Seriously... What are the point of region locking games?

[diskoboy]

This may have been asked billions of times before, but after noticing the flood of modded 360's hitting craigslist becuase of the recent ban hammer drop, I couldn't help but think..

I've never understood why gaming companies and movie studios set region locks into place...

It just seems so strange to me that these companies would willingly shut out a huge market (exports)...

Why do companies still do this? It completely boggles the mind..

[jb143]

From wikipedia...


Purpose
There are many purposes that region coding can achieve, but the primary one is price discrimination, i.e., allowing the manufacturer to demand a higher or lower price depending on what the market will allow. There is great disparity among the regions of the world in how much a person is willing to pay for a DVD. Price discrimination is especially applicable to DVDs, as the marginal cost of selling one DVD is relatively small, allowing the seller a great deal of flexibility in pricing.

Another purpose is controlling release dates. One of the traditions of movie marketing that the advent of home video threatened is the practice of releasing a movie (to theaters) later in some countries than in others. Video tapes were essentially regional anyway, since video tape formats had to match those of the encoding system used by television stations in that particular region, such as NTSC and PAL. DVDs are less restricted in this sense, and region coding allows movie studios to better control the global release dates DVDs.

[FayeC86]

To screw people over.(Historically, European people) :)

[Baloo]

It's so that the sales in a particular region wont drop because everyone is importing the game.

For example, let's say Wii was region-unlocked. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom has already been out in Japan for a year now, but it hasn't been released in the United States yet. If the game could be played on US system, what would stop people from importing the Japanese game? That's a year's worth of sales lost to the US publisher and retailers, which is a lot of money, especially for such an anticipated game in its genre.

[The 1 2 P]

It also has to do with licensing. Sometimes a publisher may want to release a version of their game in another territory/region but they may not want to handle the localization or publishing in that territory/region so they would license it out to another company to handle it in that region.

[monkeychemist]

PS3 isn't region locked and it has not hurt sales...it's all BS in order to charge people more money, it has nothing to do with all the lame excuses you read in that wiki article...

[Kitsune Sniper]

PS3 isn't region locked and it has not hurt sales...it's all BS in order to charge people more money, it has nothing to do with all the lame excuses you read in that wiki article...

Some games ARE region locked. Just like some 360 games are -not- region locked.

[Dr. Dib]

Most of the modded 360s probably weren't modded to play imported games. Usually it was done for playing backups.

But yeah, I'm sort of interested now to see if monkeychemists' statement is true. I really wouldn't be surprised if it is.

Usually the trend with importing is to import titles that aren't planned to be domestically released (at least that's how it seems to me). If a game is a popular import, companies have been known to bring it here. After all, we did see the Ace Attorney series, EBA (sort-of), and Demon's Souls (I think) only arrived on American soil because a lot of people were importing it.

[Gameguy]

Why do most portable systems lack region locking? Why aren't they region locked too?

[Baloo]

Why do most portable systems lack region locking? Why aren't they region locked too?

Nintendo really started that standard with the whole no region-locks on handhelds. I'm not sure why though.

[Flippy8490]

Maybe because the portable market plays to a different audience that isn't so inclined to import their titles. Also, the medium is a lower price risk. For instance, DS games brand new are $35.00. Whereas a new Wii game usually $49.99. So the importing for the DS would have less 'Regional loss" in terms of sales. It also seems as though a large portion of the portable market is not aimed at the hardcore gamers (like the 360 and PS3) and more at the casual market (not to say that the Wii isn't, because thats painfully obvious). Usually, the casual market doesn't track a games release in japan months before its US release, they just wait for it to come out here. Sure, there are some that will import, but not to the degree you would get on the home consoles.

I could be horrendously wrong, but thats my 2 cents on the issue.

[FayeC86]

Well portables... are portable. This way a person on vacation in another region can still buy games.

[j_factor]

Some games ARE region locked. Just like some 360 games are -not- region locked.

What PS3 games are region locked? I've never heard of that.

[kupomogli]

Some games ARE region locked. Just like some 360 games are -not- region locked.

Only PSX and PS2(if you have a BC PS3) are region locked on the system. All PS3 games are region free.

[MrRoboto19XX]

Well portables... are portable. This way a person on vacation in another region can still buy games.

I vote for this for the official reasoning on portable games.

As for other systems, I'm sure part of of (slim as it may be) has to do with as licensing as previously mentioned. There may be some odd obscure law about having the right to publish characters in a certain region and not another, and region coding may be the one line that keeps things legal. For example, maybe you have the rights to put a whole mess of robots together for a Super Robot Wars game in Japan, but over here, those rights are owned by several different companies.

