Regional lockouts in video games have been achieved by several methods, such as hardware/software authentication, slot pin-out change, differences in cartridge cases, IP blocking and online software patching. Most
console video games have region encoding. The main regions are: •
Japan and
Asia (
NTSC-J) •
Americas (NTSC-U) •
Europe,
Oceania,
Middle East,
India,
South Africa (
PAL) •
China (
NTSC-C)
Atari The
Atari 2600 does not have regional locking; however, NTSC games can display wrong colors, slow speed and sound on PAL systems, and vice versa. The
Atari 7800 has regional locking on NTSC systems, making PAL games unplayable on them. However, the PAL versions of the Atari 7800 can run NTSC games, but still suffering from the same problems the Atari 2600 had. The
Atari 5200,
Lynx, and
Jaguar are region-free.
Nintendo Nintendo was the first console maker to introduce regional locks to its consoles, using them for every one of its home consoles until the
Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has mostly abstained from using them for its handheld consoles. Games for the
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) were locked through both physical and technical means; the design of
cartridges for the NES differed between Japan and other markets, using a different number of pins. As the Famicom (the Japanese model) used slightly smaller cartridges, Japanese games could not fit into NES consoles without an adapter (and even with that, they could still not use the extra sound functionalities of the Famicom due to their differing hardware). Official adapters existed inside early copies of
Gyromite; other Famicom games could be played by disassembling the cartridge and then swapping out the original board of the game with a different Famicom game's board. Additionally, the NES also contained the
10NES authentication chip; the chip was coded for one of four regions: •
NTSC (
North America) •
PAL-A (
United Kingdom,
Australia, and
Italy) •
PAL-B (other
European countries and
South Korea) •
Asia (
South East Asia,
India, and
Hong Kong) A game's region is recognized by the console using the 10NES chip. If the chip inside the cartridge conflicts with the chip inside the console, the game will not boot. The 10NES chip also doubled as a form of
digital rights management to prevent loading unlicensed or bootleg games. The
redesigned Nintendo Entertainment System model released in 1993 lacks the 10NES chip, and can play PAL and unlicensed games, although Famicom games still need a converter. The Famicom does not include a 10NES chip, but is still unable to play imports unless an adapter is used, due to the different size of the media. The American
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES) and the Super Famicom use differences in cartridge cases. A Super NES cartridge will not fit in a Super Famicom/PAL Super NES slot due to its different shape and two pieces of plastic in the Super NES slot prevent Super Famicom cartridges from being inserted in the Super NES. PAL Super NES carts can be fully inserted in Japanese consoles, but a similar chip to the 10NES, called the CIC, prevents PAL games from being played in NTSC consoles and vice versa. While physical modification of the cases (either console or cartridges) is needed to play games from the different regions, in order to play games of different TV systems, a hardware modification is also needed. Region locks could be bypassed using special unlicensed cartridge adapters such as
Game Genie. The swapping of cartridge shells also bypasses the physical regional lockout. The
Nintendo 64 uses similar lockout methods to the Super NES. Both the
GameCube and
Wii are region-locked, and the
Wii Shop Channel is also region-locked as well. On the Wii, channels from other regions will refuse to load with the message "This channel can't be used." The coded regions are: • NTSC-U (The Americas and Asia) • PAL (Europe and Oceania) • NTSC-J (Japan) • NTSC-K (South Korea) The GameCube and Wii's regional lockout can be bypassed either by console modification or simply by third-party software.
Datel's FreeLoader or
Action Replay discs are most notable. The
Wii U and its
GamePad is also region-locked. The
Nintendo Switch is region-free, and therefore allows for games from any region to be played, whether through physical
cartridges or digital downloads. For instance, games from the
Nintendo eShop can be purchased and downloaded regardless of region. The only exception to this is the Chinese version of the Nintendo Switch distributed by
Tencent in mainland China. This version of the console can still play cartridge-based games from any region; however, they can only connect to Chinese servers. Thus, it cannot access any game updates, DLC or online modes from games in other regions, or download said games digitally. Conversely, all other versions of the Nintendo Switch are unable to play cartridge-based games made by Tencent specifically for the Chinese Nintendo Switch. The
Nintendo Switch 2 is also region-free in regions outside of Japan, similar to the Nintendo Switch. However, a cheaper Japan-exclusive model has been released alongside the regular worldwide version for that region which prevents the use of non-Japanese accounts and is locked to the Japanese language only. All Nintendo handheld consoles except both
Nintendo DSi and
Nintendo 3DS models are fully region-free. In the case of the former, only the physical and digital games that cannot be played on earlier DS models are region-locked. The latter's region lock strictly applies to all software designed for it, with the only exception being the application
Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre, which is not a game in of itself but rather as an application that serves as a guide for visitors of the
Louvre Museum. Like the Wii, the 3DS's regional lockout can be bypassed by third-party software or
custom firmware such as Luma3DS.
