The PokéCommunity Forums

The PokéCommunity Forums (https://www.pokecommunity.com/index.php)
-   Previous Generations (https://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=200)
-   -   4th Gen Clearing up the Confusion on Regions - Regional Differences in Pokémon Games (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=81853)

wakachamo April 1st, 2007 5:21 PM

Clearing up the Confusion on Regions - Regional Differences in Pokémon Games
 

Clearing up the Confusion on Regions - Regional Differences in Pokémon Games


Note: OK I'd just like to say first of all that I'm basing this off pure speculation and logic, including some past experiences. Do also note that this post is in constant evolution, and whenever there's something new, I'll report it here.

Right, so I've noticed a recent hassle in these boards due to misunderstanding of how regional differences on the DS work - I live in Europe, should I buy Diamond in the US? Will it work? Will the online feature work? How about trading? What about somebody with a Japanese game? etc.

I'm here to clear that up.

OK, so first of all, DS games are not region-restricted. For example, you buy Elite Beat Agents for your European DS; everything will work fine.

This advantage has led many people to think about importing.
I will talk about the compatibility to the different-regioned games (US, EUR, and JP) and whether or not they can interact with each other under various circumstances. Let's start with local wireless.

Local Wireless


So far, no problem whatsoever has been encountered when it comes to Local Wireless. If you have a US game and your friend owns a Japanese one, everything will work fine, including battles, trades, making poffins/contests together etc. - The local wireless feature shouldn't in any way be affected by the region in which the game has been bought in.
When it comes to compatibility with European games, however, we can only speculate that the same thing will happen to them: no problems at all. However, we're not very sure whether or not Nintendo of Europe will decide to imply a regional blocking in local wireless. Worry not, however, since this is very unlikely to happen, especially with a game that supports online gameplay.
Mystery Gift also works between different regioned-games.

Wi-Fi


  • Battles and Trades/Battle Tower Wi-Fi Room


    Don't worry about Wi-Fi, because everything works absolutely fine. If you have a friend overseas, and has your friend code registered, and you have his friend code etc., you'll be able to trade just like you were in front of each other. Voice chat will work, etc.
    The same thing goes to the Battle Tower Wi-Fi room. You'll be able to go on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, download a team and battle it. Even if you've imported the game, Wi-Fi will work. Hence, no problems on this side.
  • Global Trade Station


    I've decided to add this to this post not because of the GTS itself. The GTS works fine, even if you imported, like I said in the paragraph above, but there's one little thing that can detract the experience:
    You'll notice that in the GTS building itself, there's a little globe called the GeoNet, which displays the location of players that you've battled/traded with in the past. The reason why it shows this is because the players themselves have specified the location in which they're in. But that's not the problem.
    If you live in Europe and imported the game from the US, how can you be so sure that the game contains the location name of which you're in? Since it's an American game, it's likely to have only the states of the US, right?
    Turns out that no. You'll still be able to choose whether you live in Bradford or Paris, etc.
So, in brief, everything works fine when it comes to Wi-Fi.

Pal Park


A little bit of confusion has risen about Pal Park. The question is, will you be able to get Pokémon off a European GBA game into a US D/P? The answer is yes, but under very special circumstances.

You CAN import Pokémon from your European GBA game, as long as it's English. If the game is French/Spanish/etc. then you won't be able to to get them off the game. You'd have to trade them onto an English GBA game and then do the importing from there.
The reason as to why this needs to be done is because Diamond and Pearl and instructed to respons to a GBA game's language. Even though GBA games DO feature region coding (a demographic location code contained within most games), that doesn't affect Diamond/Pearl.

Compatibility with Pokémon Battle Revolution, and PBR Itself


Pokémon Battle Revolution has been available in Japan since December 16th 2006, and is scheduled to release in the US June 25th of this year. This is why I'd like to give out one big warning to our European gamers out there:
Do not import Pokémon Battle Revolution if you bought your Wii in Europe. The reason for this is that Wii games are actually region-locked, and will not work in any way if they're inserted on a Wii of a region that does not match that of the game's. Sorry guys, but it looks like you'll actually haev to wait for the European release date for playing online in full 3D.

When it comes to compatibility between D/P, intially everything SHOULD work fine, regardless of regions. However, I can't guarantee this, and as soon as I get a chance of actually proving this and getting more details about this situation, I'll post it here as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

(Many thanks to Hiroshi Sotomura for the help on compiling facts for this list)

Red1530 April 1st, 2007 5:49 PM

I think you have cleared it up for our European friends about importing.

Paranoia April 1st, 2007 8:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2430192)

2nd Example.
  • You have a DS. You buy an American version of Diamond. You want to battle with your friends, who own a European version of it. Will it work?
    The answer is no. Why? Because if you have an American game, trying to connect wirelessly to a European one, that won't work. The reason? Nintendo of Europe likes screwing up with local wireless capabilities, so, let's say, the encoding of the European game isn't quite the same as the American one, so they actually can't detect each other. Troublesome, I know.

Hmmm, Sorry to say but this isn't entirely true. I tested this with Tetris DS, a European version and a USA version, And they connected perfectly, I could play 2 player tetris.

Although I don't know if it will be similar with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. But as far as tetris goes, (It is made by Nintendo) it works.

