Hardware is switch confirmed to be region free or not?

[naughty_cat]

Why not simply make "Select Titles" region free? Most people out there who are demanding their games to be region free are usually fixated upon specific titles... Some specific foreign titles just so happen to be somewhat more highly in demand... Besides what about games that are only released in Japan? I noticed that when blu-rays first came out, some were region locked, and some were region free... Maybe they should just leave the region locking as an "option" for publishers who need to region lock their games, while not enforcing it on each and every game that comes out... Also having different e-shops is such a hassle, and some people just end up having to buy 2 consoles!

 

[sarkwalvein]

I would also like companies, not only Nintendo, to enforce the fucking notion that the world is very globalized, you can live wherever you want and you can speak whatever you wish, damn.
I get annoyed from time to time of how companies that boast of the region free condition of their consoles, like Sony and M$, still make you suffer from time to time with things you buy digitally.

A couple of examples:
did you buy Deus EX HR for X360 in Germany but you speak English?

Learn to like the German language and the horrible lipsynch (or lack of it). And also suffer.
​

did you happen to buy Dishonored from Germany (both in PS4 or XBONE) and you happen to speak English and your console is configured to English?

Suffer further, the game plays in French, just because your console is configured to English. (WTF?)​

Anyway, fuck them, they should learn from PC the fuck already. /rant

 

[DrkBeam]

Nintendo's been region-locking their home consoles since the TV Game 6 ( although that was unintentional I imagine). The 3DS was their first region locked handheld though, so who knows with the half-breed.

I didn't know the 3ds was the exception and not the rule, yeah, Nintendo sometimes goes backwards, anyway people will bitch about it if is region locked, so I think it's going to be region free

 

[GamerzHell9137]

What about DLC like are we going to need to have two ID's like for example one for English games and another for Japanese games.

No games so far support cross region DLC, i'm 99.9% sure it won't ever happen.
And DLC isn't region locked, you're just "buying the legal rights" to have them.

 

[Lucifer666]

I'm willing to bet they don't want/need to implement a form of region lock, but because of their primitive infrastructure and ID system, we will, at best, get something like the PS4, where discs are region-free but whose DLC must be bought from an account from the corresponding region.

I have 2 NNIDs: an American one and a Japanese one.

 

[naughty_cat]

I would also like companies, not only Nintendo, to enforce the fucking notion that the world is very globalized, you can live wherever you want and you can speak whatever you wish, damn.
I get annoyed from time to time of how companies that boast of the region free condition of their consoles, like Sony and M$, still make you suffer from time to time with things you buy digitally.

A couple of examples:
did you buy Deus EX HR for X360 in Germany but you speak English?

Learn to like the German language and the horrible lipsynch (or lack of it). And also suffer.
​

did you happen to buy Dishonored from Germany (both in PS4 or XBONE) and you happen to speak English and your console is configured to English?

Suffer further, the game plays in French, just because your console is configured to English. (WTF?)​

Anyway, fuck them, they should learn from PC the fuck already. /rant

You are so right about this... Region locking, I believe, was meant to prevent people from buying a game in the wrong format during the Standard Definition era. a "PAL" game was essentially different from an "NTSC" game... This was because TV sets that were PAL required a 220 volts AC, somehow resulting in a "50 Hz" video signal from the console, while NTSC ran on 110 volts, resulting in a "60 Hz" signal. PAL games actually were slower, as they had a slightly lower framerate (ideally 50 fps vs 60 fps). Furthermore, if you were to buy a console from the U.S, and plug it into your power supply in europe, you'd break the console. I fully understood, that even though that this might not have been their actual intention, people were being protected from breaking their consoles, or buying a game that doesn't run on their console. Even amazon back then wouldn't let you purchase an NTSC game from the American site if you were to have a European shipping address (or any non U.S shipping address). Now all these standards are gone in the HD era. Any TV set can play anything, and can be connected to any kind of power plug oversees, as well as consoles and all kinds of electronic appliances. There's no longer a "protective" reason" for region locking. Nintendo are somehow still stuck in their own dark ages. They're resorting to some very obsolete marketing decisions, and often end up harming their own customers in the midst of their counter-piracy maneuvers, among many other things. Sony and MS really know what they're doing. Now with P.S. plus you get at least 2 free games every month if you have a Sony console, furthermore you can use the account on multiple consoles. I am not on P.S plus, yet I get all the freebies because a friend of mine has once logged into his PSplus account from my PS3, and he as well managed to download some stuff that I own on my account as I logged into his PS4 once. All that stuff, at least "seem" user friendly. Sony actually uses some of the darkest maneuvers I've come across yet, but they at least know how to market themselves properly... Making profit without "Antagonizing" their customers. Nintendo uses some very cheap tricks on the e-shop (such as not letting you know that you CAN actually buy one game without having to buy a whole voucher)... I have nothing against them... I just wish they were more aware of the impact of such cheap maneuvers on their public image... And apparently their tactics aren't as profitable as they believe them to be...

 

[Hasaosan]

Nintendo's been region-locking their home consoles since the TV Game 6 ( although that was unintentional I imagine). The 3DS was their first region locked handheld though, so who knows with the half-breed.

dsi was the first region locked handheald... as was all dsi games.

 

[Subtle Demise]

dsi was the first region locked handheald... as was all dsi games.

I forgot about that. Was it all DS games or just the dsi-enhanced ones?

 

[Hasaosan]

I forgot about that. Was it all DS games or just the dsi-enhanced ones?

only dsi enhanced if i remember right.

 

[m37r01d]

would be nice but doubtful