I have a multi-region DVD player here in the UK, which means I don't worry about the stupid regional coding that manufacturers have tried to foist on us. Game console makers have tried the same thing. But bless Nintendo, because they're breaking the mold with their latest game console, the Wii.

Getting a multi-region DVD player is easy. Many DVD players will have a key sequence you enter into the remote that removes coding. A few have to be "chipped," where there's a hardware modification made. Many sellers do this for practically nothing. It's so common that even large retailers will advertise if a player is multi-region capable. It's not some back room shady operation. You've got Brits coming back from Florida trips loaded with American DVDs -- they want them to work here. The market can't be denied.

The other hurdle with playing a non-UK DVD is if your TV can handle it. If a disc outputs the NTSC standard used in the US, how's a PAL-standard UK TV going to cope? As it turns out, most DVD players I've seen automatically do the conversion, so the standard isn't an issue. More and more UK TVs are also NTSC capable.

Game consoles are harder. I have an Xbox, locked to European games. I've never tried putting a US game into it. If I did, I suspect it won't play, based on what I've read online. The regional coding should prevent it from playing.

Want to overrride that? There's no magic code I know of letting you do this. Instead, it's back to having the Xbox chipped. Unlike with DVD players, this isn't something commonly done.

The next issue is the video standard. The UK Xbox outputs PAL. A US disc will want to spit out NTSC, if I understand correctly. Even if the disc could play, the TV would need to handle the different video standard. Actually, I think the Xbox will spit out something called PAL-60 that would make this work, if not for the regional coding.

All this leads to the absurdity of the Xbox 360 getting regional coding. The Xbox 360 games in the US can put out HD TV resolutions of 720p or 1080p. If you have a UK HD TV, it can natively handle those resolutions. The video standards are the same. So why not make the discs region free? I can only assume because Microsoft and its game manufacturer cohorts like charging us in the UK up to twice the US prices.

Enter the Wii. I've been anxiously waiting for this, especially since the Xbox 360 disappointed me and the PlayStation 3 looks to be an overpriced, further delayed launch. Wii's going to be our fun new game console.

Wired has an article about how the Wii will be region-free, just like the Nintendo DS. It's great news. I was already thinking of just buying one in the US and bringing it over here. No need, now. Thank you, Nintendo. It's yet another reason I love you more.

By the way, I did recently get an Xbox 360, as well. I'm going to do a separate post on that, on why I decided to go back after returning my original one earlier this year. The short story is that we now have an HD TV, so I wanted the fun of playing high resolution games (the Wii won't be HD). Plus, there are more interesting games out -- and the deals were better.

Next Post: Conference Calling With The Non-US Participant In Mind
Previous Post: Anchorage - Seward - Kenai Fjords
All Posts: Daggle Archives
Posts By Category: Daggle Categories
Return To: Daggle Home Page

Comments

Want to comment? If you are signed into TypeKey, you'll see a form below. No form? Click on the sign-in link below, and you can sign-in or sign-up for a free account. Sorry you have to use TypeKey, but I use it to avoid comment spam. All comments currently appear automatically after posting.

Leave a comment

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)