That's right, Atlus has announced that Persona 4 Arena will be region-locked in all territories on both PS3 and 360...
Yes, the PS3 is usually entirely region-free, however an Atlus representative dropped some bad news for importers on their official forums.
In a rare move, they've announced that the PS3 version of Persona 4 Arena will also be region-locked.
Sorry for the delayed confirmation, but yes, the PS3 version game will be region-locked. I certainly can't offer details as to why, but there might be an official response at some point.
To reiterate, our version of the game works for the North and South America regions. Also keep in mind that both the NA and JP versions have both English and Japanese text/voice options, making them nearly identical. I'm unsure of what the case will be for the EU version.
Well, after that, Atlus confirmed EGM that "Persona 4 Arena will be region-locked in all territories on both PS3 and 360". So, it isn't just the NA version.
And yes, that completely screws up European players:
If you have a Euro PS3, then you'd be outta luck until a possible Euro localization occurs.
So, that's right, this is the first game since the release of the PS3 in 2006 to ever feature complete region-locking.
What do you think?
* UPDATE:
Here's Atlus USA PR info:
Friends of ATLUS,
The last week brought with it news that Persona°4 Arena™ would effectively become the first PlayStation°3 system game to be region-locked. We can today confirm that this is true; the game will be region-locked in all its respective territories of release.
As we've ascertained from your impassioned responses online, this is obviously a tremendous frustration for many fans. We understand the various perspectives on the matter. Those who fear this is a slippery slope, the beginning of a dangerous and unnecessary precedent. Those who import foreign hardware for a multitude of reasons and expect to be unlimited in their software selection. Those who aren't necessarily affected by this issue, but who are principally opposed to it. We are not blind to these concerns and we pledge to grow ever more informed as to exactly what our fans want. It should be added that we were completely unprepared for the force with which the community communicated their disapproval.
There are, however, a few points to clarify. This is NOT the beginning of a new ATLUS policy, nor do we view it as a precedent or a slippery slope. If anything, your determination and dedication to what you believe in has certainly stood in the face of that. This is an isolated case, a situation precipitated by a number of factors, some of which are simply out of our North American hands. Moreover, and perhaps there is no way to convince our fans of this considering the magnitude of the betrayal many are feeling, but we are not doing this out of malice or a desire to control. Allow us to explain.
Persona 4 Arena achieves a number of triumphs for our North American publishing house. For years, our fans have asked us to include dual language audio in our games. Finally, with P4 Arena, we were able to deliver on that desire and include the exact same content as the Japanese release for our North American fans. Moreover, our North American community is often forced to wait months for a localized release (a plight our friends across the Atlantic can relate to). Again, with P4 Arena, we're able to release within two weeks of Japan. We pushed hard for these things. We know our fans want them--well really, EXPECT them--and we did our best to get as much for our release as possible.
The unforeseen consequence in all of this was that we had a version of our biggest game of the year releasing within a couple weeks in two territories, both identical in content, but at radically different price points. Importing, as great as it is for gamers who otherwise can't get access to a title, can also cannibalize the performance of a title in one territory to the benefit of another. While we're all one big ATLUS family, the reality is that the dramatic difference between the Yen and the Dollar makes for a dramatic difference in price. So the decision was made, perhaps at the expense of some of our fans, clearly at the frustration of many, to region-lock Persona 4 Arena.
For many of you, there is no explanation that resonates, no justification that atones for this fact. We can only endeavor to earn back your confidence and, to learn from your arguments. We absolutely recognize the fear
this is the beginning of a trend. We in no way view it as such. Please also keep in mind that the game's excellent online multiplayer is global, a fact that is in no way affected by the region-lock. Players can compete against fighters from all territories.
A tremendous team of talented developers and artists poured their blood, sweat, and tears into Persona 4 Arena, and every reaction we've ever received to the game has shown that those efforts are readily apparent. The decision to region-lock P4 Arena was a business one, one that has very clearly affected how many perceive the project, but we ask you to please not overlook the exceptional efforts of the people behind the game and to work with us through constructive dialogue.
Thank you.
Sony had the option to 'region-lock' games since firmware v3.30, but did not offer the option to publishers until the more recent SDK's starting with v3.50.
If this becomes the NORM for publishers to use in the future, it might mean more work for the 'eboot' crackers as each region would have to be supplied to match the region of machine running CFW v3.55.
