Hacking Any way to bypass region lock?

[DanT1983]

My main issue with the Wii U is region locking.

I travel to Japan at least a few times per year, and love getting games there.

My other consoles has a way to bypass that annoying "feature", but my Wii U insists on preventing me from playing my purchased games.

Is there any way to ignore this ridiculous obstacle on my Wii U?

Thank you all!

 

[NWPlayer123]

Not yet, we still need to get kernel access (and probably IOSU access too) to be able to do that and boot games regardless of region. We'd need to be able to switch applications to the disc channel and then be able to patch the code to let it pass the region check.

 

[Marionumber1]

It would require IOSU access, since that's what's responsible for parsing discs and launching titles.

 

[DanT1983]

Ugh. How disappointing.

Thank you guys.

Now for the $10 million dollar question. If I buy a game in Japan, why would Nintendo prevent me from playing it on my US Wii U?
I BOUGHT the game. Give me the right to play it on the console it was MADE FOR... Or at least give me an easy way to bypass this RL nonsense.

 

[retrofan_k]

Ugh. How disappointing.

Thank you guys.

Now for the $10 million dollar question. If I buy a game in Japan, why would Nintendo prevent me from playing it on my US Wii U?
I BOUGHT the game. Give me the right to play it on the console it was MADE FOR... Or at least give me an easy way to bypass this RL nonsense.

You honestly have never imported games before in the past based on your comment, yet this has always been the case for years for many consoles and is down to publishing rights, localization, licenses and many other factors to why games are region locked. It does not matter that you bought it at all and there is nothing you can do unless a mod of some kind allows it.

 

[Marionumber1]

Now for the $10 million dollar question. If I buy a game in Japan, why would Nintendo prevent me from playing it on my US Wii U?
I BOUGHT the game. Give me the right to play it on the console it was MADE FOR... Or at least give me an easy way to bypass this RL nonsense.

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/activision-explains-why-companies-use-region-locking

 

[DanT1983]

You honestly have never imported games before in the past based on your comment, yet this has always been the case for years for many consoles and is down to publishing rights, localization, licenses and many other factors to why games are region locked. It does not matter that you bought it at all and there is nothing you can do unless a mod of some kind allows it.

No.

PS4 is not region lcoked.

PS3 games are not region locked.

PS2 game region locks are easily bypassed.

Wii region lock is easily bypassed.

Even Xbox 360 region lock is easily bypassed.

The Wii U seems to go OUT of their way to screw over loyal customers.

If you read my other comments, you would know that the main thing I am interested in is bypassing region lock.

 

[retrofan_k]

No.

PS4 is not region lcoked.

PS3 games are not region locked.

PS2 game region locks are easily bypassed.

Even Xbox 360 region lock is easily bypassed.

The Wii U seems to go OUT of their way to screw over loyal customers.

If you read my other comments, you would know that the main thing i am interested in is bypassing region lock.

What did i say if you read my comment "always been the case for years for many consoles", which included:-

PSX = Region Locked
PS2 = Region Locked
SEGA Saturn = Region Locked
N64 = Region Locked
Original Xbox = Region Locked
Wii - Region Lock
Xbox 360 = Some are region locked


That was my point and I'm not talking about how they are bypassed but yes, the above systems can now but Nintendo are not screwing loyal customers at all with region locking, its been done for years by other companies and developers.

 

[DanT1983]

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/activision-explains-why-companies-use-region-locking

Thanks for that, but I call BS.

No PS3 or PS4 games I encountered have been Region Locked.

I beleive the real issue to be because games cost different prices in different markets.
A game that costs roughly $60 in Japan or the US, costs around $15 in Russia.
I see this, because my work requires a lot of traveling - and games sold in Russia cost pennies on the dollar. But that is the only country I traveled to where games are actually cheaper than elsewhere. I actually buy a lot of Steam games when I am sent to Russia, since they usually cost a fraction of what they do while on sale here at the US.

Thankfully Sony got rid of that nonsense with the PS3 and 4. I was just hoping the Wii U would follow, but I was wrong - dead wrong.

What did i say if you read my comment "always been the case for years for many consoles", which included:-

PSX = Region Locked
PS2 = Region Locked
SEGA Saturn = Region Locked
N64 = Region Locked
Original Xbox = Region Locked
Wii - Region Lock
Xbox 360 = Some are region locked



That was my point and Nintendo are not screwing loyal customers at all with region locking, its been done for years by other companies and developers.

I see your point and I digress. Let me phrase it this way. Ever since LAST gen, consoles have ditched Region Locking... Other than Nintendo of course. But hell, what should I expect from a company that doesn't allow me to chat in their online games...

Whatever, I will happily wait till some hacker gets rid of the downright retarded reason Nintendo has for region locking their current gen games (both for the Wii U and the 3DS).

 

[Marionumber1]

Thanks for that, but I call BS.

No PS3 or PS4 games I encountered have been Region Locked.

I beleive the real issue to be because games cost different prices in different markets.
A game that costs roughly $60 in Japan or the US, costs around $15 in Russia.
I see this, because my work requires a lot of traveling - and games sold in Russia cost pennies on the dollar. But that is the only country I traveled to where games are actually cheaper than elsewhere.

Actually, the article does refer to your point: "Region locking also exists to keep pricing competitive, so gamers in Australia, for example, are less compelled to buy games form other countries for half their Australian price." Regardless of whether you agree with companies' reasoning, I don't think it's fair to call them mentally handicapped.