Ichida April 1st, 2007 8:48 PM

And why would they allow two different-region games to be compatible over Wi-Fi and not over local wireless?

Samson April 1st, 2007 11:32 PM

you're using logic, waka, but we'll have to wait and see how things turn out.

Ayano Katagiri April 1st, 2007 11:45 PM

Interesting ideas, and logically sound. But you never know, Nintendo may just let this one off and form an all round compatible game.

ss5vegeta April 2nd, 2007 6:52 AM

Will my american GBA pokemon games work on a european revolution?

wakachamo April 2nd, 2007 7:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paranoia (Post 2430358)
Hmmm, Sorry to say but this isn't entirely true. I tested this with Tetris DS, a European version and a USA version, And they connected perfectly, I could play 2 player tetris.

Although I don't know if it will be similar with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. But as far as tetris goes, (It is made by Nintendo) it works.

Eh? Really? Well thanks for that. This might just turn the tables on this whole situation. Personally I'm gonna wait until I get my American version of Diamond, but thanks once again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ichida (Post 2430375)
And why would they allow two different-region games to be compatible over Wi-Fi and not over local wireless?

Because Wi-Fi's supposed to work with all regions, and local wireless obviously shouldn't be like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samson (Post 2430489)
you're using logic, waka, but we'll have to wait and see how things turn out.

Thanks, but you're right. I can't directly prove this until I get my hands on the actual game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by !!**Alex**!! (Post 2430493)
Interesting ideas, and logically sound. But you never know, Nintendo may just let this one off and form an all round compatible game.

That is possible, but very, very unlikely, seeing as in late 2006, Nintendo completely discouraged importing when Diamond/Pearl's details were first set off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss5vegeta (Post 2430659)
Will my american GBA pokemon games work on a european revolution?

WTF?

Forci Stikane April 2nd, 2007 4:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss5vegeta (Post 2430659)
Will my american GBA pokemon games work on a european revolution?

For the...FIFTH time, NO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo
WTF?

Seconded. Some people just don't get the message...

I applaud you for actually using logic in your argument, though.

wakachamo April 2nd, 2007 4:37 PM

^It's what I do. =P Thanks for the comment though. I can't really be too sure about the second example listed because I've yet to test this, but note my word - I'll be sure to give a certain opinion and update on this as soon as it's possible to be clarified for me.

Virtual Headache April 2nd, 2007 5:16 PM

What about Pal Park?
It's never been clear, whether US D/P would work with an English game.

I know it doesn't with different language games, but what about games from the same language but different regions?

IIRC I read somewhere, that Pal Park is a little bit special concerning regions.

Paranoia April 2nd, 2007 5:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virtual Headache (Post 2431201)
What about Pal Park?
It's never been clear, whether US D/P would work with an English game.

I know it doesn't with different language games, but what about games from the same language but different regions?

IIRC I read somewhere, that Pal Park is a little bit special concerning regions.

I guess you'll just have to wait until there out, I'll test it though when they do come out, just to "Clear up the Confusion"

wakachamo April 3rd, 2007 6:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virtual Headache (Post 2431201)
What about Pal Park?
It's never been clear, whether US D/P would work with an English game.

I know it doesn't with different language games, but what about games from the same language but different regions?

IIRC I read somewhere, that Pal Park is a little bit special concerning regions.

Y'know, different languages might work. There's no need of translation involved between the two games because each message has an ID, and that ID has already been translated. Hence, it might work.

...aaand I don't believe you on that Pal Park thing, since GBA games are seriously just not region-restricted. They're just not. However I'll keep a lookout for that one as well, so thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paranoia (Post 2431223)
I guess you'll just have to wait until there out, I'll test it though when they do come out, just to "Clear up the Confusion"

...XDD me too.

Virtual Headache April 3rd, 2007 9:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2431810)
Y'know, different languages might work. There's no need of translation involved between the two games because each message has an ID, and that ID has already been translated. Hence, it might work.

...aaand I don't believe you on that Pal Park thing, since GBA games are seriously just not region-restricted. They're just not. However I'll keep a lookout for that one as well, so thanks.

Pal Park doesn't work with different language games, if that's what you mean.
Otherwise, I would have had a lot of fun transferring^^

Some (not me) said that Pal Park is region restricted, I might look for the post.
He meant Pal Park itself, not the GBA game.

wakachamo April 3rd, 2007 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virtual Headache (Post 2431925)
Pal Park doesn't work with different language games, if that's what you mean.
Otherwise, I would have had a lot of fun transferring^^

Some (not me) said that Pal Park is region restricted, I might look for the post.
He meant Pal Park itself, not the GBA game.

For the first part of your post, it might work with different language games. The Pokémon remain the same, the data in the game remains the same.

As for the second part, how can Pal Park be region-restricted if it can't detect the region of GBA games? Like I said before, the fact that GBA games don't have a region affects the fact that Pal Park is region-restricted. If games don't have a region, then its accessory can't be region-restricted.

