with me, especially since in the end prices are lower, but sometimes I'd preffer a boxed game, or even a used one (especially true for single-player only games with low replay value)

@Iggly Combining all Eshops would be a licencing nightmare, they're not gonna do that. The best we can hope for is they remove disc region locking! (Which i sincerely hope!)

"Unofficial translation" probably means it(the text) was taken w/ hopeful bias (on part of the translator). It's possible it could happen this gen,... or next, but I somehow doubt it. Nintendo, & their audience is more lenient of things, than the NoA sub-division, & their audience is; They like to play family-friendly here in America, while in Japan they don't feel advertising Bayanetta in cooperation w/ Playboy is detrimental to their public image.

This reminds me of a few weeks ago when somebody from Nitneod said the Gamecube port adapter would be used for a variety of games:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/10/nintendo_confirms_gamecube_controller_adapter_will_have_more_use_than_just_super_smash_bros

but then the next day it was a SSBU only peripheral.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/10/turns_out_the_gamecube_controller_adapter_wont_be_compatible_with_other_wii_u_software

So they will look into removing region locking, and then they'll continue to region lock.

I hope this is true i've been importing games for a long time

even if its only a couple games that i want its nice to be able to play them

The Uk is a small island off the continent of Europe

The excuse for us getting games after the US is that the game needs to be translated into French, German and Italian and this takes time.

This would be fair enough if we in the UK got a UK English translation of the game, but we get the US English. So why can't we in the UK get the US version when they do.

@zool I totally agree with that, especially when they claim that's why they won't localise certain games that were released in America. Why don't they just redo the age rating and compatibility and ship the US copy to us? This especially reminds me of the time Insomniac and Sony refused to put the Spyro trilogy on the EU PSN store. Why? Because of "translation issues". They finally caved and gave it to us and what did we get? The US port. WHY didn't they do that in the first place?!

Eh, it doesn't really bother me anyway, so...yeah.

I've always hated Region Locking with Nintendo. Just so irritating.
Is it something that could just be fixed with an update or does it actually have to be set with a new console?

Considering how much Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony are getting their asses handed to them by crappy tablet and cellphone gaming-- its time to consider all options for improving sales.

Region locking is not only antiquated; its illogical. Sure, nintendo has releases of Japanese games like animal crossing that come out nearly half a year before the english release and they fear that fans might import out lack of patience; but with games like that, I'm almost certain most fans would rather wait for the english versoin.

I believe a lot of the reason they still region lock is because big business over here doesn't like the idea of losing sales to imports. But if the two biggest evils in the electronics world can open themselves to region free bliss, then Nintendo should too.

"To be fair the issue of region locking is a much less thorny issue than it once used to be."
Nope. Region-locking can never be any less of a thorny issue as long as it exists. While you may think you're seeing more major games being released worldwide, remember that we're still in the MIDDLE of a generation. Things can take a sharp nosedive for the worst near the end, just like with DS and Wii. Not to mention that plenty of niche games can still be left in Japan (or localized for only one other region) like they've always have.
Anyway, unfortunately I believe they'll only consider unlocking with their next generation. With the way Nintendo has always treated their consoles, they won't unlock their current consoles. After all, if they did, they wouldn't make as much money off importers.

Though this doesn't affect me I am sure others will be quite pleased, though it won't take affect until the next group of consoles at the earliest.

@zool Because it is not true- at least not with Japanese games, which are the majority on Nintendo systems. Those need to get English translations as well and no, they don't make the English translation first and all others after that. Those translations are made simultaneously from Japanese into all other languages. I guess it is easier to blame Europe though, every time we have to wait longer for a game and to forget about all the other games, we've gotten weeks/ months/ (half) a year earlier the last few years.
PS. Those games we constantly have to wait really long for (Atlus games, Rune Factory 4, Harvest Moon) don't even get any European translations, most of the time!

Tetris versus Puyo Puyo can finally be played!

Nintendo needs to start catering to the western audience. I think they’ve realized that now or how I see it, they were trying to help the Japanese developers stay afloat in this business.

Let be honest, Japanese developers are a dying breed. They have been for the last 10 years thanks to the abundant of redundant FPS genre that majority of the people love and can’t get enough of.

@kamifox1 The DSi shop is region locked and so are all of the most recent DS games(they will work on DS/DS lite, but not DSi/3DS). Also I may be wrong, but I thought Project Mirai 1&2 were confirmed to be localized later this year or next year.

Is this something they could remove with a simple firmware update, or are we screwed for the remainder of this gen?

I've said my piece on this issue many times; I love Nintendo but this is unacceptable in the 21st century.

@kamifox1
DSi (and the 3DS) do not region lock DS games, but games which were made especially to work with DSi exclusive features were locked. So, for example, the DS remake of Fire Emblem Monsho no Nazo was able to play on any region DS, but would only use the DSi online features on Japanese DSi consoles... There weren't many DSi exclusives, which is probably why you might not have known about this.

they are lagging behind the rest of the industry, time to remove those region restrictions (at least for physical media) right now.

