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.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I HAV BOUGHT MY WII IN DUBAI WHIH IS MULTI REGION, RECENTLY BOUGHT PRO EVO IN UK BUT CANT SEEM TO PLAY ON IT. GET THE ION AND AS SOON AS I START SCREEN GOES BLANK N REMOTE SITHES OFF.
ANY IDEAS
haha wii isnt multi regional i bought my wii from dubai too only the ntsc games work… i already had like 5 pal games and all of them didnt work on it soo dont go spreading rumors lol there is no multi region for the wii unless u like hack it or buy homebrewware or smthing like that