Also, languages don't play a role in this. Languages are just changes in text and images. That won't affect anything. I've traded a Zapdos from my Japanese LeafGreen to my English FireRed and everything worked out just fine. Why, it even kept its Japanese nick I gave it! XD

Virtual Headache April 3rd, 2007 2:15 PM

I doesn't work with different language games, I already stated that...
My Diamond doesn't recognise my German Sapphire and I'm not the only one with that problem.

wakachamo April 3rd, 2007 2:16 PM

^Eh? Really? Ah, well sorry about that. Maybe it is restricted to regions. Ah well, I'm gonna have to check that out.

ss5vegeta April 4th, 2007 1:25 AM

Serebii.net stated that D/P wouldent work with games of a diffrent language, but said nothing about the same.

So my American GBA games will be able to transfer and trigger wild pokemon to appear in any D/P because they don't use Wi Fi.

But nothing official has been stated about using an American D/P on a PAL region Battle Revoultion as long as the Wii is using the same Wi Fi network as the ountry your in so your DS should be able to sense that.

And im not sure but if I put my GBA game cartridge in my DS could I use that team on Battle Revolution without having to trade to D/P? Becuase the GBA games arent region locked in any way.

So I geuss ill wit until they come out and try them, if they don't ill just buy 'em again.

wakachamo April 4th, 2007 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss5vegeta (Post 2432591)
Serebii.net stated that D/P wouldent work with games of a diffrent language, but said nothing about the same.

So my American GBA games will be able to transfer and trigger wild pokemon to appear in any D/P because they don't use Wi Fi.

But nothing official has been stated about using an American D/P on a PAL region Battle Revoultion as long as the Wii is using the same Wi Fi network as the ountry your in so your DS should be able to sense that.

And im not sure but if I put my GBA game cartridge in my DS could I use that team on Battle Revolution without having to trade to D/P? Becuase the GBA games arent region locked in any way.

So I geuss ill wit until they come out and try them, if they don't ill just buy 'em again.

I didn't understand your 1st sentence, you're right about the 2nd sentence, the Wii needs to have the same network encoding as the DS's (apparently) on regard to your 3rd, so yeah, you're right on that one, but it doesn't need to be the same one as your country's. o_O

As fopr your 4th, you won't be able to use your GBA team on Battle Revolution, because there's no way Battle Revolution can communicate with the GBA. End of story. You'll need to use the Pal Park to get your team on the DS.

ss5vegeta April 4th, 2007 11:25 AM

Well now I no that, I dont need to buy a new emerald and Sapphire!!

I could buy D or P from America and a prima guide complete it. then when they come out in England ill buy both and link to battle revolution and probably sell my 1st D/P.

Well it's not 100% that it wont connect to Battle rev, so ill just wait until it comes out.

So the plan is buy Diamond (better colour) and the guide (I love looking at the pokedex's) of the internet.

Swampert26 April 4th, 2007 6:01 PM

Attention!!! the ds games arnt region sealed but gba games are region sealed! so it wont work the euopean gba game will just deny the transfer/detection of the ds game!

ss5vegeta April 5th, 2007 4:35 AM

My American Sapphire and emeralds work on my european ds.

wakachamo April 5th, 2007 6:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swampert26 (Post 2433576)
Attention!!! the ds games arnt region sealed but gba games are region sealed! so it wont work the euopean gba game will just deny the transfer/detection of the ds game!

ss5vegeta is right; GBA games aren't sealed. I also have an Emerald DS and works with everything I have that supports the games - including Pokémon Box.

ss5vegeta April 5th, 2007 7:20 AM

My Pokemon Ranger is american, becuase pokemon ranger isant out in England yet.

Would that be able to trade the manaphy to an english diamond or pearl?

1 last queston, if theoraticly I can play an american Battle rev on my wii would it be able to link up to my american d/p on a english ds and wii?

wakachamo April 10th, 2007 6:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss5vegeta (Post 2434317)
My Pokemon Ranger is american, becuase pokemon ranger isant out in England yet.

Would that be able to trade the manaphy to an english diamond or pearl?

1 last queston, if theoraticly I can play an american Battle rev on my wii would it be able to link up to my american d/p on a english ds and wii?

Yes, it would. Too bad Wii games are region-restricted.

Law07 April 11th, 2007 4:54 AM

All questions well be answered in 11 days! :D

Thanks btw! This cleared up alot of things. I (the smart one) is getting one from USA and my friend pre-ordered it for the Uk.

Will be interesting

Lil-Dill April 11th, 2007 11:47 AM

Thanks for clearing this up Wakachamo. Now I can tell my cousins in england about this.

wakachamo April 11th, 2007 2:25 PM

^XD No prob, in fact I myself learnt something with all this.

UnHoly April 14th, 2007 8:27 AM

importing from the US
 
i live in UK and i am considering importing the US version, however i have a couple of queries, i know it will work on my DS but i need to know:

1. Will i be able to trade from my UK version of emerald
2. will i be able to trade to UK versions of the game when they come out

wakachamo April 14th, 2007 8:33 AM

First off, you don't trade from the GBA games, you "import the Pokémon". I can almost 100% guarantee you that that will work with absolutely no problems, since GBA games are also region-free.

As for your second question, we can't really guarantee first off.
The thing is, we don't know if it depends on the region of the game, or the region of the DS. However, some people say that it actually depends on the region of the DS, which means that you might be able to trade effortlessly with UK versions of the game.