Sony The
PlayStation and
PlayStation 2 are region-locked into three regions:
NTSC U/C,
NTSC-J, and
PAL. It is possible to disable region locking on said systems via a
modchip or by performing a disk-swap when the console starts. In the case of the PlayStation 2, disk-swapping is achieved by using a special disc known as the Swap Magic, which can be used to bypass regional locks and allows imported games and game backups to be successfully run on the system.
DVD movies on the PlayStation 2 are also region-locked. All
PlayStation 3 games except for
Persona 4 Arena are region free. Although publishers could choose to region-lock specific games based on a mechanism that allows for the game to query the model of the PS3, none did so during the first three years after the PS3's launch. In the case of
Persona 4 Arena; publisher
Atlus declined to reverse its decision despite substantial outcry by some of their fanbase. The decision was made to avoid excessive importing, because all versions of the game share the same features and language support, but have differing price points and release dates in each region. Region locking is present for backwards-compatible PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, as well as DVD and
Blu-ray movies. Additionally, some games separate online players per region, such as
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The
PlayStation Store only contains content for its own country. For example, the EU store will not supply usable map packs for an imported U.S. copy of
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. In addition,
downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 systems is region-matched with the game itself. For example, DLC from the U.S.
PlayStation Store must be used in conjunction with a U.S.–region game. More specifically, the PS3's file system includes region-of-origin, so DLC cannot be shared between different region games much like save files cannot. Also, the PSN Store is tied to each user's PSN account, and payment methods for PSN is also region-locked. For example, a user with a Japanese PSN account will only be able to access the Japanese PSN store despite owning a U.S. PS3, and can only pay for a game with a Japanese PSN gift card or Japanese credit card. However, with a few rare exceptions, notably
Joysound Dive, downloaded content from each PSN store are also region free, as are PSOne and PS2 classics offered on the store. Although
PlayStation Portable has no region locking for
UMD games, UMD movies are locked by region. However, Sony has confirmed that it is possible to implement regionlocking on the PSP, and the firmware will disable features based on region. For example, Asian region PSPs will not display the "Extras" option on the XMB despite having been upgraded to the U.S. version of Firmware 6.20, preventing owners of such PSPs from installing the Comic Book Viewer and the TV Streaming applications. As the applications are installed through a PC, and users from the region are not blocked from downloading them, it is possible to install them on non-Asian PSPs that have been imported into the region. While
PlayStation Vita games had the potential to be region-locked, all games released for the system are region-free. Like with the PlayStation 3, the
PlayStation 4 and
PlayStation 5 are not region-locked, although it is still possible to develop region-locked games. Sony's official stance is that they discourage developers from region-locking and will only relent in special cases (as with the PS3 with
Persona 4 Arena). However, as with the PlayStation 3, digital content such as downloadable content for games still requires a PSN account from the region the content was made for. That said, PSN accounts themselves are not region-locked and an account for one region can be made on a console from another one. In the case of the PlayStation 5, both physical and digital versions of games no longer use region codes and instead used rating labels and SKU title IDs to determine the regional variant of the game. Nevertheless, both distribution methods of PlayStation 5 games are region-free.
