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+--- Thread: Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game (/showthread.php?tid=6504)
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - A Black Falcon - 5th July 2012
http://www.atlus.com/forum/showthread.php?p=289142#post289142
Why now, and why Atlus? To see region locking in a game on a system by the one manufacturer who'd gotten away from it this last generation... really disappointing. :(
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Dark Jaguar - 5th July 2012
That is annoying, but in a more technical "what's the point?" sort of way. Fact is, I don't know Japanese, so I wouldn't import the game anyway. The bigger question is if it'll see some European only fully translated release where such a thing actually would frustrate us.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - A Black Falcon - 5th July 2012
This one's a fighting game, so language probably wouldn't be that big of a deal. It is getting a US release, but still, the principle is the thing.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Dark Jaguar - 5th July 2012
Like I said, annoying but only technically so, in the same way all region restrictions tend to be.
Personally I still don't see the point in restricting sales. It seems like a poor business decision. I'm not just being clever, I literally don't understand the reasoning behind it.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Great Rumbler - 6th July 2012
It's because games are often released by different companies in different regions. Say, Game X is released by Atlus in Japan. In America, it's released by XSeed, who paid Atlus a licencing fee to release Game X. However, Game X is released 6 months earlier in Japan than in the United States. As Game X is a niche game, many of its fans would rather purchase it 6 months earlier than wait for it to be released in English. Therefore, XSeed looses out on a chunk of sales, thus making them annoyed that Game X is not region locked, and making them less likely to want to license another of Atlus' games. However, in Atlus' world, they would make more money if XSeed licensed and released the game in English than from just the sales to importers, making them more likely to try to placate XSeed by enforcing region restrictions. The fan-pleasing solution, of course, is for Atlus to release Game X worldwide simultaneously, but that's not always a viable option.
Doesn't make it any less annoying for consumers, but that's basically why they do it.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - A Black Falcon - 6th July 2012
That can't be the only reason, with things like how almost every single one of those Japan-only X360 shmups are all region-locked too... what have I heard about that, it requires extra testing before MS allows you to release region-free 360 games or something? I forget.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Dark Jaguar - 6th July 2012
GR, that actually makes a sort of ruthless pragmatic sense. Thank you for explaining that.
Still, I can't help but think that the "lost sales" to imports are overblown a bit. After all, books aren't region locked and I've yet to see US publishers turn down UK books because they fear lost sales to early importers. It's the sort of thing I also wonder about when game makers justify the cost of games compared to, say, movies. We all know movies cost more to make than games after all.
Recent wider studies of the effects of piracy also seem to suggest losses are more overblown than normally thought, but that's another issue entirely. There I'm not upset at companies stopping piracy, just that their attempts to do so end up hurting legitimate consumers far more than pirates.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Great Rumbler - 6th July 2012
Atlus' reason for the region restrictions is to keep Japanese gamers from importing the cheaper Europe/NA versions. Whelp.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Dark Jaguar - 7th July 2012
Did you just call me a whelp? I'm not offended, just surprised to see such an antiquated insult out in the wild.
Persona 4 Arena will be the first ever region-locked PS3 game - Great Rumbler - 7th July 2012
I was colloquial Southern American English, you nincompoop.