Hope I helped.

ss5vegeta April 14th, 2007 8:36 AM

I live in the UK, and preordered and ordered Diamond and diamond guide book of prima of ebay.

If I get my Wii chiped I can play Battle Rev from america and use my american diamond team on it.

wakachamo April 14th, 2007 8:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss5vegeta (Post 2446069)
I live in the UK, and preordered and ordered Diamond and diamond guide book of prima of ebay.

If I get my Wii chiped I can play Battle Rev from america and use my american diamond team on it.

You can't get your Wii "chipped" and make it play NTSC games. That's just not possible as of yet, and I haven't heard of a true solution to that.

But, in regard to connecting Diamond to it, you won't need to get the american PBR to get it to work. I can't tell you surely, but it might just work with the UK PBR.

ss5vegeta April 14th, 2007 8:42 AM

It is possible, I know a guy who knows a guy who can do it, they made a chip for it.

Even if PBR does work ill chip it any way so i can get games earlier. (about 1 year earlier.)

wakachamo April 14th, 2007 8:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss5vegeta (Post 2446074)
It is possible, I know a guy who knows a guy who can do it, they made a chip for it.

Even if PBR does work ill chip it any way so i can get games earlier. (about 1 year earlier.)

You sure it's for NTSC compatibility, instead of just running backups? Running backups by modding the Wii is possible, but I've honestly never heard of anything such as making it able to read NTSC.

Lil-Dill April 15th, 2007 10:45 AM

Wait I still got a question. My mom is going to U.S. and A. to go for my aunts graduation(shes only 18 and in highskool). And she said shes going to get me pokemon Pearl. And I have my DS here in canada. Will Pokemon Pearl work on my DS?

wakachamo April 15th, 2007 11:13 AM

^Undeniably, yes you will. The USA and Canada are considered to be one sole region, since they both use NTSC. Everything will work smoothly.

Lil-Dill April 15th, 2007 2:14 PM

Oh sweeeet! Thanks for telling me this. I might even get Pokemon Diamond...just to be greedy!

wakachamo April 25th, 2007 8:12 AM

^No prob.

Update:
OK, just to update on some questions about the Pal Park.
Pal Park in the US version Diamond does work with European English GBA games, from what I've heard. I've updated the first post with some details on the regions of Pal Park. Note that I'm still basing this off logic, and might not be 100% true, true fact. Not for long, though, as on the 29th, I'll revise this and update.

(Thanks to Forest Grovyle for the suggestion)

Virtual Headache April 25th, 2007 8:15 AM

You are right, it does.
SPP has confirmed that it isn't region locked, but only langauge locked.
So you can transfer Pokémon from your UK GBA games to the US D/P.

wakachamo April 25th, 2007 8:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virtual Headache (Post 2457976)
You are right, it does.
SPP has confirmed that it isn't region locked, but only langauge locked.
So you can transfer Pokémon from your UK GBA games to the US D/P.

Exactly. GBA games work differently because they're language locked. I've mentioned that in my first post. Thanks.

ss5vegeta April 25th, 2007 8:23 AM

Now we no that Pal Park is only language locked and not region locked, the same thing might happen with Battle Rev.

mko April 25th, 2007 9:05 AM

There is also "GBA Pokémon Insertion". However, if pal park workd this should work too. (I belive)

Virtual Headache April 25th, 2007 9:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mko (Post 2458014)
There is also "GBA Pokémon Insertion". However, if pal park workd this should work too. (I belive)

GBA Pokémon Insertion isn't blocked in any way.
I've got Japanese Diamond and German GBA games and it's working for me.

wakachamo April 25th, 2007 9:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virtual Headache (Post 2458017)
GBA Pokémon Insertion isn't blocked in any way.
I've got Japanese Diamond and German GBA games and it's working for me.

That's right, since the GBA Pokémon insertion doesn't actually have to look in the code for that to work.

_Prince_ April 25th, 2007 12:53 PM

Well well well, looks like wakachamo you was right after all.
I'm still not getting the USA d/p, I'm still happy to wait.

wakachamo May 8th, 2007 8:00 AM

I've updated the first post with more accurate examples and some stuff based on personal experience, seeing as I've got the game as well now. =P

kingofgames157 May 20th, 2007 8:43 AM

its ur decison?

o_0????
=D

wakachamo May 20th, 2007 8:50 AM

...could you please try to make sense in your post? XD

Toothache May 21st, 2007 12:39 AM

Ok, this makes sense. I think I'll hang fire until a European release date happens for D/P and PBR.

Red X May 23rd, 2007 7:16 AM

So just to clear things up, you can trade if one person is using a EU DS and the other an US DS?

wakachamo May 23rd, 2007 8:51 AM

^No. You can trade if you have an EU and US D/P. The DS's region needs to be the same.

Red X May 25th, 2007 2:44 AM

But you said you could...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2430192)

Global Trade Station
Like I said above, Wi-Fi is fully supported no matter where you are, no matter what DS you have.
However, like many of you know, the Global Trade Station, located by the Pokémon School in Jubilife City, uses a special globe called the GeoNet, which shows the position of people whom you have traded (whether it's GTS or not, doesn't matter) and battled.
So, obviously you will have to input your location as well.
Question is, will you be able to put a European location on Pokémon D/P that came from the US? The answer's yes, you will be able to, seeing as I've got my location on my Diamond. =P


laxstar333 May 25th, 2007 8:49 AM

I got Uk DS and American pokemon pearl and it works fine

Red X May 25th, 2007 9:58 AM

So I need an American copy of Pearl/Diamond to trade people in the US region?