Sega The
SG-1000 does not have region lockout between Japanese and Australian systems. The same applies with SC-3000 games on cartridge and cassettes, as well SF-7000 disks. Western
Sega Master Systems have a different shape and pinout from the Japanese cartridge connector, meaning that Sega Mark III and SG-1000 games are incompatible with it. A BIOS included with western systems prevents Japanese cartridges (both Mark III and SG-1000) to be played on those systems, even with adapters. The
Sega Card slot on these systems has the same pinout as its Japanese counterpart, but they cannot run Japanese and SG-1000 cards due to lack of a certain code in the ROM header. This can be circumvented by removing the BIOS IC from it. However, some European-only games such as
Back to the Future Part III will refuse to boot on NTSC systems. Japanese games can be run on
Power Base Converter with use of adapters, but it will not run SG-1000 games, regardless of region. Japanese
Sega Mega Drive cartridges use the same pinouts as with the Genesis and PAL Mega Drive cartridges but has a different shape and will not fit in the Genesis or PAL Mega Drive slot, which has the same shape (although the Genesis 3 in the U.S. will accept Japanese titles due to its wider slot.) Japanese Mega Drive systems also has a piece of plastic that slides in a place of the cartridge when the power switch is turned on, preventing it from being removed while the console is running, thus, inserting an American or European cart will make it impossible to use on a Japanese Mega Drive (though minor modifications to the plastic locks in the systems will bypass this). The console's main board, which was designed with language and frequency jumper sets that originally activated features in the same ROM for different regions, was later used to enable software-based regional locks that display warning messages that prevent the game from being played. Switches, instead of the jumpers, were used to bypass the locks. In region-locked games, if there is a multiple language feature, it can be changed with the switches after the game has booted-up (as with the case of NTSC versions of
Cyber Brawl / Cosmic Carnage for the
32X). Despite the console itself being regionlocked, most of the games, especially ones made by Sega, were region-free and could be played on any region, unless the cartridge does not fit the console. Swapping out cartridge shells between either designs will also bypass the physical lockouts of the console. The
Game Gear is region free, and some games have a dual-language feature depending on which region of the system is used.
Puyo Puyo (game title changes to
Puzlow Kids on Western systems) and
Donald no Magical World (title changes to
Ronald McDonald in Magical World in Western systems), are both Japan-exclusive games, but if run on Western units, they will be fully translated.
Sega Mega-CD games are region-locked. The region can be changed when making
CD-R copies; however, this method is not completely foolproof (e.g.,
Sengoku Denshou in American consoles will freeze on the Sega license screen with a region-swapped CD-R copy). Furthermore, third party accessories exist that can bypass the regional-lockouts of Mega-CD games, which are inserted into the main console's cartridge slot.
Flashcarts such as the Everdrive can also be used to boot any regional Mega-CD BIOS from the SD card. Different region Mega-CD consoles will also work with different region Mega Drive/Genesis systems; however, they often carry the risk of damaging the add-on if the proper
voltage converters are not used. The power voltages for the add-on will vary depending on the region, therefore requiring voltage converters to prevent damage to the add-on. For instance, the Japanese Mega-CD will work in the Genesis; however, it does not use the same AC voltage as the Genesis or the American Sega CD. Likewise, the European Mega-CD will work on a Japanese Mega Drive or Genesis, but the differences in AC voltage are more staggering compared to a Japanese Mega-CD in a Genesis. In such cases, using a step-up (or step-down) converter is recommended. Like the Mega Drive/Genesis, the use of a switch on the
Sega Saturn will circumvent the region-lock, but will not change the language. In addition, the use of certain unlicensed backup/RAM cartridges will also allow a console to play games from different regions, except for games that use proprietary ROM-RAM carts. Games from different
television systems may have graphical problems.
Dreamcast GD-ROM discs are region-locked; however, this could be circumvented with the use of boot discs.
MIL-CDs and backup CDs are region-free.
