Is the GBA region free?

[gokugohandave]

I was just kicking around some import stores and was looking to get a japanese GBA. But from what ive read all GBA's are region free. Is this true? Can I buy Jap games and play em on my us GBA?

[Rickstilwell1]

Yes I have heard the same thing. I am pretty sure it's true. I know from experience that It played Japanese original Game Boy games because I once had a Japanese copy of Pokemon Yellow that worked on mine.

[SnowKitty]

I was just kicking around some import stores and was looking to get a japanese GBA. But from what ive read all GBA's are region free. Is this true? Can I buy Jap games and play em on my us GBA?

yeah they are region free. i had a japanese yu-gi-oh game that worked on mine (iirc the DS is region free too. i dunno about the DS-i though)

[gokugohandave]

sweet, goodbye paycheck :D

[gokugohandave]

Actually not really, but still, thats pretty cool

[Diosoth]

Most handhelds are region free, which makes me question why consoles have any sort of region lockouts whatsoever(I can udnerstand PAL/NTSC differences, but the USA and Japan are pretty much the same). The PSP region locks UMD movies and I believe the DSi may region lock games as well.

[aclbandit]

Yes. The only handhelds that have region coding are the DSi's games (not the DS games, however), and the PSP's UMDs (but NOT its games).

Also, just for future reference (since the previous poster mentioned that US and Japan should be on the same regino), Sony put the U.S. and Japan on the same Blu-Ray region, so Japan import movies AND games will work on a US PS3.

[Diosoth]

Yes. The only handhelds that have region coding are the DSi's games (not the DS games, however), and the PSP's UMDs (but NOT its games).

Also, just for future reference (since the previous poster mentioned that US and Japan should be on the same regino), Sony put the U.S. and Japan on the same Blu-Ray region, so Japan import movies AND games will work on a US PS3.

Japan and USA use the same TV signal(NTSC). DVD coding has always been more about planetary regions, not TV compatibility(US is region 1, Japan region 2). Nice to see someone finally ditching- or limiting- region lockouts, though.

Strangely, Nintendo actually locked the Wisdom Tree Gameboy titles out of the GBA and such. They won't fit in the cart slot, but even having taken a GBA apart and plugged the game in, it still wouldn't play. I believe this might be due to WT selling remaining stock of those games at the time.

[kupomogli]

Also, just for future reference (since the previous poster mentioned that US and Japan should be on the same regino), Sony put the U.S. and Japan on the same Blu-Ray region, so Japan import movies AND games will work on a US PS3.

Unless have a 20, 60, or early 80GB PS3 and are playing PS2 or PSX titles. In this case you can only play games from that region.

[gokugohandave]

Yeah I know all about the different tv signals and stuff, being an owner of a pal snes. Thats cool guess ill be getting some jap games soon, any recomendations that are english friendly?

[Haoie]

Yup, it's TV related.

Damn you regional lockout!!

[Nico87]

Yeah, it's tv-related, 50/60hz stuff. Bless Sony for making the PS3 region free, though.

[gokugohandave]

I thought the ps3 had something to do with regions trouble?

[bombman]

if youre into sonic, you could get sonic advance 3 or sonic battle, you can switch those to english but you get to listen to the superior voice samples.

[Nico87]

I thought the ps3 had something to do with regions trouble?

All games are region-free. Different with movies, though, if you have a NTSC PS3 you can only play NTSC movies. Also, I believe, there's some issues with games bought from the PSN Store. I live in Norway (and have a NTSC PS3), and bought some Crash Bandicoot game, but it didn't work due to some regional-related stuff. No idea why, something to do with account settings, I suppose.