In a less than shocking turn of events, Nintendo has decided to restrict online play in the new The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes game to players of the same region.

Although it's supposed to be to reduce latency and improve the game experience, this means you won't be able to play with your online buddy across the pond when the game hits shelves on October 22nd. This is coming from the only game company that still deploys region locking restrictions on its other consoles and games.

What do you think of Nintendo's region locking practices and is it time for them to rethink their policies?

Source (Pocket Gamer)

 

[RemixDeluxe]

Given how Splatoon players seem to disconnect often from matchups it may be for everyone's best interest to play within our own respective regions. I can see why this would upset others but at the end of the day you should want the best gameplay experience possible and this will help ensure that.

 

[TecXero]

Luckily I don't play games online nor have any friends outside the states. That's still crap, though. Why not simply give an option in the game for people to only play other others from their region or worldwide? That way if someone is concerned about a language barrier or latency, they can just enable the option to restrict it to their region.

 

[Shubshub]

Why not like have an Option to play Worldwide and an Option to play Regionally like they did with Mario Kart DS

 

[GamerzHell9137]

Given how Splatoon players seem to disconnect often from matchups it may be for everyone's best interest to play within our own respective regions

If they knew how to netcode everyone would be able to play games normally. There's so many netcodes out there that work perfectly fine when playing with USA+EUR players, one example is GGPO.
But i don't get it why they can't make a good netcode for it. All of the MK games work perfectly fine online and there are like 12 players playing simultaneously.

 

[Deleted User]

I hope it doesn't have voice chat, I don't want to play with a bunch of shit posters.

 

[Clydefrosch]

If they knew how to netcode everyone would be able to play games normally. There's so many netcodes out there that work perfectly fine when playing with USA+EUR players, one example is GGPO.
But i don't get it why they can't make a good netcode for it. All of the MK games work perfectly fine online and there are like 12 players playing simultaneously.

actually theres quite a bit of lag in all the mk games when it comes to online play. its just the game masks it well enough most of the time

anyway, not really caring, there's enough people to play with in everyones region so what

 

[zoogie]

Hate to be cynical but they're probably trying to save a few pennies in bandwidth or other overhead costs.
Won't put anything past them trying to cut corners after seeing them packing the n3dsXL manual into the HHD n3ds bundle.

Am I outraged? No, I think it will be a good game still -- but these nuisances are adding up for a lot of folks.

 

[TecXero]

No, I think it will be a good game still, but these nuisances are adding up for a lot of folks.

By itself it looks fine, but it looks like it should be priced closer to $20.

 

[GamerzHell9137]

actually theres quite a bit of lag in all the mk games when it comes to online play. its just the game masks it well enough most of the time

anyway, not really caring, there's enough people to play with in everyones region so what

Yes indeed but they could do that the same way for Zelda, its not like its space science or that the game needs 0 lag to enjoy playing it online.

 

[Deleted User]

I understand this is to make it easier to play with others without lag between different regions, but it would be better if the play with friends wasn't region locked incase someone want to play with their friend who's in another region.

 

[CathyRina]

This is great because half of my friends list can't play with me now. Just what I wanted!

 

[migles]

Given how Splatoon players seem to disconnect often from matchups it may be for everyone's best interest to play within our own respective regions. I can see why this would upset others but at the end of the day you should want the best gameplay experience possible and this will help ensure that.

I Don't agree... if they restricted random matchups or when you look for a lobby (basically when you search for online games that you have no friends on it) it should only search on your area.
however restricting you playing with your own friends because they are overseas is really bad...

having zero experience doesn't mean its a good experience... you should be able to play with your friends and its your problem if you don't understand that playing with people far away can cause lag...
with theese things its always a try and error... playing with people on the same region doesnt guarantee that you get a lag free experience... with people overseas of course it gets a bit of lag, but it's a roullete, you can perfectly play with people overseas in some cases..

 

[Deleted User]

Why not like have an Option to play Worldwide and an Option to play Regionally like they did with Mario Kart DS

Exactly what I was thinking. They should recommend playing same region for better game play experience but still offer a worldwide option for those who want it.

 

[Shubshub]

Exactly what I was thinking. They should recommend playing same region for better game play experience but still offer a worldwide option for those who want it.

Plus some regions might have next to no people playing I suppose its not all bad since Regions are a whole bunch of Countries

 

[Nollog]

I hope it doesn't have voice chat, I don't want to play with a bunch of shit posters.

Yeah, a strategy/puzzle game shouldn't allow communication apart from 2-4 set commands for everything.

 

[Bimmel]

Yeah, a strategy/puzzle game shouldn't allow communication apart from 2-4 set commands for everything.

You know Nintendo. Voice chat will never happen. Never again. Oh, wait. Did it ever happen?

 

[RemixDeluxe]

I Don't agree... if they restricted random matchups or when you look for a lobby (basically when you search for online games that you have no friends on it) it should only search on your area.
however restricting you playing with your own friends because they are overseas is really bad...

having zero experience doesn't mean its a good experience... you should be able to play with your friends and its your problem if you don't understand that playing with people far away can cause lag...
with theese things its always a try and error... playing with people on the same region doesnt guarantee that you get a lag free experience... with people overseas of course it gets a bit of lag, but it's a roullete, you can perfectly play with people overseas in some cases..

Please don't make assumptions on the games I play. I play more than just Nintendo games and I specifically mentioned them because they have terrible online play, so in this case it's best to region lock the online play to minimize the latency of other players.

Read before you post.

 

[KingVamp]

I don't see the big deal. This is one dev team decision vs all the other online games and they already said they are looking into dropping region lock for their next consoles.

By itself it looks fine, but it looks like it should be priced closer to $20.

For what reason, because of noncanon twist to a series?

 

[Nollog]

For what reason, because of noncanon twist to a series?

I'd price a game cheaper when it uses an old existing engine, same sprites/graphics as earlier released game, and low-quality features like region-locked online, no voice chat, etc.