It possible to overcome this problem with more low-level patches to the VSH, but what developers are left to explore in IDA to find them and release the info.
In the end, if this becomes the NORM it might mean more business for the dongle makers if they come up with a solution to the region-locking first.
That press release from Atlus was actually a very eloquent and reasoned response. I still think, however, that the JRPG community should boycott this game on general principal. A message needs to be sent.
So let me get this straight. Basically people have been clamoring for more games that aren't released outside of japan and clamoring for more games that give you japanese audio along with the english. Atlus here has said they did their best to meet those wishes, but is afraid that people will still import the games causing the sales in their native region to drop, possibly ruining it for everybody. The bad thing is that fans may end up boycotting the game and ruining it for everybody when future games are no longer released outside of japan and the japanese language is no longer included in the games that ARE released.
I've never been a fan of using the foreign languages and never been a fan of the undub scene. I do think that if somebody wants the japanese, why not, though? As long as it doesn't take away the english. There will always be those purists that despise their own language as they think it perverts the purity of the original. And sure, I have heard some bad voice acting, but none of it has made me want to play the game with unintelligible (as I don't speak japanese) voices. And I would rather be watching the action on the screen than reading the translation at the bottom. But I have also never been a fan of games not being released outside of japan either. Sure, the game may not be localised, but at least give people the choice. And I hate it when fan translations are put to an end by companies that have no intentions of translating it or licensing a company to do so. It really gives of an air that the companies are discriminating. Some even don't like it when you do import because suddenly they don't care that they are getting more money and getting more fans. You're not going to play the game if they have any say in the matter.
Overall in this situation, the two games are virtually identical if Atlus is to be believed so both english and japanese are on both of the games. Unfortunately, I guess Europeans have to wait and they didn't mention it was the same as the other games. That was a big mistake on Atlus's part. They've alienated one of the largest regions of gamers by leaving them behind and out of the loop. If they were afraid that some people would still import the game instead of buying it local, they may have just made things worse. Since now, many will just boycott the game and after that, everybody will lose. I don't like region locking, but I also don't think this is a big enough reason to boycott and it could end up backfiring on us.
So let me get this straight. Basically people have been clamoring for more games that aren't released outside of japan and clamoring for more games that give you japanese audio along with the english. Atlus here has said they did their best to meet those wishes, but is afraid that people will still import the games causing the sales in their native region to drop, possibly ruining it for everybody. The bad thing is that fans may end up boycotting the game and ruining it for everybody when future games are no longer released outside of japan and the japanese language is no longer included in the games that ARE released.
I've never been a fan of using the foreign languages and never been a fan of the undub scene. I do think that if somebody wants the japanese, why not, though? As long as it doesn't take away the english. There will always be those purists that despise their own language as they think it perverts the purity of the original. And sure, I have heard some bad voice acting, but none of it has made me want to play the game with unintelligible (as I don't speak japanese) voices. And I would rather be watching the action on the screen than reading the translation at the bottom. But I have also never been a fan of games not being released outside of japan either. Sure, the game may not be localised, but at least give people the choice. And I hate it when fan translations are put to an end by companies that have no intentions of translating it or licensing a company to do so. It really gives of an air that the companies are discriminating. Some even don't like it when you do import because suddenly they don't care that they are getting more money and getting more fans. You're not going to play the game if they have any say in the matter.
Overall in this situation, the two games are virtually identical if Atlus is to be believed so both english and japanese are on both of the games. Unfortunately, I guess Europeans have to wait and they didn't mention it was the same as the other games. That was a big mistake on Atlus's part. They've alienated one of the largest regions of gamers by leaving them behind and out of the loop. If they were afraid that some people would still import the game instead of buying it local, they may have just made things worse. Since now, many will just boycott the game and after that, everybody will lose. I don't like region locking, but I also don't think this is a big enough reason to boycott and it could end up backfiring on us.
In short, we're more or less stuck in a gaming dilemma either way and because of Atlus not being able to deal with publishing their games for Europe themselves (hint: look who publishes their previous games for the European continent), it usually leads to a lengthy wait just for the game to get released.
If anything, I just hope that it is a lesson learnt from this situation, and that they should be able to deal with such situations better in the future.
Persona 4 Arena will be Region Locked on the PS3
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Originally Posted by AlbedoAtoned