That's just my vague guess at why, I really have no idea what's going on.


Now if you'll excuse my while I fire up the honeybee...

[Icarus Moonsight]

It's an attempt for control. Of supply, price and library content. Considering how easy it has typically been to circumvent, it's not too much of a big deal. With consoles ensconced in the internet age now, that is going to change more and more as we go. As in, get more difficult to circumvent without certain capitulations (like keeping your modded 360 off-line when on-line is it's main strength).

[Push Upstairs]

I've never understood why a game/movie wasn't released in every region at the same time.

Get all the localization done before hand and put it out all at once. No need for region locks and no need for someone to import a game

[Bojay1997]

I've never understood why a game/movie wasn't released in every region at the same time.

Get all the localization done before hand and put it out all at once. No need for region locks and no need for someone to import a game

Sometimes it's just a matter of logistics (i.e. you don't want to press too many copies and risk getting stuck with all of them or it's too hard to coordinate distribution and marketing worldwide or it takes several months to localize a game and you want to start recouping some of your investment now).

[Bojay1997]

PS3 isn't region locked and it has not hurt sales...it's all BS in order to charge people more money, it has nothing to do with all the lame excuses you read in that wiki article...

Did you actually read the article? The number one reason listed is to charge people more money.

[jb143]

Did you actually read the article? The number one reason listed is to charge people more money.
That's what I was wondering myself.:? The article was pulled from the DVD Region Code page but I'd imagine it applies to games as well. And the OP did ask about movie studios as well so that's why I posted it. The second "excuse" does make more sense from a movie perspective though...still being shown in theaters in some parts of the world and all.



Well portables... are portable. This way a person on vacation in another region can still buy games.

Makes sense to me. A portable system is by it's very nature, region free.

[Vlcice]

I wonder how much of it has to do with historical reasons. I might be wrong, but I think the first console to have region locking was the NES. That was implemented due to NoA's very different content standards compared to Japan - they didn't want games designed for a different set of standards filtering through to the American audience. It was also a part of NoA's tightening of control over developers since it coincided with the introduction of the lockout chip. It wouldn't surprise me if the inclusion of region locking from then on was sort of because "that's just how we've always done it."

[Ze_ro]

For example, let's say Wii was region-unlocked. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom has already been out in Japan for a year now, but it hasn't been released in the United States yet.
That game isn't a good example. The only reason it has taken so long to get out of Japan is because of all the ridiculous licensing issues with the Tatsunoko characters.


If the game could be played on US system, what would stop people from importing the Japanese game?
Price and convenience are reason enough for the vast majority of people. Enthusiasts (ie: Nerds) like us are willing to order games off Play-Asia for a higher price and wait for them to be shipped, but the average Joe isn't likely to do that. I guess this is changing as the internet makes it easier and easier... at least you don't have to buy them from some shady company that advertises in the back of a magazine anymore.

At one point, I was ready to import TvC through Play-Asia. The price was something like $60-70. When Capcom announced that it was going to release the game in North America, Play-Asia's price dropped significantly. It's $30 at the moment.


That's a year's worth of sales lost to the US publisher and retailers, which is a lot of money, especially for such an anticipated game in its genre.
Again, TvC is a bad example, since Capcom published it in Japan, and will be publishing it in North America as well. They won't lose any money at all due to importing. There are companies like Atlus and XSEED that base their business on bringing obscure games to North America when the Japanese publisher isn't interested... but then your money really isn't going to the companies and people that came up with the concept in the first place.

I really have no complaint with region coding as long as we're not missing out on games. If they want to region code Halo 3, who cares? It's out in every region anyways, so aside from PAL regions being impatient for their localization, there's little reason to import. I'm more annoyed with obscure niche games that are only ever released in one market. For example, all the 2D shooters released for the Xbox 360 in Japan... what point is there in region coding them? If you never planned to release Espgaluda II outside Japan (Which seems incredibly silly to me anyways, considering the size of the 360 market in Japan), why not throw us a bone and at least make it region free so we can import it without having to do silly things like modify consoles or install a Japanese profile or whatever. Thankfully, Cave did just this with their latest shooter Mushihimesama Futari ver 1.5. In fact, if I remember correctly, they purposely made it region free to test the waters and see what effect importing had on it.

--Zero

[Bojay1997]

That game isn't a good example. The only reason it has taken so long to get out of Japan is because of all the ridiculous licensing issues with the Tatsunoko characters.


Price and convenience are reason enough for the vast majority of people. Enthusiasts (ie: Nerds) like us are willing to order games off Play-Asia for a higher price and wait for them to be shipped, but the average Joe isn't likely to do that. I guess this is changing as the internet makes it easier and easier... at least you don't have to buy them from some shady company that advertises in the back of a magazine anymore.

