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DS Handheld to be Region Free

Posted by Zonk on from the one-people-under-two-screens dept.

Thanks to GamingHeadlines for the news that DS games are not going to be region restricted. "Although this news may not specifically cater to American and Japanese folks, it certainly gives us Europeans the benefit of importing our DS systems from abroad..." I certainly think it caters to US gamers. Imported Japanese games can lead to wonderful things.

4 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. Very cool. by Txiasaeia · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Just like with the GBA, it'll be nice to try out games in Japanese before they arrive here in NA. Nintendo is really doing everything it can to make sure it *won't* screw over their customers.

    Sidebar: will it really be cheaper for Europeans to import their systems from Asia as opposed to North America, though? Anybody?

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    Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    1. Re:Very cool. by DJProtoss · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Whilst it is a good thing, i'm not sure its about nintendo working hard to not screw over - they region locked the gamecube, and the official mags paint importers as being only slightly better than hardened criminals. I suspect its more something about maximising the chances of a successful launch + the difficulties in building a half decent region coding setup into something thats already going to be a bit cramped (don't forget, they have to fit a gba in there as well! [assuming they go the same route as in previous gb's])

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      "Success is based on knowing how far to go in going too far"
    2. Re:Very cool. by Zangief · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And the original Gameboy too...

      Maybe some people will travel with their handhelds, and buy games overseas...Don't know how big is this market, but that may be one reason for Nintendo to do this.

  2. Re:Region locked? by kingsmedley · · Score: 5, Interesting

    To the best of my knowledge, the only region locked handhelds were the TurboExpress and the Nomad. But it should be pointed out that both these units were actually handheld versions of home game consoles (TurboGrafx-16 and Genesis, respectfully), and as such inherited their regional locks.

    I've never understood why regional locks seem to be so crucial to the software models of home game consoles, and yet so undesirable in the portable market. The only reason I can see for the difference is to cater to international travellers. Are the sales to inter-region travels really that significant?

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    Must... think up... something... clever!