Microsoft Xbox and Xbox 360 From the start, Microsoft decided to give publishers the option to choose the region(s) in which their games would be able to be played. Every original Xbox and
Xbox 360 game is identified by its XeMID (Xenon Master ID). For example: "
Alan Wake" (360 game, its XeMID is
MS205301W0X11), and a variant of "JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future" (Xbox game, the variant
SE01003J will be used). The first two characters indicate the publisher (for "Alan Wake", MS = Microsoft. For "Jet Set Radio Future", SE = Sega). 2 is the platform identifier. 2 indicates Xbox 360. Original Xbox games do not have this number, since it was the first platform to receive these IDs. 053 is the game ID. Every title has a unique value, taken from the low-order bytes of the title ID. The next two digits (01) make the SKU number. This value is unique per SKU for a particular title. Variants of the same game (for example if a game has several releases with different languages) will see this number differ: 01, 02, 03, ... There is no other "Alan Wake" version than this one. However, this is the third variant of "Jet Set Radio Future". The next letter (W for
Alan Wake, J for
Jet Set Radio Future) indicates the region of the disc. The last bytes of the XeMID are only present for Xbox 360 games and are less important: 0 is the base version of the title executables on the disc. The order of versions would be 0, 01, 02, 03, ... X indicates a XGD2 disc (7.3 GB) while F indicates a XGD3 disc (8.5 GB). Finally, the last two bytes indicate that it is disc 1 of 1. Xbox has three main regions (PAL, NTSC-J and NTSC), so the region letter can either be: • J for Japan + Korea + Southeast Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, ... Usually it is just called Asia even though it is SE Asia). This corresponds to the NTSC-J region. • E for PAL regions (Europe, Oceania, Africa, Middle East, India). This corresponds to the PAL region. • A for America (North and South). This corresponds to the NTSC region. • H for J + E (Japan/Asia + Europe/Oceania) • K for A + J (America + Japan/Asia) • L for E + A (America + Europe/Oceania) • W for World (J+E+A, effectively all the existing regions) An original Xbox or Xbox 360 console will belong to one of the 3 regions, and will be able to read a disc with a region ID that corresponds to its region. For example, a Canadian 360 will be able to read discs with a XeMID that has either A, K, L or W as the region letter. If two variants from different regions have the same MediaID, it means that their content is 100% the same, they just have a different label. For the original Xbox, the XeMID was directly written on the disc, on the ringcode. Ringcodes are the small letters and numbers near the center hole of discs. This means it was easy to know to which region they belong. However, for Xbox 360, the ringcode is not the XeMID, but instead an 8 character code called MediaID (for "Alan Wake": 54E34DF4), that is unique to each XeMID. The XeMID is instead stored somewhere in the files of the game. Digital content through Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 and original Xbox are also region-locked, such as DLC, movies, and apps. Since they both use the same region locking system,
backward compatible OG Xbox games keep the same region on Xbox 360. If a game's region code was E on the original Xbox, it will also only work on PAL Xbox 360s. However, as the Xbox One and Xbox Series are using a recompiled version of the games,
backward compatible Xbox and Xbox 360 games are region free on Xbox One and Xbox Series.
Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S The
Xbox One was initially planned to have a region blocking policy that would have prevented its use outside its region in an effort to curb parallel importing. Microsoft later reversed the policy and the final retail version of the console was not region-locked. It was reported, though, that the console would be region-locked in
China; however, this decision has since been reverted as of April 2015. The
Xbox Series X and Series S are region-free.
Other The
TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine (the Japanese model of the TurboGrafx-16)
HuCards are region-locked, however this can be circumvented with adapters. The
Philips CD-i and the
3DO Interactive Multiplayer are region-free. Japanese 3DO units, however, have a
kanji font in ROM, which is required by a few games. When such games cannot find the font, they can get locked or rendered unplayable. The
Neo Geo,
Neo Geo CD, and
Neo Geo Pocket line are also region-free. Amongst
PC games, regional lockout is more difficult to enforce because both the game application and the operating system can be easily modified. Subscription-based online games often enforce a regional lock by blocking
IP addresses (which can often be circumvented through an
open proxy) or by requiring the user to enter a
national ID number (which may be impossible to verify). A number of other games using regional lockout are rare but do exist. One of the examples of this is the Windows version of
The Orange Box, which uses
Steam to enforce the regional lockout. Steam also enforces a form of regional lockout in adherence to German law by offering to German users special versions of some games with banned contentmost notably swastikasreplaced. Steam is also used to restrict the release of the PC port of
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to US and Europe only due to Sony having an exclusivity deal with Konami in Asia, and to restrict the Asian release of the
Final Fantasy XIII trilogy to Japanese-only versions of the games. Besides the law and licensing issues, there is also a financial reason for Steam to region lock their games, since in
Russia and other
CIS countries prices of games on Steam are much lower than in the
UK,
EU, or
North America. == Printers ==