Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

F-Zero Breaks Freeloader - Intentionally?

Posted by simoniker on from the doorknob-came-off-in-my-hands dept.

Thanks to Gamers.com for their article pointing out that the Japanese release of Nintendo's hotly-awaited F-Zero GX is partially incompatible with the Datel Freeloader region-free disc for the GameCube, which "normally allows players to run Japanese games on American or European Cubes without difficulty", as it "refuses to display the select screens or the in-game interface overlays (such as the speedometer, placing indicator, and so forth)." Since this a major Nintendo-developed title, and one of the first to sport notable incompatibilities with Freeloader, could it be that Nintendo are deliberately releasing games to break region-free circumvention, or is this just a coincidence?

7 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Intentional? by Eluding+Reality · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would say Yes. There were systems built into cartridges on the N64 at least that would stop you playing import games( on the N64 you had to have a joining cart, which you plugged the import and a home cart into) As the import devices started appearing, I believe later carts blocked them forcing you to either buy games when they were released in your home country or buy a new import converter cart that got around the new measures, so in other words if it is intentional, expect freeloader v2 in a month

    Anyway, had my Japanese GC since launch day and had it modded a couple of days after the mod was discovered so I'll be enjoying F-Zero in a couple of days!

    Another article on it here

  2. Re:Sound like a localization bug... by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "It sounds to me that they were trying to do language detection for the interface so they could release the same disc to several regions. Freeloader probably sets some language flag incorrectly which caused the text display to fail. Isn't it curious that the failure occurs just in the menus and in the speedometers?"

    We *all* know this post wouldn't have been taken seriously if this was about the X-BOX.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  3. Why region-lock? by DarkVein · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why do companies even try to region lock? What are they trying to do? They only seem to create a useless business niche dedicated to bypassing it.

    --

    I'm as mimsy as the next borogove but your mome raths are completely outgrabe.

    1. Re:Why region-lock? by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I would say that the main reason a company would want to region lock is so that they have much more precise control over the global market. Most companies will say that they use region locks in order to deliver different experiences to different users - depending upon their local customs and environments. (i.e. no Nazi symbols in French games). But I would imagine a more likely reason is that release dates can be stretched out, allowing the company's resources to be focused on a single region during that region's release period. Also, if piracy becomes prevelant, as it is in Asia, that piracy can be kept local and not spread worldwide if you've got region locks in place. That's what I'd gather region locks are for - anyone else have any better ideas?

      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
    2. Re:Why region-lock? by IIRCAFAIKIANAL · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's what I thought, but then why is GB and GBA lacking a region control of any kind?

      --
      Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
    3. Re:Why region-lock? by Godai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They'll spin you every which yarn they can think of to convince you otherwise. But in the end, it simply boils down to one of the oldest tricks in the book: divide and conquer.

      From what I remember of economics theory, it has to do with something called market specialization. In other word, divide up the market and charge each piece whatever it can bear.

      Take Asia and, say, the UK or example. Try to sell the same game for the same price in both regions and you will see substandard income in one of them; either the price will be to high in Asia (less affluent generally, more piracy) or too low in the UK (ie. they would be will to pay a lot more). So by region locking they can charge $X in Asian and 3 * $X in the UK. If they didn't have region locking everyone in the UK would simply import the games from Asia because the costs of importing/modding are less than the price difference. This is analagous to chargind different rates at the movies depending on your age.

      This is the same for DVDs. Why do you think they could get away with charging 80 pounds for GoldenEye in the UK when it was sold in the NA for $30?

      --
      Wood Shavings!
      - Godai
  4. Uhm, and? by Reality_X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having my very own Freeloader, I can say that incompatibilities with it are nothing worth writing a slashdot news story about. I've had a success rate of 1/5 games so far. Using 3 different boot methods.

    The thing doesn't work properly.
    007 Nightfire doesn't go past the start screen.
    Harry Potter, Chamber of Secrets is in black and white.
    Luigis Mansion is in black and white.
    Zelda doesn't load.
    Super Monkey Ball 2 works perfectly!

    So yeah, if there's anything to blame for not working as advertisied, it's the Freeloader itself.

    Probably cheaper to buy a different region cube anyway :-)