Virtual Headache May 25th, 2007 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red X (Post 2496289)
So I need an American copy of Pearl/Diamond to trade people in the US region?

No.
You can trade with people from everywhere with every version.
You can trade between a Japanese D/P and an US one for example.

Red X May 25th, 2007 12:46 PM

So example:

I have an EU DS and game, I can trade with someone with a US DS and game?

wakachamo May 25th, 2007 1:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red X (Post 2496020)
But you said you could...

You pointed out the GTS. GTS uses Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi a completely different story. We're not talking about that here, are we? We're talking about local trades.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red X (Post 2496473)
So example:

I have an EU DS and game, I can trade with someone with a US DS and game?

The game's region doesn't matter. However, even though I can't exactly prove this for the moment, the DS's region needs to be the same. So:

EU DS and any game, with EU DS and any game.

Get it now?

Senerio May 26th, 2007 4:29 AM

Nintendo DS units appear to be the same worldwide. There shouldn't be any physical "regions" between the units.

MetalMario May 26th, 2007 10:21 AM

I really don't want to read this thread. Most of it is filled with worthless "will XXX work with YYY?" BS. I hope you can understand.

Now Wakachamo, I'm going to have to disagree with you in regards to the DS region locking portion. To the best of my knowledge, there's no difference between the software on different DSes from different regions. The same generally holds true for same-language games from different regions. (This is also the basis for the Pal Park Language Lock as opposed to a Region Lock.) So, a US D/P should be compatible with a UK D/P over local wireless. I'd even go so far as to say that different-languaged games ought to be compatible over local wireless but I can't confirm this.

What I can confirm is that I was able to race my brother, who was using a Japanese MKDS game, with my US MKDS game, over local wireless without difficulty. Diamond/Pearl are much more complicated in their communications protocols, so they may not be locally compatible, but, seeing as Japanese and English Pokémon can be exchanged freely over the internet (as well as 3rd-gen link trading between versions), it would appear that the language barrier has already been broken, so it's possible that the communications protocols for local wireless are the same as well. (This needs confirmation. Anyone have an English D/P, a Japanese D/P, and 2 DSes?)

So, to summarize:
-The DS has NO region locking.
-DS games have NO region locking.
-Communications protocols are determined entirely by the game. The DS unit has nothing to do with them.
-There may be language barriers between games, but this is on a per-game basis, and most games are compatible between different-languaged versions. (This thread provides testimony that MKDS and Tetris DS work.)
-Because the DS has no region locking, a Wii has no idea what the region of a DS wishing to connect is. Therefore, any DS can connect with any Wii. Language barriers may apply on a per-title basis. (I would expect a language barrier with PBR.)
-Treat Slot2 connectivity the same way you would DS-DS connectivity. Language barriers may exist, and it's been confirmed that Pal Park is language-restricted. I believe this is due to technical constraints rather than malice, as the Japanese D/P developers didn't know what the English D/P data structures would look like, so they couldn't properly handle English-version Pokémon. I have no idea why English D/P versions can't handle Japanese carts. Maybe to keep it fair?

wakachamo May 26th, 2007 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalMario (Post 2498152)
I really don't want to read this thread. Most of it is filled with worthless "will XXX work with YYY?" BS. I hope you can understand.

What I can't understand is that you still put yourself through reading this thread even though you didn't want to.

Quote:

Now Wakachamo, I'm going to have to disagree with you in regards to the DS region locking portion. To the best of my knowledge, there's no difference between the software on different DSes from different regions. The same generally holds true for same-language games from different regions. (This is also the basis for the Pal Park Language Lock as opposed to a Region Lock.) So, a US D/P should be compatible with a UK D/P over local wireless. I'd even go so far as to say that different-languaged games ought to be compatible over local wireless but I can't confirm this.
When did I say there were any restrictions, software-wise? Plus, Different-languaged games are compatible over local wireless.
Plus, you have to stop thinking that language = region. They're two completely different things.

And do note that I'm basing this off just pure logic, since I can't confirm this. (yet, btw) This also has a bit of personal experience. When I talk about that "experience", it's when something weird happened to me. I tried to play against my friend. I had a US Metroid Demo, and he had a UK one. Since I knew at that time that DS software was in no way region-restricted, it must've been because of the DS. My DS was American, and his was European. So, even though this might contradict many people on the fact that the DS isn't actually hardware-locked (which I'm almost sure is true, like you said in your post), I think it's still possible that NoE might screw with things every once in a while. However, don't get offended with what I say, since I can't confirm this. I'm still, as of now, basing this off logic and basing it off of this little happening as well. Nonetheless I will try to confirm this ASAP when D/P comes out here.

Quote:

What I can confirm is that I was able to race my brother, who was using a Japanese MKDS game, with my US MKDS game, over local wireless without difficulty.
Of course that works. Why? Because it's probable that you both have a DS bought in the US. Plus in this thread, I'm not talking about JP-US differences. I'm talking about US-EUR differences. You might've not realized that NoE does make a lot of changes in games very often.

