Blu-Ray Region Coding News

normyk

According to Engadget (who are getting their info second hand) they have announced that Region 1 for BluRay will be (drumroll please)….
North America, South America, and East Asia (except for China).

What the hell does that mean?

It's just like the DVD region codes that suck so bad only this is good.

The US and Japan are in the same region. It means that we, in the US, will probably be able to import PS3 games and Blu-Ray movies and anime at will. No mod chips, no secret codes to defeat region coding, none of that crap. We're one big happy region. Europe gets screwed.

Still confused?
For those that haven't been following the hoo-ha in the geek arena there has been a big fight over what is going to replace DVDs and the two contenders are HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Both are heavily copy-protected, large capacity, high definition video/data discs. HD-DVD gives users more ability to make fair use of their media and is cheaper to make and Blu-Ray has bigger discs.

Without getting too much into the fight Sony is pushing Blu-Ray and will be using it in the PS3. Nearly everybody has at least one foot in the Blu-Ray camp these days and it is looking more and more like the eventual winner of the fight.

Sooooo anyway…. w00t! One region! News so good it doesn't just call for Steve, it calls for the Turtle.
:steve:

Bounty1Berry

I'm amazed that no government regulators have the stones to take on the content industry.

It's clear that region coding exists predominantly, if not exclusively, to prevent people from end-running their high fixed prices by buying their media overseas in markets which wouldn't stand for a $19 disc, and secondarily to ensure they can "stagger" releases without worrying people who don't want to wait for the film to come out on a local cinema can't just skip it entirely and buy an American DVD.

RoboBlue

Isn't that… wrong though?
I mean, if you can pay for the dvd, you should be able to watch it.
Besides, the increased price on Japanized American goods mostly comes from Japan's outrageous import taxes.

Cyberdude93

@normyk:

It's just like the DVD region codes that suck so bad only this is good. The US and Japan are in the same region.

Oh, the original region codes suck because Europe shares with Japan, but the new ones MUST be oh so good because EVERYONE lives in the USA. No, wait, more than 2x as many people live in Europe than the USA.

And I very much doubt that the game and video region codes are the same thing, because they sure as hell weren't for regular DVD. Can you play a Japanese DVD in a European DVD player? Of course you can. Can you play a Japanese PS2 game in a European PS2? Of course you can't.

Bounty1Berry

@RoboBlue:

Isn't that… wrong though?
I mean, if you can pay for the dvd, you should be able to watch it.
Besides, the increased price on Japanized American goods mostly comes from Japan's outrageous import taxes.

It's not all about price.
The region code allows them to have much greater control over the distribution schedule. If they want to hold off releasing a DVD in a region for a year or two, they can, secure in the knowledge that most people will not have the technical knowledge or ability to hack their players to buy it

normyk

@Cyberdude93:

Oh, the original region codes suck because Europe shares with Japan, but the new ones MUST be oh so good because EVERYONE lives in the USA. No, wait, more than 2x as many people live in Europe than the USA.

And I very much doubt that the game and video region codes are the same thing, because they sure as hell weren't for regular DVD. Can you play a Japanese DVD in a European DVD player? Of course you can. Can you play a Japanese PS2 game in a European PS2? Of course you can't.

I apologize.
It is good only for those of us in the US. We got screwed on DVD region codes so it's nice to have this one go our way.
My statement that Europe gets screwed stands. Europe gets shafted hard.
The PS3 angle is speculation by a third party and I agree it's a stretch but it was in the article so I included it. Fact is that a Sony rep has been quoted saying that there is likely to be no region coding on PS3 games at all.

igalsfy

@normyk:

My statement that Europe gets screwed stands. Europe gets shafted hard.

yeah, i'm clearly feeling it deep in my @$$

that sucks for us but well, this zoning will be cracked in no time.