Sony to ditch region encoding for PS3

[Destai]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=128901

Well I think its pretty awesome anyway. Not sure if the 360 will be doing the same but this is the first next gen I've heard of to do this.

[edczxcvbnm]

If this is true then that is only more encouragement to learn japanese so I can get games they don't bring over here such as Tales of Rebirth. Those damn SOA bastards.

[Dreddz]

Fuck yea .........

[Madame Adequate]

:O This is the best news of the day! It's been far too much hassle to import stuff previously, mainly because getting things modded to play import stuff was a hassle. (I just bit the bullet and got an NTSC PS2 in the end.) Being able to get a PS3 anywhere, and play games from anywhere on it, is a BIG bonus. It means I don't have to specifically get a US PS3 (Which would be awkward, and make getting games more of a hassle.) or a UK PS3 (Which would be convenient, but games would be delayed. Plus, I plan to move to the US, and hopefully before another 5 years are up. So it'd become somewhat redundant.).

Excellent news! Although I'd point out that this isn't globalization, it's standardization, which is almost as good.

As the comment says, this would also force some policy changes among UK distributors and retailers. People will wait a week or two for a game, but they'd import the really big name ones like a new MGS or something even then. And if it's more than a couple of weeks, they'll probably import it in that case too. Hopefully we'll see less massive delays in the UK thanks to this, but if not... hey! Import it! =D

[Maxico]

I think that would be one of the smartest moves Sony could make.

[Winter Nights]

I think that would be one of the smartest moves Sony could make.
Indeed. No more hassle to import the goods.

[Samuraid]

It's not 100% confirmed and sounds like it could be a licensing monstrosity. If they actually end up doing it, then all the better for us gamers. :)

[Dreddz]

honestly, its only good for us lot that arent in the US, you lot baisically get all the games anywayz, and before anyone else ( apart from japan for most )

[Destai]

honestly, its only good for us lot that arent in the US, you lot baisically get all the games anywayz, and before anyone else ( apart from japan for most )What are you talking about? America misses out on plenty of games also which arent released outside Japan. You're just less likely to hear about them so you dont complain.

[Necronopticous]

Yeah, this is basically the best news ever. Region specific media makes me hate.

[Dreddz]

What are you talking about? America misses out on plenty of games also which arent released outside Japan. You're just less likely to hear about them so you dont complain.

pfft, but most arent worthwhile to get due to people generally not knowing japanese in America. There may be a few hardcore fans that will bite the bullet, but I didnt really think about that too seriously. I bourght Namco X Capcom ( wasnt released in EU :rolleyes2 ) and its fucking hard to get through, still aint beat out of frustration
And if a game isnt released in America, its probably a 99% chance EU wont get it.

[Destai]

pfft, but most arent worthwhile to get due to people generally not knowing japanese in America. There may be a few hardcore fans that will bite the bullet, but I didnt really think about that too seriously. I bourght Namco X Capcom ( wasnt released in EU :rolleyes2 ) and its smurfing hard to get through, still aint beat out of frustration
And if a game isnt released in America, its probably a 99% chance EU wont get it.
So what? Not every games reliant on a translation. Unlike RPG's most games focus on gameplay.Figuring out how to hit new game and save arent a big deal.

[MecaKane]

It'll be good for them, since people won't have to mod their systems to also play illegal copies if they just (originally, but if ya got it and short on cash why not use it) want to play offical imported games.

[Dreddz]

So what? Not every games reliant on a translation. Unlike RPG's most games focus on gameplay.Figuring out how to hit new game and save arent a big deal.
Even if the game is gameplay focused, it will be hard, I tried playing Naruto the game, thats a beat em up baisically, and it hurted playing it ........

[Destai]

It would have played the exact same in english.

[Dreddz]

It would have played the exact same in english.
I meant by me still getting frustrated in it being japanese, with all the options you have in video games, the choices are somewhat hard to make .........

[Captain Maxx Power]

Finally! It only took, what, fourteen years to get around to it?

[Skyblade]

Ah, how nice, Sony is putting it's extremely stupid idea (from this (http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=73466) thread) with an intelligent one. Considering all the games which aren't released everywhere, or the ones which are released late in some countries, this is a brilliant move. The biggest benefit will probably go to people who speak English but don't live in the US, but I don't see how it will have any negative implications for anyone. Now, if only we can get them to release multiple translations on a single game, so that we can put Japanese games on our systems and actually understand them...

[Madame Adequate]

Ah, how nice, Sony is putting it's extremely stupid idea (from this (http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=73466) thread) with an intelligent one. Considering all the games which aren't released everywhere, or the ones which are released late in some countries, this is a brilliant move. The biggest benefit will probably go to people who speak English but don't live in the US, but I don't see how it will have any negative implications for anyone. Now, if only we can get them to release multiple translations on a single game, so that we can put Japanese games on our systems and actually understand them...

What I usually want is for the Japanese voice track to remain with English subtitles. Perhaps if lots of people start importing Japanese things they will add English-text versions as well...? I suppose that'd take a hell of a lot of imports to spur into action though.

