Region Coding: Games and Consoles, Information on what works where. Options

[Xombe]

These questions have been asked at least once a day recently:

"Can a console from Region X play games from Region Y?"
"Is a Japanese Xbox 360 region free?"
Etc.. etc..

Here's some things you should know:

Every console is set to a certain region meaning that, like a DVD player, they will read whatever titles they can.
Every game, similar to DVDs, is either coded to a certain region or contain NO region coding whatsoever.

This means a console can play games coded to their region AND any games that have NO region code.

The deciding factor is the game. Some North America region (NTSC, sometimes called NTSC-U/C) games are region free and are thus playable on any console in the world. The use of region coding is up to the publisher.

Of the available U.S. titles for the original Xbox, about 150 or so games are region free, to my knowledge This means that if bought retail in the U.S. they will play on a stock Japanese Xbox (this is not a 100% accurate assessment of the world over as I've never tested PAL region games on a Japanese Xbox nor vice versa).

This trend may or may not carry over to the Xbox 360. Call of Duty 2 for the X360 appears to be region free and playable on a Japan region console, but this is not so surprising as both COD: Finest Hour and COD: Big Red One (original Xbox titles) are also region free.

However, if choosing to import, video standard and power issues also need to be addressed when bringing certain consoles into the equation. For example, Australia running on 220/240 volts and uses a PAL signal, while the U.S./Canada runs on about 120 volts and uses an NTSC signal..

We will assume that those considering importing a console that outputs a signal different to the common standard of their region to be intelligent enough to already know, and be able to, address these issues.

Here is a good guide for which games work where: http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-00-3-xbox360...uide-49-en.html


Note: This is just a basic note to address these FAQs. Please PM me with info or clarifications. Thank you.



This post has been edited by Xombe: Apr 2 2006, 08:37 AM

[Rohaq]

Dumb question related to regions: Will a HDD bought in another country work on a UK console? I'm assuming so, but I thought I'd check.