Love me some region lock. Don't bend, Nintendo!

Welcome to the next gen nintendo back i the day we used to have to saw plastic and open consoles and do some wireing but now we are stuck with region locking by nintendo so we can't own many games in box's that never came out in the uk like code of princess. they need to undo region locking to move forward just like sony did.

Yeah, please remove that lock! If I want Atlus games physically, I shouldn't have to skip them entirely because I'm simply not going to buy a different region console. DS and GB family never gave me that issue, and some of my favourite games on those systems are imported because they were never released in Europe (Kirby's Tilt 'n' Tumble, Wario Ware Twisted, Drill Dozer, Boktai 3, Mother 3, Dementium 2, Tokyo Beat Down,..).

And I have several Gamecubes, one chipped and a Free Loader for the others, and my Wii had to be soft-modded in order to play Zero 4's fan translation (and it seconds as an emulation device for other fan translated Japanese games I own originally but don't understand. Mother 3 for example).

Please don't keep the next Project Zero/Fatal Frame Japan-exclusive too

@Nik-Davies Given that Wii can easily be soft-modded to bypass regional lock-out and Gamecube can bypass it by using a Free Loader disc, it could probably be fixed with a simple update.

I won't get excited about this until it's officially confirmed. Besides, I doubt they'll unlock anything until the next generation consoles.

It would definitely be great to not have region locking. There were a couple of American games I imported for the DS that were never released here in Europe.

I have no problem with WiiU being locked, because we are getting most of the games without much delay. 3DS on the other hand is pathetic with waiting 2 years for a game that is ready and yet after that much delay released with bug making the game unplayable is inexcusable. And it is a handheld, so you can get it everywhere.
So in short, Wii U without region lock - don't care, 3DS without it - absolutely yes

I can't say that removing region locking would affect me personally, since I already only buy games released in North America regardless of the console.I own. It could be pretty cool for people who are fluent on Japanese speech since they get a lot of games we don't, and vice versa.

That quote did not state that Nintendo was going to end region locking. It is just "If we can remove the issues that caused us to region lock in the first place, and it makes business sense then we will stop region locking." Which is a "Maybe?" at best.

Being region-free help benefit them so much with the Game Boy and DS line that I don't know why they think it won't to begin with, it's a laughable excuse when they try to bring region-lock for DSi and 3DS. All of a sudden trying to go back to region-free again is so hard for them now? Yeah Nintendo, just give us region-free, stop trying to make excuses. Your handhelds were so much fun and valuable when they are region-free.

It already is a thing of the past; on every other console that doesn't have the Nintendo brand attached to it.

I hope so. I've been meaning to port Japanese games but its an issue with region lock.

I'll believe it when I see it. Not getting my hopes up, at this point.

It is more of an issue than ever because it was quite easy to get around the region lock until now.

@ikki5 Nah, last time the answer was a firm "NO!". Now it's a "maybe". They're faltering

region locking should go on handhelds
region locking on a handheld is trying to make a handheld into a home console

Good news if they actually do it.

Still no answer and vague commentary. Nintendo seems to be set on leaving the systems locked. It sure would be nice to be playing Dragon Quest X for 3DS or Wii

Captain Toad out one month later in Europe? Hahah, that's funny, because.. if it was just a month then we could live with it. The real point is: we want Project Zero 5, Yakuza 1&2 HD, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Games that don't get released here at all.

Hopefully! Region-locking is nonsense!

Please understand: yada yada yada.

I can almost bet that the gain in sales from removing the lock would be negligible at best. The number of people that would bother jumping through the hoops required based on cost or a language barrier (or know about a foreign release) would be pretty low. It's just the people that want to import are just louder.

Not to say it wouldn't benefit a few customers but I doubt it would do anything for the majority. Seems like a pretty minimal gain vs a minimal loss, and as any good accountant would tell you that's pretty easy to manipulate in either direction at that point. I can bet people will also get pretty pissed about getting screwed on exchange (those that don't import). That could result in a public relations nightmare (which Steam should be noticing about now due to regional currency changes).

As we can see there's a good way and a bad way of doing it. Hopefully it's not a poor implementation if they do remove it at some point.

@IceClimbers

Well, and the more people call for abolishing region locking the more they will falter. TBH, I'd never really import games...but I don't think there's anything wrong with those who want to do it as long as they pay Here's hoping they get rid of the silly practice.

Could it happen? The new Fatal Frame coming to the US? I wish it will happened but it seems unlikely.

His response was a diplomatic way of saying to not expect them to do it. He has same responses to issues like cross-play. Of course they won't openly reject it, but saying they'll "consider it" is a far far far cry from a change in practice. Needless to say, don't expect it happening in this generation of Nintendo systems.

