racketboy.com

I hope y'all don't want to take away my no. 2 pencils

You know, I heard they used a Ticonderoga to kill Gunpei Yokoi.

Does Racketboy hate the Dixon Ticonderoga company or is it the other way around?



I'm totally indifferent to region locking. With how many amazing titles there are in my market, i've got more than i'll ever need without having to import. But if something japan exclusive is spectacular enough that i've got to try it, then i'll find a way to make it work, locked or not.

mjmjr25 wrote:

Hobie-wan wrote:I'm sorry Mike, but you're on crack. You should hire a food taster to make sure that isn't getting in your diet. Lack of region protection on the Game Boy and Game Gear systems didn't magically prevent differences in different areas of the world. The PC doesn't have any region protection and different things are released and sell differently around the world.

I think you're saying my opinion is wrong? Are you saying I haven't enjoyed hunting region exclusive titles?

As for GG, GB, and PC titles - hasn't it made them easier to find and less valuable as a whole?

The argument isn't what is easiest - it is what is preferred. In most cases i'd rather work and search for something, which is where I find a lot of my value in an experience. I'd rather make a phone call than send a text. I'd rather build bike rack for my kids than buy one. Sure, sometimes, life is moving fast and we need to make decisions based on convenience and speed. This isn't one of those issues - not to me at least. It's the reason i'd rather write a letter to a friend than an email --- I hope y'all don't want to take away my no. 2 pencils

You're reading way too much into what I said. You can still hunt for variations. For games released in different areas you can still search for your slightly de-sexified US releases, your German why aren't I killing Nazis the #1 best answer for nobody will be offended I'm killing thousands of them releases, your European killing zombies not people or anything but ninjas games, your red/white/green blood variants, games in different languages, or nice cover art versus someone's 14 year old cousin cover art. I think you're incorrectly inferring that without region locks, that everything would just get one worldwide release everywhere and make the hunt boring.

The region code preference can go either way. I have found Gameboy games that are exclusive to Japan that I love getting, no mod needed. I wish the Wii was import free without doing a mod, there are games I would like to try without the mod risk though small of bricking my Wii.

On the other hand, there is a kind of satisfaction finding an import exclusive game such as a Euro PAL game and also finding a way to play it on an older non bios patchable NTSC US console thru what ever mod conversion approach is needed. It makes finding that exclusive import game even more rewarding.

SamuraiMegas wrote:

Retronomy wrote:We should contact mods to have this thread merged with the unpopular opinions thread.

or locked, Rev's posts always get locked, it's like a tradition!

Listen to this guy, he's a lawyer!

Jmustang1968 wrote:Its more of an issue that you also have to import a console as well as the games. Or you have to mod your console which many are hesitant to do.

Exactly! Two things you consider "an issue" are positives for me. I enjoy importing different consoles. I enjoy modding consoles.

The only systems I have that are entirely region free (DS / DSi XL / PSP, etc) are the only systems I have that I don't have a PAL or JP console for. I can say unequivocally I have not enjoyed enjoyed collecting for either.

I prefer region free because:

- I can read Japanese so that means I don't have to limit myself to platformers/shmups/text-less games.
- I don't have the money to buy two versions of each console. Nor do I want that much clutter, honestly.

Ideally, I prefer consoles to be completely region free. But I can tolerate consoles that are easily modified to play imports (like the SNES, Saturn, and PS2).

enjoy the hunt, the discovery, the workarounds (mods), the exposure. Most people seem to want more / faster / now.

I like to slow down and enjoy life, but I don't like to waste my time trying to make my consoles play my games.

mjmjr25 wrote:Exactly! Two things you consider "an issue" are positives for me. I enjoy importing different consoles. I enjoy modding consoles.

The only systems I have that are entirely region free (DS / DSi XL / PSP, etc) are the only systems I have that I don't have a PAL or JP console for. I can say unequivocally I have not enjoyed enjoyed collecting for either.

How does this stop you from buying variants from other countries exactly? There are still different colors or decoration versions of those consoles in other countries. You could still have a Japanese Coke PSP, a UK P!nk PSP slim, and a US Green Lantern PSP 3000. Have a red Manchester United GB, a Japanese GB Pocket Lite, and the GBC with the Australian flag on it.

Buy US football games, some 'rest of the world' football games, and some game based so heavily off Japanese mythology that no company was brave enough to bring it out in the west.

Saying that you don't enjoy collecting something just because of some artificial commercial barrier seems silly to me when there are still plenty of other things that can still feed into the 'chase of elsewhere'.

It doesn't stop me Rather, why would I seek out variants when I no longer need to? I like a variant that also serves a purpose, again MY preference. Not that the variants are anything like they used to be, which lends to the point i've been inferring. The stock consoles this past generation all look the same. Sure, some one offs, but not like it used to be.

I'm not arguing against the idea that most people want region free. I'm arguing that not all people want region free. How that's silly, i'm unsure. I'm arguing that my past 5 years in the hobby were more enjoyable because of region locked games and consoles. I had more fun figuring out a way to play Taz Express than if I could have hit the EASY button.

Sourcing my copy of Battle Garegga and my JP SAT and my model 2 controllers was surely more enjoyable than buying my region free copy of Vampire Resurrection. This seems a convenience argument to me. Convenience does not beget ideals I prefer or hold in high regard.

mjmjr25 wrote:This seems a convenience argument to me. Convenience does not beget ideals I prefer or hold in high regard.

Making something more convenient is not the same as making something artificially more difficult.

Having water piped to your house where it comes out a tap just by turning a faucet is more convenient than dropping a bucket into a well in the back yard or in the center of town and walk it back every day.

Chopping off a piece of plastic, buying a second console, or hacking (installing someone else's hack) because someone implemented region locks might provide an afternoon of puzzle figuring, but it is still an added inconvenience.

Anyway, your opinion. Just one that I don't share.