At one point, I was ready to import TvC through Play-Asia. The price was something like $60-70. When Capcom announced that it was going to release the game in North America, Play-Asia's price dropped significantly. It's $30 at the moment.


Again, TvC is a bad example, since Capcom published it in Japan, and will be publishing it in North America as well. They won't lose any money at all due to importing. There are companies like Atlus and XSEED that base their business on bringing obscure games to North America when the Japanese publisher isn't interested... but then your money really isn't going to the companies and people that came up with the concept in the first place.

I really have no complaint with region coding as long as we're not missing out on games. If they want to region code Halo 3, who cares? It's out in every region anyways, so aside from PAL regions being impatient for their localization, there's little reason to import. I'm more annoyed with obscure niche games that are only ever released in one market. For example, all the 2D shooters released for the Xbox 360 in Japan... what point is there in region coding them? If you never planned to release Espgaluda II outside Japan (Which seems incredibly silly to me anyways, considering the size of the 360 market in Japan), why not throw us a bone and at least make it region free so we can import it without having to do silly things like modify consoles or install a Japanese profile or whatever. Thankfully, Cave did just this with their latest shooter Mushihimesama Futari ver 1.5. In fact, if I remember correctly, they purposely made it region free to test the waters and see what effect importing had on it.

--Zero


Of course, the upcoming release of Deathsmiles kind of undermines your argument. While some people who imported two years ago may buy the US version, I'm willing to bet a lot of them won't. Sure, it's probably only a few hundred sales in this case, but it can be the margin between profit and loss in niche titles.

[PapaStu]

Alot of it has to do with licensing. Music licensing has hampered many a games release (DDR, Beatmanias ect) because who controls the songs in Japan isn't who controls them here (if they've even got representation outside of the country). That alone puts the kibosh on a few genres of games. I'd also venture a guess that there are fees and issues that Publisher X has to deal with in regards to Sony, MS and Nintendo and sometimes it's just easier for them to lock something than it is for it to be open.

Also, save handhelds, this generation is the first one thats been really starting to experience the reduction of region locking. It'll take some time for these companies to realize its not as big a killer as they might be thinking (hugely thanks to the fact that the new TV's don't need 'PAL' or 'NTSC' setting like they used to).

[Emuaust]

Its all about the pirce baby!, no region locking means they cant charge $119.95aud to Australians for games.

Seriously though, with small companies like XSEED and Atlus it does help them out a bit in the likes of North America but ultimately region coding just screws over PAL gamers, I mean honestly why do the UK and Australia have to wait for the game to be translated to french/Spanish/German ?. If Sony ever get recorded for doing only one thing right this generation it is introducing Region Free gaming.

[Ze_ro]

Of course, the upcoming release of Deathsmiles kind of undermines your argument. While some people who imported two years ago may buy the US version, I'm willing to bet a lot of them won't. Sure, it's probably only a few hundred sales in this case, but it can be the margin between profit and loss in niche titles.
I'd argue that the shmup fans out there are likely savvy and devoted enough that they'd have no problems with importing from Japan (as long as it didn't require hardware modifications), so if they had just made Death Smiles region free in the first place, a North American localization would have been largely irrelevant, their hardcore fans would be satisfied, and they still would have made their money off the sales without having to worry about the risk involved in a small market.

But hey, if they do plan to eventually localize Espgaluda II and Daioujou, then great, I'd be quite happy to see them all come here with full english menus and such.

--Zero

[Bojay1997]

I'd argue that the shmup fans out there are likely savvy and devoted enough that they'd have no problems with importing from Japan (as long as it didn't require hardware modifications), so if they had just made Death Smiles region free in the first place, a North American localization would have been largely irrelevant, their hardcore fans would be satisfied, and they still would have made their money off the sales without having to worry about the risk involved in a small market.

But hey, if they do plan to eventually localize Espgaluda II and Daioujou, then great, I'd be quite happy to see them all come here with full english menus and such.

--Zero

But you're failing to account for the fact that if a niche game gets a US release, more people will buy it and unless there is at least some reasonable protection of exclusivity which region locking can provide, publishers in the US are less likely to touch a title. I agree with you that the math is unclear for any given title and obviously Sony doesn't care at all, but I can understand the need for region coding as a means of protecting markets.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Markets don't need protection, corporate profit on the other hand...

It's a trivial and wasted effort really. The devoted (importers where region lock rubs up on) will bypass the locking, however method they can, and the not-so devoted, content with their regions offerings, won't care about or even have a reason to be bothered by it.