YES!!!! REMOVE THE REGION LOCK NINTENDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean for guys like us, its really frustrating to get the game that we want in that region let alone waiting for the game's release........

i hate region lock so much!!! i doubt they will remove it from this gen but if the next gen 3ds is unlocked i will be so happy. i want to play youkai watch so bad!! im not getting the new 3ds, and if the next one isnt region free, i wont buy it either. but i love my 3ds, so i hope the next one is unlocked, because i want to buy one. and the only reason i bought a vita was because it was region free, and being able to play japanese gundam games is awesome.

@midnafanboy If it makes you happy, Sakurai also included the two twins from the Wii Fatal Frame 2 remake as trophy for Wii U Super Smash Bros. 4. Take it with a grain of salt though, it could mean something or nothing.

If this happens, We could get Mother 1 and 3 in the US! Maybe not translated, But still in Japanese is better than nothing!

Well it's about time Nintendo said something that makes so much sense! I never understood their issues with importing in the first place other than an extra hurdle for bootleggers to figure out, which they always do anyway.

Hopefully this becomes a thing since importers are getting very sick of owning two consoles for just a few region exclusive games.

lets make it happen !

"To be fair the issue of region locking is a much less thorny issue than it once used to be. Most high profile games on Nintendo platforms now launch in roughly the same timeframe in all territories. "

Oh really? How about Dragon Quest X, Fatal Frame 5, Ryo ga Gotoku 1&2 HD version and a bunch of other games?

I will only believe it when I see it with my own eyes. This would be the best thing ever. If they really do it then Nintendo truly is listening to their loyal customers.

Oh please, as if they're actually going to do this anytime soon. We just had the New 3DS release with region locking - it's going to be a long while at least.

Once they do see how silly they're being though, I'll be importing Dragon Quest games so fast I'll probably go broke.

I believe what is required from Nintendo is that they need to rebuild their whole eShop and console account system to not be hardware locked. Only when they will free that they can then make the firmware updates to free the consoles. Even the Wii region locking was just software based as was the fact that dvd didn't work with Wii even though the drive was a dvd drive. Homebrew unlocking with Wii basically unlocked region locking and also opened the dvd usability with movies etc.

@Windy Um, you still wouldn't be able to play DQX because the servers are only in Japan.

i can finally get yakuza and fatal frame!

I personally wouldn't care-although having a Japanese version of SM64DS would be cool... I still wouldn't import games unless I spoke the language of the region it came from, in which case I'd still have to buy from Europe or US because I only speak English. The reason is because I'd only buy games that wouldn't come out here, but I'm assuming that if it goes to EU it would go to US so that's why I don't care.

i'm not buying another console if it's region locked.
nowadays, for me, the 'nintendo difference' doesn't outweigh the extra expense and inconvenience.
also, now they've country-locked the eshop, i'm in an even worse position than when i was only region-locked.

i'm happier buying games for five euros each in steam sales and playing them on any computer i want to, regardless where it was made or which country i'm in.
i have over 500 games in my steam library, and it's no coincidence that i have a tenth of that number of games for nintendo systems, because they cost ten times as much.

their anti-competitive business practices have contributed to their irrelevance lately.
you just need to look at steam to see how it's done properly.

Raise your hands if you're gonna be playing the Japan only E.X. Troopers!!

I can only speak for myself but if i know a certain game is coming to Europe one day i'll probably always wait for that version. _{If there will be a boxed version in Europe too that is.}
If there's only about 1% of a chance i'll import.
I can't see any harm done to anyone there.

And if they really unlock it'd be great if you could play American Wii games on your Wii U in Wii Mode.

about damn time gets rid of this obsolete peace of crap region lock, its just a pure hassle

this is great news, ive been waiting for a day like this, though i wanted something like this more back when i was playing wii games, a couple of wii games i seen were worthy of bringing here from japan like Dragon Quest X and a few others, if they would unlock the wii too that'd be great. other than that i say i dont know what id really want to bring over...

@BinaryFragger The only thing that was region locked on the PSP was the movies though.

@WaLzgi oh well then. Hopefully square decides to port it then. I would think maybe Nintendo would take the reigns and publish it but they are so weird about what you can and can't do online I doubt they will publish it. We will probably never seen that one

No major console company other than Nintendo still region locks. It pisses off customers and only exists so companies can abuse them. Stop treating your costumers like morons and acting like Nintendo is being merciful and compassionate by considering not region locking anymore.

given i live in the black hole of the gaming world, New Zealand, this would be great. I want an nhl game on my post gamecube console(europe only in pal). I still havent registered my nid on my 3DS as it will either lock me out of getting certain games or lock me out of geolocked content.

I had to buy a NA 3DS because of the region locking. I was sick of getting messed around here in Australia. Hopefully Nintendo will never think of region locking any of their consoles again.. or, is that too much to hope for?