Quote:

Diamond/Pearl are much more complicated in their communications protocols, so they may not be locally compatible,
Tell me how they're much more complicated in their communications. In fact, it should be the opposite. Do note that Mario Kart DS has to request the player's coordenates all the time, and D/P doesn't even need to do something close to that.

Quote:

but, seeing as Japanese and English Pokémon can be exchanged freely over the internet (as well as 3rd-gen link trading between versions), it would appear that the language barrier has already been broken, so it's possible that the communications protocols for local wireless are the same as well. (This needs confirmation. Anyone have an English D/P, a Japanese D/P, and 2 DSes?)
English D/P and Jap D/P work fine. 1Up confirmed this. And please take note that playing over the net is very different when comparing to local wireless. That's a big mistake, since the two don't work the same way. (One's actually connecting to a network, the other's communication via ad-hoc)


Quote:

So, to summarize:
-The DS has NO region locking. It doesn't. However, NoE can change the way games communicate with each other.
-DS games have NO region locking. Of course they don't.
-Communications protocols are determined entirely by the game. The DS unit has nothing to do with them. I think it does. The base of the connection is handled by the DS itself, I believe. I can't confirm this nonetheless, but I will be able to as soon as D/P comes out here in Europe.
-There may be language barriers between games, but this is on a per-game basis, and most games are compatible between different-languaged versions. (This thread provides testimony that MKDS and Tetris DS work.) Your MKDS testimony proves nothing, seeing as it's a US-JP connection. We're not talking about that in this thread.
-Because the DS has no region locking, a Wii has no idea what the region of a DS wishing to connect is. Therefore, any DS can connect with any Wii. Language barriers may apply on a per-title basis. (I would expect a language barrier with PBR.) Language barriers don't exist on DS and Wii games.
-Treat Slot2 connectivity the same way you would DS-DS connectivity. Language barriers may exist, and it's been confirmed that Pal Park is language-restricted. I believe this is due to technical constraints rather than malice, as the Japanese D/P developers didn't know what the English D/P data structures would look like, so they couldn't properly handle English-version Pokémon. I have no idea why English D/P versions can't handle Japanese carts. Maybe to keep it fair? If I heard it right, English D/P versions can handle Japanese carts. I've asked Hiroshi Sotomura and he says everything worked fine.

Red X May 26th, 2007 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2496571)
You pointed out the GTS. GTS uses Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi a completely different story. We're not talking about that here, are we? We're talking about local trades.



The game's region doesn't matter. However, even though I can't exactly prove this for the moment, the DS's region needs to be the same. So:

EU DS and any game, with EU DS and any game.

Get it now?

I do apologise, but I’m still confused. So a simple response to this "I have an EU DS and game, I can trade with someone with a US DS and game?" would be no, correct?

wakachamo May 26th, 2007 3:10 PM

Once again, I can't confirm this due to many obvious contradictions, but I'll go ahead with what I think.

It depends of both the consoles you guys have are the same region. Forget about the game, that doesn't matter. What matters is the the place where you bought the actual system.

Kraka-chan May 27th, 2007 12:02 AM

Ah! <kisses the PC screen> Thank you for posting this thread. I was wanting to know about whether or not my GBA games would work with a US D/P. (Yes, I live in UK and my DS has been bought from a shop in the UK).

You see, I own a US Pokemon G/S and I was able to use it with an Australlian version of Pokemon Stadium 2 (and it worked on my N64 since it is a PAL machine). So I'm glad there aren't many problems so far. I hope... <crosses fingers>

taraleigh May 27th, 2007 9:42 AM

thanks
 
Thanks this board has helped clear up so much! :)

I have one question..

what is the difference between language lock and region lock i dont fully understand... :/

wakachamo May 27th, 2007 9:48 AM

^Region = Continent where the game is bought.

Language = Text language inside the game. All DS and Wii European games should have English, Spanish, French, German and Italian in them. There is no language lock for DS games, but to some extent there is for GBA games, I think. For example a GBA game with Spanish in it can't communicate with a GBA game with English in it. However, it's highly probable that this is completely wrong.

Shiny_Latios May 28th, 2007 5:09 AM

like you have said before as long as both games are the same region they are fine me and my friend had a wireless battle at school and it was fine :)

Kraka-chan May 29th, 2007 3:57 AM

Sorry if I'm going off topic, but I had thought of this when I was out looking for Pokemon Ranger...
Does the European Pokemon Ranger have the secret Manaphy Mission?
And if yes, will it work with a US Pokemon D/P?

Has anyone else thought of that?

Red X May 29th, 2007 6:58 AM

So if I have a EU DS and an EU Pokemon D/P, I can use Wi-fo to trade with people in the US?

wakachamo May 29th, 2007 7:21 AM

Red X, please read my first post. Wi-Fi doesn't matter; you can use any old combination.

