You Can Access Other Regional eShops From Your Nintendo Switch

Haaaallelujah

Looks like getting a decently sized Micro SD card might be worth doing.

So when they said region free they really meant it? Wow...I'm impressed!

That's good news, but it's too bad you need a different account for each region.

This is amazing!

This is cool the switch is getting better by the hour!!!

Can anybody confirm whether the demos are limited or unlimited use?

Ok, so much worth it I don't why I don't have the Switch in my hands now pinch me it has to be a oh my lords this is ...

Hmmm...

Okay. I need a JP account now so I can get Puyo Puyo Tetris demo in my wife's hands tomorrow. Anyone have any tips? Do I need tips?

@zip Isn't that how it works basically in everything? I have several PSN accounts for different regions.

Sweet this is awesome for Japan only games

@Beta You are correct, but people are usually lazy. It would have helped their laziness if they could use their existing account for all regions.

@sillygostly As of right now the demos appear to be unlimited use.

@zip I doubt Nintendo planned for us to do this, so why would they?

Nice!

@aaronsullivan See if anyone has translated pages for Japanese registration yet.

Otherwise, run as fast as you can across the ocean. The power of love (or fear) will enable you to run on water.

Oh man so nice. It makes sense being region free but I never thought of it. So long "region exclusives". Tomorrow can't come fast enough.

Such a welcome change from previous Nintendo consoles.

What I want to know is: do we need to go through the same hassle as in the Wii U if we wanted to, say, access the Canadian e-Shop in the USA? (As in, having to manually change the system region, then the account, then change everything back.)

I'm assuming the important caveat here is that if we buy a game on the Japanese eShop, we only ever have access to the Japanese version? If there were a way to upgrade to the US version digitally later (without repurchasing it) I would be immensely pleased, but I suspect that's impossible?

HOLY THIS IS THE GREATEST NINTENDO CONSOLE ALREADY

I presume though you are stuck to only being able to play the games from other regions if you sign in to the console with that regions account? Meaning switching back and worth all the time.

@Faruko calm down with the profanity please....

@Ernest_The_Crab Nice. Well, it's a start, but I'm not taking the running option.

@alasdair91 Depending on how fast it takes to switch it might not be a big deal at all. Depending...

Bring on the pervy Japanese games!

@MarioPhD I suspect you are right for now. Especially since it is handled under separate accounts.

It's something that might get adjusted over time if a lot of business happens cross regionally and it's beneficial to everyone (from a business perspective).

Do you need to know Japanese to play Puyo Puyo? I don't think is that heavy text wise but better ask than being sorry.

YESYESYESYESYES THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

This is news I've been holding out for, and was genuinely worried about. Much, much more progressive and better and gooder and YUSS.

I've accumulated three original 3DSs in trying to get around this, and while there's a novelty in that, I'd really rather just have one. Excellent.

This, is, BRILLIANT news!

@aaronsullivan Yeah, I could see it getting messy, if only because then it's hard to quantify how much it's worth it to localize titles for the west if everyone just buys the Japanese versions initially. Maybe unifying it all would make that easier to determine? Or they'll use the honor system, knowing only hardcore nerds would be creating a Japanese account and buying games early from Japan? We'll see!

And, seems the Joycon issue has been fixed with the day one update according to reports.

Man, they should have held off on reviews cause this system just got way more appealing

I wonder if this is a means to gauge which games have the highest demand for international releases (psst... Sega games).

Glorious news. I already have a UK account, so all I need now is a JP account.
Glorious news indeed. The fact that I can now easily transcend from the US to the UK eShop with just one system is getting me giddy.

@Joeynator3000 Im sorry but this is just way too exciting

@aaronsullivan Setting up 4 regional accounts on my PS3 8 years ago simply meant making new accounts, 1 for each region, I never messed with system settings. Each account region did require a home address so I just picked a Marriott hotel near an airport in a big city, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo. I think I read the Switch is limited to 8 accounts so just keep that in mind doing if your wife and kids are each getting their own. I made new accounts for my kids on PS4 b/c they didn't want UK and China accounts, so they had to start their trophy count from scratch. I don't think my wife has a PS4 account yet, she's still using the PS3 for her work out DVDs.

1 thing, I was never able to purchase anything overseas, just downloaded free themes and demos, so I can't help you with purchases.

All 4 accounts are able to play my PS+ games on PS3 and PS4 and games online on PS4, that will be relevant once Switch online is paid, especially if you wind up with 2 Switch for MK8D and Splatoon 2, you may need 2 paid subscriptions then to go with 2 copies of each game. But that's for later, enjoy your new region free system with free online now.

Better late than never! Huurah

At last! Thanks Nintendo.

@Beta

With Xbox One you can use same account to buy games from multiple regions. You just need local currency or billing address and quick visit in settings and that's it.

Cool! I can dig it.

Vooks is awesome, I get all my Aussie Nintendo news there.

@BensonUii so so true! This is a great surprise

Yay...!
Japan only games here I come !

Credit cards really are the greatest issue here. But with a trusty retailer that offers eSHop cards from around the world, this should be circumvented.

Wouldn't that be worth an article @Staff ?

Wow!!!!this is great news.detailed instructions please:).

Yay! That's what I was hoping for.

Nice! Glad I decided to create a JP account when users became claimable.

I went to Nintendo.co.jp and clicked on the link to create an account. It took me to the standard accounts.nintendo.com page so I signed up for a new account and just selected Japan as my region. Haven't received the confirmation email yet, so we will see if that worked.

WELP - guess its time for me to go to sleep. I know its only 5:23pm right now, but haven't you ever heard of the fast-forward button on life? It's called Sleep~ USE IT, GUYS!

Time to buy some more eshop cards for Japan.

Now you don't have to worry about games only launching in a certain region.

Great selling point.

For us Brits who buy digitally this is superb news.Switch games are now more expensive than on Wii U.BOTW is £59.99 on the Eshop where the most expensive Wii U game was £49.99.But if we buy from the US Eshop at $59.99 instead that converts to only £48.If the pound strengthens then it will get even cheaper.

great news, i plan to buy the Switch in JP because in México its so freakin expensive!

I was worried about any issues it may have

Time to stock up on cheap eshop credit... normally Canadian dollar works out as a better rate on PSN!

Question is, did they intend for this to happen or did it slip by them? Guess we'll find out when the first firmware update arrives...

They FINALLY caught up to Sony. So far.

@Ryu_Niiyama
VISA credit cards work. I buy most of my JP 3DS games from eShop. Well, just the really cheap stuff so I won't feel too burned if I lose the system and all my ganes forever.

now thats good news!

Compared to PSN, I consider myself lucky that even Russian eShop accepts my Visa card at all, so not holding my breath for Japanese exclusive purchases. But demos and possible F2Ps? Don't mind if I do!

Awesome. Now it's easier than ever to grab Japanese Virtual console games.

@AVahne I prefer not to have any CC information on file. I work in the payment processing industry and I've seen enough horror stories. I always use the shop cards.

I so wanna see what's in these other Regions easy legit now ! Im really glad they went this route !

That's so awesome I didn't expect that at all. I look forward to checking out the Japanese region

This is like a love letter from Nintendo to its hardcore fans.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Huh, I thought these shops don't save your card info unless you allow for it though.

"Buying credit for the region of choice is another option"

So in other words: If America has certain downloads earlier and cheaper (Europe is super expensive) I can't download because I need a e-shop card with Dollars? Completely worthless then!

I recommend Japan Code Supply for anyone who needs JP store credit! They offer really fast and really good service!