Region free consoles

[fallenangle]

I was having a discussion on another forum about region free games and somebody was said that all consoles are essentially region free.

The premise, which I couldn't argue with, was that the regional coding is all on the games' discs. However once you overcome that by use of boot disc software or mod chip and dealt with any mechanical obstacles preventing reloading, the console could run a game from any region. Ergo the console is region free.

Is there, in fact, such a thing as a region locked console?

[sj33]

Depends on how you look at it. I would personally disagree, because a console is going to check for a specific region code on the disc relevent to the region - this is the console programmed to do this.

[Dandy_sephy]

There are a few (neo geo) consoles that are proper region free, but most have some form of region check - be it a code on a disc, or checking the game is running at the correct speed

Even xbox 360 is region locked, even though it can play games that arent region locked (ie: it can play region free games, but a pal machine cant play Us only discs)

[EJG1980]

I think that's true with the Xbox 360 (and Xbox?) where the publisher of the game can choose if they want to include region protection or not.

But I was under the impression that older consoles would have some kind of routine in the bios that would check to see what region a game was from, and stop it loading if it was the wrong one.

[Jei]

Nearly all modern consoles are as you say "Region Locked"

Take the UK PStwo for example, The console and the games are locked to Pal Region. An arguement can't be made saying that it's a region free console.

By adding a Modchip / Boot disc, it circumvents the protection by adding / replacing the consoles original Boot Code.

Therefore just like Shakey_Jake33 I disagree.


A region free console is the likes of the 3DO. Accepts any region out of the box.

[Jei]

I think that's true with the Xbox 360 (and Xbox?) where the publisher of the game can choose if they want to include region protection or not.

Personally i'd disagree, The console is locked to PAL Region, therefore the console itself is not region free. The 360 Disc still contains region information and code to prove it's genuine.

IMO it's like Region 0 DVD's, They'l play in any dvd player from any region, but that doesn't make the dvd player region free

[EJG1980]

Personally i'd disagree, The console is locked to PAL Region, therefore the console itself is not region free. The 360 Disc still contains region information and code to prove it's genuine.

IMO it's like Region 0 DVD's, They'l play in any dvd player from any region, but that doesn't make the dvd player region free

Ah yeah, bloody PAL and NTSC differences mess everything up

Allthough is the X360 actually locked to PAL or NTSC? After all I can play the UK PAL versions of Call of Duty 2 and Full Auto on my Japanese X360 with no probs. And there re various US NTSC games that will run on a PAL console too.

Surely if the console was locked to PAL, it wouldn't play any NTSC games no matter what? Or am I missing something (which is highly likely )?

[Jei]

Ah yeah, bloody PAL and NTSC differences mess everything up

Allthough is the X360 actually locked to PAL or NTSC? After all I can play the UK PAL versions of Call of Duty 2 and Full Auto on my Japanese X360 with no probs. And there re various US NTSC games that will run on a PAL console too.

Surely if the console was locked to PAL, it wouldn't play any NTSC games no matter what? Or am I missing something (which is highly likely )?

I think you're getting the two Pal/NTSC mixed up, I'l try and explain....

Basically You've got Territorial PAL/NTSC (As in Region Lock), and then you've got Video Output PAL/NTSC. They're two seperate things.

Territorial PAL/NTSC is broken down in 3 regions, PAL, NTSC-U (Usa) and NTSC-J (Jap). A Pal 360 is locked into playing ONLY PAL region games, Unless the developers leave the discs unlocked to any region.


As for Video Output PAL/NTSC, The PAL 360 only ever displays PAL. If you play a USA game, it outputs a Pal Signal. PAL-60 allows the 360 to run at the same speed, at 60hz (Which is the same speed as a standard NTSC Signal), but is still a Pal Signal.

I find it hard explaining these things lol

[EJG1980]

I can't explain anything myself. If I told someone how to build a swimming pool they'd end up with a garden shed My (rather badly explained) point was basically wondering if the region coding was embedded in the Xbox 360 hardware or if it was done in software only.

From what I read MS saying before the launch (that it would be 100% up to developers to decide if their games could only play in specific territories) that lead me to believe that the hardware itself would have no region lockouts, and the developers would have to implement it in software if they wanted to block their games playing on specific consoles.

I'll probably not quite get it exactly unless J. Allard himself sits down with me an explains it all in words with one syllable or less

Edit: spelling errors

[Commander Marklar]

A region free console is the likes of the 3DO. Accepts any region out of the box.

Even that isn't technically true

Human Energy -- basically, if you take something like the Dreamcast, there's a table of regions that identify something like PAL, NTSC/U, J and perhaps region-free (no region). The Xbox has a similar table and while a region-free game will play on any region, the software is identified by the 'no-region' code. The Xbox hardware checks the region on the disc and handles it accordingly.

Each hardware is different mind. The PSOne/PS2, for example, checks a disc on insertion and will not run a disc from an incorrect region.

[EJG1980]

Yeah, I know that with basically all the older consoles the hardware would check to see where the game came from, and play or not play it accordingly. I was just wondering if the Xbox 360 still did this in hardware, or if it was now done completley in software. For the responses in this thread, I shall assume it's still a mixture of both

[Jei]

Even that isn't technically true

How come? 3do's have no region protection, in fact no protection at all, which is why CDR's boot

[Commander Marklar]

'cos it's still PAL or NTSC. There's a region difference in the display.

[Jei]

But All regions 3do can display PAL AND NTSC signals for display, hence not being locked to either region

[Mayhem]

Ditto the Jaguar I believe. And if you want to be anal, the Atari 2600

(it was actually the region of the game you plugged into the 2600 that determines the type of output, not the console)