What is the point of region locking?

[pankakes123]

Well for starters they don't want other regions getting games earlier. Also they don't want to allow people to be scammed into spending too much money on an import that isn't even coming from the actual company, but instead a third party seller.

[Menegrothx]

Sensitive regions. Some games could be regarded as offensive for religious or political reasons, and regional lockout may be required to prevent these games from being distributed in sensitive countries.

There are some funny examples of this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games

People's Republic of China
Command & Conquer Generals Banned for "smearing the image of China and the Chinese army" despite the fact that the game presents China as a quasi-protagonist.[10] Additionally, the Chinese campaign has the player destroy questionable targets such as the Three Gorges Dam and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Football Manager 2005 Banned for recognizing Tibet as an independent country. An edited version globally was later released.
Hearts of Iron Banned for portraying Tibet, Sinkiang, and Manchuria as independent countries and Taiwan as under Japanese control.[10]
I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike Banned because of "intentionally blackening China and the Chinese army's image."

Denmark
EA Sports MMA This game was not released in Denmark because of a law prohibiting marketing for energy drinks, which is a central part of the game.

Saudi Arabia
Pokémon series (trading cards only) Banned because of "promoting Zionism and gambling."[32][33]

In the West we ban games because of gore, nudity, racism etc but in China Football Manager 2005 gets banned while Manhunt is OK

[ZeroAX]

Cause 1€ = 1.2$ in real terms but 1€ = 1$ in game publisher terms.

Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_electronic_game_ban

HUH. We still got it

[Menegrothx]

Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_electronic_game_ban

HUH. We still got it

On January 14, 2004, the Greek police raided Internet cafes in Larissa, as reported by Eleftherotypia newspaper. Eighty computers were taken by the police as evidence, and three Internet cafe owners were arrested

One of the immediate effects of the bill was the eradication of the small but long-established arcade videogame market, virtually overnight. All legitimate arcade venues were immediately shut down, along with internet cafes. Although internet cafes soon reopened, arcades that focused on gaming only were directly targeted by the ban, so they remained closed indefinitely.

Typical BS Never mind the debt crisis, apparently they have more important things to worry about

[ZeroAX]

Typical BS Never mind the debt crisis, apparently they have more important things to worry about

um this was in 2002 long before the crisis. Actually it was supposed to stop illegal gambling, it's just that the wording of the law was so badly chosen it ended up talking about all interactive entertainment. No one was ever found guilty for breaking the law, but yeah it was a pain for the unlucky few who run into police officers who thought it was a good idea to follow the law to the letter.