[Skyblade]

I'm not a big fan of voiceovers (remember FFX/X2?), and adding in another language probably wouldn't help...

[Dreddz]

Sony will take a big loss because of this ......

[MecaKane]

And why is that, in your inifinite wisdom?

[Vyk]

Seriously. You import from Japan. They're still getting the money. I personally don't get why region lock-out was ever used in the first place.

[Reine]

I am completely for THIS idea, but it would NOT overcome the thing in the other thread...

[Lionx]

Isnt the reigonal coding becuase of certain TV voltage usage? Like its different in the US compared to UK O_o

[Mirage]

Not the voltage, but the signal format. Europe uses PAL, which has a slower refresh rate than NTSC, but a bit higher resolution. This hardly matters anyway, as every TV made over the last 8 years supports several formats. Well, except sh<gdgf>itty, cheap ones.

[KoShiatar]

This is real good news. I suppose the people at Sony also were tired about people hacking their Playstations, which made them capble of reading imported stuff, sure, but also cloned CD's and DVD'd.
Not that nobody will hack PS3s, of course....I never am going to believe such a thing even for a minute...

[Mirage]

I know I lost one of my main reasons for modifying the PS3 now. I don't pirate games very often, I just want to be able to play games that I import.
I know I could have put this in my previous post, but I didn't <.<.

[Madame Adequate]

Not the voltage, but the signal format. Europe uses PAL, which has a slower refresh rate than NTSC, but a bit higher resolution. This hardly matters anyway, as every TV made over the last 8 years supports several formats. Well, except sh<gdgf>itty, cheap ones.

And Sony cite the increasing use of HDTV as a standard to be part of the case for this idea as well. I can't remember the last TV I saw which didn't support both PAL and NTSC, but then again my parents were always heavily into imports.

[Fire_Emblem776]

wait, so did they say if the ps3 is backwards compatable?
so us u.s gamers can play ff X pal version at last?

[Winter Nights]

Not enough info to know for sure.

[Madame Adequate]

I was precisely about to ask about backwards compatability. I have to suspect there's some way for them to permit a PS3 to play any region's PS2 games, seeing as piraters can do it, but who knows?

[Winter Nights]

PS3 is supposed to be backwards compatible, last I heard. Whether or not you can play games from other regions is yet to be seen.

[Samuraid]

PS3 is backwards compatible.

[Mikeneko Rocker -- Tim]

If this is true, then, I'd be damned to make a premature announcement that Sony wins the Console Wars!

[Samuraid]

Games

The PlayStation 3 will be compatible "on the chip" with most PlayStation 2 and PlayStation games, without emulation. It still isn't known how Sony has achieved this (although Sony had developed a single-chip PS2 CPU/GPU solution, used in newer revisions of the "slim" PS2). Compatibility with PS2 online games and games designed for the hard drive support hasn't been elaborated upon. In a recent interview Ken Kutaragi has recently stated that backwards compatibility will be achieved through a combination of hardware and software:

"Third-party developers sometimes do things that are unimaginable. For example, there are cases where their games run, but not according to the console's specifications. There are times when games pass through our tests, but are written in ways that make us say, 'What in the world is this code?!' We need to support backward compatibility towards those kinds of games as well, so trying to create compatibility by software alone is difficult. There are things that will be required by hardware. However, with the powers of [a machine like] the PS3, some parts can be handled by hardware, and some parts by software."

Hardware

According to PSM Magazine the PS3 will not be backwards compatible with some of the hardware peripherals of the PS2. Which means that memory cards for PlayStation and PlayStation 2 won't work on the PlayStation 3 hardware. [10]

"We've received a lot of letters asking about how PS3 will be backwards compatible with PS2 and the original Playstation if it doesn't have memory card slot. Well, we have an answer, and it's both good and bad. First, the bad news: All of those old memory cards you have won't be usable with PS3. Okay then, what's the solution? Sony has actually decided to only use Memory Stick Duo cards (the same format PSP uses) for PS3 save data. However, if you play a PS1 or PS2 game on PS3, the system will treat the Memory Stick like it's a normal memory card. This is different from the PS2, which requires you to use a PS1 memory card for PS1 saves. What this means is that you won't be able to use any of your old saves if you play PS1/PS2 games on PS3 (wonder if a DexDrive will work...). But there's an upshot to all this: Downloading and sharing saves via PC for all three Playstations and PSP (hint, hint) will be easy as pie."

It is currently possible to get PS1 and PS2 games transfered to a PSP memory stick using the PSP USB cable. The Datel game enhancement accessory Max Media can be used to transfer them directly from the PS2 to the PSP.

[Russielloyd]

Its good to hear but maybe then different versions of the game will come to an end; as in the Blu Ray disk can hold 50GB of data so i think that would be enough room to put all the main languages from around the world on the same disk.

[Tidus Andronicus]

Nintendo has been planing to get rid on Region Codes for the Revolution for quite a while now. lol and they've been doing that for a long time, in their handheld consoles.
Heck even the GC doesn't have much of a region code... beyond almost just a little switch inside... (almost XD)

If the PS3 also comes out with no region code, thats good news for all those people that like to import Japanese games (that never make it to the states)