And Kraka-chan, I'm not much of an expert when it comes to Ranger, so unfortunately I can't really help you with that. ^^;

Red X May 30th, 2007 12:13 AM

That’s awesome news. I appreciate the help Wakachamo and I do aplogoise about all the questions. I just needed to know if I would need to inmport D/P to trade with you guys in the US. And now I know I don’t :)

Juliette♥ May 30th, 2007 4:05 AM

Thanks for clearing this all up! I would have imported a Battle Revolution from the US if I hadn't known.

wakachamo May 30th, 2007 7:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red X (Post 2503770)
That’s awesome news. I appreciate the help Wakachamo and I do aplogoise about all the questions. I just needed to know if I would need to inmport D/P to trade with you guys in the US. And now I know I don’t :)

No problem. =) And yup, you don't need to worry about anything if the matter is Wi-Fi. =P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juliette♥ (Post 2503965)
Thanks for clearing this all up! I would have imported a Battle Revolution from the US if I hadn't known.

No prob. And yeah, you would regret it big time if you imported; it just doesn't work. =P

Jim May 31st, 2007 4:35 PM

Sorry if this has been mentioned I'm in a hurry but What about the GBA insirtion? Like say a USA Pearl. European DS and European Sapphire/Emerald ECT.? Will I still be able to get Pokes that way? (EG a Lotad on route 203 w/ Sapphire inserted.)

Thanks.

wakachamo June 1st, 2007 5:40 AM

I haven't actually tried that yet, but initially it should work like a charm. =D

Jim June 1st, 2007 6:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2507207)
I haven't actually tried that yet, but initially it should work like a charm. =D

Thanks. I actually got a few friends to test it and it worked for them. So you can add it to the first post if needed.

wakachamo June 1st, 2007 7:37 AM

Sure, thanks. I'll add it asap.

Piplup_WazUp June 10th, 2007 7:37 PM

I really want to buy this game no matter what. The new features seem awesome!

MetalMario June 12th, 2007 7:03 PM

Wakachamo: I think the only situations where we disagree are in matters of speculation, so let's not turn this into a needless fight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
What I can't understand is that you still put yourself through reading this thread even though you didn't want to.

I didn't. I read the first page.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
When did I say there were any restrictions, software-wise? Plus, Different-languaged games are compatible over local wireless.
Plus, you have to stop thinking that language = region. They're two completely different things.

For the first "software," I was speaking of the DS firmware. Sorry if that wasn't clear. From what I've been following in the DS homebrew community, there's no functional difference between DSes from different regions, hardware or firmware.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
And do note that I'm basing this off just pure logic, since I can't confirm this. (yet, btw) This also has a bit of personal experience. When I talk about that "experience", it's when something weird happened to me. I tried to play against my friend. I had a US Metroid Demo, and he had a UK one. Since I knew at that time that DS software was in no way region-restricted, it must've been because of the DS. My DS was American, and his was European. So, even though this might contradict many people on the fact that the DS isn't actually hardware-locked (which I'm almost sure is true, like you said in your post), I think it's still possible that NoE might screw with things every once in a while. However, don't get offended with what I say, since I can't confirm this. I'm still, as of now, basing this off logic and basing it off of this little happening as well. Nonetheless I will try to confirm this ASAP when D/P comes out here.

Judging by that, I'd guess that the Metroid Prime Demos are different between the US and UK, not the DSes. Games from different regions are sometimes byte-per-byte identical, but at other times, they can vary completely, even in communications protocols.

Demos, even more than finished games, would tend to be different between releases because they're unfinished. Maybe Retro Studios decided to change the MPH communications protocols after the US demo release but before the UK one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
Of course that works. Why? Because it's probable that you both have a DS bought in the US. Plus in this thread, I'm not talking about JP-US differences. I'm talking about US-EUR differences. You might've not realized that NoE does make a lot of changes in games very often.

You're right in that it doesn't provide any info as to the existence of a hardware incompatibility. The point I was trying to make is that different-regioned and/or different-languaged games are often compatible with each other. We probably both agree on this, but I couldn't tell at the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
Tell me how they're much more complicated in their communications. In fact, it should be the opposite. Do note that Mario Kart DS has to request the player's coordenates all the time, and D/P doesn't even need to do something close to that.

I was speaking only of language-specific communications. Kart coordinates and such are no different in Japanese. Pokémon nicknames are different between languages, however. (The English/French/German/Italian/... names use 1 byte per character @ 10 characters, while the Japanese names use 2 bytes per character @ 5 characters.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
English D/P and Jap D/P work fine. 1Up confirmed this. And please take note that playing over the net is very different when comparing to local wireless. That's a big mistake, since the two don't work the same way. (One's actually connecting to a network, the other's communication via ad-hoc)

All I was saying is that the string formatting hurdle had already been overcome, demonstrated by the third-gen interoperability (which I've experienced) and the internet interoperability. It follows that the local ad-hoc ought to work as well, which you say it does.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo -- stuff that the boards won't let me quote (Post 2498237)
I think it does. The base of the connection is handled by the DS itself, I believe. I can't confirm this nonetheless, but I will be able to as soon as D/P comes out here in Europe.

From what I've been following in the homebrew community, this is not true. All but the lowest layers are handled entirely by the game. These lowest layers are the same regardless of where your DS is from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2498237)
Language barriers don't exist on DS and Wii games.