 

[DanT1983]

What did i say if you read my comment "always been the case for years for many consoles", which included:-

PSX = Region Locked
PS2 = Region Locked
SEGA Saturn = Region Locked
N64 = Region Locked
Original Xbox = Region Locked
Wii - Region Lock
Xbox 360 = Some are region locked


That was my point and Nintendo are not screwing loyal customers at all with region locking, its been done for years by other companies and developers.

Actually, the article does refer to your point: "Region locking also exists to keep pricing competitive, so gamers in Australia, for example, are less compelled to buy games form other countries for half their Australian price." Regardless of whether you agree with companies' reasoning, I don't think it's fair to call them mentally handicapped.

You are right. I am just pissed off that my 7 Wii U games, brought over from Japan are literally useless.

So lets just call Nintendo greedy

I don't have this issue with the PS3 or PS4, and am currently playing games on both that were only released in Japan.

 

[synce]

Can Nintendo possibly patch this bullshit out with a firmware update? Fatal Frame is releasing soon and I have no way to play it without buying another console

And I'm assuming there's still zero progress in hacking the WiiU outside of the Wii OS?

 

[Marionumber1]

And I'm assuming there's still zero progress in hacking the WiiU outside of the Wii OS?

Since when has a userspace exploit for versions 4.0.0 through 5.1.0 and a PPC kernel exploit used for game mods meant zero progress?

 

[Foxi4]

PSX = Region Locked
PS2 = Region Locked
SEGA Saturn = Region Locked
N64 = Region Locked
Original Xbox = Region Locked
Wii - Region Lock
Xbox 360 = Some are region locked

Region locking systems when NTSC/PAL differences were a concern made sense - the differences in the refresh rate and the resolution could result in undesirable operation (I remind you that not all Xbox 360'ties have an HDMI port). These days when composite was practically retired and we began using standardized digital signal and HD resolutions all around the world, region locking on consoles makes no technological sense whatsoever.

The only reason why it's sometimes implemented is to share profits evenly across various regional branches of companies. Importing games is bad business for the distributors more often than not as it may lead to gamers buying games wherever they're the cheapest. There's also the question of localizations - for instance European gamers could import U.S. titles and play them in English before the Multi-5 release is completed, nullifying the effort (and the investment) that goes towards translating the title. Of course these are just two out of numerous scenarios why some companies hold onto region locking, both in video games and multimedia in general.

 

[tbb043]

You are right. I am just pissed off that my 7 Wii U games, brought over from Japan are literally useless.

If it was one, maybe two games, you might have reason to be pissed. After that, it's on you for continuing to buy games that don't run on your system.

HOWEVER, there is a solution. A fairly simple one. Buy a Japanese Wii U. Yes, that's a bit of an expense, but if you can afford to keep throwing money at Japanese Wii U games that way, you probably aren't on a very tight budget and can afford another Wii U.

Hopefully the hackers will come through and let us play games from any region, but given the rate at which it's taking (and I don't mean that to in any way insult their work) who knows how long that will take, so in the meantime, spend a little more so you can play the games you've already spend hundreds of dollars on.

 

[DanT1983]

If it was one, maybe two games, you might have reason to be pissed. After that, it's on you for continuing to buy games that don't run on your system.

I bought all of them during my last trip to Japan - and they didn't cost hundreds of dollars.

Book Off discounts games severely unless they are in flawless condition... However if the game is in flawless condition - it is quite pricey (only a few hundred yen less than new).
Simply having a dented box means the game usually sells for half the price of a used game elsewhere.

Consoles don't seem to enjoy this pricing structure, and even without a box a used Japanese Wii U is pricey.

I will admit that it's my fault that I didn't check if the Wii U was region locked before I bought my games, but seeing as how my last 3 consoles were not - I thought we were over this nonsense.

Can Nintendo possibly patch this bullshit out with a firmware update? Fatal Frame is releasing soon and I have no way to play it without buying another console

Yes. It should be easily patch-able, however I have more faith in the hackers getting region free working over Nintendo.

Nintendo, as a company, seems to be stuck in the middle ages. If they didn't make such outstanding games, I would simply not buy their consoles.

Compared to the competition, they are both under powered and under valued, with lackluster online services, and terrible support. It took them over a week to transfer my eshop account from one Wii U to another. (I bought a black one to replace my white one, and sold off my white one).
Apparently now that can all be done by the user on the newest firmware, but until fairly recently - that was a call to Nintendo and a very lengthy process.

But, I digress. Nintendo makes amazing games, and as long as a Nintendo console is required to play them, people will keep buying said console.

Since when has a userspace exploit for versions 4.0.0 through 5.1.0 and a PPC kernel exploit used for game mods meant zero progress?

You guys do great work, don't let anyone tell you otherwise

 

[laudern]

Yes. It should be easily patch-able, however I have more faith in the hackers getting region free working over Nintendo.

Nintendo will never "patch" the wiiu to make it region free. They made the console like that for their own reason. Shit, they even made the 3ds region locked. How fuckin stupid is that???

Arguing over this is like arguing over why red cars are faster or why 3D sonic is always bound to be a shit game.

Red cars make a bigger BBBRRRRMMMM sound to go faster and sonic is just fuckin terrible in 3D.

Get over it. Go live your life without the burden of concern and worry you seem to carry around for something that will not change as long as nintendo has some say in it.

 

[Hitaku]

After hearing that Japan is going to get the Wii U version of Smash early as well, I'm beyond sad to hear that this isn't possible. This feels like psychological warfare lol.