Australian Pokemon Black and White not region locked!

[heartgold]

The Australian version of the newest Pokemon games play in Japanese consoles.

We’ve had the Australian version of Pokemon White for just over a week, but we never thought to play it in one of the Japanese Nintendo DSi’s we have here. Besides it’s region locked right?

Well, turns out the Australian version (at least) isn’t.

The Australian version of Pokemon White boots not only in our Japanese Nintendo DSi but also our Nintendo 3DS. This is a stark contrast to the Japanese version of Pokemon Black we have, which won’t load in our Australian DSi or DSi XL. Sonic Classic Collection, another region locked game we have, won’t load in either the Japanese consoles.

This is huge news, not only does this mean that the region locking on Nintendo DSi games is optional, but this optional locking may apply to Nintendo 3DS games as well. We’re yet to see any English 3DS games boot on a Japanese console as of yet, they don’t exist just yet.

Could this mean we have a Xbox 360-like region locking situation on our hands, one where the publisher decides what is locked and what is not? It’s possible, but it could just be that because Pokemon Black and White are so close to release in all regions, everyone is getting the same card and they haven’t locked it.

Positive news none the less.[/p]

Source

 

[Sir-Fritz]

Seems interesting...

 

[Tonitonichopchop]

I'd like to think this is a good sign for the future, but I won't get my hopes up.

 

[Maikel Steneker]

This is great! It means that it's at least possible to release region free games.

 

[Schizoanalysis]

I thought DS games weren't region locked....

 

[Tonitonichopchop]

I thought DS games weren't region locked....

Pokemon White is a DSI game.

 

[MahouMaster]

FUCK YEAH! I bought DSi LL in Japan with Black last year, thought I'd have to wait till the 3DS to play White. Life complete.

 

[Qtis]

I thought DS games weren't region locked....

Pokemon White is a DSI game.

Actually it's a DSi enhanced game. You can play it on a DS/DSL, but it has the extra features (cameras and shishl) on a DSi.


-Qtis

 

[thedicemaster]

This is huge news, not only does this mean that the region locking on Nintendo DSi games is optional, but this optional locking may apply to Nintendo 3DS games as well. We’re yet to see any English 3DS games boot on a Japanese console as of yet, they don’t exist just yet.

Could this mean we have a Xbox 360-like region locking situation on our hands, one where the publisher decides what is locked and what is not? It’s possible, but it could just be that because Pokemon Black and White are so close to release in all regions, everyone is getting the same card and they haven’t locked it.

Positive news none the less.[/p]

it was already confirmed that 3DS region locking was optional.

and the pokemon B/W box nowhere mentions region locking, so it was pretty clear it wasn't region locked the moment i laid eyes on the box(sonic classic collection, and various other DSi enhanced titles, do have a region warning on the back)

 

[heartgold]

it was already confirmed that 3DS region locking was optional.

and the pokemon B/W box nowhere mentions region locking, so it was pretty clear it wasn't region locked the moment i laid eyes on the box(sonic classic collection, and various other DSi enhanced titles, do have a region warning on the back)

Are you talking about the EU/US boxes cause the Japanese versions of B/W are in fact region locked and this is news that the Australian ones aren't.

 

[Zetta_x]

Only the Australian games won't be region locked because they are the most expensive, if someone that doesn't reside in Australia purchases this game, then they are broken.

 

[mkoo]

Only the Australian games won't be region locked because they are the most expensive, if someone that doesn't reside in Australia purchases this game, then they are broken.

how expensive exactly

 

[YayMii]

It's pretty much confirmed that the non-Japanese versions of B/W are region-free. Though I recall someone saying that the EU game ran in DS mode on their Japanese DSi (easiest way is to check the battery meter if it has 2 or 4 bars in total. If it has 4 bars, it's running in DSi mode).

Only the Australian games won't be region locked because they are the most expensive, if someone that doesn't reside in Australia purchases this game, then they are broken.

how expensive exactly

That's for a UK site... Gamestop Australia sells B/W for $68 AUD (about $69 USD). GameStop Canada sells B/W for $39.99 CAD (about $40.50 USD) and GameStop US sells it for $34.99 USD.

 

[thedicemaster]

and what if it has 3 bars?

 

[YayMii]

and what if it has 3 bars?

I said "in total". If you have 3 bars, it means you're running in DSi mode, but you've used up a quarter of your battery life.

And technically, the "bars" in DS-mode aren't really bars. They look more like squares.

 

[trance]

A quick note on this, now that i've seen the local game carts and boxes for real:
The model codes are TWL-IRAO and TWL-IRBO; the (O) region code is undocumented, but it can possibly be assumed that it is similar to the Independent (A) region code?