Australian Pokemon Black and White not region locked!

heartgold

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
4,378
Trophies
0
Location
London
Website
Visit site
XP
2,085
Country
pokeblackon3ds.jpg
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
 

MahouMaster

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2007
Messages
201
Trophies
0
Age
30
XP
279
Country
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.
 

thedicemaster

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
2,432
Trophies
0
XP
303
Country
Netherlands
heartgold said:
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

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
4,378
Trophies
0
Location
London
Website
Visit site
XP
2,085
Country
thedicemaster said:
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

The Insane Statistician
Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
1,844
Trophies
0
Age
34
XP
574
Country
United States
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.
 

YayMii

hi
Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2009
Messages
4,916
Trophies
0
Age
28
Location
that place
XP
758
Country
Canada
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).

mkoo said:
Zetta_x said:
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.
 

YayMii

hi
Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2009
Messages
4,916
Trophies
0
Age
28
Location
that place
XP
758
Country
Canada
thedicemaster said:
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

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
102
Trophies
0
Age
32
Location
Southern Hemisphere
XP
177
Country
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?
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    straferz @ straferz: Anybody know why this is happening to my ACWW town...