Not on their own, but the D/Ps from different regions (or at least those of different languages) have different programming. (Particularly the offsets of various data structures in the save file.) Japanese PBR may not know how to handle a US D/P. Someone ought to test, but I'd guess that Japanese PBR can't link with US D/P.

Red X June 13th, 2007 10:25 AM

Can I still pal pak, if my PEARL is a US Region copy and my DS and EMERALD are EU Region?

wakachamo June 13th, 2007 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalMario (Post 252103)
Demos, even more than finished games, would tend to be different between releases because they're unfinished. Maybe Retro Studios decided to change the MPH communications protocols after the US demo release but before the UK one?

Yeah, I'm glad we can discuss this without actually fighting over this. ;P But yeah, you're absolutely right. I did wrong in depending on an actual demo for this experience, which is why I'm keeping this thread on hold until I can get a real confirmation of whether or not this hardware-related regional difference is true or not, even though it's supposedly fake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red X (Post 252197)
Can I still pal pak, if my PEARL is a US Region copy and my DS and EMERALD are EU Region?

Yes you will.

Red X June 13th, 2007 10:21 PM

Are you 100% certain? Coz I'm importing pearl next week.

wakachamo June 14th, 2007 5:49 AM

^I can guarantee you it'll work, since it works for me and I have the same circumstances as you. Don't worry; it will.

serpenter June 14th, 2007 6:05 AM

so i can put my fire red pokemon (pal) into an nstc pokemon pearl? great, i wasn't sure weather to get the American game or not.

i have a pal wii and DS, the american ver. of D/P would still work on the battle revolution (pal) wouldn't it?

wakachamo June 14th, 2007 6:22 AM

Question 1: Yes it will.

Question 2: I'm not sure yet, but initially it should be able to work fine.

Red X June 15th, 2007 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2524328)
^I can guarantee you it'll work, since it works for me and I have the same circumstances as you. Don't worry; it will.

But Serebii.net say's it doesn't work


http://www.serebii.net/diamondpearl/palpark.shtml


:(

You see my problem; I don't want to pay for the game and pal pak not work.

wakachamo June 15th, 2007 6:19 AM

^That's because Serebii himself hasn't updated the page's summary in order to reflect the new updates. It works fine for me, and it's been confirmed that it will work with no matter what region you have.

Red X June 16th, 2007 10:32 AM

Thats great news, thanks again.

wakachamo June 22nd, 2007 5:41 AM

OK guys, I've updated the first post with a more tidy and uncluttered layout. I've also completely revamped it with more up-to-date facts and accurate regional differences information. Remember that I'm always editing it whenever I get some news regarding regions, so stay tuned!

Forci Stikane June 26th, 2007 3:22 PM

Waka, I have a clarification: I just got Pokemon Battle Revolution today (NTSC version, of course), and the instruction booklet specifically says that it will NOT work with Diamond/Pearl games of a different language. So,...this would mean that US PBR does NOT work with EU D&P, wouldn't it?

wakachamo June 27th, 2007 3:03 PM

Hmm. This means I'm screwed, lol. I'm not sure why it wouldn't work, though. Maybe it's just compatibility with the Japanese version that gets screwed up. All I can do is wait until PBR comes out until I actually find out whether or not it does block out different-regioned D/P games.

eternal_prince_neptune July 2nd, 2007 8:45 AM

hi!
well, I've got a Japanese Pkmn Pearl and an Italian FireRed/LeafGreen...but I can't import any Pkmn from Italian GBA games to the JAP Pearl!!! Help me!!!

Virtual Headache July 2nd, 2007 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eternal_prince_neptune (Post 2577880)
hi!
well, I've got a Japanese Pkmn Pearl and an Italian FireRed/LeafGreen...but I can't import any Pkmn from Italian GBA games to the JAP Pearl!!! Help me!!!

Because Pal Park is language locked. You'd need Japanese GBA games to make it work.

Hyunbin July 3rd, 2007 4:00 PM

can the manaphy egg be transfered from an american pokemon ranger to a japanese pokemon diamond? o_O

Monty Kensicle July 8th, 2007 7:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 2446082)
You sure it's for NTSC compatibility, instead of just running backups? Running backups by modding the Wii is possible, but I've honestly never heard of anything such as making it able to read NTSC.

Well I have an application that runs off my Playstation 2 memory card that allows me to play the Japanese PAL format game, "Kingdom Hearts-Final Mix" But that is for Playstation, I'm not too sure of what modifications you would need to do in order to get a Wii to do such a thing.


With all due respect,

~Monty Kensicle


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 3:58 AM.


Like our Facebook Page Follow us on Twitter © 2002 - 2018 The PokéCommunity™, pokecommunity.com.
Pokémon characters and images belong to The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo. This website is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Creatures, GAMEFREAK, The Pokémon Company or The Pokémon Company International. We just love Pokémon.
All forum styles, their images (unless noted otherwise) and site designs are © 2002 - 2016 The PokéCommunity / PokéCommunity.com.
PokéCommunity™ is a trademark of The PokéCommunity. All rights reserved. Sponsor advertisements do not imply our endorsement of that product or service. User generated content remains the property of its creator.

Acknowledgements
Use of PokéCommunity Assets
vB Optimise by DragonByte Technologies Ltd © 2023.